After enjoying huge worldwide success with his August 1975 album ‘Atlantic Crossing‘, the first he had recorded for Warner Bros following a six year/five album stint on Mercury, it is not surprising on reading his highly enjoyable 2013 autobiography Rod Stewart was anxious to record again.
In the wake of ‘Atlantic Crossing‘ and its lead single ‘Sailing‘ amassing huge sales figures, Stewart (30) – North London-born but of Scottish ancestry – left ramshackle rockers the Faces, with whom he had been lead vocalist since 1969, maintaining a solo career throughout the same period. His individual albums had comfortably outsold those of the group, Rod perpetuating but also benefitting from the boozy bonhomie of their live performances.
In fact, the Faces were at the point of disintegration before Stewart announced his departure in December 1975. Guitarist and close Stewart cohort Ronnie Wood (the pair co-writing songs for Faces and Rod albums), had guested with the Rolling Stones on their 1975 US tour and despite returning to the fold when the Faces crisscrossed North America a few weeks later, shows ostensibly to promote ‘Atlantic Crossing,’ the end of the road was nigh for a band who had played some of the most uproarious concerts of recent years – Wood soon joining the Stones on a permanent basis, Stewart becoming a fully-fledged artist in his own right.
Due to Stewart taking tax exile status from the U.K. the sessions for ‘Atlantic Crossing‘ had taken place in the United States under the guidance of legendary producer Tom Dowd, whose previous credits included revered work by the likes of Otis Redding, Aretha Franklin and Eric Clapton.
In another change to his established way of recording, top notch session players the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section were enlisted to provide musicianship. For the first time Stewart cut tracks without his usual mainstays of Wood, Martin Quittenton (co-writer with Rod of his sublime early ’70s singles ‘Maggie May‘ and ‘You Wear It Well‘), drummer Micky Waller and Faces keyboard player Ian McLagan – the result a more polished sound opposed to the easy going folk-rock charm of yore.
Despite the gratifying market place performance of the album not everyone was enamored by the choices made. The New Musical Express, up to now a champion of Stewart, described his sixth offering as ‘the nadir of his solo work so far‘, their review going on to say:
‘What should it profit Rod Stewart if he gain the whole world of technical accomplishment and studio sophistication and lose his own soul.‘
Ouch.
But they were not content in leaving the criticism at his new music, also taking a potshot at the lifestyle Rod had embraced, (‘Stewart’s working class charm is entirely dissipated,’) clear reference to him joining the Los Angeles glitterati while conducting a highly-publicised affair with Swedish actress Britt Ekland – at whose suggestion ‘Atlantic Crossing‘ had been divided into a slow and fast side.
Undeterred by negativity from the U.K. rock press, Stewart continued on with plans for his seventh album, revisiting many traits that had made the previous one, to Rod and the record buying public at least, so endearing.
He again recorded in the U.S. with tracks put down at studios in Los Angeles, Miami, Colorado and Alabama, (where the Muscle Shoals were again hired), while elsewhere the call went out to high-profile guest musicians such as Joe Walsh, David Lindley, Leland Sklar, Fred Tackett and Jesse Ed Davis.
On the back cover, which he quickly came to regret, mocking himself unmercifully for it years later (the front sees him whimsically inserted into a Renoir painting), Rod is pictured in blazer, cravat and straw boater, holding a crystal champagne glass, looking every inch the nouveau riche playboy. Perhaps done as a retort to critics in his homeland, Stewart looks set for a glitzy evening – the raspy-voiced charmer from Holloway now a fully ordained member of the Hollywood set.
Small wonder then the record, when it appeared in June 1976, was entitled, ‘A NIGHT ON THE TOWN‘.
Dowd provided another pristine production base as Stewart chose once more to put fast and slow numbers on separate sides. The unifying element are nine suitably excellent vocal performances, Rod with no obvious equal as an expressive singer. His masterful delivery, however, is unable to mask a vast disparity in regard to the material contained on either side of the album.
The outstanding slow side contains three self-written tracks and a superlative cover – the fast side largely forgettable as formulaic Rolling Stones-styled rock that all too often veers closer to schlock than shock.
In contrast to ‘Atlantic Crossing‘ the faster material is assigned to what is effectively side two, one bawdy Stewart original supplemented by four interpretations which at best are pleasant when not perfunctory. It makes a raucous start with his only composition in this section of proceedings, ‘The Ball Trap‘ being the tale of a sex-derived association.
It was not unfamiliar territory for Rod having penned his share of lusty lyrics for the Faces, but whereas they could provide lustre at the drop of a hat, the sessioneers, while technically tremendous, are in these instances all smoke and no fire.
With couplets such as ‘First time I had you up on ol’ Park Lane/You didn’t know my name even when I came,’ little is left to the imagination. While it is all very strident and salacious, those who like Rod in this vein are, and stay with me on this so to speak, better off with ‘Had Me a Real Good Time‘, ‘Too Bad‘ or ‘Miss Judy’s Farm‘ from his Faces days.
Country orientated standards ‘Big Bayou‘ and The Wild Side of Life‘ are both pumped with Stones-based boogie and while neither is truly dislikeable, they each struggle to be memorable.
The latter, which had been around since the early-1950s incorporates a fiddle (presumably by Lindley although the credits are not clear) to accentuate its origins, while the former was written in the late ’60s by country-rock pioneer Gib Guilbeau. ‘Big Bayou‘ already had an association with Stewart being occasionally aired at 1975 Faces shows after Wood included it on his ‘Now Look‘ solo album of the same year – the version cut by Woody having more punch, Rod winning hands down in the vocal stakes.
In tackling ‘Pretty Flamingo‘ a 1966 UK number one for Manfred Mann, Rod goes for the kitchen sink approach in that strings, horns and overtones of Mexican tango are thrown into the mix, the overall flavour agreeable if not particularly absorbing. That said, closing track ‘Trade Winds‘ is far too compromised for its own good. Rod is heard lamenting a world full of inequality and hardship, the pudding over-egged by Stylistics-tinged harmonies that give way near the end to a gospel chorus.
Indeed, given its sombre tone and mournful melody, ‘Trade Winds‘ might have been considered for the slow selection. Thankfully Rod had four vastly superior cuts to populate a side of an album as good as anything released by anyone in 1976 – representing also the last four-in-a-row great song cycle of his career.
Things make an auspicious start with ‘Tonight’s the Night‘ (Gonna Be Alright), this serene love song finding Stewart writing with the same resonance at the beginning of a relationship that he had often brought to one at an end:
‘Kick off your shoes and sit right down/Loosen up that pretty French gown/Let me pour you a good long drink/Ooh, baby, don’t you hesitate ’cause/Tonight’s the night/It’s gonna be alright.’
With the string arrangement never allowed to become saccharine and the sultry saxophone solo pitched just right, Rod has plenty of scope to weave a seductive spell, doing so with the power of his hero Sam Cooke, but a blissful lucidity unique to him:
‘C’mon, angel, my hearts on fire/Don’t deny your man’s desire/You’d be a fool to stop this tide/Spread your wings and let me come inside.’
Despite the suggestive nature of the lyrics, leading to the song being banned by a number of radio stations, including the BBC, ‘Tonight’s the Night‘ when released as a single reached number one on the Billboard chart to give Stewart his second in this format (‘Maggie May‘ being the first five years before). Staying in top spot for eight weeks, it enjoyed the longest reign of a U.S. chart-topper since ‘Hey Jude‘ by The Beatles in 1968.
Originally recorded for ‘Atlantic Crossing‘, his cover of the Cat Stevens ballad ‘The First Cut is the Deepest‘ would give him a UK number one single in 1977. But at the time of appearing on ‘A Night on the Town‘ was immediately striking for its brilliant arrangement and captivating vocal.
The fusion of strings with acoustic and electric guitars make it a resonant track, Stewart delivering a plaintive vocal that keeps clear of self-pity. It would become another song, joining others such as ‘Handbags and Gladrags‘, ‘Reason to Believe‘ and ‘I Don’t Want to Talk About It‘ that he would turn into a rock standard – but such is his skill as an interpreter Rod, in each case, can lay claim to the definitive version.
Another relationship is depicted at an end in ‘Fool for You‘, a soul infused performance where Stewart gives Smokey Robinson a run for his money in conveying tenderness. While there is sadness the affair has run its course, right from the opening lines there is no blame or bitterness:
‘By the time you read this letter, I’ll be outta your life/Gone forever more but guess I’ll survive/I’m gonna leave my records and a forwarding address/Ain’t you glad, honey, that I’m off of your chest?‘
The organ, strings and understated percussion provide the Motown motifs as Rod looks back with affection rather than anger on how things did not manage to endure:
‘You can keep your Streisands, Bardots and Lorens/You’re my everything but now you’re my end/It may be over but just before I go/I can make a new start/But I can’t mend a broken heart.’
True, feelings have been hurt and for both pain will linger, (‘Cause I tried to love you but didn’t fit in/I came on the dust, I’ll leave on the wind‘), but Stewart has one more tug on the heart-strings to carry out, wistfully reflecting, ‘I guess I’ll always love you all my life‘ in the final line.
Describing it himself as ‘the most ambitious song I have ever written in terms of narrative construction‘, slow side closer ‘The Killing of Georgie‘ (Parts I&II) is quite simply a masterpiece – your genial host here at SAMTIMONIOUS.com happy to declare it thus as the composer appears too modest to do so.
For any renowned wordsmith in 1976, say Dylan, Townshend or Springsteen, the tale of a gay friend who dies in tragic circumstances would have been a controversial theme on which to construct a lengthy scenescape. But from a satin-suited, power-drinking, rooster-coiffured ladies man it was songwriting bravery of the highest order.
That aside, ‘The Killing of Georgie‘ is also a work breathtaking eloquence.
To the accompaniment of strings, electric piano and acoustic guitar, Rod adopts a conversational vocal style and from the outset makes clear the motivation for such a moving piece has come from not sex, love or infatuation, but friendship:
‘In these days of changing ways/So called liberated days/A story comes to mind of a friend of mine/Georgie boy, was gay I guess/Nothin’ more or nothin’ less/The kindest guy I ever knew.’
With the verses interspersed by a refrain sounding like a soulful reprise of Lou Reed’s ‘Walk on the Wild Side‘, Stewart relays a series of vividly drawn episodes, none more so than the awful event that was to cost Georgie his life:
‘Out of a darkened side street came/A New Jersey gang with just one aim/To roll some innocent passer-by/There ensued a fearful fight/Screams rang out in the night/Georgie’s head hit a sidewalk cornerstone/A leather kid, a switchblade knife/He did not intend to take his life/He just pushed his luck a little too far that night.’
In the aftermath of this tragedy, Stewart recalls some advice his friend has imparted to him, the narrator taking comfort from homespun philosophical guidance, rooted in living for the moment:
‘Georgie’s life ended there/But I ask, “Who really cares?”/George once said to me and I quote/He said/ “Never wait or hesitate/Get in kid before it’s too late/You may never get another chance”/”‘Cause youth’s a mask but it don’t last/Live it long and live it fast.”
If that is not sufficient to render heartbreak within the listener, then the simple summation of ‘Georgie was a friend of mine‘ will induce it – no other rock singer capable of finding so much poignancy in a line of such simplicity.
The undoubted artistic merit of the slow side was enough to earn Stewart far more positive reviews than he had received for ‘Atlantic Crossing‘, Rolling Stone magazine placing ‘A Night on the Town‘ fourth in their end of year best album poll, the three places above taken by magnificent releases from Stevie Wonder, Jackson Browne and Bob Seger.
At the time of release, noted rock scribe Dave Marsh in his review for the same magazine declared it ‘terrific‘ praising Stewart for his skills in interpretating the material of others and as a gifted songwriter, Rod the singer ‘capable of hard rock and deep emotion.’ The public response was also very gratifying, a two week stay at number one in the UK not quite matched across the Atlantic where it was denied top spot in a month long stint in second place first by ‘Wings at the Speed of Sound‘ and then ‘Frampton Comes Alive.’
By the end of 1976 Rod was back out on the road with a new touring band, his long-held reputation as a first class live performer upheld night after night, arena audiences swaying, singing and waving along, sometimes with prompting, often not from the chorus leader who twirled the mike stand like a merry drum major.
Stewart looked to be having the time of his life as did those thronging to his shows, whose enjoyment could be described as ‘eating outta your hands‘ – Rod no doubt approving of the phrase having used it himself (‘The Ball Trap‘) on ‘A Night on the Town‘…………..
ROD STEWART – A NIGHT ON THE TOWN (Released June 18 1976):
Slow Side: Tonight’s the Night (Gonna Be Alright)/The First Cut is the Deepest/Fool for You/The Killing of Georgie (Parts I&II) Fast Side: The Ball Trap/Pretty Flamingo/Big Bayou/The Wild Side of Life/Trade Winds;
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