Rod surrounds himself with another top-shelf cast of collaborators on ‘Thanks for the Memory – The Great American Songbook: Volume IV,’ his fourth album of standards. Due 18 October (US) and 31 October (UK) on J Records, the set is highlighted by duets with Elton John (‘Makin’ Whoopee’), Chaka Khan (‘You Send Me’) and Diana Ross (‘I’ve Got a Crush on You’).
Among the instrumentalists lending their talents to ‘Thanks for the Memory’ are trumpeters Roy Hargrove (‘My One and Only Love’) and Chris Botti (‘I Wish You Love’), guitarist George Benson (‘Let’s Fall in Love’) and saxophonist Dave Koz (‘Nevertheless (I’m in Love With You)’).
Rod has also recorded Irving Berlin’s ‘I’ve Got My Love To Keep Me Warm’ and ‘Blue Skies’, Rodgers & Hart’s ‘My Funny Valentine’, Vernon Duke’s ‘Taking A Chance On Love’, Jerome Kern’s ‘Long Ago and Far Away’ and the title track, popularized by Bob Hope.
Even though he told the media something similar after ‘Volume II’, Rod promises the new set “will be the last [standards album] for now.” In November, all four albums will be released in a box set under the banner ‘The Great American Songbook’. To date, the first three albums have sold a combined 6.9 million copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan.
Having recovered from recent shoulder surgery, Rod returns to live performance with seven U.K. shows in December, beginning Dec. 7 in Newcastle. He is also slated to appear on the new series of ITV’s Parkinson and other major UK chat shows.
J RECORDS PRESS RELEASE
J Records recording artist Rod Stewart’s chart-topping, multi-platinum, and now Grammy Award-winning The Great American Songbook series will add a fourth title with the release of ‘Thanks For The Memory – The Great American Songbook Volume IV’, due to arrive in stores on October 18th.
Produced by Steve Tyrell and Clive Davis, Thanks For The Memory… is highlighted by vocal duets featuring Rod with Sir Elton John (on Ray Charles’ signature remake of “Makin’ Whoopee”) with Chaka Khan (on Sam Cooke’s “You Send Me”), and with Diana Ross (on the Gershwin’s “I’ve Got A Crush On You,” from 1940’s Strike Up The Band, echoing the original duet by Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland). The new album is the follow-up to 2004’s
No. 1 ‘Stardust -The Great American Songbook Volume III’, also produced by Tyrell and Davis, which won Rod’s first Grammy this year for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album.
Performing on the album Thanks For The Memory are a number of guest star appearances of major virtuoso instrumentalists who span several generations: guitarist George Benson on Harold Arlen’s “Let’s Fall In Love,” trumpeter Chris Botti on “I Wish You Love,” trumpeter Roy Hargrove on ‘”My One And Only Love,” and Dave Koz on “Nevertheless (I’m In Love With You).”
Other solo performances by Rod slated for Thanks For The Memory include a pair of Irving Berlin standards, “Blue Skies” and “I’ve Got My Love To Keep Me Warm,” Jerome Kern’s “Long Ago & Far Away,” Vernon Duke’s “Taking A Chance On Love,” Rodgers & Hart’s “My Funny Valentine,” and the title song, Bob Hope’s eternal theme, “Thanks For The Memory.”
Clive Davis, Arista/J Records founder/BMG U.S. Chairman & CEO and producer of the Volume IV and the Songbook series stated, “Rod gets more and more comfortable in the genre with each album, and that’s why he won his Grammy for the third ‘Songbook.’ On Volume IV, Rod inimitably captures wonderful classic standards, breathes new life into them and makes them his own.”
Comments Rod Stewart, “The key to it all is trying to put my own stamp on these songs, because they have been done so many times-just not by someone who sang ‘Hot Legs’ and ‘Maggie May!’ Since this album will be the last one for now, I wanted to make it really special.”
In anticipation of the upcoming holiday season, a deluxe 4-disc box set entitled The Great American Songbook will package together ‘Thanks For The Memory – The Great American Songbook Volume IV’ along with ‘Stardust -The Great American Songbook Volume III’, 2003’s ‘As Time Goes By – The Great American Songbook, Volume II, and the album that started it all in 2002, It Had To Be You … The Great American Songbook. The four albums – which are now the biggest-selling ongoing series of new music recordings in history – have cumulative sales of more than 13 million copies worldwide. The box set will arrive in stores on November 15th.
Stardust…The Great American Songbook: Volume III made history for Rod Stewart when it entered the Billboard 200 albums chart at #1 in November 2004, with first week sales of nearly a quarter-million units – his first-ever #1 debut on the chart, and his all-time highest sales week in the SoundScan era. As Billboard noted, the album also placed Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame inductee and Grammy Living Legend Rod Stewart in the extremely rare company of veterans with more than two decades between #1 albums. For active recording artists, Rod’s 25 years (1979 to 2004) rank him alongside Santana’s 28 years (1971 to 1999) and the Isley Brother’s 28 years (1975 to 2003). On the inactive side, the Beatles went 22 years between #1 albums (1973 to 1995), and Elvis Presley spanned 29 years (1973 to 2002).
Stardust… built on the success of It Had To Be You … (which featured duets with Bette Midler, Dolly Parton, Stevie Wonder, Eric Clapton, Dave Koz, and Arturo Sandoval) and As Time Goes By … (featuring duets with Cher and Queen Latifah), as both albums were still inside the top 100 in late-2004.
The earlier albums received consecutive Grammy Award nominations in the Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album category, recognition that finally bore fruit with Stardust…, which earned Rod Stewart the first Grammy of his long and storied career.
In support of his J Records releases, Rod’s two-year long tour, “From Maggie May to the Great American Songbook,” was completely sold-out during its entire run, and was named one of the top five grossing tours of the year by Pollstar magazine. Rod was also ranked #6 highest grossing artist of 2004 by Rolling Stone magazine.
SOURCE J Records