We continue our look back at the music of 50 years ago…..
Before he became “sexy”…before he became a parody of himself…before he decided to make a living ransacking the Great American Songbook….Rod Stewart was a rocker. And when you backed him up with his old bandmates from Faces, the results were pretty damn good.
His fourth studio LP, “Never A Dull Moment”, was released in July of 1972. His old friends, a pre-Rolling Stone Ronnie Wood, Ronnie Lane on bass and Ian McLagan on keyboards back him more than ably. Add in guests like Peter Sears, Kenney Jones, Dick Powell and Ray Jackson from Lindisfarne on mandolin and you have some meaty roots rock.
“You Wear It Well” is probably my favorite Stewart song. The mandolin is a big part of it.
There is a nice selection of covers as well including “Angel”‘ ( a Hendrix song). I’d Rather Go Blind ( a hit for Etta James), Sam Cooke’s “Twistin’ The Night Away” and a little known Dylan tune called “Mama, You’ve Been On My Mind”.
There is also a B-side that was recorded at the same time, the Glen Sutton penned, Jerry Lee Lewis hit “What Made Milwaukee Famous, Made a Loser Out Of Me”. It made it to #4 on the UK charts.
The early 70’s run of LPs, including this one, is arguably Stewart’s best work. He lost his rock mojo at some point but still has it here.
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