Author: Richard Cromelin
Year: 1976
ISBN: 0128199-315
Price: $4.95
Sire-Chapell, USA
|
|
EXCELLENT
AMERICAN soft-covered, A4 size book which contains some fabulous
black and white photographs! Published in 1976, it gives an
alternative American view of the Rod Stewart story up to the
end of 1975 and the Faces split. The author amusingly notes
in the final paragraph of the book that rock and roll is, indeed,
a 'silly business', by highlighting the fact that the UK charts
of December 1975 (the month in which the Faces split) featured
both Rod and the Small Faces in the Top Ten. Ironically, Laurel
and Hardy were way ahead of them both with their posthumous
hit single 'Trail of The Lonesome Pine'!
As with many of these early books, this also contains myth.
The big one here being that Rod handled the vocals on 'That's
Alright' by Jimmy Powell and the Five Dimensions. This, of course,
is not true. The otherwise reasonably accurate discography includes
this single and concentrates on American releases. You will
be amazed at the number of American singles lifted from Rod's
first two albums - a total of seven!
This book is a rarity indeed and although a fair number of copies
made their way into British music and record shops, it was not
available in chain stores like W H Smith. Originally priced
at £3.99 in the UK, its rarity makes it worth at least
£20.00 today.
John Gray
Smiler rating: B-
Reader rating:  (21 votes) |
