Take on soul to Rod Stewart

If you are going to get a copy of Rod Stewart' new CD, Soulbook, and I highly recommend you do, please make sure you read his liner notes on the sleeve before you listen to even the very first cut. He makes such a heartfelt introduction to the album.
Rod says: “This is the album I have waited my whole life to record. These are the songs that I’ve danced to, made love to, cried to and yes, even fell on the floor to as a young man in the infancy of my career. These songs and singers were the oxygen that fueled my passion to sing…”
Those songs may have also given us the passion but only a lucky few from among us ended up singing them on the stage. Otherwise though, what Stewart says truly holds true for most of us who also grew up during that time. That was when the beautiful, strangely new sound of Motown and other soul labels woke us up to the pop appeal of Black America’s music.
Rod has done the oldies before and I do consider his Great American Songbook series landmark recordings. Who would have thought it would be the Maggie May rocker who would put a new spin to those classics? And he did. Wonderfully so! Rod could have gone on doing the same for a lifetime. The treasure trove of American hits has no limits. But he has instead chosen to give us something new to enjoy. It is soul and he is singing the songs we love to remember.
I think Rod missed out on having something by The Supremes, think Baby Love or Aretha Franklin, Chain Of Fools would have been perfect. But from the way the CD plays, he certainly did very nicely in choosing e tunes he could do justice to. I believe that is what counts most when doing albums like this one. Don’t touch the song if you cannot do it well.
Here’s the line up: It’s The Same Old Song from The Four Tops; My Cherie Amour featuring original artist and creator Stevie Wonder on the harmonica; You Make Me Feel Brand New by the Stylistics as a duet with Mary J. Blige. I didn’t know she could sing like this!; (Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher And Higher by Rita Coolidge; Tracks Of My Tears featuring also the creator and original artist Smokey Robinson.
Let It Be Me, a bit of country from The Everly Brothers as a duet with Jennifer Hudson who sounds magnificent; Rainy Night in Georgia by Brook Benton; What Becomes Of The Broken Hearted by Jimmy Ruffin; Love Train, the No. 1 seller from The O’Jays; You’ve Really Got A Hold On Me by The Miracles; Wonderful World by Sam Cook; If You Don’t Know Me By Now by Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes; and Just My Imagination by The Temptations.
I have always thought Michael McDonald, another rocker, remember, the guy was a Doobie Brother, did the best remake of this type of songs in his Motown series. Vocally and arrangement by arrangement, his version still ranks high, but Rod’s Soulbook has a lushness of tone that is almost magnetic. This, I believe, is what took the songs out of the nostalgia circuit and brought the album into the present time.
I thought only one guy could have thought of this approach, Clive Davis, who was responsible for Rod’s Great American Songbook. Besides, the label is J Records, and that is Davis’. Clive remains big boss of J, but what do you know, listed as producers are Steve Jordan and Steve Tyrell. I checked out Jordan and it turns out he is a famous producer, drummer plus other things who has worked with Keith Richards, John Mayer and other big names. Tyrell, who was in town last year, is a well known producer and vocalist. With these two at the helm I am not surprised Soulbook turned out so well.
But of course, this CD is really about Rod Stewart. The guy is a superb interpreter and he so loves what he does, you can almost hear the smile in his heart for every song.

Rod Stewart: Rod Stewart bares his soul

With a catalogue spanning 40 years, Rod Stewart catalogue has shown he has no problem baring his soul, or wearing his heart on his sleeve, as in the ballads “Have I Told You Lately” and “You’re In My Heart.”
The spiky haired Englishman has covered essentials such as Sam Cooke’s “Twistin’ the Night Away” and the Isley Brothers’ “This Old Heart of Mine” in a stretch of time where he has managed to merge his more rock oriented persona with a more soulful sensibility. The combination has led him to create the highly successful “Songbook” series of albums that feature him wrapping his rasp around “It Had to Be You” and “They Can’t Take That Away from Me,” pulling

e and not only reaching a new audience, but reinventing himself in the process.
“Soulbook” (J Records) is his latest album of covers. Stewart’s impeccable taste in material is only matched by the genuine love he has for these melodies that he shamelessly exhibits on the first few a capella moments of the opening track, the Four Tops’ “It’s the Same Old Song.” It hardly is, as the track’s tastefully restrained arrangements serve as a comfortable backdrop against which Stewart can sing these songs without sounding self conscious or overwrought.
And while his version of Jackie Wilson’s “(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher” sounds somewhat flat, he more than makes up for it on luminous versions of Harold Melvin and the Bluenotes’ “If You Don’t Know Me By Now” and Brook Benton’s “Rainy Night in Georgia.”
To make the affair even more impressive, Stewart shares the microphone with some of soul’s best: Smokey Robinson (“Tracks of My Tears”) and Stevie Wonder (“My Cherie Amour”).
But Stewart isn’t interested in creating duets with only the legends, as he offers a sweet and sultry version of “Let It Be Me” with Oscar winner Jennifer Hudson and a smooth reworking of the Stylistics’ “You Make Me Feel Brand New” with Mary J. Blige.
His affection for these songs is most obvious on his gorgeous reading of the Temptations’ “Just My Imagination,” a song that ironically fits his latest persona of a man who is far from being caught up in a daydream.
Hall, Oates hit it
Daryl Hall and John Oates hit their first No. 1 single in 1977 with “Rich Girl,” but the duo’s breakthrough album, “Voices” didn’t happen until 1980.
That album spun off four Top 40 hits that included “How Does It Feel To Be Back,” a cover of the Righteous Brothers’ “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin,” the infectious “You Make My Dreams” and the runaway chart-topper “Kiss On My List.”
The duo’s musical story is presented in a collection of rarities, demos and million elling songs on “Do What You Want Be What You Are: The Music of Daryl Hall and John Oates” (RCA/Legacy), an ambitious four baisc box set. Every No. 1 hit is here including “Private Eyes,” “I Can’t Go for That (No Can Do)” and “Out of Touch” as well as every Top 10 hit, among which “Say It Isn’t So,” “One on One” and “Family Man” are highlights.
Rare live performances, including songs from their first British concert in 1975 and outtakes from their best selling albums, not only offer a peek into the duo’s creative process, but cast a new light on their albums as some of these tracks are as good as the material released.
The impressive booklet not only houses an expansive collection of memorabilia, but also includes interesting testimonials from such luminaries as Gamble and Huff, Todd Rundgren, Carly Simon, Mick Jagger and Rick Neilsen of Cheap Trick.
The title of the collection is taken from an early Hall and Oates hit that reflects the duo’s collective and individual philosophies of being true to oneself, and with their unabashed love of soul music along with their uncanny pop sensibilities successfully executed through their stellar musicianship, Hall and Oates have created history by simply being themselves.

Rod Stewart: Hot for no8

RANDY Rod Stewart still thinks he's sexy at 64 - and is trying for CHILD No8.
But then the red blooded rocker - who first became a dad 45 years ago - says he's going to "close the office".
The singer's seven kids include four year old Alistair with wife Penny Lancaster. And he revealed he and ex-model Penny, 38, are "working on" a sibling for their young son.
Rod added: "We're gonna try for one more, then I'm going to close the office."
He joked: "I'll be 95 when the child graduates!"