Rod Stewart - Vintage (The Best of Rod Stewart) (1993)

Product Description:

As one might expect, the classic "Maggie May" is a standout track, surely the one most familiar to the casual listener; its setting in the context of this rootsy collection is a tribute to Stewart's gift for narrative, as well as his plain old songwriting mastery. Stewart's legendary take on Tim Hardin's "Reason To Believe," another well-known cut, is a sprawling, complex work, drawing every last drop of soul from the composition. Dual slide guitars give "Mandolin Wind" and "Gasoline Alley" a blistering, bluesy groove, rich in the brand of honest, roots-based rock that put Stewart on the map.

VINTAGE strolls along the grittier side of Rod Stewart's career, tracing the years that preceded the sythesizer throb and slick production of some of his later work, with scaled-down arrangements and soulful performances from a band which features fellow Face Ron Wood, whose masterful work complements Stewart's trademark rasp perfectly. These early tunes were recorded with minimal reverb, so as to give a close-up, live feel, and on songs like the "Handbags And Gladrags," Stewart's singing actually overdrives the studio microphones–left in the mix, this effect creates an interesting juxtaposition with the almost regal backing track.

For a more complete overview of this period in Rod's career, see the deluxe two compact disc retrospective 'Rod Stewart - The Mercury Anthology (314 512 805-2/4).


Album Details:

Artist: Rod Stewart
Album: Vintage (The Best of Rod Stewart)
Label: Mercury/Polygram
Catalogue #: 314 518 097-2
Matrix: 314 518 097-2 02@
UPC: 7 314-518097-2 9
Format: CD
Type: Compilation
Country: US (Made in U.S.A.)
Release Date: Aug 3, 1993
Number of Discs: 1
Language: English
Time: 1:06:53
Rating: 3 stars (allmusic.com)
Genre: Pop/Rock
Styles: Album Rock, Rock & Roll, Hard Rock, Folk-Rock, Singer/Songwriter, Pop/Rock


Tracklist:

01. Man Of Constant Sorrow (2:33) - Rod Stewart
02. Cut Across Shorty (6:32) - Marijohn Wilkin / Wayne P. Walker
03. Jo's Lament (3:27) - Rod Stewart
04. That's All Right (4:02) - Arthur Crudup
05. Only A Hobo (4:15) - Bob Dylan
06. Every Picture Tells A Story (6:00) - Rod Stewart / Ron Wood
07. Amazing Grace (2:02) - Traditional; arranged by Rod Stewart / Sam Mitchell
08. Maggie May (5:17) - Rod Stewart / Martin Quittenton
09. Reason To Believe (4:10) - Tim Hardin
10. Mandolin Wind (5:35) - Rod Stewart
11. Handbags And Gladrags (4:27) - Mike D'Abo
12. Gasoline Alley (4:03) - Rod Stewart / Ron Wood
13. It's All Over Now (6:22) - Bobby & Shirley Womack
14. You Wear It Well (4:22) - Rod Stewart / Martin Quittenton
15. Tomorrow Is A Long Time (3:44) - Bob Dylan


Personnel:

Rod Stewart (vocals, acoustic guitar)
Ron Wood (acoustic, electric & bottleneck guitar, bass)
Martin Quittenton (acoustic guitar)
Sam Mitchell (slide guitar)
Stanley Matthews, Ray Jackson (mandolin)
Dick Powell (violin)
Pete Sears (piano, bass)
Ian McLagan, Mike D'Abo (piano)
Danny Thompson (bass)
Dennis O'Flynn (violin bass)
Mick Waller (drums)
Maggie Bell, Long John Baldry (background vocals)


Lineage:

SilverCD -> EAC (Test & Copy Image & Create CUE Sheet > Uncompressed / Secure Mode / Offset Corrected / WAV 1411 Kbit/s / 44100 Hz / 16 Bits / 2 Channels) -> FLAC frontend -> FLAC (compression level 8) -> AvaxHome


Extra info:

- Cuesheet files included (WAV & FLAC).
- EAC extraction LOG file included.
- Codec used for lossless compression: libFLAC 1.2.1 20070917
- Samplerate: 44100 Hz Stereo / Bitrate: 16 bits
- MD5 checksum included.
- Full artwork, 300 dpi, jpg format (compression: 1% = highest quality)
- All tracks accurately ripped