But as they were limited to the albums he did for them, that meant they couldn’t touch anything by the Faces, or even the first two Jeff Beck albums. Still, they had plenty to choose from, going with all of side two of Every Picture Tells A Story, three from the previous year’s Never A Dull Moment, plus two each from the others. While the sequencing is a little odd, the obvious choices are here, but the only rarity is his version of “Pinball Wizard” from the all-star orchestral remake of the Who’s Tommy. Somebody thought “Lost Paraguayos” was preferable rather than to add a B-side, or even the “Oh! No Not My Baby” single that came out a few months later. (These would have to wait until he jumped labels and started selling even more records, with the first of two double albums that regurgitated about two thirds of the material he’d left them.)
As a sampler, Sing It Again Rod does the trick, and makes a fine listen. But those who care to dig deeper should just go ahead and get the originals; somebody else would do a much better cover of “Pinball Wizard” in a couple of years anyway.
Rod Stewart Sing It Again Rod (1973)—3½
If the title track to "Every Picture Tells a Story" was here, there'd be no reason to buy that album. I would've definitely preferred that instead of the ghastly overproduced version of "Pinball Wizard" with the London Symphony Orchestra. I haven't heard the full album, but this suggests that this was the first (but hardly the last) totally misconceived "Tommy" project.
ReplyDeleteAs for the rest, there's a fine compliment of hit singles here. I hadn't heard a couple of tracks prior to buying this. “Lost Paraguayos” is another amusing combination of travelogue and lost romance -- very amusing. Rod does do something original with the swampy cover of "Street Fighting Man". The coda sound a LOT like "We Love You" -- just a coincedence?
This is one of two very good anthologies for casual fans such as myself. A little Rod goes a long way with me.