Rod Stewart picked up his first Grammy in February and last month the 60-year-old Rock and Roll Hall of Famer proposed to longtime girlfriend Penny Lancaster.
Now Stewart is touring behind his third standards disc, “Stardust … The Great American Songbook, Vol. 3.” The jaunt, dubbed “From Maggie May to the Great American Songbook,” stops Saturday at the Boardwalk Hall. During the performance, Stewart will perform songs from his salad days, as well as classics from such songsmiths as Cole Porter and George Gershwin.
Stewart recently took some time to talk about his career.
Q. Did you ever imagine that your standards discs would become platinum-plus projects?
No. I couldn’t be more surprised or prouder. It is gratifying to be reminded that a mass audience still appreciates a beautiful melody and these extraordinary lyrics.
Q. Which of your songs do you think would be good cover material?
I, for one, always liked my tunes on “An Old Raincoat Never Let’s You Down. Sheryl Crow did a great job with “First Cut is the Deepest, Who knows who may tackle one of me old songs next? It’s flattering.
Q. You’ve toured and recorded with some of the greatest guitarists. Who is the best or most compatible ax man you’ve toured with?
Jeff Beck is the least compatible but the greatest guitar player I have ever been on the stage with.
Q. If you could trade your voice for another artist’s voice, who would you choose?
Sam Cooke. He could sing anything from standards to rock-and-roll to R&B.
Q. How hard is it to put together a set list at this point?
I’m an old-fashioned entertainer. I like to give people what I think they want. I know if Sam Cooke or Otis Redding was alive or Billie Holiday or people I’ve looked up to, if Otis didn’t do “Try a Little Tenderness” and “Satisfaction,” I would be very disappointed. So we try and throw in something that’s way back when, you know. What I do live works for my fans as well as myself. You expect a certain something when you come to one of my shows. I have a lot of fun. I’m an old pro who still loves his work. It’s still exhilarating.
Q. Much has been made of your ability to play soccer at an elite level. If you actually played pro soccer, how do you think you would have fared?
Just fine in the early stages, but that career certainly couldn’t have lasted me as long. I don’t know of any 60-year-old professional soccer players.
Q. You finally won a Grammy. Did you feel snubbed prior to taking home your hardware?
No, or at least not until you asked that question.
Q. How do you prepare for a show?
Today I have more of a show-day ritual of physical exercises and warming up my voice.
Q. What’s the most common question you’re asked, aside from the annoying “Do you think you’re sexy?”
Was there really a Maggie May? Yes, there was, and that wasn’t her name. She was my first sexual encounter when I was either 16 or 17. It was a very, very quick romantic situation at a jazz festival in the south of England. She took me into her tent and threw me aside.
