can be regarded as the rock generation's
heir to Sam Cooke. Like Cooke, Stewart
delivers both romantic ballads and
uptempo material with conviction and
panache, and he sings in a warm, soulful
rasp. A singer's singer, Stewart seemed
made to inhabit the spotlight. The
London-born Stewart's long-lived career
extends back to 1964, when he cut his
first record (the blues standard "Good
Morning Little Schoolgirl"). Soon after,
he began turning up in mid-Sixties R&B
bands: as Long John Baldry's Hoochie
Coochie Men, Steampacket and Shotgun
Express. Stewart really came into his
own as the singer with the Jeff Beck
Group, the guitarist's post-Yardbirds
ensemble, formed in 1968. From there,
Stewart graduated to the Small Faces. He
and guitarist Ron Wood joined founding
members Ian McLagan, Ronnie Lane and
Kenney Jones in the wake of Steve
Marriott's departure, and the Small
Faces - which soon adopted the shortened
name Faces - became an enormously
popular touring group, rivaling the
Rolling Stones for rollicking,
good-natured rock and roll.
At the same time, Stewart inaugurated
one of the great musical juggling acts
of all time. He launched a parallel
career as a solo artist, developing a
distinctive voice and persona over the
course of a brilliant string of albums
that included The Rod Stewart Album
(1969), Gasoline Alley (1970),
Every Picture Tells a Story (1971)
and Never a Dull Moment (1972).
These four superlative solo albums were
released in consecutive years. At the
same time, Stewart served as the Faces’
frontman, contributing significantly to
four fine group albums released during
the same spell: First Step
(1970), Long Player (1971), A
Nod Is as Good as a Wink...to a Blind
Horse (1971) and Ooh La La
(1973). In short, Stewart was the main
artist or frontman for eight albums
released during a four-year period – an
output remarkable for its quality and
quantity. Has anyone in rock and roll
ever been both so prolific and so superb
during an equivalent span?
Stewart’s great talent resides in his
synthesis of American soul (Sam Cooke,
Otis Redding) and folk (Bob Dylan,
Ramblin' Jack Elliott) influences, into
which he distilled his own life
experiences as a British-born busker and
bohemian. Stewart's solo career
effectively went into orbit with the
1971 release of "Maggie May," an
enduring rock classic with a rustic,
ramshackle style. It was his first
charting single in the U.S. and it
stayed at #1 for five weeks. It came
from his third solo album, Every
Picture Tells a Story, which is a
rock classic and Stewart’s finest hour.
His first five albums – The Rod
Stewart Album, Gasoline Alley,
Every Picture Tells a Story,
Never a Dull Moment and Smiler
– appeared in a yearly procession
between 1969 and 1974 on the Mercury
label, and many consider this to be his
best work.
Stewart's career did reach a divide
with the album Atlantic Crossing
in 1975, which found him recording for a
new label (Warner Bros.) and newly
relocated to America. By this time, the
Faces had undergone a period of disarray
as a prelude to disbanding. For Stewart,
the picaresque tales and rootsy,
knockabout rock and roll of his first
five solo albums - not to mention his
work with the Faces, especially on
Long Player and A Nod Is as Good
as a Wink (to a Blind Horse) - were
largely behind him. He thereupon
confidently assumed the mantle of
glamorous Seventies rock star, anteing
up such boudoir-minded love songs as
"Tonight's the Night” (a #1 hit for
eight weeks in 1976) and discofied
rockers like "Da Ya Think I'm Sexy" (a
#1 hit for five weeks in 1981).
In concert, he'd twirl mike stands
and kick soccer balls into the audience
while strutting across stages in flashy
garb. Though critics occasionally looked
askance at his music and persona in the
wake of his Atlantic crossing, the
public stood by him every step of the
way. Stewart charted hit singles and
platinum albums in nearly every year
from 1970 through 1995, and his paced
has slowed only slightly since then. He
has proved a remarkably durable talent
who has been single-mindedly committed
to his music, touring tirelessly and
recording prolifically.
Through it all, Stewart has never
failed to rise to the occasion in the
presence of a great song. He's asserted
himself across the decades as a
masterful songwriter ("Maggie May,"
"You're in My Heart," "Young Turks") and
skilled interpreter. Over the years,
numbers originally associated with the
likes of the Temptations ("[I
Know] I'm Losing You"), Van
Morrison ("Have I Told You Lately"), Tom
Waits ("Downtown Train"), Jimi
Hendrix ("Angel") and the Sutherland
Brothers ("Sailing") have been
definitely rendered by Stewart in his
expressive and soulful voice.
His career came full circle in 1993
when he recorded Unplugged...and
Seated for MTV's "Unplugged" series,
reuniting with his erstwhile
collaborator, Ron Wood, for a
run-through of vintage material. In
1998, he recorded one of his strongest
albums in years, When We Were the New
Boys, which harked back to the
rough-and-tumble rock of the Faces era
while paying respect to newer acts who’d
come along in their wake, such as Oasis,
Graham Parker and Elvis Costello. In
2001 came Human, a more
contemporary-minded production.
