In 1976, Stewart released the album A Night on the Town which included the single "Tonight's The Night", a #1 smash for eight weeks in the United States, one which went Gold, and another of The Top 500 Songs of the Rock Era*.
Cat Stevens wrote this great song which has been covered by many artists, including Sheryl Crow. Rod Stewart recorded arguably the best version of "The First Cut Is The Deepest", which reached #3 on the Adult chart and #21 overall in the U.S. and #11 in the U.K.
"The Killing Of Georgie" is about the murder of a gay man and was one of the first songs to deal with the subject of the sickness of homophobia. "That was a true story about a gay friend of the Faces, Stewart told Mojo in May of 1995.
Rod followed with the album Foot Loose & Fancy Free, which reached #2. "You're In My Heart" jumped to #2 in Canada and Australia, #2 in New Zealand and Ireland, #3 in the U.K. and #4 in the United States. Britt Ekland, Stewart's girlfriend at the time, told this story:
We went out to dinner with a bunch of friends one
night to St. Germaine's one of the poshest
restaurants in Los Angeles. In the middle of the
meal, Rod leaned over to me and whispered, "I've
written a song for you." No one took any notice as
Rod softly sang the words into my ear. My eyes
filled with tears. It was the loveliest song I had ever
heard.
Stewart released "Hot Legs" as his next single, with help from Carmine Appice, former drummer of Vanilla Fudge and a recent addition to Stewart's backing band. It reached #4 in Germany and Ireland and #5 in the U.K. but was underrated at #28 in the United States.
"I Was Only Joking" is about the regrets a person feels when they didn't reach their potential. It peaked at #5 in the U.K. and #22 in the U.S.
Stewart achieved another transcontinental #1 with "Do Ya' Think I'm Sexy", the lead single from the album Blondes Have More Fun. "I think it's one of those songs that everyone can remember what they were doing in that particular year," Stewart told Mojo in May of 1995. "It was one of the 10 songs that summed up that whole Disco period. And that's what music's about surely, to bring back memories." Rod donated all proceeds from the song to UNICEF.
The album also reached #1 and has sold over three million copies. In 1980, Stewart released the album Foolish Behaviour, which yielded the single "Passion". It hit #2 in Canada, #4 in Switzerland, #5 in the U.S. and the Netherlands, #6 in Ireland and #7 in New Zealand.
Rod released the album Tonight I'm Yours in 1981. "Tonight I'm Yours (Don't Hurt Me)", written by Stewart, his guitarist Jim Cregan and keyboardist Kevin Savigar, reached #2 in Canada, #6 in Australia, #8 in the U.K., #9 in Switzerland and #10 in Sweden.
Rod wrote the lyrics to "Young Turks", with Appice and keyboardists Duane Hitchings and Savigar working on the music. Appice told Songfacts about how the sound came about:
Rod was always trying to be on the cutting edge at
that time, so we did drum machine stuff. Duane had
just gotten a sequencer, so we started screwing
around and came up with the chords and melodies.
We presented it to Rod. This one was easy
because we used the whole concept that we came up
with. We just transferred it from the 8-track that
Duane had going right onto the 24-track. We used
the drum machine and everything. Once we gave
Rod the music, he wrote the lyrics.
But on Rod's 1983 album Body Wishes, "Baby Jane" was the best effort at #14.
Stewart was in the biggest slump of his career. He not only turned that around; he was one of the most successful artists in the remainder of the decade. Join us for Part Three!
"He's so freakin' cool. Always was and always will be..."
'I'm still mesmerized by this man's music."
"Rod you are a hit machine! A true legend...One of the best of all time !!"
"Rod is the best."
"This man has done some wonderful music. Love the lyrics."
"He has some killer songs!"
"One of the best artists of his generation."
"Rod Stewart's sound is fantastic!"
"Great singer with many classics under his belt."
"Just brilliant. What a legend."
"Rod was one of the greatest ever."
"One of the best singers. He sings with his whole heart and soul."
"Thank you for for the beautiful music, beautiful songs and unforgettable melodies"
Rod Stewart was born on January 10, 1945 during World War II. When his father retired from building, he bought a shop on Archway Road and the family lived over the shop.
Rod's father played and managed amateur soccer (renamed "football" in Europe about 30 years ago), and Rod was a star centre-half player for Middlesex.
Stewart followed the career of Al Jolson, influenced by Jolson's style. Not long after seeing Bill Haley & the Comets in concert, Rod's father bought him a guitar. Rod joined a skiffle group known as the Kool Kats with his classmates.
Rod never did well in his studies, and left school at the age of 15, working as a silk screen printer for a short time in the family business and as a paperboy delivering newspapers. He also worked as a gravedigger for Highgate Cemetery, for a North Finchley funeral parlour and as a sign writer and fence erector.
In 1961, Rod auditioned for the Raiders (not the accomplished and much more famous act from Boise, Idaho) and was accepted into the group, which attracted the attention of noted producer Joe Meek. Meek liked the band but not its lead singer, so Rod was abruptly fired.
Stewart's first ambition was professional soccer, and he tried out for Brentford F.C. Although some accounts say he was signed to the club, Rod wrote in his 2012 autobiography that he was never signed and in fact the club never called him back.
Stewart was most interested in British and American Folk by artists such as Bob Dylan and Woody Guthrie. He was a part of the literary "Beat Generation" that was prevalent at the time and lived in a beatnik houseboat at Shoreha-by-Sea for a while.
Rod became active in popular political causes such as the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, joining the annual Aldermaston Marches from 1961-63 and was arrested three times when he participated in sit-ins at Trafalgar Square and White Hall.
A relationship with Suzannah Boffey resulted in Boffey becoming pregnant but as Rod had no interest in marriage, the baby girl was given up for adoption and the relationship ended.
Rod began busking at Leicester Square and other London locations with his harmonica in 1962 with Folk singer Wizz Jones. The two traveled Brighton, England, Paris, sleeping under bridges over the River Seine and then to Barcelona. Eventually, Stewart was corralled and deported from Spain for vagrancy in 1963, adding to his lore.
Rod (second from right, above) joined the Dimensions in 1963 as a harmonica player and part-time vocalist. The following year, he got a big break when Long John Baldry invited Stewart into his band, later named the Hoochie Coochie Men. A normally shy 19-year-old found his calling and was nicknamed Rod "the Mod" Stewart. The band played regularly at the famous Marquee Club in London.
Later that year, Rod signed a recording contract and released his first single, "Good Morning Little Schoolgirl", featuring bassist John Paul Jones, a session musician at the time who would later join the legendary group Led Zeppelin. In October, Stewart left the Hoochie Coochie Men.
Although Stewart performed on his own in late 1964 and early 1965, he joined a new group Baldry put together called Steampacket, which made its live debut opening for the Rolling Stones in July.
Rod continued to record solo during this time and released the singles "The Day Will Come" and "Shake", a remake of the Sam Cooke song.
Stewart left Steampacket in March of 1966 before joining Shotgun Express (which included Mick Fleetwood and Peter Green, who would go on to form Fleetwood Mac) two months later.
Stewart joined two other prominent acts, The Jeff Beck Group and Faces, before going solo permanently.
Mercury Records A&R man Lou Reizner was impressed by Stewart and signed him to a solo recording contract on October 8, 1968. Rod released his debut album An Old Raincoat Won't Ever Let You Down (known as simply the Rod Stewart Album in the United States). Keith Emerson was one of the backing musicians on the album.
Mike D'Abo of Manfred Mann wrote on themanfreds.comhow it was that Stewart got to record "Handbags And Gladrags":
Since I was writing a lot of songs, I offered my
services as writer/producer to Andrew Oldham,
who had just started up Immediate Records. Andrew
also put me together with Rod who wanted to
record the song as well. Unfortunately, since
I had promised it to Chris, Rod had to settle for
another of my songs, "Little Miss Understood," which
was released in 1968. Rod made me promise to let
him record H&G once he got himself an album deal
(his deal with Immediate was for singles only). In
1969 he knocked on my door saying he had
secured an album deal with Mercury Records.
Here is another Top Track* on the album: "Cindy's Lament".
Stewart continued to be in Faces during this stage, which gave Rod additional exposure. In 1970, he released the album Gasoline Alley before touring the United States with Faces. Stewart covered Elton John's "Country Comfort".
Stewart's 1971 album Every Picture Tells a Story was his breakthrough, featuring the classic song "Maggie May". When both the album and single catapulted to #1 in the U.S. and the United Kingdom simultaneously, it was the first time it had happened in the Rock Era. The single is one of The Top 500 Songs of the Rock Era*
Stewart wrote the title song with friend Ron Wood, who he met in the Jeff Beck Group and who he later played with in Faces. "I can remember the buildup," Stewart told Mojo in May of 1995. "You know what the song's about - your early teenage life when you're leaving home and you're exploring the world for yourself."
Faces released the albumsLong PlayerandA Nod is as Good as a Wink...To a Blind Horse. Tim Hardin originally recorded this song in 1965 and performed it at Woodstock four years later. Rod included his cover of "Reason To Believe" on the album.
Stewart's remake of Bob Dylan's "Tomorrow Is A Long Time"
is another of Rod's career best.
"(I Know) I'm Losing You" reached #4 in Canada but only #24 in the United States.
"Mandolin Rain" is the only song on the album that Stewart wrote himself. Ray Jackson from the group Lindisfarne played the mandolin on the track.
Faces toured in 1972 but there was resentment that Stewart was more successful than the band. Rod released the album Never a Dull Moment, which reached #1 in the U.K. and #2 in the U.S. "You Wear It Well" gave him another #1 in U.K. while stopping at #13 in the United States, one of The Top Unknown/Underrated Songs of the Rock Era*.
Rod's cover of the Jimi Hendrix song "Angel" is a highlight of the album. It is another example of a huge hit in the U.K. (#4) that got little airplay anywhere else.
Faces released their final album Ooh La La in 1973, but the tensions escalated during recording sessions. In 1974, Stewart released the album Smiler, his third consecutive #1 in the U.K.
Rod released the double compilation album The Best of Rod Stewart and then switched to Warner Brothers Records. Faces toured the United States twice in 1975 before Stewart announced the group was splitting at the end of the year.
Rod moved to Los Angeles and released the album Atlantic Crossing with help from producer Tom Dowd and the famous Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section. "Sailing" was a huge hit in the U.K. (#1 for four weeks), and also topped charts in Ireland and the Netherlands and also reached #2 in Australia and Sweden.
We present more of Rod Stewart in Part Two on Inside The Rock Era!
(Continued from Part Four) Dylan released the great album Blood on the Tracks in 1974, which has topped two million in sales. The single "Tangled Up In Blue" is a personal song that deals with the changes Bob was going through, including a failed marriage. The song stalled at #31, but is a fan favorite.
Dylan's son Jakob, who has become successful in his own right, says that the songs on Blood on the Tracks are "his parents talking". Here is "Simple Twist Of Fate".
"Idiot Wind" is a scathing song about a woman but also Dylan criticizes himself for not handling the relationship well.
Dylan continues to deny the songs on the album were about his divorce from Sara, insisting they are taken from literature, as many of his songs are. We want to include "You're Going To Make Me Lonesome When You Go".
"Shelter From The Storm" is another of Dylan's career best, and one of the many tracks that makes Blood on the Tracks so outstanding. The composition used only three chords and began as the song "Up To Me", which Roger McGuinn recorded in 1976. It is about not knowing how good something is until it's gone.
"Meet Me In The Morning" is about a woman the narrator is attracted to yet he criticizes her throughout the song.
One of the best songs of Dylan's career is an album track called "Lily, Rosemary & The Jack Of Hearts". Bob tells an amazing tale of the seemingly invincible Jack of Hearts, who nobody seems to notice and who seduces Lily and Rosemary, both who have been involved with Big Jim, the wealthiest man in town. A murder occurs halfway during the song, but do we really know who is guilty?
In 1975, Dylan released the albums The Basement Tapes and Desire and ventured out on tour. The former went Gold while Desire sold over two million copies.
Dylan wrote "Hurricane" for boxer Rubin "Hurricane" Carter, who was imprisoned for 19 years for a triple murder in New Jersey. Like it could be ripped from today's headlines, Carter was the victim of racism and profiling.
On June 17, 1966, three white people were shot at the Lafayette Grill in Paterson, New Jersey. After witnesses described two black men as the murderers, police pulled Carter and his friend John Artis over. Although they were black, they did not fit the description the witnesses provided.
Originally, Carter and Artis were released and Carter went back to his boxing career. Two months later, however, the two were charged. Alfred Bello and Arthur Bradley claimed on the witness stand that they were on the way to rob a factory when they saw the shooting. Carter was sentenced to 30 years while Artis got 15 years. Bradley and Bello received reduced sentences for their crimes.
Carter wrote his autobiography, The Sixteenth Round: From Number 1 Contender to Number 45472, published in 1974. Carter sent a copy to Dylan, who took up his cause.
"Isis" is another outstanding track. Isis is a goddess in ancient Egyptian mythology who is worshipped as the ideal wife and protective mother.
The live album Hard Rain in 1976 reached #3 in the U.K. and sold over 500,000 copies. Bob toured the world for nearly a year in 1978, performing 114 shows to an audience of two million fans. Concerts in Tokyo were recorded and released as the live double album Bob Dylan at Budokan. The tour grossed over $20 million. Dylan released the album Street Legal, his 17th straight Gold album. In 1979, Bob released the album Bob Dylan at Budokan, which has sold over 500,000 copies.
Bob claims he became a Christian in the late '70s, and he released two spiritual albums. Slow Train Coming in 1979 is one of his best career albums. Mark Knopfler of Dire Straits played guitar on the album, produced by Jerry Wexler. The single "Gotta' Serve Somebody" peaked at #24, but the Grammy folks thought it was way better than that, giving Bob a trophy for Best Rock Vocal Performance, Male.
Dylan won a Grammy Award for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance for "Gotta' Serve Somebody". Slow Train Coming sold over one million copies, but Saved ended Dylan's streak of consecutive Gold albums at 18. The title song from Saved earned a Grammy nomination for Best Inspirational Performance. During this period, Dylan would not play his older songs at concerts, but began working them back in by late-1980. In 1981, Bob released his third Gospel album, Shot of Love, with the title song recognized at the Grammy Awards with a nomination for Best Inspirational Performance.
In 1983, Dylan released the album Infidels, which went Gold. Some believe the "Jokerman" is Jesus, as the song has several Biblical references. Others believe it is about Dylan himself.
He released Empire Burlesque in 1985, before joining an all-star cast to record We Are The World" with USA for Africa. Dylan performed at Live Aid in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Bob released the million-selling compilation box set Biograph in 1985, with the album recognized as a nominee for Best Historical Album at the Grammy Awards. In 1986, Dylan released the album Knocked Out Loaded. Dylan toured with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, forming an association he revisited later in his career. Bob also toured with the Grateful Dead in 1987 and released the album Dylan & The Dead. Bob starred in the movie Hearts of Fire in 1987.
In 1988, Bob (above, with Bruce Springsteen) was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He released the album Down in the Groove, which was a flop. Dylan began what has been called the "Never Ending Tour", playing about 100 shows a year from 1988 to 2016. By 2013, Dylan had played over 2,500 shows. Dylan then joined George Harrison, Petty, Roy Orbison and Jeff Lynne to form the group Traveling Wilburys. The group released the album Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1 in 1988. After Orbison's death in December of 1988, the remaining members recorded and released the album Traveling Wilburys Vol. 3.
In 1989, Bob released the live album Dylan & the Dead, which was certified Gold.
Dylan released the album Oh Mercy in 1989, his first Gold album in six years. In 1990, Bob released the album Under the Red Sky, which featured contributions from Harris, Elton John, Bruce Hornsby, David Crosby, Slash of Guns N' Roses and Stevie Ray Vaughan. The album obviously had great musicianship but lacked good songwriting and failed. Dylan received the Commandeur des Arts et des Lettres in France, the highest Order an entertainer can receive.
Dylan released The Bootleg Series Volumes 1-3 (Rare & Unreleased) 1961-1991, which contained the first available recording of "Blind Willie McTell".
Bob received a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Grammys in 1991. He soon returned to music similar to his early albums with Good as I Been to You in 1992 and World Gone Wrong in 1993. Dylan was nominated for Best Contemporary Folk Album (for Good As I Been to You), Best Traditional Folk Album (for World Gone Wrong), Best Rock Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group (for "My Back Pages"), Best Male Rock Vocal Performance (for "All Along The Watchtower") and Best Music Video, Short Form at the Grammy Awards (for "Series Of Dreams").
Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits, Volume 3 in 1994 went Platinum. In 1995, Dylan made his contribution to the MTV Unplugged series and was nominated for Best Contemporary Folk Album, Best Rock Song ("Dignity") and Best Rock Vocal Performance, Male (for "Knockin' On Heaven's Door"). While recording his next album, Bob was struck with the heart infection pericarditis and he had to cancel a European tour. After recovering, Bob hit the road and released the album Time Out of Mind, which won a Grammy Award for Album of the Year and sold over one million copies. "Not Dark Yet", thought by some to be Dylan dealing with his own mortality, is the highlight of the album.
Dylan also won Grammys for Best Contemporary Folk Album and Best Rock Vocal Performance, Male (for "Cold Irons Bound"). It was Dylan's first Platinum album since Slow Train Coming 18 years before.
In 1997, U.S. president Bill Clinton presented Bob with a Kennedy Center Honor. Dylan joined another legend, Paul Simon, for a tour of North America. Though he was greatly overshadowed by Simon, whose knack for entertaining was in sharp contrast to the reclusive nature of Dylan, the tour was a success. In 1998, Dylan received a nomination for Best Country Song as the writer of "To Make You Feel My Love". In 2000, Bob received the Polar Music Prize, and won an Academy Award for the song "Things Have Changed", recorded for the movie Wonder Boys. Dylan was nominated for Best Rock Vocal Performance, Male and Best Song Written for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media at the Grammy Awards. Dylan released the album Love and Theft in 2001, which he produced himself. He won a Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Album and was nominated for Album of the Year and Best Rock Vocal Performance, Male (for "Honest With Me").
In 2003, Bob starred in a movie he co-wrote with director Larry Charles called Masked & Anonymous. He was nominated for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals for "Gonna' Change My Way of Thinking" and Best Rock Vocal Performance, Male for "Down In The Flood". Also that year, Dylan released part of his autobiography, Chronicles Volume One, which rose to #2 on The New York Times' best-seller list and was nominated for a National Book Award. St. Andrews University in Scotland bestowed an Honorary Doctorate of Music degree to Dylan in 2004. Dylan released the album Modern Times in 2006. The album rose to #1 in the United States, sold over one million copies and was nominated for three Grammy Awards, winning for Best Contemporary Folk/Americana Album and Best Solo Rock Vocal Performance (for "Someday Baby"). "Someday Baby" was also nominated for Best Rock Song.
Dylan released the triple compilation album Dylan in 2007.
Dylan exhibited his paintings in The Drawn Blank Series, which opened at the Kunstsammlungen in Chemitz, Germany in 2007.
In 2008, the Pulitzer Prize jury awarded Bob for "his profound impact on popular music and American culture, marked by lyrical compositions of extraordinary poetic power." Dylan released the album Together Through Life in 2009. When it debuted at #1 in the U.S., Dylan became the oldest artist (at 67 years old) to debut at #1. It was Bob's first #1 album in the U.K. since New Morning, giving Dylan the record for the longest gap between #1 solo albums in the U.K. Bob earned Grammy nominations for Best Americana Album and Best Solo Rock Vocal Performance (for "Beyond Here Lies Nothin'").
Dylan released the album Christmas in the Heart in 2009, with proceeds benefiting Feeding America in the United States, Crisis in the U.K. and the World Food Programme. In 2010 and 2011, the National Gallery of Denmark featured 40 acrylic paintings by Dylan called The Brazil Series. Dylan's paintings of schenes in China and the Far East were shown at the Gagosian Madison Avenue Gallery in New York
In 2012, U.S president Barack Obama awarded Dylan the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Later in the year, Bob released the album Tempest.
Dylan released the box set Bob Dylan: Complete Album Collection: Vol. One, which featured all 35 studio albums, six live albums and another collection called Sidetracks (which consisted of singles, music from soundtracks and non-album songs). Dylan exhibited more paintings in the New Orleans Series at the Palazzo Reale in Milan, Italy in 2013. Bob showcased 12 pastel portraits for the Face Value exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery in London.
In 2014, Dylan published a 960-page edition of his songwriting called Lyrics: Since 1962. A limited edition of 50 books, signed by Dylan, was offered for $5,000. The next year, Bob released the album Shadows in the Night, his interpretation of the Great American Songbook, which won a Grammy Award for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album. Bob also won a trophy for Best Historical Album for The Bootleg Series Vol. 11: The Basement Tapes Complete. In 2016, Dylan released the album Fallen Angels. Later in the year, he received the Nobel Prize in Literature "for having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition". In typical Dylan fashion, he snubbed the organization by not accepting his award at the ceremony. The Halcyon Gallery exhibited Dylan's collections of drawings, watercolors and acryllics for the exhibition The Beaten Path.
Dylan has won 12 Grammy Awards from 39 nominations, one Academy Award and one Golden Globe Award. Five of Bob's songs: "Blowin' In The Wind", "The Times They Are-a-Changin'", "Like A Rolling Stone", "Subterranean Homesick Blues" and "Tangled Up In Blue" are included in the "500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll" exhibit at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
"Blowin' In The Wind", "Like A Rolling Stone" and "Mr. Tambourine Man" (which became a hit for the Byrds and the albums Blonde on Blonde, Highway 61 Revisited, Bringing It All Back Home, Blood on the Tracks and The Basement Tapes have been inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.
Dylan has scored 23 career hits, with 4 of those reaching the Top 10. He has sold an estimated 100 million
