I keep coming back

There are a few artists of brilliant natural talent who seem unable to manage their careers after their initial success. I'm not talking about one-hit wonders, but genuine talents who get sidetracked somehow. Elvis is definitely one of them, and so is Rod Stewart. Rod's 80s stuff might be terrible (some of it is at least as bad as Elvis's "movies") but maybe the intelligence and emotion in "Handbags" or the self-awareness and humor of "Every picture tells a story" are still there somewhere. So I find myself continually defending Rod to my friends: "You just don't understand, he used to be SO good." I still predict a late-career comeback for Rod, a la Solomon Burke's "Don't Give up on Me."

Maybe Rod's early succes had something to do with his supporting cast. After all, Mick always had Keith to keep him musically focused. Ron Wood could have played that part for Stewart, but that did not come to pass. For whatever reason, Rod opted for superstardom, and oh the difference to us. (For a five-star album, check out "Every Picture Tells a Story").

Rod Stewart's First Album Is A Winner

THE ROD STEWART ALBUM is an exceptional debut from the English/Scottish rock singer/songwriter/interpreter. The songs here and on the next three albums feature lyrics about misfits, survivors, and downtrodden individuals that only cut deeper as the years go by. "Handbags And Gladrags" features Stewart as a grandfather concerned about his granddaughter's behavior, but also expresses how I've felt when I saw that friends of mine have exhibited self-destructive tendencies, while "I Wouldn't Ever Change A Thing" could just as well be me saying that I've done what I felt was necessary to keep myself in good physical condition, even if it meant refusing to go back to my old school for food-related functions and thus alienating myself from some of my old friends. There are numerous other treasures here, and I heartily recommend that you get this album, the next three, and/or THE MERCURY ANTHOLOGY.

Underrated

Rod Stewart's first solo album, and the first in a tour-de-force of four sublime records, was retitled "The Rod Stewart Album" in the US, apparently because Stewart's American distributors felt that the original title ("An Old Raincoat Won't Ever Let You Down") was too "British".

Opening with an acoustic rendition of the Rolling Stones' "Street Fighting Man", "The Rod Stewart Album" presented a raw combination of primarily acoustic folk, rock, blues and country which rocked harder than any other folk-rock or country-rock, and Stewart would continue in the same vein for another three albums which, along with this one, remain the best in his career ("Gasoline Alley", "Every Picture Tells A Story", and "Never A Dull Moment").

The sound is very good, and the musicianship is excellent all the way through.
Michael Waller pounds the drums. Ron Wood plays bass and guitar (including some excellent slide work) alongside guitarists Martin Pugh and longtime Stewart-ally Martin Quittenton. And another Faces member, the great Ian MacLagan, lends a hand (or two), adding his sublime piano playing to several songs.

It's hard to point out any particular highlights, because almost everything is great. With this album, Rod Stewart established that rock can sound as rich and timeless as folk, and that folk can be as vigorous as rock. And he did this not only as an interpreter, breathing new life into the traditional "Man Of Constant Sorrow", Ewan MacColl's "Dirty Old Town", and Mike D'Abo's "Handbags And Gladrags", but also as a songwriter, penning the tough rockers "An Old Raincoat Won't Ever Let You Down" and "Cindy's Lament".

Highly recommended.