This week’s news and gossip

Coliseo de Puerto Rico José Miguel Agrelot, San Juan

Friday night was the first date on the next leg of Rod’s ‘Hits’ tour and also the first official date for new band member Joanne Harper who posted this shot of her with Rod and Holly Brewer on her social media

SET LIST

Infatuation
Having a Party
Some Guys Have All the Luck
It Takes Two
You Wear It Well
Forever Young
The First Cut Is the Deepest
Maggie May
I’d Rather Go Blind
Rhythm of My Heart
Hot Stuff
I Don’t Want to Talk About It
Tonight’s The Night
You’re in My Heart (The Final Acclaim)
Have I Told You Lately
Lady Marmalade
Da Ya Think I’m Sexy?
Baby Jane
Sweet Little Rock & Roller

Carlos A. Delgado García was at the show and gave us this great shot of Rod.

Arlene Gotay gave us another great shot and said Rod was ‘Singing and dancing at 78 as if the years hadn’t passed!’

And another good shot from Derek Fleming

And Juan Manuel Fragoso Graziani gave us more fantastic shots

Travel expert Carolyn Sandgren took a superb candid shot of Rod…How’s the music business Rod?… It has its ups and downs.

Or ..An old broken elevator, will never let you down!

Altos De Chavon, Casa De Campo Dominican Republic

On Saturday Rod was in The Dominican Republic to play this outdoor event including ‘Have You Ever Seen The Rain’ ‘Young Turks’ and ‘Stay With Me’ in the set tonight

Sarah Dunn did a great job getting these shots from the show

Hard Rock Live Hollywood, Florida

On Monday 13th Rod played The Hard Rock, And a special guest was in the arena for the first night

Ex band member Stevie Salas who said ‘Where would I be in this world today if Rod Stewart didn’t take a chance giving a job to a kid barely in his early 20s who had ZERO experience. Man I love him so and owe him deep. It was so great to see him last night and have a few laughs ( in the photo with my brother Chris Osceola). Also great to see Jimmy Roberts, David Palmer, the RS Band and even one of my techs from the 93 Duran Duran tour’.

Stevie sent us some brilliant photos including our main photo and told SMILER this week “We had a great hang”

Set List

Ever Seen The Rain/Twisting The Night Away/Some Guys/Infatuation/Ooh La La/It’s A Heartache/Forever Young/First Cut Is The Deepest/You’re In My Heart/Maggie May/Rather Go Blind/Young Turks/Rhythm of My Heart/I’m Every Woman/I Don’t Want To Talk About It/Tonight’s The Night/Grace/Have I Told You Lately/Lady Marmalade/Hot Legs/Sexy.

Valentines Night

Tuesday saw Rod back at The Hard Rock Hollywood, for a Valentines Day special and Stella Clark was on hand to get us some special shots

RockTheJacket was also at the show and got some superb shots and told SMILER “It was a great show”.

This weeks Rod Art

This weeks Rod art is different than usual ..But still a work of art, Jenn from RockTheJacket who took some of our photos on Valentines night wore this stunning jacket to the show ..even I would love to wear this!

RockTheJacket make one of a kind jackets made with love, all ages shapes styles themes designed, they really are a work of art, to see more RockTheJacket designs go to https://rockthejacket.com/

Seminole Hard Rock Tampa Event Center Tampa, Florida.

On Thursday Rod was at the Seminole Hard Rock Tampa Event Center and Geoff Marinec and Glenna Heraly were on hand to get some wonderful photos

Glenna told SMILER ‘Showman Indeed...Amazing artist and always a fun show’ and Geoff added ‘Rod was great’

No Royal Date For Rod

Rod told the Mirror this week that Penny will be on duty as a special constable with the City of London Police for the King’s Coronation concert in May but he will still be in Las Vegas as part of his residency at Caesars Palace.

‘”I think I have worn out my royal welcome. I think I will leave it to someone else. I will be in Las Vegas, but my wife will be on duty as a policewoman though.” said Rod

But Rod’s cover of Curtis Mayfield’s song ‘People Get Ready’, which he recorded with the late Jeff Beck, has been added to the official song list.

Rod said this week: “Delighted to see that they’ve chosen our version of Curtis Mayfield’s song ‘People Get Ready’ with my old mate Jeff Beck to be on the official King’s Coronation playlist.

He added: “What an honour, Jeff would no doubt have been delighted too. Thank you.”

Rod’s first ever studio recording to go to auction at Cheffins in Cambridge

A 15ips tape of Rod’s first studio recording will go under the hammer at Cheffins in Cambridge as part of The Art & Design Sale on 23rd February, with an estimate of £500 – £1,000.

The recording was made on 18th June 1964, at the famous Pepi Rush basement studio at 42 Berwick Street, London, and was instrumental in Rod Stewart’s signing with Decca Records. The tape has been consigned from music and PR man, Jonathan Rowlands, who at the time was managing Rod Stewart. Mr Rowlands, who also worked with the likes of Tom Jones, Englebert Humperdinck, Nina Simone, Nancy Wilson, Tim Rose and film actor Jimmy Stewart amongst many others.
The tape has a track list comprising; Just Like I Treat You, Moppers Blues, Bright Lights Big City, Keep Your Hands Off Her, Don’t Tell Nobody, Ain’t That Loving You Baby and Worksong.

Mr Rowlands, 83, who is based in Bakewell, Derbyshire, comments:
“The tape was used as audition material for a future recording contract for Rod with Decca Records. We had got lucky finding out about the Pepsi Rush’s studio that was hidden in the basement of a shop in Berwick Street, Soho. At the time it was incredibly difficult to get into major studio, as they were all owned and controlled by the likes of Decca, CBS, Polydor and Phillips Records. Rod had asked a certain Reg Dwight to come and play piano, unfortunately he had a cold that day and couldn’t make it. However, we were lucky for the musicians we used were from Long John Baldry’s Hoochie Coochie Band, led by pianist Ian Armit who Rod normally sang with.

With my then partner, Geoff Wright, we then sent the tape to Decca Records as an audition recording in June 1964 and the result was we obtained Rod’s first recording contract. The first single released then by Decca was Good Morning Little Schoolgirl. I had been dealing with Rod for a few months at that point, he was around 18 years old, and in those days, you couldn’t sign a management contract until you were 21, so I had visited his parents in Highgate to ask them to sign on his behalf. We knew Rod was something special from the word go. He had that absolute star quality which he shares with the likes of Tom Jones and Elton John, which has allowed them to stay relevant in the music industry even after all of these years.”

Jonathan worked with Rod for around nine years. He continues: “our relationship ended because after a chance meeting in Mayfair with Lou Reizner who represented Chess Records in Chicago, Rod was happy to sign with them and I left for America to look after his interests. I was due to meet Rod over in Miami where he was touring with the Jeff Beck trio. Jeff had a car crash, so Rod never came over, and I was stuck in the US getting a green card. Back in the UK, Lou, introduced Rod to the Small Faces, who he also represented, and the rest is history as Rod joined the band along with Ronnie Wood. I think these tapes will be bought by someone who loves Rod. He’s done so many good things in his time and has so many fans, I am sure it will make someone very happy.”

Good Morning Little Schoolgirl was Sir Rod Stewart’s first single to be released, and was the start of the blossoming of his solo career. He then released his debut album, Every Picture Tells a Story in 1971, alongside the release of the single Maggie May which went to straight to Number 1 in the UK and the US simultaneously.

Martin Millard, Director, Cheffins says: “With over 120 million records sold worldwide, Sir Rod Stewart is undoubtedly one of the most famous British rock legends of all time. There are armies of Rod Stewart fans across the world, and this tape is an opportunity for someone to own the seminal recording which would go on to propel his career skywards. He is one of the most loved artists of the past century, and this is a chance for someone to buy a part of musical history.”

Sir Rod Stewart is still very much a part of the current music scene, having performed at Her Majesty the Queen’s Royal Jubilee in 2022, and released new music as recently as 2021.
The tapes are sold along with photocopies of Jonathan Rowlands’ 1964 appointment book, detailing his meetings with Stewart. They are sold as collectors’ items only and no intellectual property rights are accompanied.

Auction: The Art & Design Sale – 23rd February 2023 from 11am
Location: Cheffins, Clifton House, 1-2 Clifton Road, Cambridge, UK, CB1 7EA

And Finally….

Rod is among the stars nominated for this year’s British LGBT Awards.

Ahead of the World Cup in Qatar Rod spoke out against Qatar’s human rights record in an interview with The Sunday Times, agreeing it “would have been good” to play his song The Killing of Georgie, about the murder of a gay man in the 1970s, at the opening ceremony as a protest. “I was actually offered a lot of money, over $1 million, to play there 15 months ago,” he continued. “I turned it down… It’s not right to go.”

See you next week