'Rod Stewart: The Classic Years' by Sean Egan
For many of his old fans, Rod Stewart’s best years began in 1970, with the release of his solo debut album, and extends through his Faces years and sol career until … and here’s where author Sean Egan gets controversial. Many feels that Stewart went astray when, as a tax exile in the U.S., he released Atlantic Crossing (1975). By contrast, Egan holds faith with Stewart the highly produced ballads and disco foolery that followed.
Egan states his case well, because even if some of those late ‘70s songs are dismissible, there’s no overlooking the talent he brought to them. He had a soul singer’s voice, a folkie sensibility and an urge to rock. He was passionate and, in the early ‘70s at least, never overstated on songs such as “Maggie May” and “You Wear It Well” and enjoyed a unique career flipping between solo LPs and a Stonesy rock band, the Faces.
Egan captures Stewart’s personality as a good-natured bloke and remarks on some of his quirks. In early days, he was cheap to a fault, tight to a turn, spending little o his record advance in the studio and using much of the money to buy a car.
