Rod, Rod -- Why Do You Continue to Break Our Hearts?

The title of this post is from a note I wrote when I caught Rod Stewart singing on some Christmas special on TV. He looked great, commanded the stage (tiny though it was), gave off an air of relaxed fun, a man born to entertain and just have a good time in front of thousands of his best mates. But...Christmas songs? He's worked his way though umpteen 'songbooks' trawling through the Standards, now he's looking to snatch the Christmas crown from Der Bingle? Is this the Rod we fell in love with when we first heard "Cut Across Shorty", or "Maggie May", or, bless 'im, "Mandolin Wind", and of course, the mighty mighty "I Know I'm Losing You".

I've been skimming through "Rod: The Autobiography", and I recommend it, but... (and as Pee-Wee Herman once sagely replied "Everyone I know has a big but".)

Here's the deal: Rod's Mercury label albums ("Gasoline Alley", Every Picture Tells a Story", that era) are wonderful, a fine mix of acoustic and electric, folk and soul with a dash of blues and some real rock 'n roll thunder. Then, the story goes, Rod moves to LA, becomes posh, wears make-up and then... "Da Ya Think I'm Sexy", "Hot Legs",,,well, the Mayans have recalibrated their calendar and that is the new sign of the end times. "Rod" (the book) addresses these concerns with a nod and a wink, and he's the first to complain about his wardrobe choices, but the catch is, he's having it both ways. He comes across in print as a good guy, someone self-deprecating with a quick wit, someone you'd be happy to share a pint with -- and then he tells the story about how he triple-timed his wife with 2 other models.  I get the sense of the golden boy, told he's a rotter but, well, how can you not love the darlin'?

One example from the book: he talks about touring with the Faces and the tensions caused by his nascent solo career -- the Faces had one record label, and Rod had another, so Rod's label would send round limos for him and fancy hotel suites, while the Faces fumed with their cheaper options. Rod says, "Well yes, I could have taken one for the team and refused the fancy suites .... but then I wouldn't have had a suite, would I ?"

So every time Rod 'redeems' himself (certainly not his view) with an "Unplugged" album that restores his cred, we know that soon he'll go for the gold and leave us old fans disappointed once again. I have no doubt that Rod's next album or two, supposed to be a return to his rock/folk/soul roots, will be warm, matserful and a total hoot. And that sets us up for the next folly ....