Rod Stewart "Every Picture Tells A Story"

Every Picture Tells a Story, released May 1971, is the third album by Rod Stewart. It incorporates hard rock, folk, and blues styles. It went to number one on both the UK and US charts and finished third in the Jazz & Pop critics' poll for best album of 1971. It has been an enduring critical success, including a number 172 ranking on Rolling Stone's 2003 list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.

The album is a mixture of rock, country, blues, soul, and folk, and includes Stewart's breakthrough hit, "Maggie May", as well as "Reason to Believe", a song from Tim Hardin's debut album of 1966. "Reason to Believe", with Pete Sears on piano, was released as the first single from the album with "Maggie May" as the B-side, however, "Maggie May" became more popular and was a No. 1 hit in both the UK and US.

The album includes a version of Arthur Crudup's "That's All Right (Mama)" (the first single for Elvis Presley) and a cover of the Bob Dylan song "Tomorrow Is a Long Time," an outtake from Dylan's 1963 album The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan (it would see release on 1971's, Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits Vol. II).[citation needed]

All five members of the Faces (with whom Stewart at that time was lead vocalist) appeared on the album, with guitarist/bassist Ronnie Wood and keyboardist Ian McLagan on Hammond B3 organ being employed most. Due to contractual restrictions, the personnel listings were somewhat vague, and it was unclear that the full Faces line-up recorded the version of the Motown hit "(I Know) I'm Losing You". Other contributors included Ray Jackson on mandolin (though Stewart forgot his name and merely mentioned "the mandolin player in Lindisfarne" on the sleeve). Micky Waller on drums. Maggie Bell performed backing vocals (mentioned on the sleeve as "vocal abrasives") on the title track, and Madeline Bell sang backup on the next track, "Seems Like A Long Time". Pete Sears played all the piano on the album except for one track, "I'm Losing You", which had Ian McLagan on piano, along with the Faces as a band.

The album reached the number-one position in both the UK (for six weeks) and the US (four weeks) at the same time that "Maggie May" was topping the singles charts in both territories, making Stewart one of the few artists to achieve such a feat. It has often been voted among the best British albums of all time.[citation needed]


The Temptations cover, I Know I'm Losing You reached the top 40, at No. 24 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the US.

The album has been an enduring critical success, including a number 172 ranking on Rolling Stone's 2003 list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. In 1992, the album was awarded the number-one spot in Jimmy Guterman's book The Best Rock 'N' Roll Records of All Time: A Fan's Guide to the Stuff You Love. It was ranked 99th in a 2005 survey held by British television's Channel 4 to determine the 100 greatest albums of all time.


In a retrospective review for AllMusic, Stephen Thomas Erlewine wrote: "Without greatly altering his approach, Rod Stewart perfected his blend of hard rock, folk, and blues on his masterpiece, Every Picture Tells a Story."

Rod Stewart "The Story So Far: The Very Best of Rod Stewart"

The Story So Far: The Very Best of Rod Stewart is a 2001 Rod Stewart career-retrospective compilation album, which summarizes his solo work beginning with material from his 1971 breakthrough album Every Picture Tells a Story until his 2001 album Human. For contractual reasons, only two songs from his Mercury Records tenure ("Maggie May" and "You Wear It Well") were included (a third song from the Mercury era, "Reason to Believe", was included in a live acoustic version from the Warner Bros. album Unplugged...and Seated). The rest of the material is from different albums released under Warner Bros. Records.

The compilation was particularly notable for dividing the songs between rock and pop tunes on the first disc (A Night Out) and love songs on the second disc (A Night In). Also, even though most of the songs included on the album enjoyed big success (29 out of the 34 songs originally reached the Top 10 in the United Kingdom and/or the United States), many hit singles were missed-out, including US Top 10 hits as "Passion", "Infatuation", "Handbags and Gladrags" and "My Heart Can't Tell You No".

In the United States the album was released separately as The Voice: The Very Best of Rod Stewart and Encore: The Very Best of Rod Stewart Vol. 2, though there are some differences in the content. Warner Bros. Records released The Story So Far on 12 November 2001 and the next day The Voice was released. On 26 August 2003 Encore was released.

Track listing

The Story So Far

Disc one: A Night Out

1. "Maggie May" Rod Stewart Every Picture Tells a Story 5:46
2. "Baby Jane" Stewart, Jay Davis Body Wishes 4:43
3. "Some Guys Have All the Luck" Jeff Fortgang Camouflage 4:33
4. "Young Turks" Stewart/C. Appice/Duane Hitchings/Kevin Savigar Tonight I'm Yours 5:04
5. "Da Ya Think I'm Sexy?" Stewart, Appice, Hitchings Blondes Have More Fun 5:31
6. "What Am I Gonna Do (I'm So in Love With You)" Stewart, Davis, Tony Brock Body Wishes 4:19
7. "Hot Legs" Stewart Foot Loose & Fancy Free 5:15
8. "You Wear It Well" (includes the instrumental "Interludings" from the original album appearance) Stewart, Martin Quittenton Never a Dull Moment 5:01
9. "Rhythm of My Heart" Marc Jordan, John Capek Vagabond Heart 4:13
10. "Downtown Train" Tom Waits Storyteller 4:39
11. "The Motown Song" (single mix) Larry John McNally Vagabond Heart 3:58
12. "This Old Heart of Mine (Is Weak for You)" (with Ronald Isley) Holland–Dozier–Holland, Sylvia Moy Storyteller 4:11
13. "Tonight I'm Yours (Don't Hurt Me)" Stewart, Jim Cregan, Savigar Tonight I'm Yours 4:12
14. "Ooh La La" (originally a Faces song with lead vocals by Ronnie Wood from Ooh La La) Ronnie Lane, Ronnie Wood When We Were the New Boys 4:15
15. "I Can't Deny It" Gregg Alexander, Rick Nowels Human 3:44
16. "It Takes Two" (with Tina Turner) William "Mickey" Stevenson, Moy Vagabond Heart 4:12
17. "Stay with Me" (with the Faces) Stewart, Wood A Nod Is As Good As a Wink... to a Blind Horse 4:37

Total length: 78:22

Disc two: A Night In

1. "Sailing" Gavin Sutherland Atlantic Crossing 4:38
2. "I Don't Want to Talk About It" Danny Whitten Atlantic Crossing 4:49
3. "Have I Told You Lately" Van Morrison Vagabond Heart 3:59
4. "The First Cut Is the Deepest" Cat Stevens A Night on the Town 4:31
5. "You're in My Heart (The Final Acclaim)" Stewart Foot Loose & Fancy Free 4:30
6. "All for Love" (with Bryan Adams and Sting) Bryan Adams, Robert John "Mutt" Lange, Michael Kamen The Three Musketeers soundtrack 4:42
7. "Tonight's the Night (Gonna Be Alright)" Stewart A Night on the Town 3:56
8. "Every Beat of My Heart" Stewart, Savigar Every Beat of My Heart 5:21
9. "Tom Traubert's Blues (Waltzing Matilda)" Waits Lead Vocalist 6:12
10. "Don't Come Around Here" (with Helicopter Girl) Jackie Joyce, Paul Berry, Mark Taylor, Kenny Thomas Human 3:50
11. "The Killing of Georgie (Part I and II)" Stewart A Night on the Town 6:29
12. "Love Touch" Holly Knight, Mike Chapman Every Beat of My Heart 4:03
13. "I Was Only Joking" Stewart, Gary Grainger Foot Loose & Fancy Free 6:07
14. "Ruby Tuesday" Mick Jagger, Keith Richards Lead Vocalist 4:05
15. "In a Broken Dream" (with Python Lee Jackson) David Keith Bentley single, collected on Storyteller 3:40
16. "Reason to Believe" (live acoustic version of the song from Every Picture Tells a Story featuring Ronnie Wood) Tim Hardin Unplugged...and Seated 3:53
17. "In My Life" John Lennon, Paul McCartney Every Beat of My Heart 1:58

Total length: 76:50