DON'T LET THEM PUT YOU DOWN: The Official ILM Track-By-Track ROD STEWART 1975-1988 Listening Thread

One day and one track at a time as we explore how, despite lager, coke, and Britt Ekland, Rachel Hunter, and on and on, the mighty Rod's hair kept its equipoise.

http://societyofrock.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/rod-stewart-tonights-the-night--735x413.jpg

http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/03159/stewart-1990_3159829k.jpg

First up from Atlantic Crossing...

"Three Time Loser" (Rod Stewart)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ezYjnGRweNM

That whole record is very good - and Three Time Loser is a joy, I always get a Beatles vibe from it though it's obviously much more of a Stones song

this is very "opening track"

yeah I'd dismissed this album unheard for years until I read Marcello's mixed review a couple years ago. "Three Time Loser" sounds forced, but I like Snarling Rod.

don't think i've ever heard this song before. weird mashup of stones/keef verse and AM gold chorus. and a not very good sax solo.

also, springsteen/e street could've easily done this one circa "the river."

the cover art made me avoid that album for years, turned out it was not indicative at all of the tunes

http://cps-static.rovicorp.com/3/JPG_500/MI0000/041/MI0000041421.jpg

He's still figuring out how to sound post-Faces, post-Britain.

"Three Time Loser" kicks off the FAST SIDE

http://vinylrecordsuk.co.uk/images/Wimg/art_123/w12399_Full.jpg

He's still figuring out how to sound post-Faces, post-Britain.

The Faces actually still were a going concern when he did this album. Part of what broke them up was having to tour behind it and cop licks from these new songs they otherwise had nothing to do with (Jessie Ed Davis & a cadre of string and horn players were added to the touring group).

"Three Time Loser": Did say "jackin' off/reading Playboy on hot afternoon"? (checks lyrics) HE DID! Mick never woulda been that, er, open. Kinda goes on a little too long. Faces did fake Stones better. Hell, the fast stuff the Stones had on offer at the time on IOR&R kick harder. FCC OTM about River-era Springsteen handling this (even down to the jerk-off line).

feels appropriate to have the Greil Marcus anathema against Rod early on in this thread

http://66.media.tumblr.com/451b4f40c8cecc7f0118868f9fb0deb0/tumblr_od409zZLna1qaszffo1_1280.jpg

when we get to "Young Turks," I'll share what Marcus told me about it at my first EMP a decade ago.

My mom had this album but she never played it. The cover was vaguely frightening / too strange to process for me.

i have never seen this album cover--it is something.

i never want to hear that song again.

"Alright for an Hour" (Stewart, Jesse Ed Davis)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=avrZM-MnO7s

yeah another transition piece---a Faces song given the 461 Ocean Blvd treatment. this isn't awful but Rod's voice is sunk like a stone in the mix (maybe it's just the YouTube quality)

Jesse Ed Davis sure was everywhere in 1975, wasn't he?

the songwriter who sounds like a presidential assassin

this light skank is making my skin crawl

There's definitely something hinky about the vocals. There's an alternate version where everything sounds a little more balanced, albeit with less punchy drums:
https://youtu.be/A1XnRJo-vxQ

hey this is a good thread idea thanks alfred

three time loser is decent fun...def feel fact checking cuz's observation that it could totally be a River-era Springsteen throwaway

I dunno any of this era beyond the big hits

these first two aren't terrible but they do sound a bit lackluster/tentative

I'm interested in this thread so I made a playlist for people like me who don't want to listen to youtubes

It's collaborative so feel free to update if I don't

https://open.spotify.com/user/nathanwoolls/playlist/3kLXjPzlZdjqIMA6Y062Pf

good idea! from past threads like this, it's often been the case that lesser-known album tracks sometimes aren't on YT

"alright for an hour" sounds totally, err, alright to me. an album track that i wouldn't skip. i don't mind the light skank; it kinda works. but, yeah, weird vocal mix.

this song is sort of groovy. such a great voice, what a waste.

this really is the same guy who put out brilliant stuff like Handbags & the Gladrags?

https://youtu.be/edbFVGrTG-c

oh man this "commander in chief forum" is nuts. Trump said we should've "taken the oil." "Take the oil," he repeats. Because Matt Lauer is a polite man when not dealing with female co-hosts on "Today," he doesn't ask, "With what -- beach buckets? portable gas tanks?"

what?

God please no to Trump. America is not this bad off...

haha wrong thread

"All in the Name of Rock 'N' Roll" (Stewart)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eA6Yxhcz1r8

never a good sign when "rock 'n' roll" is in the title. Sounds a bit like Rod trying his hand at a Mud track. Horns liven it up towards the end

yes the strain shows

i don't know if it's just the youtubes, but this album's production is kinda dull and muddy sounding, kinda odd since it was the 70s and generally all these type of records sounded really solid

No, I'll admit this particular clip sounds terrible.

ok on spotify is sounds good, kinda gritty in a good way, the vox aren't mixed super high

I actually will be the witness for the defense on In the Name of Rock n' Roll, I think this is a decent Faces type song, the band on this is really good

Didn't know Tom Dowd produced this album!

like the little end guitar solo

Why are we starting at 1975? To focus on re-evaluating less-acclaimed material?

Yep. I could've started with Slimer but no.

lol Smiler

Rod the Mod & the Real Ghostbusters

Smiler doesn't really fit here--It's the last of his folky-Faces albums, and he took a hard turn towards studio Rock in '75. The last Faces single (from late '74) clearly forecasts this: The Topside is a proto-Disco Philly International-style number, while the Flip is this slow jam, "Hi Records Does Reggae"-type thing.

"Alright For An Hour": This is pleasant. Nice groove. Fits in well with all the other Cod-Reggae 70s Rock Tracks ("D'Yer Maker", "Haitian Divorce", "Hey Negrita" etc.) if not among the better ones.

"All In The Name Of Rock'n'Roll": I like the whiny synth solely in there to remind you it's 1975. Good riffage in search of a better song. Kind of rolls on a little longer than it needs to.

i'm totally fascinated by the buried-vocal mix aesthetic on this album.

mostly, "all in the name of rock 'n' roll" makes me want to listen to paul mccartney doing this sort of thing better. or maybe the replacements doing it worse. would've fit right in on "the shit hits the fans."

Decent riff - would work in a Tarantino scene easy

Sounds pretty Stonesy to me, and 'It's Only Rock 'n Roll' had first been recorded at the home of Rod's old mucker Ron Wood circa 1973.

listen to paul mccartney doing this sort of thing better.

who fact checks the fact checkers?

It took three months for the right anecdote to get shared.

i'm glad it came as a near-finale moment

as example of dumb loud rock it's better than "Hot Legs."

Famous cover time!

"Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out" (Jimmy Cox)

http://davidmcgough.com/photos/thumbs/Rod%20Stewart,%20Kelly%20Emberg,%20daughter,%20Ruby%20%201989%20NYC.jpg

https://youtu.be/5VEIwRDkXpg

seems like the obligatory "I still love the blues" track but takes its cues from "Behind the Sun" Clapton. so garish and tasteless it's enjoyable in its way---Rod's singing some of it like Tina Turner

is the plan still to stop when we get to the end of Out of Order (so four more tracks?) I was going to start a track-a-day Eurovision song contest thread, but thought it might be best to wait until this one is finished.

We'll finish OOO and review a couple of the new Storyteller tracks. A week?

"Crazy About Her" (Duane Hitchings, J. Cregan, R. Stewart)

https://youtu.be/rCbxcaUg4VQ

http://streamd.hitparade.ch/cdimages/rod_stewart-crazy_about_her_s.jpg

The fourth single, another top 15 hit, and fabulous -- my favorite Rod performance since "People Get Ready." Ten years after "Miss You," Stewart writes his own.

also: ridiculous

the last ridiculous trashy pop Rod moment. yeah, "Miss You" is the obvious influence on the "spoken" section but he's been using this sort of phrasing throughout Out of Order, and you wonder if it was his spin on rap, encouraged by a drunk Andy Taylor.

Rod with straightened combed hair in video is a fright---like GE Smith with thicker locks

@nthony miccio is a big fan of this one

Forgetable, but vastly better than the worst version ever of "Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out" from yesterday

I never forgot it.

Another cover!

"Try a Little Tenderness" (Jimmy Campbell, Reginald Connelly, Harry M. Woods)

https://youtu.be/g1d3Kxtl8us

https://cbs1059sunnyfm.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/51129323_8.jpg?w=594

was bracing for the "Nobody Knows You When Yr Down & Out" treatment but no, erring on the side of taste

"When I Was Your Man" (K. Savigar, Stewart)

https://youtu.be/e1yoASj2TjE

http://davidmcgough.com/photos/thumbs/Rod%20Stewart%201988,%20NY%207.jpg

Faceless ballad, sung with feeling.

Savigar really stuck around, eh? their collaboration lasted longer than Lennon/McCartney's.

"When I Was Your Man": nicely maintains the wine bar backing music mood of previous track

I shuddered at this title...

"Almost Illegal" (R. Stewart, A. Taylor)

https://youtu.be/szEjiCyxLmU

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_dXvGSWAPHOE/TQmnSFqb9HI/AAAAAAAACPc/L4rc8fZ7G1U/s1600/RodStewart-RachelHunter.jpg

yeah was ready for the worst but this is...sort of heartfelt? in a very gross way? so I suppose it's a fitting end to the cycle. "She's not a radical, but she's mine" hail & farewell Rod

"She's a radical but she's mine" -- my response to Rod.

Gonna wrap this up with some odds and ends: two of his biggest '80s tracks.

"Downtown Train" (Tom Waits)

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/q6yk9wWNB08/hqdefault.jpg

https://youtu.be/q6yk9wWNB08

Once a year I pick a fight with a Waitsphile who despises what Stewart did to make his idol a richer man. I love this cover, produced by Trevor Horn. Rod's in good form, and he sings the verses as if he still remembered that he can empathize with the scenario.

it's tough: orig. has some of Waits' best idiosyncratic phrasings & Ribot's guitar. and the Horn production does the job a bit too well in smoothing out the edges (has a weaker beat than Waits' too, and the Waits track sounds like a guy slapping a crate at times). But as you said Rod comes through and sells it---one of his best vocals of the period

"This Old Heart of Mine" (Holland–Dozier–Holland-Sylvia Moy)

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/sVoa8S-7BrM/maxresdefault.jpg

https://youtu.be/N9eQShsxkj4

"oh mama, can this really be the end?" hell, there have been much worse endings. It doesn't really work as a duet, but what the hell: Rod still seems in awe of Isley, and happy to be on stage with him. A traditionalist to the end

I love their camaraderie – one of the few '80s duets where the pair sparks off each other.

last thoughts? among my vague ones

Rod doing sloppy 2nd rate Stones rockers lasted much longer than I figured. it takes until "Body Wishes" to finally change the formula, with "Camouflage" the first "80s" album.

not *that* many flat-out awful tracks, even the fillers. a genial (or gross) mediocrity fills most of these albums.

biggest disappointment: Blondes Have More Fun, which I really thought was going to be a disco album but was just disco single + crap.

Atlantic Crossing = "I'm still working on songs alone or with mates, reward myself with trip to the pub"
ANOTT and FL&FF = "Let's drink and play in the studio."
BHMF = "Hm. I should remember to write some tunes."
FB = "Erm...what are we doing here?"
TIY = "These 'ere synths ain't half bad then..."
BW = "Program these 'ere things, mates. I'll be back in a jif."
Camouflage = "Oh! We ARE recordin' today."
RSA = "Guess we need some more tunes to accompany that movie thing."
OOO = "Sit here, Andy. You look a bit like Woody."

lol, i missed this was set to end in 88 and thought "well i contribute once they get past the stuff i coincidentally blogged about concurrently

anyway, here's my pairs of cents on these albums

http://anthonyisright.tumblr.com/post/150076632299/rod-stewart-albums-rated-pt-1

(and the preceding solo albums). an "on beyond train" thread would probably be a slog but i'd contribute if alfred or somebody kept it chugging

I found your part two: http://anthonyisright.tumblr.com/post/150123799389/rod-stewart-albums-rated-pt-2

Tonight I'm Yours is almost as good as I imagined. He's such a whore that he fully commits to the synth pop. I agree that Foolish Behavior and Camouflage are way better than I expected, and BHMF is way worse.

"Tonight I'm Yours" at CVS.

don't hurt meh, don't hurt meh

Hearing a certain gross single in the wild inspired this post.

Let's rank the seventies.

and of course I just heard "Hot Legs" at CVS.

THE version of "Young Turks"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WvHGW468n44

This was like panning for gold in a mountainous wasteland. "Atlantic Crossing" and "A Night on the Town" weren't on the same level as his best work (the first four Mercury albums, the best from Faces), but they were respectable albums. Things went downhill fast and the '80s were pretty much a complete waste.

Made this a while back, it collects everything I'd want to listen to post-Mercury and before the "Unplugged" special (a surprisingly charming reunion between Rod and Ronnie Wood).

1 Three Time Loser 04:05
2 Drift Away 03:43
3 Stone Cold Sober 04:12
4 I Don't Want to Talk About It 04:48
5 Still Love You 05:11
6 Sailing 04:37
7 To Love Somebody 04:14
8 Tonight's The Night (Gonna Be Alright) 03:55
9 The First Cut Is The Deepest 04:31
10 Fool For You 03:49
11 The Killing Of Georgie (Part I And II) 06:28
12 The Balltrap 04:37
13 You're In My Heart (The Final Acclaim) 04:30
14 You Got A Nerve 04:59
15 I Was Only Joking 06:07
16 Scarred And Scared 04:51
17 Oh God, I Wish I Was Home Tonight 05:04

no "Young Turks" or "Tonight I'm Yours"?!?

From the 'comeback' album, which to be fair, did break the downward slide - it's better than the previous two. But if it was ever that good, it's aged poorly. The title track was a hit, but it does nothing for me. It's not a terrible song, but like most of the album, it's a cluttered sounding record. "Young Turks" and "Only a Boy" are potentially good songs - it's encouraging that Rod wrote the lyrics to both, but "Only a Boy" has too much '80s bombast, with Rod shouting over the drums, and "Young Turks" sounds like it was sung over a Dire Straits outtake. I also like the vocal on "Jealous" which otherwise sounds a bit derivative of the Rolling Stones' SOME GIRLS.

I think I what you mean about “young Turks” and dire straits, but to me the production on YT is so gentle and twee and warm and genuinely wavey. “walk on life” is such cold sonic horseshit, especially compared to the rest of Brothers In Arms, it’s like born in the USA never happened.

The general warmth pervading "Young Turks," coupled with his exuberant performance, is a poem.

it's aged poorly.

Soto alarm sounded

Watched only 20 minutes of that so far, we're really going to miss that guy when he's gone. There will be a giant David Lee Roth sized hole in the universe, and we're all going to feel it.

― Josh in Chicago, Monday, July 22, 2019 5:48 PM (eight months ago) bookmarkflaglink

I think we are really going to miss Rod Stewart when he's gone as well. There's gonna be a giant Rod Stewart's hair sized hole in the universe, etc.

"The Killing of Georgie" hit me tonight.

"Move Me" (Stewart, Tony Brock, Jay Davis, Wally Stocker, Kevin Savior)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HfUZDye75QI

― The burrito of ennui (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, November 3, 2016 7:47 AM (seven years ago)

Maybe this should be in 'post a controversial music opinion', but when Rod went Full Disco or New Wave, he was a god-damn beast that rose above even his epochal 'Every Picture Tells A Story' album. That voice in a new wave/disco idiom was fucking fantastic.

I remember being told by Important People (including my 8th-grade english teacher, who chastised me for liking 'Infatuation' more than 'Maggie Mae') that Rod sold out with his disco/new wave turn on "Blondes Have More Fun", but then I listened to that cassette, hoping for more of that vibe, only to get (fun, I'll admit) bloooz like 'Dirty Weekend' and (also good, god damnit Rod you bastard) folky stuff like 'Ain't Love A Bitch'. What the hell, Rod? You totally misled us. Where's the disco?

Thankfully, we get 'Body Wishes', and the full-on FUCKYEAH harmonized guitars track 'Move Me', which is god-damn 10.0 Rod, ripping off 'Billie Jean' better than (also awesome) 'Caribbean Queen' or Cee-Lo's 'Bright Lights, Bigger City'. Is he saying 'punch me in the bible (Ezekiel 23!?), please'? Because, I don't care, that's what he's saying. And that extra measure he makes us wait before the last chorus? Damn, it's one of the reasons I love music.

I'm enjoying the hell out of this record.

― The burrito of ennui (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, November 3, 2016 5:30 PM (seven years ago) bookmarkflaglink

this is the fun trashy Rod record I've been hoping for since this thing started

― col, Thursday, November 3, 2016 6:24 PM (seven years ago) bookmarkflaglin

I heard "Lost in You" at CVS this morning.

And how the hell did "Every Beat of My Heart" go #2 in England?!