The best group that Rod Stewart ever worked with: “The best I’ve ever heard”
There’s a good chance that Rod Stewart could entertain an audience even if he only had one microphone to work with.
As much as he was credited for being one of the ultimate bluesy singers back in the day, the signature rasp in his voice would have been more than enough to carry a show even if none of the other Faces bothered to turn up. But while he liked the idea of playing in a rock and roll band wherever he could, he knew that some of the greatest bands were those willing to do their homework.
It’s not like Stewart was exactly working with the greatest rock and roll groups in the world when he first got started. He was elated at the fact that Jeff Beck chose him and Ronnie Wood to work with him on records like Truth, but when it came time to work with The Faces, Stewart had no problem calling them one of the most unprofessional acts to ever hit the charts. But would you expect anything less from rock and rollers?
This wasn’t a genre known for people that were the most studied musicians of all time, but when Stewart began working on his solo records, he noticed that he could do much more when he had the right idea for what one of his songs could be. Every Picture Tells a Story was far from the most complicated album in the world, but when listening to the subtle instrumental pieces that open and close different songs on the record, it was clear that they were painting a picture a lot more than the average bluesy bar band.
But when Stewart traded in his rock and roll chops to work in other genres, he was always in for a bit of a surprise. ‘Do Ya Think I’m Sexy’ may have fallen on a bunch of deaf ears, but when he reached his old age, he knew that there was no point in pretending like he was still 21. He could make the best music he could by singing the classics, but no one expected him to go into oldies territory so quickly.
Granted, if Stewart sounded this great singing the Great American Songbook, there was no sense in complaining. For all of the great crooners of days gone by who have put their stamp on these tunes, Stewart took all of the rasp he built up over the years and used it to his advantage every single time he sang. And with the members of Jools Holland’s band behind him, there was no way he could have gone wrong.
Compared to the other records he had put out, Stewart felt that Holland’s group could plug into whatever he was doing in no time once they started working, saying, “You know Jools Holland? I did the swing album with him that just came out. It’s all up-tempo stuff with his band, which is probably one of the best I’ve ever heard.” While Stewart could have easily been hyping up his record at the time, Holland’s group clearly knew what they were doing when working on any of those classics.
Even before working with Stewart, seeing Holland hold his own next to George Harrison when playing along to the song ‘Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea’ was all the proof that Stewart needed to understand what he was capable of. He was a bandleader in name, but one only gets to that level once they have an idea of almost every kind of music that is thrown their way.
So while this isn’t necessarily the first band you’d think of to make a balls-to-the-wall rock and roll album, that didn’t seem to matter to Stewart. He wanted the opportunity to take his foot off the gas in his old age, and that meant getting involved with artists who had studied all of those classic records from back in the day.
