![]() ![]() “And Penny said ‘you’re not going – he’s a disgrace.'”Ĭopyright © 2023, ABC Audio. “There was stuff he was coming out with, what he was saying about women he had known in the past,” Rod explains. tour kicking off on July 29, followed by a string of shows in Las Vegas as part of his residency at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace.Įlsewhere in the interview, Rod, who lives up the street from Donald Trump in Palm Beach, Florida, says he used to go to the former president’s Christmas parties and balls, until his wife, Penny Lancaster, put the kibosh on that. It’s likely that Rod means the Edinburgh shows are his last rock ‘n’ roll shows in the U.K., since he’s got a whole U.S. “I just want to make a change,” he tells the magazine. He goes on to say he’s recorded a “fantastic swing album” will Jools Holland, the pianist and TV host who was a founding member of Squeeze. ![]() He made five Songbook albums in all, and they all reached the top 10 in both the U.S. Rod was referring to his bestselling series of albums of standards, which began in 2002 with It Had to Be You: The Great American Songbook. In the new print edition of the magazine Scottish Field, Rod says that his upcoming concerts in Edinburgh, Scotland, on July 6 and 7 will be “the last of the rock n’ roll shows.” He explains, “I want to move on and I’ve always wanted to do The Great American Songbook live. And, in that light, Rod's promise in the liner notes of "just think, this is only Volume IV" reads a bit like a threat.Is Rod Stewart giving up on rock ‘n’ roll? But for fans who not only cherish his '70s work, but stuck by him through the patchy '80s and could find worthwhile moments on such latter-day albums as When We Were the New Boys, these Great American Songbooks are not just tiresome, but rather depressing. So, bully for Rod the Mod - he's found a way to have a successful career as a veteran without embarrassing himself as he did on Human. But they are successful, since they appeal to listeners raised on rock yet who are nostalgic for their parents' music, without wanting to hear the original recorded versions. So, they're not great records, either by the yardstick of Rod Stewart's own work - and, don't forget, he's made more than his fair share of great records - or by the standard of traditional pop. Rod's voice is still not suited for these songs and the songs aren't arranged imaginatively they're arranged to remind the listener of other, better versions of the same tunes. He didn't do that kind of ad lib on the first three albums, and he sounds a lot more casual overall on this fourth volume than he has before, but these are very minor differences: this remains the same sleepy, faux-classy music as before. Needless to say, it makes for rather boring listening and Stewart is starting to seem a little restless too, interjecting more "baby"s and "oh, Diana"s to his duet with Diana Ross on "I've Got a Crush on You" than necessary. Sure, there is an ever-increasing number of duets on the records - the first had none, the second had two, the third had four, and this has seven, including instrumental appearances by George Benson and Chris Botti - but the arrangements never are risky and always sound better suited for background music in a cocktail bar than on record. 4 and the first or either that came between. ![]() He has sensitively kept to the original styles ie often Billie Holidays phrasing is evident. He manages to take wonderful ballads and with his own magic turns them into something special. 5 Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine + Rod Stewart has been mining the Great American Songbook for the better part of a decade, so it would only make sense that he would get a little bit better as time goes by. Rod Stewarts American Songbook CDs are revelations. Four albums in, producers may have come and gone - Phil Ramone left last time, Richard Perry is no longer around, leaving producer Steve Tyrell and arranger Bob Mann as the men in charge (of course, Clive Davis, the mastermind behind this whole shebang, is still around) - but it's nearly impossible to tell the differences between Thanks for the Memory: The Great American Songbook, Vol. Celebrating the hugely successful series that has completely rejuvenated Rod Stewarts previously flagging career, The Great American Songbook: Live features eight performances of his most popular covers of 1930s-1940s standards. Fly Me to the Moon: The Great American Songbook, Vol. ![]() Ever since he successfully reinvented himself as a lazy lounge singer in 2002 with It Had to Be You: The Great American Songbook, Rod Stewart has been reliable as clockwork, releasing a collection of classic pop standards - predictable choices performed predictably - every second or third week of October. ![]()
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