Rod Stewart said it would have “totally impossible” to work with Elton John
The concept of Rod Stewart being nervous is almost like the concept of Scotland winning the World Cup. It just doesn’t happen.
But beneath the veneer of improbability, miracles do happen. Kenny McLean scored from the halfway line, and the former Faces frontman can show a shred of humility from time to time – it just takes a lot to crack him open. Even still, the idea of one of the world’s most recognisable musical icons getting flustered by the presence of an idol is really quite a funny image.
However, if this was something that put him under pressure, Stewart certainly came out swinging in 2005 with the release of the fourth album in his Songbook series, Thanks for the Memory: The Great American Songbook, Volume IV. Less-than-catchy titles aside, though, it was the collaborations on the tracklist that made for much more intriguing reading.
With a stacked line-up including the likes of Chaka Khan, Roy Hargrove, and Elton John, it was fair to say that Stewart wasn’t pulling any punches when it came to his ambitions for people to get into the studio with him. But it was the opening track of ‘I’ve Got a Crush on You’ that delivered the most startling addition, with the icon, the woman wonder that is Diana Ross.
Of course, it’s pretty understandable that one could get intimidated by the prospect of working with such a star and Motown legend as Ross. She’s built an entire decade-spanning career on the fact that she’s largely an impenetrable and inimitable persona; there’s no point in trying to reckon with that.
Even Stewart had to concede to that, “Because no matter how big you are, you are a little nervous and hesitant before you go in and sing with someone like Diana Ross.” However, the more surprising thing about that situation was what he revealed next.
“She may have been a little nervous with me,” he admitted.
Despite all that, there are other icons that the trepidation just melts away with, even when it makes getting the actual songs recorded far more difficult. “Elton and I wouldn’t have been nervous,” Stewart was quick to add. “But it would have been totally impossible for us to work in the same place at the same time; we would have never gotten anything done. We’d keep catching each other up all the time, because we’re old mates.”
Whether it was a sense of bravado or a need to drop a name or two in the process, Stewart was a master at selling the benefits of a fourth-run covers album to a keen audience. In fairness to him, it was a strong tactic – but it also heavily relies on you being one of the biggest stars in the world.
Sometimes when there’s too much fame in one room, and the egos get too swollen, it can be a recipe for sonic disaster. You only have to ask Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder about that. But in being able to hold his nerve, Stewart delivered the goods – and managed not to completely fawn all over Diana Ross while doing it.
