Believe it or not, there was a time when old Rod The Mod was a serious artist and not just a purveyor of cringe worthy crooner tunes. After stints with Jeff Beck and The Faces, old Rodders thought he would be better out on his own – although to be fair, he did have a solo deal in place prior or joining The Faces. Ron Wood would help him out on this album before he would join the Stones.
Relying on outside writers and cover tunes, this album only has three tracks that Rod had a hand in. The best one of those is the opening and title track, which has that old Faces feel to it as it was co-written with Wood, and is one of my favourite Stewart tunes. Seems Like A Long Time has a slow, almost blues vibe, that Stewart could do in his sleep as his voice was tailor made for these types of tunes. Carrying on the blues theme with That’s All Right, with some nice slide from Mr. Wood. You will probably know this from the Elvis version, but I love the old delta blues vibe better – plus, Amazing Grace done in the same style is tacked onto the end of the tune. Dylan’s, Tomorrow Is Such A Long Time, follows and closes out Side 1 and is near true to the original.
Other than Sailing, Maggie May is probably Rod’s most famous tune and opens up Side 2. I would describe the Intro as almost folk complete with mandolin, but this is such a great track and is sang perfectly. It’s one of those tracks that gets you looking back into your past, reminiscing on simpler times. Mandolin Wind is the final track that Rod had a hand in and is slow folk/blues. It’s quite a simple song until we get near the end, then the Maggie May groove returns. I Know I’m Losing You is a cover of an old Temptations tune and given the rocked up Faces treatment, without losing the RnB feel. Reason To Believe closes out the record, and is a cover of folk singer Tim Hardin’s original. Rod sings it with an almost gospel feel, and this was originally the A side to Maggie May. I prefer early Rod to the latter that’s for sure.
8/10 from The Grooveman.
