This week’s Easter news and gossip

April Fools

One I missed last week but it deserves a mention this week…Essex County Councillor for Witham Northern Ross Playle posted a great April 1st prank on his Facebook page, The post’s heading was 𝗡𝗘𝗪 𝗣𝗢𝗧𝗛𝗢𝗟𝗘 𝗕𝗨𝗦𝗧𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗧𝗘𝗔𝗠 𝗔𝗡𝗡𝗢𝗨𝗡𝗖𝗘𝗗 𝗟𝗢𝗖𝗔𝗟𝗟𝗬 and Ross included a photo of himself with Rod…

𝗡𝗘𝗪 𝗣𝗢𝗧𝗛𝗢𝗟𝗘 𝗕𝗨𝗦𝗧𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗧𝗘𝗔𝗠 𝗔𝗡𝗡𝗢𝗨𝗡𝗖𝗘𝗗 𝗟𝗢𝗖𝗔𝗟𝗟𝗬 🕳
A new dynamic duo have been formed to tackle potholes in the Essex County Council division of Witham Northern.
Rock star, Rod Stewart is teaming up Witham Northern’s County Councillor, Ross Playle, to report more potholes and secure surface repairs to highway defects.
Together they are determined to improve the blight on residents journeys and ensure more people can travel without any damage to their Ferrari.
𝙉𝙚𝙬𝙡𝙮 𝙝𝙞𝙧𝙚𝙙 𝙤𝙛𝙛𝙞𝙘𝙚 𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙖𝙜𝙚𝙧, 𝙈𝙖𝙜𝙜𝙞𝙚 𝙈𝙖𝙮, 𝙨𝙖𝙞𝙙:
“Rod and Ross have hit the ground running, reporting a number of issues with Essex County Council.
“When it comes to road defects, sometimes the first cut is the deepest and it requires urgent attention so that the matter doesn’t get worse.”
𝙍𝙤𝙙 𝙎𝙩𝙚𝙬𝙖𝙧𝙩 𝙖𝙙𝙙𝙚𝙙:
“If you really need me just reach out and touch me, come on honey tell me so!”
If there are any potholes you know of, please let Rod and Ross know and they will report these to Essex County Council for urgent inspection.

April Fools pothole Busting Team

Speaking to SMILER Ross said “It certainly went down well in this part of Essex and gave people a laugh!”

Potholes part two

Sindy Snap also reacted to Rod going viral while fixing his potholes with this very amusing post and picture…

‘The potholes are terrible down our street…’
No.123 ~ Rod has trouble driving his Ferrari and his companion wished she’d worn a bra.

Berlin Road, Hastings, I just happened to have a Ferrari and a spiky haired blonde dolly….it would be plain rude not to. No offense Rod, its all for raising awareness using humour…as you have already done splendidly For the SindySnap pothole project follow ~ https://www.instagram.com/sindydollsnap
Twittering ~ https://twitter.com/sindysnap

Please report a dangerous pothole in the road to your local council, for East Sussex the link is – https://www.eastsussexhighways.com/…/roads/pothole-in-road

* I have used Berlin Road for quite a few previous Pothole shoots, although this is a fresh hole (range)…its like a gift that keeps on giving.

Sindy Snap told SMILER this week “My Page on Instagram is just to document the Sindy Snap Pothole project, I prefer using my Facebook page as there are more interaction and banter with followers. The whole point is to have fun while highlighting the dreadful state of our roads using humour, so I take different scenes around various potholes in my town and surrounding area. We all know that humour beats nagging any day” 🙂

Take a look at more Sindy Snap posts, I promise you will be amused .

https://www.facebook.com/Sindydollsnap

Potholes Part 3

There has been sightings of Rod in the Cumbia area on his pothole mission …But although this guy bears an uncanny resemblance to Sir Rod SMILER, although we have no idea who he is are pretty sure he is NOT Rod !

…or is it?

Almost Famous

The Good Ship Funke label have released a live CD tiled ‘Almost Famous live at Newcastle City Hall 1976’

Track Listings
1 Three Times Loser
2 You Wear It Well
3 Big Bayou
4 Tonight’s the Night (Gonna Be Alright)
5 Wild Side of Life
6 This Old Heart of Mine
7 Sweet Little Rock ‘N’ Roller
8 I Don’t Want to Talk About It
9 Maggie May
10 Angel
11 Get Back
12 The Killing of Georgie (Parts I & II)
13 Sailing
14 Stay With Me

Product description
Opening with “Three Time Loser,” from Rod Stewart’s post-Faces LP, Atlantic Crossing, this historic live show comes from the first solo tour Stewart had embarked upon after leaving the group he had attained his music industry fame with. His all-star band now featured former Vanilla Fudge/ Cactus drummer Carmine Appice, session keyboard John Jarvis (who had worked with Art Garfunkel and Ringo Starr), former Family guitarist Jim Cregan (who stayed on as Stewart’s musical director and guitarist for almost 20 years), and Billy Peek, who had been the lead guitarist in Chuck Berry’s UK touring band, among other engagements. • Stewart offers a healthy mix of solo hits with “You Wear It Well,” “Tonight’s The Night (Gonna Be Alright),” “Maggie May,” and “The Killing Of Georgie (Pts 1 and 2), and Faces classics (“Stay With Me “). He also performs a selection of covers, among them The Isley Brothers’ “This Old Heart Of Mine,” Check Berry’s “Sweet Little Rock ‘N’ Roller,” Jimi Hendrix’s beautiful ballad “Angel,” and The Beatles’ swansong rocker, “Get Back”. Rod had departed from the Faces two years prior, but this show was very much still in the Faces-sounding tradition. The highlight of the show may very well be a song written by Gavin Southerland called “Sailing,” which was a minor hit in the U.S., but set the charts alight across Europe, and which remains among the largest selling singles in British rock history. •

To order go to https://www.amazon.co.uk/Almost-Famous-Rod-Stewart/dp/B09TN4CDVP/ref=sr_1_10?crid=3IVSBFTDJX74O&keywords=rod+stewart+cd&qid=1650023274&sprefix=rod+stewart%2Caps%2C607&sr=8-10

The Poacher

The single’s arresting cover is by artist The Seasick Sailor

To celebrate what would have been the 76th birthday of Ronnie Lane on April 1st, New York City-based musician Jeff Slate has recorded a cover of Ronnie’s classic “The Poacher,” that first appeared on his 1974 solo debut album, ‘Anymore for Anymore’.

Jeff has some stellar collaborators on his cover including Earl Slick and Steve Cradock on guitars and a backing band featuring Joan Chew on bass and strings, Adan Ippolito on piano and Hammond organ, co-producer Eric Lichter on backing vocals and Paul Weller’s drummer Ben Gordelier.

Speaking about the track Jeff said “Ronnie Lane has been my hero for as long as I can remember, and this felt like the perfect way to honor his memory,” says Slate. “Everybody brought their absolute A-Game to the sessions, and that was inspiring and humbling, considering the players involved. We all dug deeper and reached higher on what feels like an exciting new direction.”

Check out the great track at https://open.spotify.com/track/4k8IwEJJV8vmN1uEUF8kUh?si=QWZRhsllRneHeJPgAP06tg&fbclid=IwAR1vRkA7slNKPOCCu7Kuhxm1OgujDQPty-4dKyOvL7NbmObYlaKZRZfbhrI&nd=1

Hard Rock Cafe Memorabilia #3

This week we go to Dublin Ireland where Cynthia Bragg took a photo of her daughter Claire with Rod’s Rolling Stone cover from January1977

Cheers from Claire

Cynthia told SMILER “I like Rod Stewart. but my mom was a big fan and she passed away years back so his music has a special place in my heart because I grew up listening to him with her”.

Have you ever spotted a Rod item in a Hard Rock Cafe while you were visiting?..If you have send it in to [email protected] and tell us about it and I will post them in future ‘This week’s news and gossip’ posts.

Back in the studio

Rod [Pictured above with Dave Swift] was back in the studio at the beginning of this week working on the new album.

More Rock For Ukraine

🔥Due to demand, A SECOND NIGHT has been added for Cregan & Co/Kenney Jones Rock For Ukraine gig – Thursday 28th Apr! 🔥
Grab your tickets here https://eshertheatre.seatlab.com/ …/28-04-2022-19-30…

Jeff Golub (April 15, 1955 -January 1, 2015)

Today [Friday] We are remembering Jeff Golub. He was a longtime jazz, blues and rock guitarist who played on three of Rod’s albums Vagabond Heart (1991), Unplugged …and Seated (1993), and A Spanner in the Works (1995) and was a big part of his touring band from 1988 to 1995

This fantastic painting of Jeff was done by Bill Taylor from WB Taylor Fine Art

To see more stunning paintings by Bill go to https://www.wbtaylorfineart.com/

1972

The Black Crowes have announced their first studio recording since the band’s 2010 acoustic album, Croweology. Their new EP, called 1972, pays homage to songs released in the year 1972 with six covers of different artists from disparate genres, all with a Black Crowes spin.

Among the covers to be featured on the forthcoming album are Rod’s “You Wear It Well” The Rolling Stones “Rocks Off”, T-Rex’s “The Slider”, Little Feat’s “Easy to Slip”, David Bowie’s “Moonage Daydream”, and The Temptations‘ “Papa Was A Rolling Stone”, which the band has released as the EP’s first single.

“1972 is a watershed moment,” said Black Crowes frontman Chris Robinson. “We’ve always worn our love for music on our sleeves, and the artists that have inspired us. We picked some songs that have holy significance to us. They’re like holy artifacts. … By the time we made our first record, 1972 wasn’t cool yet. This record is just about love and devotion to something that makes us feel good.”

The EP, which you can pre-order now, will be available digitally exclusively via Amazon Music on May 4, and will get a wide release on CD and vinyl on May 6.

This week’s Rod art