The one artist that “started it all” for Rod Stewart: “Young man, would you like to join the band”
Any musician like Rod Stewart knows the importance of paying their dues in the early days of rock and roll. It’s easy for a flash in the pan to be in the right place at the right time, but those who work for their stardom are going to have to go through a lot of bullshit before they’re ready for the big time. But sometimes it only takes that one special person to help turn someone’s entire world around.
Then again, it’s not like Stewart had to worry about people seeing his rock and roll chops most of the time. His voice was far from the most pristine thing that came across the radio in the 1970s, but even before he became a superstar, those booze-soaked vocal takes that he performed with The Faces were half the reason why people were filling up the British blues clubs back in the day.
Jeff Beck was certainly taking notice at the time, but long before even that started, Stewart spent a lot of his time playing on the street to anyone within earshot. After all, the best blues musicians are able to create a show out of virtually nothing and get a crowd going, and while Stewart was a fantastic vocalist, all he needed was a beat and a harmonica in his hand to get the crowd moving half the time.
It was a longshot to think that an A&R man was magically going to be passing by on the street as he was performing, but Long John Baldry was certainly paying attention. Baldry has already become a storied figure in rock and roll for being the inspiration for Elton John to change his name, but Stewart knew that he wouldn’t be in the limelight were it not for Baldry seeking him out.
After playing countless shows to anyone he could, Stewart said Baldry was the first person to give him an actual paying gig, saying, “I’d just gone to see his band, and I was on the way home, on platform seven, but he was on platform six or whatever. I was playing a harmonica and singing by myself, doing an old Muddy Waters song, and he came over and said, ‘Young, man, would you like to join the band as a backup singer?’ So I did, and that’s what started it all.”
But Muddy Waters was only a small portion of what Stewart was able to do. Even though The Faces did have a solid reputation as one of England’s finest blues outfits, hearing Stewart go solo and score hits like ‘Maggie May’ was the first time that people heard him in a different light. He could also sing beautiful folksy rock and roll, and even if it was a far cry from what The Faces were doing, it helped break out of the background a lot better.
Although Stewart would become much more of a pop star once the 1980s rolled in, it’s not like he ever forgot the values that came from playing with Baldry. ‘Young Turks’ might be smothered in 1980s production, but even in an era that was all about blowing things to gargantuan proportions, Stewart could always be counted on to throw a subtle bluesy vocal bend into his songs as well.
While Baldry did have his own space in rock and roll history, it never felt like he was consciously trying to leech off of his new protege when he found him out in the wild. He simply knew a great talent when he heard one, but even with the benefit of hindsight, it’s impossible to bet on a musician that was bound to turn into one of the biggest stars in the world.
