This was the follow-up single to "You Wear It Well," and I for one think it's even better. In fact, it's pretty much the apotheosis of what we think of Rod's style circa "Maggie May," which is to say it's just as touching but rocks harder than either of those two, IMHO.
8 comments:
Just about my favorite Stewart/Faces recording.
The other Faces thought True Blue was intended for a Faces album until Rod took it for himself. After stunts like that, the other Faces knew the writing was on the wall about Rod's long term intentions.
ROTP(lumber)
The Faces are one of my favorite bands.
I love all of Rod's stuff up until the abysmal Atlantic Crossing when he chucked English rockers for slick US session men.
A few weeks ago, I put the whole Every Picture Tells A Story disc on my iPod; first time I've listened to it in many years. Holds up surprisingly well. Thanks for this one!
This was when his voice was at its best.
His recent album of standards is beyond awful.
I guess you're aware of this box of Rod, just released this week?
Product Description:
Warner Bros. goes deep into the vaults to reveal the secret studio history of this very public performer with a boxed set of unreleased recordings chosen from sessions spanning 1971-1998. Encompassing more than 25 years, this collection's 63 songs, outtakes, and ephemera provide extraordinary insight into the studio work of one of rock's legendary figures and paints a picture of what might have been. Many of these performances are more stripped-down and intimate than their released counterparts, so the set becomes an illustration and a showcase of Rod's creative process.
Looks innerestin'. Anyway, I loved this song, and this album, back in the day...along with Every Picture and the best-of, Sing It Again Rod - which came in a sleeve shaped like a whiskey glass. I liked Smiler a lot too.
Then came the suck.
I actually said nice things about "Atlantic Crossing" back in the day and interviewed Rod at the time. Nice guy, or so he seemed to me anyway.
Haven't listened to it AC in years; I suspect I'd be less thrilled with it if I did....
Atlantic Crossing isn't that bad - several of the songs are pretty good, and while the backing is kind of slick, Rod is still trying. I'm particularly fond of his slowed-down version of the Isleys' "This Old Heart Of Mine".
I wish that instead of getting together with the usual session guys on his first American album, he'd have hooked up with Thom Bell and made a great Philly soul album.
It really is hard to tell someone who wasn't there that "No, really, for about three or four years Rod Stewart was the greatest rock'n'roll singer ever!"
Just finished listening to the deluxe reissues of Atlantic Crossing and A Night On The Town. I'd say MBowen's got it right--the production (Tom Dowd on both) tends toward the slick side, and in retrospect it's not hard to hear the decline to come. I would actually rate A Night On The Town as the better of the two discs, simply because Stewart sounds far more confident than on Atlantic Crossing IMHO. The best of the Stewart originals on these two discs, as well as certainly those on the Mercury and Faces records, attest to the strength of Stewart as a songwriter during this period.
Which brings to mind: If you ever do a Weekend Listomania on underrated songwriters, the name Rod Stewart, whatever else you want to say about him, has to be on that list.
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