Rod the Mod

Rod Stewart - "The Rod Stewart Album" (1969) - Mercury Records

Hello Friends,

Rod Stewart's debut solo album hit American shores in November 1969.  In England, it was released under the much-better title, An Old Raincoat Won't Ever Let You Down.  

Fresh off his duties as singer in the groundbreaking Jeck Beck Group, Rod "The Mod" Stewart recruited Ronnie Wood (also from Beck's group) on guitar & bass duties, Ian "Mac" McLagen (from the Small Faces) on piano & organ, drummer Mick Waller, guitarist Martin Pugh and even future prog-rocker Keith Emerson (who lends his keyboard talents to the Stewart original "I Wouldn't Ever Change a Thing") to record an LP of 8 songs that combines rock, blues, country & folk and features Stewart's impeccable and distinctive vocal phrasings.   

The album opens with a boozy, bluesy rendition of "Street Fighting Man".  It actually takes the unsuspecting listener a few verses to realize that this is indeed a cover of the Stones classic.  Next up is another cover song--the traditional American Folk Song, "Man of Constant Sorrow"-- that Stewart does it up in a laid-back country style.  This song might be better recognized from a version in the Coen Bros' movie, O Brother Where Art Thou?

"Blind Prayer"-- a seldom-heard, sleazy, bluesy gem written by Stewart is next.

Side One concludes with the melancholic ballad "Handbags and Gladrags"-- written by Manfred Mann's Mike d'Abo and more famous for its use as the theme song to the British "Office" television show!



Side Two contains three Stewart originals-- "An Old Raincoat...", "I Wouldn't Ever Change a Thing", "Cindy's Lament"-- and concludes with a slow rocking version of Ewan MacColl's folk ditty, "Dirty Old Town".  Yet another example of a song on this record that is probably more famous for a version that's not Stewart's (in this case, The Dubliners or The Pogues!) Overall, its an excellent debut record even though it really didn't have any of the humongous hits Stewart would have had throughout the 70's.

"Now what'd I do with me shovel?"

Fun Fact: Hey kids... did you know that before Rod Stewart became a rock & roll icon, he worked as a gravedigger in North London's Highgate Graveyard? Spooky!

RATING: 4.5 handbags and gladrags that your Grandad had to sweat so you could buy out of 5