Townsman Hrrundivbakshi requested more proof that Rod Stewart’s 1974 solo album, Smiler, “sucks,” as I summarized.
As requested, the Vanda and Young-composed track from Smiler that could change the course of this study…
Rod Stewart, “Hard Road”
I look forward to your thoughts.
Call 1974 the beginning of the Satin Years. Satin jackets and jumpsuits would mark the “sucking in the ’70s” period that both the Stones and Rod Stewart would face. The best thing that can be said about some of the worst works by these artists in the coming years is that they helped spur the punk rock movement. However, the Stones would work hard to keep it together and see if they could even up the score in their Battle Royale against Rod Stewart from the years 1969-1976.
Listen closely to Keef in this 1974 interview and see if you can tell where this is headed.
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I came across this old New York Times piece on Keith Richards, at the time of the release of his X-Pensive Winos album, Talk Is Cheap. It was 1989, and the rock world marveled at the fact that Keef had made it to 45 years of age! Keef and Mick were airing dirty laundry like an old, committed married couple on a regular basis. It’s a testament to the band that nothing’s really changed in all this time. Let’s hope the power of their musical marriage is what gets them through the last couple of rounds of our Stones vs Stewart Battle Royale!
In 1973, the Stones follow up their most ambitious album, Exile On Main Street, with Goats Head Soup. Exhausted from weeks of all-night sessions and covering for Wyman’s bass responsibilities, Keef takes a virtual leave of absence from the Stones and lets the Micks work out the next album. The big hit single from Goats Head Soup is “Angie”, in which Mick Jagger and the boys take on Rod Stewart in the most mawkish part of Stewart’s game. Big whoop! Are you proud of this effort, Stones loyalists? Stones fans are generally unimpressed. The Stones have entered the period in their history when they’re expected to make the playoffs, when they can’t sell out playoff games on their own turf.
Before moving on, to ensure clarity in the guidelines under which this examination is being conducted, it should be noted that the best song the Stones would record in 1973, the initial tracks for “Waiting on a Friend”, does not qualify for inclusion.
Some time back we discussed Goats Head Soup and how it compared unfavorably to an album beyond the scope of our current investigation, the vibrant, Ron Wood-inspired boys’ club racket of Some Girls. Click here to revisit that post and sample some of the songs from that album, if you’d like. They’re not that good, and they’re pretty lousy by previously established Rolling Stones’ standards.
Faces, “Cindy Incidentally”
Faces, “My Fault”
Rod Stewart, wisely, took a year off from releasing a solo album. With Faces, however, he took part in what I believe is the band’s most consistent, emotionally charged album, Ooh La La. Taken as a whole, I liken this album, in the band’s brief existence, to their version of the Klassic Kinks‘ late-60s run. It represents all sides of what made the band, occasionally, great and very little of what made them easy to write off when compared to titans like the Stones. It’s the “smallest” of Faces albums, thanks in large part to Stewart’s limited involvement on lead vocals. However, according to the methods we have set for this examination, we will not consider the great tracks sung by Ronnie Lane (“Glad and Sorry”, “If I’m On the Late Side”, “Flags and Banners”) or Ron Wood (the title track) other than to say that they may not have been heard by all but a few record nerds like ourselves if not for the involvement of the more commercially viable Rod Stewart. I know this will pain some of you, but let’s give it up for the trickle-down effect of Stewart’s marketing clout!
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After Rod Stewart landed the shocking combo of Every Picture Tells a Story and two vibrant Faces albums in 1971, the Stones retreated to a distant corner in the South of France to gear up for a tougher battle than they’d expected. Jagger had trusted roadie, ivory tinkler, and confidante Ian Stewart cut the sac of blood and other fluids that threatened to close his right eye. Keef took Mick Taylor down to the pub, then chewed him out, telling him to stop dicking around with minor seventh chords. Wyman cruised Arles for a kinky mother-daughter team. Charlie made sure Purdie had his passport in order. The Stones dropped the Satan schtick once and for all, but there would be hell to pay in the form of Exile on Main Street.
In another effort to allow you to ease your mind from Round 3 of our fiercely contested Stewart vs Stones Battle Royale, we seek your candid answers to the following questions. Don’t think twice, it’s all right.
If someone would give you the ticket for free, what band would you most like to see play live solely for ironic reasons?
What musician who came out of the punk era most suffers from Fogerty Syndrome?
In 225 words or less, please explain the long-running, massive appeal of Neil Diamond?
Quick: When you think cut-out bins what’s the first album that comes to mind?
What’s your favorite pre-rock era cover by a rock band?
I look forward to your responses.
