Rod Stewart Every Picture Tells a Story 1971

It's a classic, and it sat idle in the stacks for years until a few days ago when I gave it a spin and was reminded of how great it is. Like Stewart's previous two solo outings, it is a mix of rock, folk, blues and soul. Those first two, An Old Raincoat Won't Ever Let You Down (The Rod Stewart Album in the US) 1969 and Gasoline Alley 1970 are both solid. The third time was the charm. 

Maggie May was the B side of the cover of Tim Hardin's Reason to Believe, but DJs flipped the record and that B side became a #1 hit on both sides of the pond. Rockers That's All Right, (I Know) I'm Losing You and the title track are all great in that loose Faces way. The folk numbers Seems Like a Long Time, Tomorrow Is a Long Time, Reason to Believe, and Stewart's own Mandolin Wind are a fine song selection and are presented in lovely arrangements. Stewart sings everything with as much bravado or sensitivity as the tune requires. As great as the cover songs are, the three from Stewart's pen are all highlights. There isn't a weak track.

There is a lot of good music on Stewart's early solo work; the seven records from 1969-1976 all contain some great songs, and 1976's A Night on the Town closes Stewart's early career on a high note. Remarkably the five Faces records were all released during the same period. That's a whole career for anyone, but Stewart has soldiered on and continues to this day. That voice is a rare gift, and Rod has never let it rest very long. 

Nuggets: Original Artyfacts from the First Psychedelic Era, 1965–1968 1998, Nuggets II: Original Artyfacts from the British Empire and Beyond, 1964–1969 2001

 

The original Nuggets double LP, compiled by Lenny Kaye, was released in 1972. It was an important seed for punk rock in the seventies, and frankly a whole lot of fun. Then in 1999, at the height of Rhino's compilation fever, comes this four CD box set. The first CD includes the same 27 tracks that were on the original LP. You might think that the quality would sag a bit to fill three more CDs, but alas you would be wrong.

Kaye's original concept was to focus on what he termed Garage Rock, a simple, bash-it-out aggressive style often featuring relatively primitive recording techniques. The psychedelic and poppier sounds included weren't exactly what Kaye was looking for, but the set achieves it's goal. Many of the songs made the charts although quite a few languished in the higher numbered positions. Quite a few didn't chart and will be new to many listeners. Some were regional hits that weren't as successful nationally. That was a thing in the 60s before corporate radio owned every station.

The box set was a big hit for Rhino, and for good reason. The song list is excellent. Songs you've heard if you were around in the 60s plus similar and only slightly weirder or more challenging songs from the period, many of which listeners haven't heard. The box is well curated, well sequenced, and the music is well documented in the accompanying book.

Three years later they couldn't resist a Volume 2. But they didn't try to dig up more similar material from the US. Instead they went international, collecting songs from the British Isles, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Japan, Iceland, Peru, and Brazil. This time, there are not many that you've heard. That means that this is a big old box of garage rock exploration. Approach with open mind and ears, and you're in for a treat. While the band names may not ring a bell, a lot of the artists in those bands became familiar names a few years later. Again, well assembled material and another informative book.

Two great box sets. One a classic, the other a wild deep dive.

Loud, Fast, and Out of Control: The Wild Sounds of 50s Rock 1999, Rockin' Bones: 1950s Punk and Rockabilly 2006

Here's two four-CD box sets that both cover the rocking 1950s, but they are certainly not the same product. Both are from Rhino Records. Both feature 50s music that parents of the day would not appreciate. Given that those parents were raised on The Andrews Sisters and Benny Goodman this should come as no surprise. Loud, Fast and Out of Control covers a broader range of sounds and hits a few more of the big name artists that anyone (over 60) will recognize. Rockin' Bones focuses more on rockabilly, and as such includes a few more artists and songs that will be unfamiliar to most listeners.

As an introduction to what made early rock and roll sound dangerous to adult ears, either will help a young person today in an academic study of the era. For the older music fan that wants to dive deep into 50s rock, both are almost indispensable.  

Several writers have complained that the two sets have too much overlap, and I have thought that myself. So I did the dull work of actually finding out how many songs they share. Both sets have just over 100 songs. There are fifteen identical songs that are included on both sets. There are also four songs that are included on both, but in versions by different artists. So there is less that a CD's worth of duplication. It could (and should) have been avoided by Rhino without significant loss to either set, but it isn't as big of a deal as I thought it was.

I think Loud, Fast and Out of Control is the better all-rounder. It's got more familiar material and still throws enough lesser-knowns into the mix to keep things interesting. But Rockin' Bones, with it's focus on rockabilly, has more to offer someone already tuned into the early days of rock and roll. If you already have some early rock compilations, Rockin' Bones will have more new material you haven't heard.

I'm happy to have them both. Neither appear to be available through streaming, a situation that applies to many great compilations. Both are available used at reasonable prices well below their original cost. As usual with Rhino, the booklets that come with the sets are well done and discuss each song individually.