Rod Stewart -The Forgotten Rock God?

I’m not sure about you but when I think of Rod Stewart the first word that comes to mind is definitely not ‘cool’. What comes to mind is a giant slice of cheese topped with a huge heap of schmaltz. From the leopard panted disco swagger of ‘Do Ya think I’m Sexy?’ to his recent ‘Great American Schmaltz Song Book’ series, it’s hard not to associate him with baby boomers gone (not that) wild.

Yes I know, ‘Maggie May’ is a classic. But it’s a folksy feel good classic. And it definitely doesn’t make you want to break anything.

But believe it or not, Rod Stewart used to ROCK. And rock with a killin’ blues voice that was saturated with power to make people want to break things. He once OWNED the hard, gritty, late sixties blues wave.

His earliest work was with the Jeff Beck Group who were one step ahead of Led Zeppelin in formation as well as keenness to the late sixties British trend of hard blues getting electrified. In fact, one can put up a strong argument that The Jeff Beck Group was instrumental in Jimmy Page’s vision of what he wanted to accomplish with Led Zeppelin. One could even say Page ripped off the Jeff Beck Group both in essence as well as substance -it was the Jeff Beck Group that first performed a rockin’ version of ‘You Shook Me‘ with Stewart on vocals before it became a blues/rock anthem most commonly associated with a thundering Bonham and a wailing Plant.

Unfortunately there isn’t much video footage of the short-lived Beck Group with Stewart. Here is the only snippet I could find but it really shows Stewart at his bluesy best as he is laying down some vocals in the studio.

So the next time you see Stewart in a suit and tie serenading an arena full of swooning empty nesters just remember -that boy used to rock.