ROD the Autobiography

 ROD the Autobiography

Blondes may have more fun but, as you’ll see if you read the book, brunettes make more money. Or at least that’s what Rod’s buddy Elton John once said. 

So why would I start off with a quote from Elton John? Well, it’s all about fun. John is a great buddy of Rods’ and they have engaged in “wars” to just have a good laugh. That’s what this book is. A good laugh.

Each chapter has a short paragraph very briefly describing the follies of Rod. They are all written something like the following ” Chapter three in which our hero . . .”.  Again it’s a bit of fun.

I love this book. There is a nice look back at the Faces. If you happen to not know the Faces go look them up. They made fabulous music, they always seemed to have fun and were good players. The Faces always seemed to have a bit of fun all the time. Check out the video from their 1971 appearance to perform the hit Maggie May. It’s pure fun and mayhem with friend and radio DJ John Peel on mandolin. 

 The other Faces, which sounds odd, would have been more than happy to keep things going as they had. But, sadly, Ronnie Wood was just too talented for the Faces.  The Rolling Stones wanted very much to poach him to replace their recently departed guitarist Mick Taylor. 

I suppose the money might have been too good not to join the Stones. The Faces split shortly after. And this is where our Hero gets to shine and focus on his solo career.

 Stewart had been recording solo albums prior to the split of the Faces but this allowed him to spend more time thinking about his own face and not about the faces of the Faces.

I’m sure there’s a Mick Taylor biography out there somewhere. Just as I’m sure there is a Faces biography somewhere. Perhaps I’ll stumble across them eventually. There is so much music to read about and so little time.

Back to Rod Stewart and his autobiography. Rod makes his love of tall blondes abundantly clear. But if you have seen any pictures over the years that’s not a revelation.

Are there any real revelations here? No, not really. But it was fun to learn that the female voice on the song “Tonight’s the Night” was his girlfriend at the time, Britt Ekland. Yup, she’s a blonde beauty. That’s not much of a surprise but what is more of a surprise is that Ms. Ekland had to snort some amount of cocaine just to do a single take. So Ms. Ekland was both high and sexy sounding on the recording. Did being high force, Ms. Eckland, to sound sexier than she might be otherwise?

On a bit of a personal tangent, I have never been a fan of “Do ya Think I’m Sexy”. I hated it from the first moment I heard the disco beat. This was not the rocker Rod Stewart I had known prior and I was disappointed to hear the song.

 It wasn’t until I read the book did I find out why Rod went disco. My thanks have to go to the Rolling Stones. You see, The Stones had just had “ Miss You” be a hit and that appealed to Rod. So Roderick and his band used “Miss you” as a template and that brings us to “ Do ya Think I’m Sexy”. Thanks for nothing Mick!

Not being one to be content with singing about “Downtown Trains” Rod is actually a model train guy. Turns out old Rod builds model trains. Mr. Stewart would consider himself a “railroader”. The whole railroader thing is much bigger than I could have imagined. It is much bigger than you would have thought too. Wow. The hobbies of some people would indeed surprise.

Rod makes certain there is enough space to talk about his love of football. Soccer in North America. That’s not a new revelation but it is fun to read. Of course, he played soccer in England and he plays it again in the soccer hotbed of Los Angeles. There is more to his love of soccer but you’ll have to discover some of that yourself. I’ll not spoil everything. 

 This book is a great read. If sex, drugs, and rock and roll are your thing in an autobiography then this is for you. If you want to read about Rod’s “feud” with Elton John, this is for you. If just having a good time reading about rock and roll then this is for you. 

Set aside a weekend and enjoy the ride because you surely will. If you’re truly a Rod Stewart fan then you should have already read this.