sweetcharmedlife Wrote:
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> You won't regret Rooster. Truly from start to
> finish one of the greatest rock albums ever.


Ok man i am gonna buy it!!

Mandolin Wind is sort of Rod's equivalent to Wild Horses. That is, a ballad so phenomenal it trancends genre categories. A tour de force, an absolute masterpiece.

just came back from the store:

i got REASON TO BELIEVE: the complete mercury studio recordings.

3 CDS, that contain all the albums in order that Rod released from 1969 (Rod Stewart album) to 1973 Smiler. Plus some extra songs. Simply great, before Rod went "blonde" as Woody said. 33 euros well spent!

I'm going to put it on, Now i need a beer and my sofa.

Superb. Asides from mandolin wind theres my way of giving, you're my girl, blind prayer, seems like a long time, true blue, jodie, endless vfm. Enjoy !

farawayeyes2 Wrote:
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Plus some extra songs. Simply great,
> before Rod went "blonde" as Woody said. 33 euros


to be fair, latter-day, karaoke, blond- haired, what ronnie called 'poofter rod' has performed some great songs: young turks, some guys have all the luck, and downtown train, just to name a few. (his version of downtown train kicks the ass of tom waits')

anyone else like Country Comforts? a bit of schmalz, but o, how it pulls at my heart strings . . .

The "Complete Mercury Studio Recordings" 3-cd set is the perfect compliment to the Faces box, with all 5 studio albums, alternate version of "It's All Over Now", the great 'Oh No Not My Baby'/'Jodie' ('73) single that's really a Faces single, plus 'What Made Milwaukee Famoue' ('72 b-side) & several '73-74 outtakes...Mandolin Wind is a beautiful song. As mentioned, Martin Quittenton frequently plays acoustic to Ron's slide/electric (and 2nd acoustic), and, as the credits on the debut, Gasoline Alley, & Never A Dull Moment indicate, Ron plays plenty of bass too, with that fat, deep funky style he brought to the Beck Group, but a bit more looseness and swing that fits the material...There is a mandolin player named Ray Jackson ID'd on all the Mercury classics except EPTAS (where you get the Lindasfarne ref.) Wood's guitars & overall contributions are as essential as they were to Faces, but there are some interesting stylistic differences that led Rod's solo stuff to be more successful - not imo better, but more 'accessable'...I mean I love "Ooh La La" - in my all time top 10 - but melodically and thematically, there is an unassuming quality (where Rod emphasizes the hooks, goes for a 'bigger' - not slicker, at least till years later - production) - I mean the understated and melancholy gems like 'Glad & Sorry' 'Flags & Banners' etc just don't jump out of the radio...

the singer not the bong Wrotes
>
>
> to be fair, latter-day, karaoke, blond- haired,
> what ronnie called 'poofter rod' has performed
> some great songs: young turks, some guys have all
> the luck, and downtown train, just to name a few.
> (his version of downtown train kicks the ass of
> tom waits')

and I could list like other 30 songs i love from the blonde era 1975-now



yeah John r
i got the Faces box too!
I dont like collections, i always prefer buying all the single albums, even if i like/know just a pair of song on it, but I must admit that these two are great!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2007-05-28 21:44 by farawayeyes2.

I nprefer the original albums too, but the Faces box especially has so much rare or unreleased material it was a godsend!

I always thought "Flying" (Faces 1st record) sounds pretty much like "Sailing" (Rod solo about 1976). The "I am..." lines have the same melody, don't they? But different composers. But it is never a subject of discussion. Maybe Mathijs knows the exact tabs that make the difference to a plagiate or the similar seconds you need for a claim for royalties.

the singer not the bong Wrote:
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> anyone else like Country Comforts? a bit of
> schmalz, but o, how it pulls at my heart strings .
> . .

Always been one of my favourites.

TE
Oslo

Country Comforts on Gasoline Alley is the rare Elton John song by anybody I like at all, Rod & Ron & Mick Waller etc gave it a real rustic feel that works - tho its probably the least great song on that classic album...Otherwise, I suppose I wouldn't mind hearing 'Mona Lisas & Mad Hatters' (Elton) again some day...

I always thought Elton's song "Let Me Be Your Car" on Smiler was kind of weird, in that it seems more like an Elton track than a Rod Stewart one. The two sing it as a duet, but Elton is a lot louder...it's like Rod is doing the backing vocals on his own album.

Yeah, loog droog, it was about as welcome as Elton's guest shot on Lennon's album the same year...

The other way around works better: John Lennon guesting at an Elton John Concert 1974 in Madison Square Garden. I have a live maxi with I saw her standing there ("This is a song by an old fiancee of mine, called Paul"), Whatever gets you through the night and Lucy in the sky with diamonds.

In late '74 Elton was at a commercial peak, and everything he touched at that point turned to gold. His participation on "Whatever Gets You Through The Night" had A LOT to do with that song going to #1 (Lennon's first solo single to do so...hard to believe it wasn't "Instant Karma!" or "Imagine"). As weird as it seems now, that record was a "comeback" of sorts for John. His radical-politics music, which reached it's peak with Sometime In New York City in '72 and was still present in half of Mind Games in '73 never really caught on and was really out of style by '74. At that point, Elton was a selling point for dj's, who couldn't stop playing his stuff.

A version of that song without Elton's piano/organ/vocal overdubs (also minus Bobby Keyes sax, and more importantly: NOT SLIGHTLY SPED UP, like the record is) can be found on the Lennon Anthology box set. It's less frantic/cluttered than the hit version and I like it, but it's hard to say if it would have been as sucessful.

At least you can hear Lennon clearly on his record. On "Let Me Be Your Car" it sounds like Rod is standing behind Elton at the microphone.

On which Rod Stewart albums does Ronnie play? I've got the faces box, but I need to round out the collection! Thanks in advance.

Ronnie's on most of it up until '75... when he cleared off to join some other band.

Rod Stewart was never quite the same for me without the ramshackle genius of the faces in tow. The sound of that band [and the other associated musicians of those early days] were like an extension of his voice.] It all worked.
All his later work with high powered session players trying to sound rough and ready just didn't do it for me.

I'd take this opportunity to remind folks of another truly great Rod Stewart performance... and a truly great record all round.
Python Lee Jackson In a Broken Dream.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2007-05-29 19:01 by Spud.

I love the Unplugged alubm they did together.

As Spud says, Ron's on guitars, and often bass, as well as writing w/ Rod on the classic studio albums collected on "Complete Mercury Studio Recordings" - 'The Rod Stewart Album' ('69), 'Gasoline Alley' ('70), 'Every Picture Tells A Story' (71), 'Never A Dull Moment' ('72), & 'Smiler' ('74). They original LPs all had great cover art, too.

Thanks John!!

And it's not only Ron but the Faces as well! And that's the stupid thing in general about that Rod solo career in the early 70s. He must have felt that he would fare better without them. There are lots of Stewart/Wood compositions on Rod solo and Faces records, f.e.

Hello!

German radio station WDR2 will broadcast a BBC 1976 Recording

0n June 3rd; look here:

[www.ard.de]

I don't think he was still playing "Mandolin Wind" then!

Not the Bong said-

"to be fair, latter-day, karaoke, blond- haired, what ronnie called 'poofter rod' has performed some great songs: young turks, some guys have all the luck, and downtown train, just to name a few. (his version of downtown train kicks the ass of tom waits')"

Uh, while I DO like some of Blonde Rod's latter day efforts, this is one of the most outrageous and absurd statements I've heard all day! Tom Waits "Train" is one of the greatest achievements ever, by anyone, anywhere. Blonde Rod's version is a waterdowned, souless, heartless, gutless, saccharine facsimile. It is the American Idol version. Get Real..Please

Shawnriffhard

Blonde Rod's version is
> a waterdowned, souless, heartless, gutless,
> saccharine facsimile. It is the American Idol
> version. Get Real..Please
>
> Shawnriffhard

my head says you're freaking right
but my heart still says I lovvvvvve it!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2007-05-31 00:00 by farawayeyes2.

It's remarkable that it became such a signature Rod song, since this was a big reason that Ronnie Lane got pissed off at Rod for. Supposedly it was very much a Lane composition, and he was upset to see Rod not only use it on his soloalbum, but also not credit Lane.

"...no longer shall you trudge 'cross my peaceful mind."