Artist: Stewart, Rod
Label: Mercury Records
Release: 1971
Runtime: 40:31
Rating: 4.5/5
Every Picture Tells A Story is the famous album by Scottish songbird Rod Stewart, which exploded onto the wider music scene with a tantalizing mix of rock, blues and soul, and on this record even a bold weaving-in of country influences. In short, it’s an exciting genre platform conceived in the early ’70s as a kind of unplanned offspring of the British blues revolution of the ’60s. This “experiment,” which blasted into the orbit of astronomical commercial success on the wings of triumphs like Exile On Main Street, hits a new level of white interpretation of the roots of “Black America” with its mostly vocal-driven approach. Albums of swaggering vocal maneuvers, rough-edged voices and their half-sister sassy acrobatics, and especially rocker music built on the raw message of vocal blues and soul that kept erupting from overheated British throats as the ’70s rolled in, are simply an experience of a special kind, especially when you’re dealing with a vocalist of Rod Stewart’s caliber.
Despite his youth and the inexperience that comes with it, Rod Stewart proves with Every Picture Tells a Story that he knows exactly how to handle things. Vocally, Rod sticks to a sharply plotted weave, galloping breathlessly from one extreme mood to the opposite one, naturally riding on the wings of impulsive emotional rhetoric. His unmistakable voice carefully steers clear of the higher registers and boldly makes itself at home in the lower end of the range, where there’s plenty of room for free maneuvering. Rod uses it like an old tomcat whose voice was worn down long ago by nicotine and booze and now rattles like a manly, gargling set of gears that chews up and spits out everything that crosses its path. On the other hand, when the moment calls for it, Rod turns on a dime into a good-hearted dove, belted with a bulging satchel of charm, tenderness and other related shag-ready predispositions, all wrapped in a thick layer of raspiness that on top of it all boasts an unexpected balsamic effect.
Every Picture Tells a Story is a sonically incredibly rough-hewn piece of work, taking into account the malicious tendencies of this devilish genre maestro, whose spin will leave you breathless. The album in front of us really boils like an emotional volcano that’s been dormant too long, gulping down the last little puffs of fresh air with full lungs in anticipation of a thunderous eruption of feeling. Full of newfound life energy, it mostly parades around with a carefree enthusiasm that keeps feeding the listener with the “looseness” of some well-oiled jam session. The album’s title opener makes it clear what this is all about! Every Picture Tells a Story dispenses a piping-hot hybrid of soul and rock, focused on a rawer, let’s say manlier sonic outfit, which Rod slyly softens with the vocal qualities of the one and only Maggie Bell. A twist comes soon enough. The intimate mood of Seems Like a Long Time stubbornly defies the sharpness of the opener, draped in carefully crafted, silky soul creations that even the greatest masters of the genre wouldn’t be ashamed of! These pair up beautifully with the melancholic shades of Tomorrow Is a Long Time and the dreaminess of Mandolin Wind, where the listener’s blood gets pumping thanks to the wailing slide of Sam Mitchell. The beefy blues rocker (I Know) I’m Losing You sets off one of the liveliest moments of the album, at least until the instrumental section led by the inspired Mick Waller takes a moment for itself. The track illustrates the venomous effectiveness of the purest derivatives of blues rock, which grabs you by the balls without a shred of refinement or mercy.
Rod Stewart keeps adapting his musical language to the circumstances, and slowly, almost imperceptibly, that creates the unique spirit of the album, which is missing only one last gem for all time to be perfect. The patriotic Scot hands us two this time: first in the form of Maggie May, a simple, comforting evergreen that hits home with its ease and sincerity, and then right at the end of the album with Find a Reason To Believe, which is simply put another one of those inimitable moments that seem timeless.
Every Picture Tells a Story is one of the holiest triumphal arches dedicated to vocal blues rock. With its dutifully drilled instrumental arsenal, where everything is tied together, tightly woven into everything else, propping up and keeping each other in check, the album surely loses some of the “spectacle” offered by the other guitar blues rock maestros of the day. And that’s also the main reason Stewart’s debut still remains anchored deep in the category of more or less overlooked and dusty gems of rock music. There’s simply no room here for electrified guitar roar; here the character of the overall sonic picture comes from the sheer majesty of Rod Stewart’s voice, which makes the experience of Every Picture Tells a Story more than pleasant, in fact unrepeatable.
Lineup
Rod Stewart: vocals
Ron Wood: guitar, bass
Martin Quittenton: acoustic guitar
Sam Mitchell: slide guitar
Pete Sears: keyboards
Danny Thompson: bass
Mick Waller: drums
Ian McLagan: Hammond
Production
Rod Stewart
Tracklist
1. Every Picture Tells a Story
2. Seems Like a Long Time
3. That’s All Right
4. Tomorrow Is a Long Time
5. Maggie May
6. Mandolin Wind
7. (I Know) I’m Losing You
8. (Find a) Reason To Believe
