Customer Reviews

Rod Stewart

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

A little too much gossip in this one but the authors do make attempts to capture the real Rod Stewart. A few stories about Rod's early days in music are here (since some of them are unique to this book, I can't say wether they are true) but too much is made of his love life--we can read about all that in People if we wanted to. But overall this is not a bad book.

Note in headline I write Rod AND his career. The authors are long-time journalists, not major biographers, and the book comes across as a breezy romp through some juicy stories, puff pieces, society cuttings, and general gossip. There is also a bit in there on his music, but nothing like the emphasis placed on his homes, his family, his sometimes buddies, and, of course, women. There is a lot about his women, and there are a lot of women.

Now, Stewart has always made good copy for gossip journalists, and like so many huge stars has always employed people whose job it was to make sure he got the columns, following the Andrew Loog Oldham principle that there is really no such thing as bad publicity. And since, let's face it, people love to read about this stuff, and there has been a lot of it over the last 40 years to draw on, one can't blame the authors for covering it in their biography, to the tune of about half of the book. Let's just say that Rod has been able to make the most of his success, and despite the occasional heartbreak, part of the cost of doing business on this scale, his personal life has been full and complete.

Regarding the career per se, the authors do some good spade work on his very early days, including some material that appears to be new (to me) or little covered in the past. The time with Jeff Beck is covered all too quickly, as is his time with the unforgettable and sublime Faces, and we rush into his solo career in earnest. Of course the irony is that by the time the Faces broke up, in this reviewer's opinion, Stewart's very best solo work was also done. Oh, there would be many, many millions of albums sold in the next 35 years, yes, but not one as good as Gasoline Alley or Every Picture Tells A Story. His work on Warner and subsequently has been well done, slickly produced stuff, some of it quite good, but the poetry, the lyrics, the genuine feel has left him, and what's more, it's hard to see that Stewart himself cared.

An interesting time is briefly explored where, following Do Ya Think I'm Sexy his image critically had cratered (although sales were outstanding, thank you); his reaction was not really to write stuff that was much better, but instead to deal with it through image building in the press and through essentially propaganda. Oh Rod! Listen to the old Faces catalog and get a clue! Oh well.

The book is a quick read, good on the family, strong on early career, weak on dealing with the music itself, and very strong on juicy gossip. It's an extended magazine essay, not especially deep or questioning, very short on analysis, but a fun and enjoyable read all the same, one that Stewart fans will be certain to like. There are plenty of good pix of various personages attached to Rod at various points, and it can be recommended as up to date and generally a good read.

YOU CAN TELL FROM ALL THAT I HAVE PURCHASED THAT I AM RALLY A BIG BIG ROD STEWART FAN. I CAN'T GET ENOUGH. WOULD LOVE TO MEET HIM. THE BOOK IS REALLY GOOD