Time again for Rod Stewart

I opened my copy of Time by Rod Stewart and realized how much I miss liner notes. In the old long-play album days, records usually came with liner notes. This was an often substantive write-up about the artist and the album that I never failed to read. I do not know when the liner notes ceased to be in fashion. I just know that that space got smaller with audio cassettes and then got a little bigger with CDs but was gradually taken over by song lyrics and thank you’s or by nothing at all in most pop albums.

Only classical releases seem to do liner notes nowadays. So, it was a pleasant surprise to open Time and find lyrics and well-written liner notes. I cannot seem to locate the name of the writer but everything is all there and in readable type, too. I am sure you have come across such CDs with lyrics in small space-saving type in an unreadable color. Not in Time though, which I must say, also boasts of great cover art and photos.

Everything in this album is in keeping with the stature of its artist and its place in Rod’s long list of accomplishments. He is one of most successful artists of all time and one of the greatest singers. He has performed before millions of people all over the world and sold millions of records. I do not think it would be exaggeration to say that the personal soundtracks of millions surely include Rod Stewart songs.

His raspy singing has a rare intimate quality that totally engages the listener. This holds true whether he is singing one of his own works, Maggie May, I Was Only Joking, Tonight’s The Night or doing covers, Tim Hardin’s Reason To Believe and Van Morrison’s Have I Told You Lately. He could be soaring with friends in All For Love or jiving to Do Ya Think I’m Sexy and Hot Legs or being suave with It Had To Be You and Baby It’s Cold Outside.

I think this is also the reason why Rod has been able to constantly reinvent himself over the years. The guy is now 68 years old, a father of eight and a grandfather of one. He is no saint and often provides gossip fodder for tabloids. There may be times when he would be down a bit for a year or two. But he would soon be back, funnier and sexier, better than before and with his rooster pompadour adapted to the new image. He has gone from Brit punk rocker to glam, from the blues to folk, from pop to disco, etc. But at all times, there would be Rod, a master storyteller who unconditionally loves what he is able to share.

Rod is sharing more than his usual with Time and he sounds glad to do so. There has always been a happy lilt to his music and this permeates the entirety of the album that marks another milestone. Time is his first collection of all new materials in nearly 20 years. The story is told in the liner notes. Rod thought all along that he had lost his gift for writing songs. Not really a problem because he also sells big with covers. But I can bet that he was disappointed.

Then he decided to write his autobiography. Simply titled Rod, the book turned out to be a great tell-all and big seller. He can now add best-selling author to his resume. It also got the creative juices flowing and he soon had his knack for songwriting back. The result is the 11 new songs featured in Time, which Rod also produced. The songs are among his best ever and Time is one great album.

He kicks things off with the joyous mandolin-flavored She Makes Me Happy. It is a happy song and while it has the marks of a Rod Stewart recording, it still sounds very new. He gets into a storytelling mode about his early days in the business with the jiggy Can’t Stop Me Now. And then switches into the heartbreaking It’s Over, an arena rocker with a strong chorus about the breakup of a marriage. It is a sad song that shows off his tremendous gifts as a vocalist.

There is so much to like in Time. You will want to greet the day with Beautiful Morning; go through it with the inspiring Live The Life; get into a sexy mood with Finest Woman; appreciate being alive with Time; go dancing with Sexual Religion; get into a country mood with Make Love To Me Tonight; show how much you love your children with Pure Love; and get a load of Rod’s humor in Legless.

Then because Rod is fantastic with cover songs, there are three in the CD that he interprets beautifully — the touching Picture In A Frame by Tom Waits; Corrina, Corrina, the 60’s pop hit by Ray Peterson; and Linda Ronstadt’s ballad Love Has No Pride.

My favorite cut is the easy, flowing, very sentimental Brighton Beach. It is a light acoustic tune about a teen-aged love affair back in the ’60s, probably one of his own. Looking back he now asks, Did you find your man? Are you happy now? Do you ever stop and think about me? And he sings everything like he means every word.