NEW YORK (Billboard) – There was a time when Rod Stewart’s songwriting chops regularly helped him crown the charts. Today, the singer sells millions of copies by interpreting the songs of others, notably in the four, highly successful volumes of his “Great American Songbook” series.
The tradition continues as Stewart releases “Still the Same: Great Rock Classics of Our Time” on October 10 via J Records.
With covers of Bob Dylan, Badfinger and John Fogerty (“Have You Ever Seen the Rain,” the album’s first single), Stewart is revisiting the genre that first made him famous. Produced by longtime cohort Clive Davis and Grammy Award winner John Shanks, “Still the Same” will be supported with a full tour starting in early 2007, with much of the same band that backed Stewart during the “Great American Songbook” stint.
Q: Was it difficult narrowing down which songs you would keep on the album?
A: We definitely knew that we didn’t want to do “Stairway to Heaven” or “Brown Sugar” or songs like that. They didn’t need redoing. We felt, Clive and myself, that these songs were the ones that are due for a revisit and blend together as a single piece of work. We cut out an Eric Clapton track, “Lay Down Sally,” and an incredible version of “Me and Bobby McGee.”
Q: How did you decide which ones would blend?
A: Most of the songs, apart from two, were recorded in the ’70s and all sung by great singers like Bob Seger, Bob Dylan, Bonnie Tyler, (John) Fogerty … The attitude that I took from doing the “American Songbook” is that I’m standing on the shoulders of giants and that I just wanted to bring something else to the table — a twist and turn of the phrase, things like that.
Q: Was it your choice or Davis’ to make this album?
A: I originally went to Clive with the idea of doing a blue-eyed soul collection, singing soul hits from the ’60s. He said, “No, we’re going to do a ’70s album of rock hits.” The sort of thing that’s so close to people’s hearts. So each release we’ve done is a little him, a little you. It’s a very good relationship. I’ve been thinking next of doing a country hits album, so we’ll see. We’re a long time from then.
Q: Do you expect to win over new fans with this collection?
A: Well, we can’t consciously make efforts to sell this to 16-year-olds. I can’t write songs like “Hot Legs” anymore. I record what pleases me and what pleases Clive. I don’t really know who (the album) is for, it’s generally for people who will enjoy these songs.
Q:You made an appearance in the last season of “American Idol,” helping out the finalists choose and perform their songs. What was that like?
A: It was so much fun. I’m going to do (similar U.K. show) “The X Factor” in a couple of months. Those kids have got some guts. I’m used to big crowds, but even when I do TV shows, I’m on edge.
Q: When was the last time you wrote your own song?
A: I think it’s been about four years. There’s not many songwriters at my age still trying to release albums of their own music, and I’m not planning on it myself. Paul Simon, Elton John, the Rolling Stones have all penned their new records, and all the critics loved them, but they just didn’t sell. When you get too old, people don’t want to play your songs on the radio, so you have to go about it in a different way … I love doing these concept records. Love it. There’s not many like me.
courtesy Reuters/Billboard