{"id":1518,"date":"2008-06-26T01:20:50","date_gmt":"2008-06-26T05:20:50","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2010-04-19T22:38:24","modified_gmt":"2010-04-19T22:38:24","slug":"battle-royale-round-6-rod-stewart-vs-the-1974","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/battle-royale-round-6-rod-stewart-vs-the-1974\/","title":{"rendered":"Battle Royale, Round 6: Rod Stewart vs The Stones, 1974"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><iframe class='youtube-player youtuber' type='text\/html' width='425' height='355' src='http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Pyn_X_7CENg?rel=0&amp;fs=1&amp;ap=%252526fmt%253D18' webkitAllowFullScreen mozallowfullscreen allowFullScreen frameborder='0'><\/iframe><br \/>\nCall 1974 the beginning of the <strong>Satin Years<\/strong>. Satin jackets and jumpsuits would mark the &#8220;sucking in the &#8217;70s&#8221; 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 <strong>Battle Royale<\/strong> against Rod Stewart from the years 1969-1976.<br \/>\n<!--nextpage--><\/p>\n<div class=\"image_block\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/media\/blogs\/rth\/itsonlyrnr.jpg\" alt=\"\" title=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" \/><\/p>\n<div class=\"image_legend\">The Stones sink to using Rod&#8217;s graphic designer?<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>In 1974, the Stones release an often-derided-yet-necessary-journeyman effort, <em>It&#8217;s Only Rock &#8216;n Roll<\/em>. Producer <strong>Jimmy Miller<\/strong> is no longer behind the board. Mick and Keef produce the album themselves as &#8220;The Glimmer Twins.&#8221; RTH hero <strong>Ray Cooper<\/strong> contributes percussion. <\/p>\n<p>The album contains a number of toe-tapping tunes, including the mild hit of a title track, a cover of <strong>The Temptations<\/strong>&#8216; &#8220;Ain&#8217;t Too Proud to Beg&#8221;, &#8220;If You Can&#8217;t Rock Me&#8221;, &#8220;Fingerprint File&#8221;, and the tender ballad &#8220;Time Waits for No One&#8221;. In terms of quality, it&#8217;s comparable to one of the decent albums Rod Stewart turned out earlier, such as <em>Never a Dull Moment<\/em>. By this point, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/index.php\/2008\/06\/26\/fox-in-the-henhouse-1974-shocker\"><strong>Ron Wood<\/strong> has jammed with Keef<\/a> and even contributes to the writing of title track! By year&#8217;s end, Mick Taylor will finally quit the band.<br \/>\n<!--nextpage--><br \/><iframe class='youtube-player youtuber' type='text\/html' width='425' height='355' src='http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/X04x9XZSCDE?rel=0&amp;fs=1&amp;ap=%252526fmt%253D18' webkitAllowFullScreen mozallowfullscreen allowFullScreen frameborder='0'><\/iframe><br \/>\nThe band was going in a number of directions. Even <strong>Bill Wyman<\/strong> was branching out. This lip-synched performance of &#8220;Monkey Grip&#8221;, from his solo album of the same name, brings to mind a performer from a decade earlier.<br \/>\n<!--nextpage--><br \/><iframe class='youtube-player youtuber' type='text\/html' width='425' height='355' src='http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/MzI6NrBdP7U?rel=0&amp;fs=1&amp;ap=%252526fmt%253D18' webkitAllowFullScreen mozallowfullscreen allowFullScreen frameborder='0'><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>When you add it up, 1974 was a fairly good year for the Stones. <\/p>\n<p><iframe class='youtube-player youtuber' type='text\/html' width='425' height='355' src='http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Pwc8yhmKTgo?rel=0&amp;fs=1&amp;ap=%252526fmt%253D18' webkitAllowFullScreen mozallowfullscreen allowFullScreen frameborder='0'><\/iframe><br \/>\nOne of the best moves the Stones make on <em>It&#8217;s Only Rock &#8216;n Roll<\/em> is to re-embrace <strong>Motown<\/strong>. Although a lot of fans of the earlier &#8217;70s mojo-blues period scoff at the band&#8217;s cover of &#8220;Ain&#8217;t Too Proud to Beg&#8221; it&#8217;s a welcome slab of <strong>F-U-N<\/strong>. It goes without saying that the decision to cover a Motown song for the first time since the Brian Jones era was probably influenced by the success Rod Stewart and Faces had working with this material.<\/p>\n<p><iframe class='youtube-player youtuber' type='text\/html' width='425' height='355' src='http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/3cPjQTBCDC8?rel=0&amp;fs=1&amp;ap=%252526fmt%253D18' webkitAllowFullScreen mozallowfullscreen allowFullScreen frameborder='0'><\/iframe><br \/>\nI&#8217;ve always been a fan of <strong>&#8220;If You Can&#8217;t Rock Me&#8221;<\/strong>. It&#8217;s nasty and rolls forward, with Charlie Watts doing those shuffles and snare rolls that run over measures, the way he used to do when the Stones regularly cranked out Winner Rock like &#8220;Let&#8217;s Spend the Night Together&#8221; and &#8220;Get Off My Cloud&#8221;. Again, it gets down to beginning to re-embracing that Motown hitch that you hear in a song like <strong>Marvin Gaye<\/strong>&#8216;s &#8220;Hitch Hike&#8221; and &#8220;Ain&#8217;t That Peculiar&#8221;. It sounds like a Rolling Stones song, not some slop that a coked-out FM DJ like <strong>Johnny Fever<\/strong> would have raved about.<br \/>\n<!--nextpage--><br \/>\nI&#8217;m not the only fan of the Stones who was worried that the band had been shying away from what made them so special on their great recordings through <em>Let It Bleed<\/em>. Check out this telling <a href=\"http:\/\/www.timeisonourside.com\/lpIORR.html\" target=\"_blank\">quote from Keef<\/a> in 1976:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>By the time of <em>Goats Head Soup<\/em> and <em>It&#8217;s Only Rock &#8216;N Roll<\/em>, people had to contend with <em>Exile<\/em> for real and that&#8217;s why I say that Mick Taylor wasn&#8217;t particularly good for the group. He joined at a time when with any other band he wouldn&#8217;t have been forced out of England, forced to live that kind of life that was alien to him&#8230; He was really an odd man out. There was no way he could feel part of the whole thing as much as the rest of us&#8230; Mick Taylor wasn&#8217;t good for the Stones. It was a sterile period for us &#8217;cause there were things we had to force through. Maybe it&#8217;s just me. It was a period we had to go through. Also Mick is such a LEAD guitarist, which completely destroyed the whole concept of the Stones, that is, the idea that you don&#8217;t walk into a guitar store and ask for a lead guitar or a rhythm guitar. You PLAY a fuckin&#8217; GUITAR. You are a GUITAR player. If you just want to fuck about with three strings at the top end, well, alright, but that&#8217;s not what the Stones are about. &#8211; Keef, 1976<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><strong>&#8220;Fingerprint File&#8221;<\/strong> is a good example of what Keef&#8217;s talking about. It&#8217;s a cool enough song, but it sounds more like a mid-70s <strong>Isley Brothers<\/strong> track.<br \/><iframe class='youtube-player youtuber' type='text\/html' width='425' height='355' src='http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/ykmBkSy-S0s?rel=0&amp;fs=1&amp;ap=%252526fmt%253D18' webkitAllowFullScreen mozallowfullscreen allowFullScreen frameborder='0'><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, 1974 was a miserable year for Rod and the Faces. Following the release of 1973&#8217;s <em>Ooh La La<\/em>, <strong>Ronnie Lane<\/strong> left the band. He was replaced by <strong>Tetsu Yamauchi<\/strong>, a shark-jumping, rock &#8216;n roll <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Ted_McGinley\" target=\"_blank\">Ted McGinley<\/a>. The band released a horrendous live album, <em>Coast to Coast: Overtures and Beginners<\/em>. If you&#8217;ve never heard it, keep it that way. It&#8217;s much worse than anything we&#8217;ve been picking away at through this series. It may be among the worst albums ever discussed in the Halls of Rock. The band recorded a final, respectable studio single, <strong>&#8220;You Can Make Me Dance, Sing, or Anything&#8221;<\/strong> (go to the <strong>3:56<\/strong> mark of the following clip), before slowly winding down until Stewart would announce his departure from the band in 1975. By this time, however, Woody had signed on for a &#8220;temporary&#8221; gig with the Stones (<em>see<\/em> <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/index.php\/2008\/06\/26\/fox-in-the-henhouse-1974-shocker\">Fox in the Henhouse: 1974 Shocker!<\/a><\/strong>).<br \/><iframe class='youtube-player youtuber' type='text\/html' width='425' height='355' src='http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/pQigl8G_rT0?rel=0&amp;fs=1&amp;ap=%252526fmt%253D18' webkitAllowFullScreen mozallowfullscreen allowFullScreen frameborder='0'><\/iframe><br \/>\n<!--nextpage--><br \/>\nRod&#8217;s 1974 solo album, <em>Smiler<\/em>, his first without the involvement of Woody, didn&#8217;t help matters. It, too, sucks. As <strong>Townsman Alexmagic<\/strong> said earlier, when talk of a TKO arose, only Jagger&#8217;s commitment to showmanship would keep Stewart standing and able to give it one more try in &#8217;75. Mick might regret not letting his band go for the kill!<\/p>\n<div class=\"image_block\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/media\/blogs\/rth\/smiler.jpg\" alt=\"\" title=\"\" width=\"250\" height=\"250\" \/><\/p>\n<div class=\"image_legend\">You CAN judge an album by its cover!<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><strong>ROUND 6:<\/strong> The Stones<\/p>\n<p><em><a href=\"http:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/index.php\/2008\/06\/25\/battle-royale-round-5-rod-stewart-vs-the-1973\">Previously&#8230;<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<nav class=\"page-links\"><strong>Pages:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/battle-royale-round-6-rod-stewart-vs-the-1974\/\" class=\"post-page-numbers\"><span class=\"page-num\">1<\/span><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/battle-royale-round-6-rod-stewart-vs-the-1974\/2\/\" class=\"post-page-numbers\"><span class=\"page-num\">2<\/span><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/battle-royale-round-6-rod-stewart-vs-the-1974\/3\/\" class=\"post-page-numbers\"><span class=\"page-num\">3<\/span><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/battle-royale-round-6-rod-stewart-vs-the-1974\/4\/\" class=\"post-page-numbers\"><span class=\"page-num\">4<\/span><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/battle-royale-round-6-rod-stewart-vs-the-1974\/5\/\" class=\"post-page-numbers\"><span class=\"page-num\">5<\/span><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/battle-royale-round-6-rod-stewart-vs-the-1974\/6\/\" class=\"post-page-numbers\"><span class=\"page-num\">6<\/span><\/a><\/nav>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Call 1974 the beginning of the Satin Years. Satin jackets and jumpsuits would mark the &#8220;sucking in the &#8217;70s&#8221; 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 <a href='https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/battle-royale-round-6-rod-stewart-vs-the-1974\/' class='excerpt-more'>[&#8230;]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[342],"tags":[42,149,45],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1518"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1518"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1518\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1518"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1518"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1518"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}