217 Hello Rod Stewart - Reason To Believe / Maggie May

Chart  entered  : 4  September  1971

Chart  peak : 1 ( "Reason  To  Believe"  had  reached  19  before  the  disc  was  flipped ) Both  songs  have  been  hits  on  reissue; "Maggie  May"  got  to  31  in  1976  and "Reason  To  Believe"  reached  number  51  in  1993

Number  of  hits : 60  ( including  3  credited  to  The  Faces )

A  similar  problem  to  Elton  here  as  we  have  a  national  treasure , of  proven  staying  power , but  I  only  have  time  for  a  relatively  small  proportion  of  his  work.

As  you  may  have  gathered  from  his  intersections  with  the  stories  of  people  we've  covered  previously , Rod  served  a  lengthy  apprenticeship  though  not  with  Brentford  FC, Rod  finally  admitting  in  his  2012  autobiography  that  the  association  amounted  to  no  more  than  an  unsuccessful  trial. I'm  sure  one  of  the  League's  most  anonymous  clubs  would  prefer  their  most  famous  scion  to  be  someone  who  actually  played  for  them !

Rod  was  born  in  London  in  1945. He's  "Scottish"  through  his  father  , a  builder  in  Leith  who  later  in  life  became  a  newsagent. His twin  passions  growing  up  were  football  and  music  and  he  was  in  a  skiffle  group  at  school. After  Brentford  failed  to  offer  him  terms,  Rod   worked  in  a  variety  of  manual  jobs  or  in  the  family  shop. He  first  got  a  singing  chance  with  a  group  called  The  Raiders  but  when  they  went  to  audition  for  Joe  Meek he  hated  Rod's  voice  and  persuaded  them  to  become  an  instrumental  group,  the  Moontrekkers  instead. Rod  drifted  into  being  arrested  at  CND  marches, busking  with  folk  singer  Wuzz  Jones  and  getting  himself  deported  from  Spain  for  vagrancy  in  1963.  Later  that  year  his  friend  Gary  Leport  who'd  quit  the  Moontrekkers  invited  him  into  The  Dimensions  as  a  harmonica  player  and  occasional  vocalist  where  he  got  some  useful  experience  of  stage  performance  though  he  was  soon  ejected  by  singer  Jimmy  Powell.

In  1964  he  was  invited  into  the  Hoochie  Coochie  Men  by  their  singer  Long  John  Baldry. It  was  now  that  he  picked  up  the  nickname  "Rod  the  Mod"  for  his  dress  sense. He  also  started  making  demos  in  pursuit  of  a  solo  contract   and  got  himself  one  from  Decca. He  released  his  first  single  , a   sparse  cover  of  Sonny  Boy  Williamson's  "Good  Morning  Little  Schoolgirl"  which  is  OK  but  nowhere  near  as  good  as  The  Yardbird's , in  October  1964. John  Paul  Jones  was  on  the  session.Rod  performed  it  on  Ready  Steady  Go  but  it  didn't  chart.

At  the  same  time  he  left  the  Hoochie  Coochie  Men  after  an  argument  with  Baldry. Rod  did  some  solo  gigs  around  the  turn  of  the  year  then  patched  up  his  differences  with  Baldry  and  both  joined  Steampacket  an  R &B  revue  ensemble  that  couldn't  record  because  its  members  were  already  signed  to  different  labels. He  got  a  new  solo   deal  with   Columbia  and  released  "The  Day  Will  Come" in  November  1965 , an  apocalyptic  song  by  Barry  Mason. Rod's   let  down  by  a  lousy  production  by  Reg  Guest  which  buries  him  beneath  the  sledgehammer  drums  in  his  Spector-esque  arrangement. "Shake"  from  April  1966  is  a  version  of  a  song  by  his  hero  Sam  Cooke  and  features  Steampacket  colleagues  Brian  Auger  on  organ  and  Mickey  Waller  on  drums. It's  not  very  good; Rod's  voice  isn't  really  suited  to  uptempo  R &  B  and  it  just  sounds  like  an  amateur  racket.

Rod  departed  Steampacket  just  as  the  single  came  out  and  two  months  later  joined  Shotgun Express  who  were  covered  in  the  Fleetwood  Mac  post. In  February  1967  he  was  invited  to join  The  Jeff  Beck  Group  where  he  met  up  with  Ron  Wood.  Though  an  integral  part  of  the live  band  Rod  was  not  appreciated  by  Beck's  producer  Mickie  Most  and  only  features  on  the B-sides  of  Jeff's  singles  ( which  were  all  credited  to  Jeff  alone  while  he  was  with  Most ) which  is  why  they're  not  included  in  the  hit  total  above. He  had  to  make  a  single  himself   on  Immediate  in  March  1968  to  be  heard. He  recorded  "Little  Miss  Understood"  with  Mike D'Abo  the  composer  and  producer. It  is  very  much  in  the  Handbags  And  Gladrags  mould   with  a  slow  ornate  first  verse  and  then  a  lift  off  towards  Joe  Cocker  territory  without  quite getting  there.

Rod  then  went  to  America  with  Beck  where, after  Rod  got   over  a  bad  case  of  stage  fright,  they  attracted  positive  notices.  On  returning  they  went  in  the  studio  to  record  the  album  "Truth" which  is  in  effect  a  covers  album ; even  the  songs  credited  to  "Jeffrey  Rod"  are  barely  disguised  re-writes  of  old  blues  songs. For  the  first  time  Rod  sounds  comfortable  with  his  material; blues  rock  sometimes  verging  on  metal. It  was  well  received  by  rock  fans  in  America  and  reached  number  15  prompting  another  US  tour.  They  quickly  followed  it  up  with  the  album  Beck-Ola  which  took  them  into  heavier  Led  Zeppelin  territory. Most  unsurprisingly  was  more  interested   this  time  round  and  it's  better  produced  although  a  bit  short  at  half  an  hour. This  album  too  got  to  15  in  the  States  and  39  in  Britain. The  hard-rocking  "Plynth"  was  released  as  a  single  in  America.

The  band  went  back  to  the  US  before  it  was  released  but  were  breaking  up. Rod  said  later that  he  had  no  personal  relationship  with  Beck  at  all  and  when  his  friend  Ron  was  let  go  in June  1969  he  decided  to  follow  him  out  of  the  door. The  band  therefore  missed  out  on  their scheduled  Woodstock  appearance. Ron  went  straight  into  the  Small  Faces  as   Steve Marriott's replacement  on  guitar  while  Rod  started  recording  a  solo  album  that  became  "An  Old Raincoat  Won't  Ever  Let  You  Down". Ron  was  the  bassist   on  the  sessions  and  played  most of  the  guitar. He  also  brought  in  Ian  McLagan   to  do  most  of  the  keyboard  work  on  the album. As  a  result  he  too  was  invited  in  to  what  became  The  Faces  as  announced  in October 1969. Rod  went  straight  from  sessions  for  his  solo  LP  to  those  for  the  first  Faces  LP.

"An  Old  Raincoat  Won't  Let  You  Down"  is  half  covers / half  original  material.  Rod's  songs  are  uncomfortable  affairs  with  some  thoughtful  lyrics  obscured  by  hard  rock  arrangements    brought  over  from  his  previous  band. " I  Wouldn't  Ever  Change  A  Thing"  is  full  on  prog,  no  doubt  encouraged  by  guest  player  Keith  Emerson. The  covers  are  a  mixed  bag  with  his  version  of  "Handbags  And  Gladrags"   the  undoubted  highlight. It  was  released  in  the  US ( re-titled  "The  Rod  Stewart  Album" )  in  November  1969  and  reached  number  139.

It  didn't  chart  in  Britain  when  released  in  February  1970. At  the  same  time  the  first  Faces  single  "Flying"  was  released. A  co-composition  between  the  three  creative  poles  Rod  and  the  two  Ronnies  it's  a  hard-rocking  ballad  about  returning  home  on  which  Rod  seemingly  tries  to  sound  as  much  like  Steve  Marriott  as  possible. It's  quite  impressive  if  you  like  that  sort  of  thing  but  not  really  a  single. The  album  "First  Step"  quickly  followed. Unsurprisingly  Rod's  only  got  three  writing  credits  on  the  album  which  is  generally  a  premature  effort with  the  band  yet  to  gel, the  highlight  being  Lane's  roots rocker  "Stone"  the  only  song  which  seems  fully  formed. It  reached  119  in  the  States and 45 in the UK.

The boys went  straight  back  into  the  studio  to  record  Rod's  next  solo  album  "Gasoline  Alley"  on  which  they  all  played. Its  predominantly  a  covers  album  with  Rod  only  writing three  of  its  songs  , one  of  them,  the  title  track, in  tandem  with  Ron  Wood.  The  proggy elements  have  gone  ; the  rockier  tracks  are  straight  ahead  blues  rock.  There's  a  rocked-up  six minute  version  of  "It's  All  Over  Now"  which  was  edited  for  a  single  in  September  1970. Rod's  other  compositions  "Lady  Day"  and  "Jo's  Lament"  , the  latter  an  apologetic    lament  for a  girl  and  child  left  behind,  are  country  blues  ballads  that  hint  at  what  was  to  come  but  the best  track  is  his  version  of  Elton's  "Country  Comfort"  where  tellingly  Ronnie  Lane  joins  in to  sing   Taupin's  ode  to  simple  living. The  album  did  significantly  better  than  its  predecessor  reaching  27  in  the  US  and  62  in  the  UK.

Then  it  was  time  to  record  the  second  Faces  album  "Long  Player". The  single  "Had  Me  A  Real  Good  Time"  preceded  it  in  November  1970.  Written  by  the  core  trio  it's  the  tale  of  crashing  a  party  and  getting  "out  of  it"  with  some  erm  laddish  lyrics - "Was  escorted  by  a  friendly  slag, round  the  bedroom  and  back " . With  Mac's  saloon  bar  piano  prominent  they'd  just  invented  pub  rock  and  sealed  their  enduring  image  as  a  boozy  lads'  band.  On  the  album  this  is  balanced  out  by  Ronnie's  sweet  love  songs  "Tell  Everyone"  and  " Richmond". They  got  to  perform  the  latter  and  the  tuneless  opener  "Bad 'n 'Ruin"  on  Top  Of  The  Pops   in  the  short lived  "album  slot ". Ron  "played"  a  customised  guitar  made  from  a  bog  seat  and  they  were  probably  the  first  band  to  use  the  fact  that  they  were  lip-synching   as  an  opportunity  to  horse  around  on  the  programme. The  exposure  helped  the  album  to  31  in  the  UK  ( it  was  29  in  the  U.S. ).

Rod  then  turned  his  attention  to  the  next  solo  album  "Every  Picture  Tells  A  Story" . Ron  and Mac  were  fully  on  board  but  Ronnie  and  Kenney  only  appear  on  one  track ( and  it  wasn't  "Maggie  May"  so  they  had  no  more  business  doing  it  on  TOTP  than  Peel ). It  was  released in  May  1971  and  two  months  later  in  the  UK. To  promote  it , a  single  was  released  with Rod's  cover  of  Tim  Hardin's  "Reason  To Believe"  and  the  Rod-penned  track  "Maggie  May"  as  the  B-side.  Hardin's   woeful  tale  of  betrayal  and  self-deception  was  already  much-covered  by  this  time  and  Rod's  version  is  OK  with  Mac's  swirling  Hammond  and  Dick  Powell's  violin   giving  it  some  distinction.  But  as  history  records  it  was  soon  elbowed  aside  by  its  own  B-side. The  ( excellent ) Popular  review  is  here  Maggie .