Gasoline Alley [Original recording reissued, Original recording remastered]

Rod Stewart | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (March 31, 1998)
• Original Release Date: 1970
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Original recording reissued, Original recording remastered
• Label: Island / Mercury
• ASIN: B00000612O
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,367 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #91 in Music > World Music > Europe > British Isles > Britain

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com essential recording

Working in what was not then called an "unplugged" format, Stewart mixed acoustic guitars, mandolin, and piano with a hard-rock attitude to create a distinctive sound that seems as fresh today as ever. Building on the success and innovations of The Rod Stewart Album, Gasoline Alley contains unfettered, laddish takes on Bobby Womack's "It's All Over Now" and the bluesy "Cut Across Shorty," plus a definitive version of Bob Dylan's "Only a Hobo" and the brilliant, nostalgic title track, a Stewart original. The singer is very near the top of his game here. --Daniel Durchholz

Product Description

Japanese only SHM-CD (Super High Material CD - playable on all CD players) paper sleeve pressing. Includes one bonus track. Universal. 2009. --This text refers to an alternate Audio CD edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A long-forgotten classic, July 28, 2003

By 

Docendo Discimus (Vita scholae) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Gasoline Alley (Audio CD)

Back in the early seventies, when Rod Stewart had not yet abandoned his own artistic path in order to become a spiky-haired, glitzy pop singer in pink outfits, he wrote some of the best folk rock songs, turned out some of the best cover tunes, and worked with one of the best backing band ever.

If you prefer the Rod Stewart of the 1980s, "Blondes Have More Fun" and all, this might not be your thing. Teenagers will generally look bewildered if you play them this kind of music, and look at you like you're from another planet if you profess to enjoy it.
But never mind them, what do kids know?! To me, the four primarily acoustic albums that Rod the Mod turned out between 1969 and 1970-something, remain the best items in his entire catalogue. Tough, organic folk, gritty blues, swaggering rock, and melodic country blended together and stirred with a drumstick...and, to me, "Gasoline Alley" is the best of the lot, alongside "Every Picture Tells a Story".

"Gasoline Alley" (the sublime title track is written by Rod and Ronnie Wood) sports perhaps the best Bob Dylan cover of all time, a beautiful "Only A Hobo", as well as a hoarse, ragged, folkish version of Elton John's and Bernie Taupin's "Country Comforts", Stewarts own "Lady Day", and an incredibly rocking, reeling "Cut Across Shorty", all guitars, drums and a lone violin. It ought to be hokey, but it's not!

I can't remember who it was that wrote something like this about this album:
"-Instead of looking for the rock within the folk, [Rod Stewart and Ronnie Wood] proved that folk could rock like hell on its own!" But it's damn right, and that's why I'm blatantly stealing the quote here. This isn't really a rock n' roll record in the traditional sense, but does it ever rock and roll!

28 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars good boy gone bad, January 12, 2005

By 

Don Schmittdiel "running_man" (Clinton Twp., MI) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Gasoline Alley (Audio CD)

Believe it or not, at one time Rod Stewart was one of us. A quick glance at the songwriting credits for this, Stewart's second 'solo' effort, reveal where Rod's head was at: covers of Bobby & Shirley Womack's 'It's All Over Now' (more famously, and somewhat more enjoyably covered by The Rolling Stones), Bob Dylan's 'Only a Hobo', Elton John and Bernie Taupin's 'Country Comforts', and Steve Marriott & Ronnie Lane's 'My Way of Giving'. I've tried to keep my record collection pure of disco, and with composers such as these I don't believe anyone can accuse me of harboring anything as defiling as 'Hot Legs' or 'Do Ya' Think I'm Sexy?'. Unfortunately for me, each time I hear Rod's voice, a bit of the 'Hot Legs' overplay corrupts my capacity to concentrate on his earlier (and better) sensibilities. Rod's raspy vocal cords made him one of rock's premier vocalists before career decisions became of more immediate concern than the art. His defection to 'the other side' was perhaps the most disconcerting loss of the era.

Nevertheless, from his debut 'Rod Stewart Album' through his epic 'Every Picture Tells a Story' and it's sequel, 'Never a Dull Moment', Stewart left behind a fine legacy. 'Gasoline Alley' is Rod's second 'solo' effort, and while it failed to spawn even one single, it is a consistantly fine production. In fact, since it generated absolutely no Top 40 attention, the songs on this disc have managed to escaped the dred overplay that has afflicted some Stewart numbers, most notably 'Maggie May', and even 'You Wear It Well'.

At first glance the disc appears weighted toward more subdued numbers, such as the lilting 'Only a Hobo' and the gentle strains of 'Country Comforts', and in sheer numbers the disc is fairly reserved, especially toward the end when two Stewart compositions, 'Lady Day' and 'Jo's Lament' emerge. But the three longest songs on the disc are all rockers, and they are wisely distributed on tracks two, six and nine. 'It's All Over Now', 'Cut Across Shorty', and 'You're My Girl' consume nearly eighteen minutes of the disc's 41 minute running time, and 'My Way of Giving' is no slouch either. It predictably possesses an upbeat pop sound (reminiscent of Rod's previous gig with The Small Faces) since it was written by Marriott and bassist Ronnie Lane.

Here and there we are enticed by tell-tale sounds that allude to the emerging Stewart epic, 'Every Picture Tells a Story'. The fine back-home opener, 'Gasoline Alley', possesses a mandolin that harkens to 'Mandolin Wind', and 'Cut Across Shorty' and 'You're My Girl' feature sharp guitar riffs that would fuel similar Stewart classics such as his cover of the Temptation's 'I'm Losing You'.

The only disappointing aspect of this particular disc is that the rework didn't add any bonus tracks or informational material to the package... you get only what you got in 1970 with the original vinyl release. Weren't there any other tracks sitting in the vault from this session that ended up on the editing floor, or interesting anecdotes from the contributing artist's that could spice this up a bit? Many people buying this CD today also purchased the recordings on vinyl and cassette. We deserve a few more crumbs from the table.

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Premium Gasoline, April 4, 2001

By 

Thomas Magnum (NJ, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Gasoline Alley (Audio CD)

Rod Stewart upped the ante on his second album, Gasoline Alley. He took the basic folk sound of acoustic guitars and juiced it up by adding mandolins and electric instruments to create an unique sound. The album doesn't contain any hit singles, but many of the songs have become staples in Rod Stewart's repertoire. Songs like the title track, "Cut Across Shorty", "Lady Day" and "Jo's Lament" are filled with vivid lyrics and Mr. Stewart sing them in that signature whiskey-soaked voice. He does fine covers of Bobby Womack's, by way of The Rolling Stones, "It's All Over Now", Bob Dylan's "Only A Hobo" and Elton John's "Country Comforts".