Rod Stewart: songs

artist Apr 28, 2020

I have two key memories of Rod from when I was younger:

My parents were members of some sort of record club, in the early 70s. They’d get these great colour catalogues posted to them. I used to look at them and see the band Faces and think their album covers were strange and – it follows, logically – I wouldn’t like them. Rod was lead singer (but I didn’t know that then).
Tonight’s The Night. Oh, dear. #getMeAfBucket 🙂

But, to be honest, in the time between 1) and 2), Maggie May appeared on my radar. And what a welcome musical echo that was. In the years since, I’ve rediscovered his earlier stuff, including Faces. Here’s a quick sample, most of which are from the same year (!):

Every Picture Tells A Story (solo – 1971)

This is just fantastic

Turn up that volume. As per my simple rule with songs like this; it’s either silent or hurting. Go loud or go home.

Not for the last time in this Post, will I offer this slight caution: ‘yeah, some of the lyrics and subject matter may not be regarded as appropriate today…but it was nearly 50 years ago’

Stay With Me (Faces – 1971 )

Yes, same year. And same volume, please. Another rip-roaring track.

My reading is that Rod was a member of Faces, but also went off and did solo singles and albums. Initially the band was ok, but tensions caused him to eventually leave, AFAIK.

Not for the last time in this Post, will I offer this slight caution: ‘yeah, some of the lyrics…’

Maggie May (solo – 1971)

This is the album version, with the lovely extra bit at the start. My memory is the single dropped it.

Just a year beforehand, The Beatles had done a quick/truncated version of Maggie May, but this was ‘a traditional Liverpool folk song about a prostitute who robbed a “homeward bounder”: a sailor coming home from a round trip’ – according to Wikipedia. Their version was called Maggie Mae and was on their Let It Be album (1970). Whilst Rod appeared to just take Maggie’s name, his song’s story does have some similarities, to my ears.