This dates from 2009, and right now it reads a little like we take these truths to be self-evidently but at the time I thought Rod Stewart’s greatest achievements were more or less forgotten. So in a vail effort to rectify the situation… I wrote what everyone knows!
Underage sex, alcoholism, threesome, and a quick wit. A gorgeous melody, great anthem. If this was released today Scotland Yard would have him in handcuffs, be searching his mansion, and wanting more information about his friendship with late Jimmy Saville, and 50 year old alcoholic women would be suing him.
1971 was a great year for what we now call classic rock – Rod Stewart, The Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin and The Who all released indispensable albums. Boiling down 1971 to 20 A+ tracks was no easy feat – my apologies to the Chi-Lites and the Stylistics, among others.
Why the late 1976 start date? Where are his peak early 1970s years? It is truly bizarre his label Rhino are not including them and I can only hope that the reason is because they are holding back for one more release. But till then this will do.
Not much of a week for new material, indeed nothing actually made it and that’s a first outside of a Christmas or New Year’s week. And what there is tends to be there because of a concert I’ve seen or am seeing, except for two hit singles!
There is still no crime in giving people precisely what they bought and there is no crime in growing old and missing a step and Rod Stewart did exactly that in his “Live The Life” concert at Madison Square Garden, Monday: he gave the people what they wanted and he missed a step
From Morrissey to Mel theres always a guy willing to croon. But when you add Childish Gambino and A$AP Rocky there could well be a knife fight and my money is on them.
This is what David Fricke wrote about this terrible song in Rolling Stone: “”It’s about the seeds of dreams, and U2 play it perfectly: down-to-earth, while looking up.’. The truth is, the lyric, apparently taken from Nelson Mandela’s love letters to one of his wives, is asinine and the track is a Church organ in search of a song and not finding it
After winning the coveted best concert of 2011 award right here at rock nyc back, I’ll go going back tomorrow for another look at the great somewhat aging man and in anticipation, took a look at his set list for a TD Bank gig back on December 3rd
