This year Rod Stewart's album Every Picture Tells a Story is the feature LP. As these album posts tend to run a wee bit long, we'll dispense with the obligatory stolen from Wikipedia bio, and just note a few facts about the album. In addition to having one of the truly great album titles and being one of my five favorites LP's of all-time, Every Picture Tells a Story was a number one hit for Stewart both in his native U.K. and here in the U.S. of A. It finished a surprisingly weak #172 in Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All-Time (I wondered at the time if its relatively low rank--in Rolling Stone's ten year anniversary issue the album showed up on more of their critics' best of lists than just about any other music of their first ten years save the Velvet Underground's "Heroin"--was because in the late 70's Rod the Mod decided he'd rather make money than art), but is generally considered one of the best albums of the 1970's. Finally, as Stewart was still singing with the Faces at the time, it includes a heaping helping of their musicianship (especially Ronnie Wood on guitar and Ian McLagan on keyboards/piano).
And away we go...
"Every Picture Tells a Story": Thanks to Micky Waller's explosive drumming this one is literally a detonation of an opening. The story of the young Stewart traveling around Europe and trying to find himself (and coming to understand that he'd already found himself at home) is easily the best song Stewart ever did and easily one of the ten best rock and roll songs of all-time. A masterpiece on the insecurities and the beauty of youth. Favorite line: "I couldn't quote you no Dickens, Shelley, or Keats/'Cause it's all been said before/Make the best out of the bad just laugh it off/You didn't have to come here anyway..."
"Seems Like a Long Time": Stewart and a piano (with some fine backing vocals from Madeleine Bell and friends) in this introspective turn on how slowly time churns as we wait for deliverance from both the personal and the worldly. Gospelesque at times and really showcases what a magnificent voice Stewart has been blessed with. Favorite line: "War time is only the other side of peace time/But if you've ever seen how wars are won/You know what it's like to wish peace time would come..."
"That's All Right"/"Amazing Grace": Song 1: In which Stewart gets to show off this blues chops in an old blues standard by Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup, and the band gets to show off its chops in several different incarnations (another shout out for Waller). Mostly just a lot of fun. Song 2: All I'll say is that when I was in the grips of depression in the nineties, I awoke one morning to this song on the alarm radio and though I'm not a religious man, it gave me a moment's peace at a time when such moments were few and far between. Song 1 Favorite line: "I'll be leaving here tomorrow/Leaving here for sure/You ain't gotta be bothered with me/Hangin' round your door..." Song 2 Favorite line: No need--you already know the words.
"Tomorrow Is a Long Time": Stewart covers an unreleased Dylan tune (Dylan would record it himself some years later for his Greatest Hits II) that sure sounds like it should have come from his Nashville Skyline sessions. Much like "Seems Like a Long Time" this one tells us the waiting is the hardest part (seems I've heard that before...). A ballad with lots of strings, a quiet portrait of a man recalling the beauty of his missing lover and his pain of being without her. Favorite line: "I can't see my reflection in the mirror/I can't speak the sounds that show no pain/I can't hear the echoes of my footsteps/Or remember the sound of my own name..."
"Maggie May": The song that made Stewart a star--and rightfully so. A #1 hit here and in the U.K., it's smart pop for the masses as Stewart spins the tale of a young man in love with an older woman who's making a fool of him, but he just can't leave her even though he knows he should. Great drumming again from Waller, great guitar from Wood, stunning mandolin work from Lindsay Jackson, and an impassioned performance from Stewart. Little known fact: there's an instrumental intro to the song called "Henry" that in some versions is treated as an intro and in others as a separate (though at 32 seconds, very short) song. Favorite line: "I suppose I could collect my books and get on back to school/Or steal my Daddy's cue and make a living out of playing pool/ Or find myself a rock and roll band that needs a helpin' hand..."
"Mandolin Wind": Considered by some (though not me) to be the best song on the album, Stewart weaves the tale of a prairie couple surviving the full force of nature and of the man's love for his wife for standing by him through thick and thin. Amazingly enough, the song contains some mandolin playing (though who it was remains something of a mystery), and some more nice guitar work from Wood. An understated vocal performance from Stewart and a compelling narrative. A great song. Favorite line: "When the rain came I thought you'd leave/'Cause I knew how much you loved the sun/But you chose to stay, stay and keep me warm/Through the darkest nights, I've ever known..."
"(I Know) I'm Losing You": For all intents and purposes, this is a Faces song as the entire band is featured and each gets to showcase their particular instrument...and does so brilliantly. This is the song that probably took me the longest to appreciate, but it is sheer genius. It's a cover of a 1966 hit by the Temptations about a man who knows he's losing his lover to another man and he's angry, sad, beaten, and the Faces lay it all on the line in this ominous ode. When the band begins to hum the tune it never ceases to amaze me how perfect--and audacious--it is. A band at its peak. Favorite line: "When I look into your eyes a reflection of a face I see/Oh Lord I'm losing you/I'm hurt, downhearted, and worried girl/'Cause that face doesn't belong to me..."
"Reason to Believe": Stewart closes the album with a folk tune written by Tim Hardin. I've never been able to figure out if the protagonist is singing to a lying lover or to God (maybe one and the same?) but it's a beautiful ballad and unsurprisingly, Stewart's vocals nail it (including a brief a cappella turn). The song should be featured in hymnals spanning the globe--a heavenly ending to an otherworldly album. Favorite line: "If I listened long enough to you/I'd find a way to believe that it's all true/Knowing that you lied straight-faced while I cried/Still I look to find a reason to believe..."
As Youtube has fucked up album videos (to put it mildly), I'll leave you with an album cover and a link to Spotify:
Fuck Donald Trump,
emaycee
No comments:
Post a Comment