I was listening today to Rod Stewart's first two solo albums. Such glorious records - the rough'n'ready atmosphere, the combination of acoustic and slide guitar, and such raw and honest singing. These two albums deserve a place right up there in anyone's list of classics, and were rightly recognised as such by Greil Marcus and Robert Christgau. Ron Wood was a crucial part of these works with his distinctive soul'n'blues-influenced guitar-playing.
Then came 1971, "Maggie May", and Rod was no. 1 on both sides of the Atlantic. The album this came from ("Every Picture Tells A Story") was another faultless collection, and the title track is possibly Rod's best composition. The follow-up ("Never A Dull Moment", 1972) maintained the high standard.
So there he was in 1972 - four magnificent, timeless, solo albums to his credit, a star in England and the US, and the lead singer of one of the biggest and best live atractions of the time (The Faces). His musical partnership with Ron Wood produced some of the most honest, vibrant, and gritty work it has been our pleasure to here - and it has lasted just fine.
So what happened ? It would seem that Stewart and Wood got jaded, and the final solo Stewart album ("Smiler" 1974) doesn't live up to the standard of the first four despite several strong tracks such as "Farewell" and "Dixie Toot". Somewhere in all this Stewart decided to move to the States and record with session musicians. Ron Wood, meanwhile, became infatuated with the Rolling Stones and The Faces disintegrated.
Neither of them have done anything of any worth since. Rod's first US album ("Atlantic Crossing" 1975) had one side of stale rockers and one of string-laden ballads, climaxing with the dreadful "Sailing". Despite the odd amusing lyric here and there, his work has never recovered and he is now reduced to covering old standards. Ron Wood joined The Stones and was absorbed in their overall sound; no-one apart from Mick and Keith were ever going to be a prominent part of that band. We have therefore largely lost a hugely talented musician (although his solo albums do have something going for them).
Rod Stewart - the greatest lost talent in rock. Ron Wood - a gifted musician wasted. It makes me very sad.
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