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Product Description
Cd > Popular Music > RockCD > POPULAR MUSIC > ROCK
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Rod Stewart was once described by Rolling Stone magazine as 'The greatest ever waste of rock'n'roll talent'.When listening to this his first of four top-notch album for Mercury Records ('Smiler' was OK but never came close to his first four)it's hard to disagree with Rolling Stones's observation.'The Rod Stewart Album' or to give it it's proper British title-'An Old Raincoat Will Never Let You Down' is a real eye-opener for those like myself who grew up listening to and watching Rod the spandex-clad crooner dishing out dirge such as 'Sailing' or 'Do Ya Think I'm Sexy'.
His debut album is a mixture of covers and originals,to begin he rips through The Stones' 'Street Fighting Man' with gusto and feeling and later winds down the album with Ewan McColls ode to Salford 'Dirty Old Town'.He also covers 'Man Of Constant Sorrow' but for me the highlights here are the original compositions.Most music fans have heard the Mike D'arbo penned 'Handbags And Gladrags' in one form or another but 'Blind Prayer','Cindy's Lament' and 'An Old Raincoat Will Never Let You Down' are blistering pieces of hard rocking blues.
'The Rod Stewart Album' is a great debut and along with Rod's following few albums,a reminder of what could have been if he had resisted chasing superstardom.
His debut album is a mixture of covers and originals,to begin he rips through The Stones' 'Street Fighting Man' with gusto and feeling and later winds down the album with Ewan McColls ode to Salford 'Dirty Old Town'.He also covers 'Man Of Constant Sorrow' but for me the highlights here are the original compositions.Most music fans have heard the Mike D'arbo penned 'Handbags And Gladrags' in one form or another but 'Blind Prayer','Cindy's Lament' and 'An Old Raincoat Will Never Let You Down' are blistering pieces of hard rocking blues.
'The Rod Stewart Album' is a great debut and along with Rod's following few albums,a reminder of what could have been if he had resisted chasing superstardom.
12 of 13 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Rod Stewart's first solo album, and the first in a tour-de-force of four sublime records, was retitled "The Rod Stewart Album" in the US, apparently because Stewart's American distributors felt that the original title ("An Old Raincoat Won't Ever Let You Down") was too "British".
Opening with an acoustic rendition of the Rolling Stones' "Street Fighting Man", "The Rod Stewart Album" presented a raw combination of primarily acoustic folk, rock, blues and country which rocked harder than any other folk-rock or country-rock, and Stewart would continue in the same vein for another three albums which, along with this one, remain the best in his career ("Gasoline Alley", "Every Picture Tells A Story", and "Never A Dull Moment").
The sound is very good, and the musicianship is excellent all the way through.
Michael Waller pounds the drums. Ron Wood plays bass and guitar (including some excellent slide work) alongside guitarists Martin Pugh and longtime Stewart-ally Martin Quittenton. And another Faces member, the great Ian MacLagan, lends a hand (or two), adding his sublime piano playing to several songs.
It's hard to point out any particular highlights, because almost everything is great. With this album, Rod Stewart established that rock can sound as rich and timeless as folk, and that folk can be as vigorous as rock. And he did this not only as an interpreter, breathing new life into the traditional "Man Of Constant Sorrow", Ewan MacColl's "Dirty Old Town", and Mike D'Abo's "Handbags And Gladrags", but also as a songwriter, penning the tough rockers "An Old Raincoat Won't Ever Let You Down" and "Cindy's Lament".
Highly recommended.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Hard to imagine now but when this record was released in 1969 (in Britain it was called `An old raincoat will never let you down') Rod Stewart was not widely known and quite `underground' having just left the critically successful Jeff Beck Group. Rod was one of the first people to have a record issued on the new `progressive' Vertigo label, following Colosseum, Juicy Lucy and Manfred Mann. He brought Micky Waller (drums) and Ronnie Wood (guitar and bass) from Beck's group to play on his album, along with Mac McLagan (keyboards) and rocky songs like the title track and the Stones' "Street fighting man" have a real Faces feel to them. However, the album has real variety; folky songs like "Man of constant sorrow" and "Dirty old town", the heavy, progressive "Cindy's lament", a soulful version of the old Chris Farlowe song "Handbags and gladrags" and Rod's own sentimental ballad "I wouldn't change a thing". The backing musicians do a great job providing varied settings with great playing but keeping that loose, relaxed feel.
While some of his work with Beck may have hinted at this versatility, it was this record which demonstrated that Rod wasn't just a shouter and was also able to come up with wonderful, sensitive interpretations of Ewan McColl's "Dirty old town" and the traditional "Man of constant sorrow". (Rod always maintained his roots were in folk rather than blues.) Again with "Handbags and gladrags" Rod completely nails the song with sensitivity but also power, while staying pretty close to Chris Farlowe's original (the song's composer Mike D'Abo plays piano on the track). Although this album wasn't a hit it did provide the template for many of the solo albums that followed.
While some of his work with Beck may have hinted at this versatility, it was this record which demonstrated that Rod wasn't just a shouter and was also able to come up with wonderful, sensitive interpretations of Ewan McColl's "Dirty old town" and the traditional "Man of constant sorrow". (Rod always maintained his roots were in folk rather than blues.) Again with "Handbags and gladrags" Rod completely nails the song with sensitivity but also power, while staying pretty close to Chris Farlowe's original (the song's composer Mike D'Abo plays piano on the track). Although this album wasn't a hit it did provide the template for many of the solo albums that followed.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Fine solo beginning from Rod
As explained in my review of "Every Picture Tells A Story", I arrived at this album in early to mid - 1972, after the success both in the UK and USA of 'EPTAS'. Read more
Published 6 months ago by SMc
Loved it!
Loved it, some old favourites like 'Glad Rags' even had the feet tapping of the teenagers in my family.
Published on 6 Jan 2010 by Belle
Found it at last
I spent a long time looking for 'An Old Raincoat, etc' before I realised that this was the same album. Read more
Published on 17 Nov 2007 by D. J. H. Thorn
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