PREMESSA: LA SUPERIORITA' DELLA MUSICA SU VINILE E' ANCOR OGGI SANCITA, NOTORIA ED EVIDENTE. NON TANTO DA UN PUNTO DI VISTA DI RESA, QUALITA' E PULIZIA DEL SUONO, TANTOMENO DA QUELLO DEL RIMPIANTO RETROSPETTIVO E NOSTALGICO , MA SOPRATTUTTO DA QUELLO PIU' PALPABILE ED INOPPUGNABILE DELL' ESSENZA, DELL' ANIMA E DELLA SUBLIMAZIONE CREATIVA. IL DISCO IN VINILE HA PULSAZIONE ARTISTICA, PASSIONE ARMONICA E SPLENDORE GRAFICO , E' PIACEVOLE DA OSSERVARE E DA TENERE IN MANO, RISPLENDE, PROFUMA E VIBRA DI VITA, DI EMOZIONE E  DI SENSIBILITA'. E' TUTTO QUELLO CHE NON E' E NON POTRA' MAI ESSERE IL CD, CHE AL CONTRARIO E' SOLO UN OGGETTO MERAMENTE COMMERCIALE, POVERO, ARIDO, CINICO, STERILE ED ORWELLIANO,  UNA DEGENERAZIONE INDUSTRIALE SCHIZOFRENICA E NECROFILA, LA DESOLANTE SOLUZIONE FINALE DELL' AVIDITA' DEL MERCATO E DELL' ARROGANZA DEI DISCOGRAFICI .

ROD STEWART
gasoline alley
     

Disco LP 33 giri , 1970, vertigo / mercury ,6360 500 D, Germany , first pressing , gatefold laminated cover  / copertina apribile laminata,   swirl label / etichetta a spirale

CONDIZIONI ECCELLENTI, vinyl ex++/NM , cover ex++

Gasoline Alley was the second solo album by . It was released in 1970. It is included in the book .


Mentre soddisfa le voglie di rock con i Faces, per suo conto lo scozzese predilige toni più rilassati e intimistici, nei dintorni di un folk pop acustico con qualche guizzo rock. Per gran parte i suoi dischi sono composti da qualche canzone originale (Gasoline Alley, per esempio, scritta con Ron Wood) e molti brani altrui scelti con cura e reinterpretati con classe, e con un occhio di riguardo al pubblico. Nel primo di un trittico di grandi opere trovano posto la Country Comfort di Elton John, My Way Of Giving (Small Faces), It's All Over Now (Rolling Stones), Only A Hobo (Dylan).

Etichetta:  Vertigo
Catalogo: 6360 500 D
Data di pubblicazione: 1970 Matrici / etchings / run out groove numbers :  1 0 AA6360 500  1  Y  320    / 1 0 AA6360 500  2  Y  320   
Supporto:vinile 33 giri Tipo audio: stereo Dimensioni: 30 cm. Facciate: 2 Gatefold laminated cover  / copertina apribile laminata, swirl label / etichetta a spirale , white paper inner sleeve  Track listing

Side one "Gasoline Alley" (Stewart, ) – 4:00 "" (, Shirley Jean Womack) – 6:23 "Only a Hobo" () – 4:20 "My Way of Giving" (, ) – 4:10

Side two "" (, ) – 4:45 "Cut Across Shorty" (Wayne Walker, ) – 6:30 "Lady Day" (Stewart) – 4:15 "Jo's Lament" (Stewart) – 3:55 "You're My Girl (I Don't Want to Discuss It)" (Dick Cooper, Beth Beatty, Ernie Shelby) – 4:30
Inside credit list includes: "Mac not available due to bus strike" [Which indicates 'Faces' musician Ian McLagan (keyboards) was not present at recording. However, US release credits him and the track upon which he is credited there is "You're My Girl"- prefixed to "I Don't Want To Discuss It" on this album. This suggests McLagan was dubbed, or the track added later].

Waller & Quittenton are mentioned as present in sleeve notes, but not credited - as per US release. [All uncredited musicians thus taken from the US release].

Credit to "Keef" note: Ron Wood's elder brother (Art Wood) was in a band with Keef Hartley.

Formazione / The band:
Rod Stewart – main performer, producer, vocals, guitar on "Jo's Lament" – acoustic guitar, guitar – guitar, acoustic guitar, bass Sam Mitchell - slide guitar – bass, vocals on "My Way Of Giving" – piano, organ William Gaff – human whistle Dennis O'Flynn – violin bass Dick Powell – violin Stanley Matthews – mandolin – drums – drums – piano, bass                                                             


Gasoline Alley follows the same formula of Rod Stewart's first album, intercutting contemporary covers with slightly older rock & roll and folk classics and originals written in the same vein. The difference is in execution. Stewart sounds more confident, claiming 's "Country Comfort," ' "My Way of Giving," and ' version of "It's All Over Now" with a ragged, laddish charm. Like its predecessor, nearly all of Gasoline Alley is played on acoustic instruments — Stewart treats rock & roll songs like folk songs, reinterpreting them in individual, unpredictable ways. For instance, "It's All Over Now" becomes a shambling, loose-limbed ramble instead of a tight R&B/blues groove, and "Cut Across Shorty" is based around a howling, Mideastern violin instead of a rockabilly riff. Of course, being a rocker at heart, Stewart doesn't let these songs become limp acoustic numbers — these rock harder than any fuzz-guitar workout. The drums crash and bang, the acoustic guitars are pounded with a vengeance — it's a wild, careening sound that is positively joyous with its abandon. And on the slow songs, Stewart is nuanced and affecting — his interpretation of 's "Only a Hobo" is one of the finest covers, while the original title track is a vivid, loving tribute to his adolescence. And that spirit is carried throughout Gasoline Alley. It's an album that celebrates tradition while moving it into the present and never once does it disown the past.

The music of Rod Stewart helps us to remember many of the small but extremely important experiences of life which our civilization inclines us to forget. Compassion. Care for small things. The textures of sorrow. Remembrance of times past. Reverence for age. Stewart has a rare sensitivity for the delicate moments in a person's existence when a crucial but often neglected truth flashes before his eyes and then vanishes. The amazing character of Stewart's work is largely due to the fact that he can recall these fragile moments of insight to our minds without destroying their essence.

A I listened to Gasoline Alley the first time, I found myself saying again and again, "He can't understand that." But he does. The tone of his voice and the authenticity of his phrasing let you know that he's doing much more than just singing the required lyrics. "The one who shared just about all he had / In a one sided love affair," he moans in "Lady Day." As he goes on he admits "I get scared when I remember too much" and at the end of the song recognizes that the girl to whom his confession is dedicated is not even listening.

I suspect that experiences like this are virtually universal. Ever pour your heart out to someone and then find that he (or she) just couldn't care less? These are the moments Stewart is interested in and he never fails to capture their distinctive colors. It's almost frightening.

"Country Comforts," for example, conveys perfectly the situations, personalities and feelings of rural life. I've been listening to country-rock albums of the recent vintage for some time now, but Stewart's version of this song is the only recording I can remember that awakens in me a genuine nostalgia for the rural life of my own childhood. Old Man Grayson, that stubborn old coot, refuses to use those new-fangled machines in his mill. "It just ain't natch'rl." "He's a horse drawn man until his dying day." And Grandma's really looking fine—well, fine for 84. She asks you if you could come by an fix the barn. You say "yes," but quietly hope that in her senility she'll forget your promise. "Poor old girl, she needs a man down on the farm."

At his best Stewart comes very close to Thoreau's meaning in the early pages of Walden: "The mass of men lead live of quiet desperation."

The two Rod Stewart albums are together the most important listening experience I've had since the Band's first album. His music speaks with a gentleness and depth which seems to heal the wounds and ease the pain. The question of which of the two albums is the better does not interest me in the least. The music and spiritual content of them both is so totally extraordinary that I cannot really separate the two in my mind. Gasoline Alley is for me merely the second volume in what I hope will be a continually expanding "Collected Works" of a supremely fine artist. 

Rod Stewart era il cantante blues rauco e fumoso che faceva girar le teste nelle band di Long John Baldry prima e Jeff Beck poi prima di unirsi ai Faces. Il suo primo album, An Old Raincoat (Mercury, 1969), registrato mentre era con Beck e successivamente riedito con il nome Album, era il ritratto del giovane artista, e riportava ai primi anni errabondi folk e blues (An Old Raincoat Handbags And Gladrags). Con il gruppo in difficolta', Stewart fece sue le idee di fusion soul-rock e inizio' la carriera solista su toni piu' commerciali con Gasoline Alley (1970), una collezione di ballate con elementi folk, country, blues e soul guidate dalla magica chitarra di Ron Wood ed eseguite su toni prosaici ancorche' romantici: Gasoline Alley, Lady Day, Joe Lament, It's All Over Now e una manciata di superbe cover. Every Picture Tells A Story (1971) raggiunse la vetta delle charts, con il successo di Maggie May, country-rocker definitiva, e la commovente Mandolin Wind. Never A Dull Moment (1972) confermo' che non era solo buono per le cover (You Wear It Well), ma Smiler (1974) mostro' che si stava stancando delle convenzioni del genere. The Mercury Anthology (Mercury, 1992) e' un'antologia di due dischi tratta dai primi album solo. Atlantic Crossing (Warner, 1975) segno' l'inizio di una nuova carriera. Stabilitosi a Los Angeles, Stewart adotta sempre piu' posture "glam" e viene pubblicizzato come sex-symbol. A Night On The Town (1976) fa cassetta con questa nuova immagine, grazie alla romantica ballata Tonight's The Night, prototipo per il suo nuovo stile, culminato con You're In My Heart (1977), tratto da Foot Loose (1977). Nel frattempo i Faces si erano sciolti. Da Ya Think I'm Sexy, l'hit da Blondes Have More Fun (1978), vendette l'immagine di Stewart alle discoteche, cosi' come Passion, da Foolish Behavior (1980). Tonight I'm Yours (1981), con Young Turks, Body Wishes (1983), with la stucchevole Baby Jane, Camouflage (1984), con il synth-pop di Infatuation e la cover di Robert Palmer Some Guys Have All The Luck, Every Beat Of My Heart (1986), con la title-track. Il pubblico si stanco' di questo autore di ballate di mezz'eta' e Stewart perse rapidamente quota. Rod Stewart (1986), Out Of Order (1988), con Forever Young, Vagabond Heart (1991), con Rhythm Of My Heart, Unplugged and Seated (1993), con la cover di Van Morrison Have I Told You Lately That I Love You, A Spanner In The Works (1995) e If I Fall In Love Tonight (1996) presentarono una rock star piu' calma e saggia, piu' nostalgica che sexy.

                                                                                                

Britt Ekland with her cave man


Roderick David Stewart (, ) è un . Nei suoi oltre 40 anni di carriera, Stewart ha ottenuto 27 prime posizioni nella classifica mondiale dei 10 più venduti. È stato stimato che le vendite dei suoi dischi ammonterebbero ad un totale di 200 milioni di copie, facendone uno degli artisti che hanno venduto più album di tutta la storia della musica.

Biografia

Il più giovane di una famiglia di origine scozzese, Rod è, insieme a sua madre Elsie, l'unico Stewart nato in , a Highgate, sobborgo di . Suo padre, i suoi due fratelli e le sue due sorelle nacquero tutti in . Molto fiero della sua origine , Rod Stewart è sempre stato un grande sostenitore dei e della , nonché dilettante. Gioca tuttora, quando può, in una squadra seniores. È stato il capitano della nazionale cantanti.

Il calcio è la prima vocazione di Rod, tanto che va vicino a un contratto da professionista, ma la sua passione per la musica, iniziata cantando nei gruppi "Skiffle" di Londra, si rafforza con un tour europeo del folk singer , che lo porta con sé come corista. Nel entra ed esce da gruppi , suonando con , futuro bassista dei , , Julie Driscoll il tastierista brian auger e gli di Long John Baldry. Successivamente Rod entra nell'orbita di , dove conosce , con il quale stringe una importante e duratura amicizia. Nel , il Jeff Beck Group si scioglie, ma insieme a lo scozzese si unisce ai , gruppo erede degli . Da questo momento, la carriera di Stewart si dipana lungo il versante solista e quello del gruppo. The Rod Stewart Album del , ottiene qualche timido riscontro in Usa, ma non in patria, dove sono i Faces ad avere una piccola notorietà. Tuttavia nel il suo terzo LP, succeduto al buon Gasoline Alley, grazie al singolo "Maggie May", sfonda. La cosa avrà inevitabili ripercussioni nei , cui il frontman farà pesare il nuovo status di star. È l'inizio di un periodo d'oro: oltre a "Maggie May", tutti i singoli estratti avranno un successo impressionante come "", "Reason to Believe", "Every Picture tell a Story", "Mine for me" scritta insieme a .

La popolarità di "Rod the mod" contribuisce a spingere le vendite dei dischi dei , ma nel il divorzio si consuma. Il cantante vive un momento d'oro; ogni suo singolo si impone con una facilità stupefacente: "Sailing", "Tonight's the night" lo impongono come superstar ma evidenziano il suo allontanamento dal rock in favore di un molto dolce e romantico, a cui fa da contrappeso la sua ruvida voce.

I cambiamenti di stile non lo spaventano: nei primi anni '80 introduce elementi di nelle sue interpretazioni, e si mantiene saldamente in testa alle charts per qualche anno ancora. Progressivamente però, pur rimanendo assai popolare come personaggio, specialmente in Inghilterra, le sue frequentazioni con la hit parade diminuiscono: lui stesso rimane preso tra la tentazione di ritrovare le proprie radici e il terreno sicuro della ballata pop. Un esempio è Infatuation, il cui video era anche la sigla del festivalbar nel , ma non si devono dimenticare brani come "", "Baby Jane", "Every beat of my Heart", "People get ready" (di nuovo insieme a Jeff Beck), "Lost in You", "Forever Young" o "My heart can’t tell you no", che diventano dei classici degli anni ‘80

Negli anni '90 Rod Stewart, dopo il successo inaspettato dell'ottimo , incide insieme a e un brano per la colonna sonora de . "All For Love" è stata scritta dallo stesso Adams, Mutt Lange e Michael Kamen, diventato noto dopo aver scritto nel 1991 "(Everything I Do) I Do It for You". Il titolo si ispirò al motto dei tre moschettieri: "Uno per tutti, tutti per uno". Il singolo raggiunse il numero uno del Hot 100 il , rimanendovi per tre settimane.

Nel Rod decide di ritornare alle origini, ma un brutto colpo al suo tentativo di recuperare una credibilità rock gli viene dallo scarso impatto dell'LP , in cui le chitarre e la voce tornano alle classiche tinte rock di un tempo. Forse anche per questo i due dischi successivi, e , seguono altre strade: quella del per il primo, quella dello per il secondo, che esce nel ed è composto da reinterpretazioni standard del canzoniere americano. Il secondo volume di quest'ultimo progetto, , vede la luce nell'autunno ed è seguito da un terzo nel e dall’ultimo della serie, , nel .

Nel il brano Young Turks è stato inserito nella colonna sonora del videogioco della

Nel esce , raccolta in cui Stewart reinterpreta successi della storia rock degli anni ’60 e ’70.

Con oltre 40 anni di carriera alle spalle, e grandi collaborazioni, Stewart ha ottenuto quasi 30 volte la prima posizione nella classifica mondiale dei 10 singoli più venduti. Nel 2001 riceve il "Diamond Award of World Music" per aver superato i 100 milioni di dischi venduti nel mondo in carriera, risultando essere uno degli artisti più acquistati in tutta la storia della musica.

         Rod Stewart was the youngest of five children born on January 10, 1945 to Robert and Elsie Stewart in North London, England. He was the first of his siblings to be born in England after his family moved from Scotland. 

Stewart has had a varied career ranging from football to a grave digger. He tried for many football clubs and also worked as before deciding that it was music where his true calling laid; given the fact that he started playing guitar at the age of eleven. In the early 1960s, he joined folk singer Wizz Jones and travelled around Europe as a street singer. He has been deported from Spain for vagrancy because of his street singing.

In 1962, he helped found The Ray Davies Quartet, which on to become the successful British band The Kinks. It is believed that he was dropped from The Ray Davies Quartet after drummer John Start’s mother complained about his voice and the fact that he had musical and personality differences with the other band members. However, this has been denied by Ray and Dave Davies.

After his stint with The Ray Davies Quartet, Stewart joined Jimmy Powell and the Five Dimensions in 1964 as a vocalist and harmonica player. He had just one single with the band. Long John Baldry discovered Rod Stewart drunk and busking for his train fare and invited him to join The Hoochie Coochie Men, which went on to develop into Steampacket with Stewart, Baldry, Julie Driscoll, Brian Auger, Mickey Waller and Rick Brown. In 1965, Steampacket support the Rolling Stones and the Walker Brothers on their tour.

Steampacket broke up in 1966 and Stewart joined the Shotgun Express as lead vocalist with Beryl Marsden, Mick Fleetwood, Peter Green and Peter Bardens. They just released one single before breaking up. After this, Stewart joined Jeff Beck Group as a vocalist and their first album, Truth, was released in 1968 which became a hit in the UK and the US. Their second album, Beck-Ola, also was a hit but the group broke up by the end of 1969.

Stewart had his first solo album release in 1969 with An Old Raincoat Won’t Ever Let You Down, which is known as The Rod Stewart Album in the US. This set precedence for Rod Stewart’s solo career which became a mix of folk, rock and country blues. His best selling song was a disco hit in 1978 called Da Ya Think I’m Sexy which ended up damaging his credibility among his longtime fans and critics.

                                                                                      Britt Ekland with her drunk man
Personal life

In 1999, Stewart was diagnosed with , for which he underwent surgery in July 2000. Besides being a major health scare, the resulting surgery also threatened his famous voice, and he had to re-learn how to sing. Since then he has been active in raising funds for The City of Hope Foundation charity to find cures for all forms of cancer, especially those affecting children.

Stewart has remained physically active in recent years, playing in a senior soccer league in Palos Verdes, California and still kicking balls into the audience during concerts. When discussing the rock 'n' roll excesses he has been through in his career, he maintains that his love of playing football (soccer) has been his saviour. He is a well-known supporter of , which he mentions in his hit "You're in My Heart", and the . Rod is one of only two people to have a seat for life at Celtic Park, the other one being the comedian . Stewart also follows Manchester United as his English side, and he explains his love affair with both Celtic and Man United in Frank Worall's book Celtic United.

Stewart is also a keen enthusiast, having a 23 x 124-foot HO scale in his California home, called the Three Rivers City, modelled after the and the Railroads during the 1940s, which has now made the pages of the December 2007 issue of Magazine. In the article he said that he would rather be in a model railroading magazine than a music magazine, and his passion for the hobby has been blamed for contributing to the end of his second marriage. He has a layout based on Britain's at his UK home, located in on part of the estate.

A keen car enthusiast, particularly for Ferrari, he owns one of the 400 . In 1982, Stewart was car-jacked in Los Angeles while he was standing next to his $50,000 , which was parked on in ., which was subsequently recovered.

On 11 October 2005, Stewart received a star on the at 6801 Hollywood Blvd. (Star number 2093) On 18 April and 19 April 2006 Stewart was the guest artist and celebrity vocal coach on , leading the remaining seven finalists in singing entries from the .

Stewart is a supporter of the .

Relationships

Stewart is known for his liaisons with women (fathering seven children with five of them; the oldest being born in 1964 and his latest child being born in November 2005):

Length Name Child(ren) Note 1963–1964 Art student
Susannah Boffey Sarah Thubron Streeter (born 1964) The child was put up for adoption. 1971–1975 Model
Dee Harrington

1975–1977 Actress


First marriage
1979-1984
(ex-wife of actor ) (born 21 August 1979)
(born September 1, 1980) 1983–1990 Model
Ruby Stewart (born 17 June 1987)
Second marriage
1990-2006 Model
Renée Stewart (born 1 June 1992) They separated in 1999 and eventually divorced in 2006. Liam McAlister Stewart (born 4 September 1994) Third marriage
2007–present Model
Alastair Wallace Stewart (born November 27, 2005 in London) The couple married on 16 June 2007 on board the yacht Lady Ann Magee moored in the Italian port of .

In reference to his divorces, Rod Stewart was once quoted as saying, "Instead of getting married again, I'm going to find a woman I don't like and just give her a house."

Awards and recognition Rod Stewart's star on the , February 2006 Awarded in 2007 New Year's Honours. , 2005, Stardust ... The Great American Songbook Volume III Diamond Award of show for over 100 million records sold worldwide, 2001. Inducted into the , 1994 Inducted into the , 2006 "Bar none, he's the best singer I've heard in . He's also the greatest white singer." — on Rod Stewart "Is this a white guy? You are kidding me!!" commented when asked what he thought about Stewart's cover of in an interview by the Belgian Rock magazine in 1975. Rod Stewart played to the largest concert crowd ever, with 3.5 million fans in attendance. This was at Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro for the 1994 New Year's Eve celebrations. According to Stewart, soul legend called him music's "best white soul singer" in September 2006.     



Rod & Penny at jazz      



2011 : live with Ron Wood