Rod Stewart AN OLD RAINCOAT WON'T EVER LET YOU DOWN

I don't remember the english cover to be laminated.........

 

The German issue is laminated.

 

Any Rod Stewart historians here? Everybody seems to assume that "Raincoat" was the original title and it was renamed in the US:

Rod Stewart - An Old Raincoat Won't Ever Let You Down
An Old Raincoat Won't Ever Let You Down - Wikipedia

AMG even offers a possible reason:

"titled An Old Raincoat Won't Ever Let You Down in Britain, and The Rod Stewart Album in America, presumably because its original title was "too English" or cryptic for U.S. audiences"

But...was it? Or was "The Rod Stewart Album" the original, intended, title? Stewart was signed to Mercury, not Vertigo, and if Wiki is to be believed, the album was released 2-3 months earlier in the US. It seems that people assume that since Stewart was a UK artist the UK issue must be "correct", but I question that logic.

 

Don't look at me, I'm just here to make fun of that original cover...

 

The Mercury Anthology also refers to it as The Rod Stewart Album. That's the title I use in iTunes.

 

interesting. anyone have a line to rod to inquire?

 

Tongue in Cheek response: "Do ya think I'm Sexy"

 

God knows whose idea that sleeve was.
It beggars belief that they ever used it

 

Close examination of the US Mercury albums and some overseas issues demonstrate the cover had white lettering at first and this was probably changed to black for (the reason Blackie suggests) - legibility. It also reveals a small change to the labels.

None of the white lettered versions including the significant promo copy have labels with the TM (trademark) sign next to the Mercury logo on the labels, yet some of the black lettered ones with red labels do. This suggests that the addition of the TM logo came during the period the black lettered covers were available.

Overseas editions with white lettering include the New Zealand LP and the 2009 and 2017 CD reissues of the original Japanese LP. In combination with the above, this would suggest that both these countries were 'quick off the mark' in receiving original artwork when it was first released.

See: Searching for "the rod stewart album" on Discogs

It would appear that Lou Reizner (A&R in Europe for Mercury USA) signed Rod as he later did David Bowie - for Mercury Records in the USA. Hence Rod's albums for the Mercury period originated in the USA, with modifications made to the UK market.

In Australia, where Fontana (AORWELYD 1st issue), Vertigo (Gasoline Alley) and Mercury appeared at the time through Phonogram (via UK) Rod's albums bore the UK titles and catalogue numbers, yet for Every Picture Tells a Story and Never a Dull Moment they replicated the original US covers with the covers being rescans of the US covers with the US -centric info still partially visible.

 

Right. Which makes me think that the US presentation was "as intended", but I haven't seen anything definitive to that effect.

 

Came across a "Back to Black" new pressing of this album. Anyone heard it and can comment on the sound quality?

Kind of leaning towards buying an older pressing, as the prices seem affordable and the availability seem good. Likely a safer bet in the absence of reviews for the B2B version.

 

The Rod Stewart Album on US Mercury.

 

get a vintage pressing if you can.

 

All Stewart's early solo records first appeared in Canada on the black Mercury label and the first was titled as The Rod Stewart Album which had black text on the cover. Oddly, this album on CDN 8-track had the white lettering.

 

It's the same font that was used on all those budget "The World Of...." albums. A very ugly font. Very questionable photograph on the cover. The designer has a lot to answer for.

 

I kind of like the cover. It's interesting and generates discussion.

And it doesn't look like some creepy old man chasing a kid. Looks as if the kid is holding the man's hand and pulling him in a certain direction. Looks like a kid with his grandfather. To me at least. Obviously one can see the opposite but I don't think that's what the picture is portraying.

 

Your mind hasn't been corrupted like some people's. "Handbags and Gladrags" is a key song on the LP and the cover is a clear nod in its direction.

 

I agree. The child seems to be having fun.

 

I’ve got this two-fer set with Gasoline Alley stashed away somewhere. Not sure if it’s an US, British or German pressing though. Picked it up cause they were my 2 favorite albums at the time. Still love them both. I also have the original US edition with ‘Thin” printed in the corner. The significance of the word being there always puzzled me. I thought maybe it might be referring to the center fold-out picture of Rod leaning back with the mike, looking hungry and lean as a bean pole. A subliminal message to “please buy my album, I really need to eat!”

I always thought of Rod Stewart more as a singer/song-interpreter rather than as a songwriter. During the Mercury years he did manage to average about 3 original compositions per record and many of them quite good ( for example, Every Picture tells A Story & Mandolin Wind. ) He’s also credited with co-writing many of the Face’s songs but has publicly stated that Ronnie Lane was the real songwriter in the group.

I’ve just finished reading Andy Neill’s excellent Face’s biography “Had Me A Real Good Time” and I’ve got one quibble. He states that Rod wrote more, early on in his career and as evidence cites five originals on the first album. But I only count the standard three numbers.

“I Wouldn’t Change A Thing” & “An Old Raincoat” which I always use to think were part of the same song, given the way they blend into one another on the record. It reminded me of the Beatles “A Day In The Life” with the middle eight of “woke up, fell out of bed.” Anyway, that’s two and “Cindy’s Lament” makes three. All the subsequent albums on Mercury pretty much follow the same pattern of three.

As for the rest of the tracks on “The Rod Stewart Album”

“Street Fighting Man” by Jagger/Richards of course.

“Man of Constant Sorrow” ( traditional ) Rod probably heard this one on an early Bob Dylan or Ramblin’ Jack Elliot record.

“Handbags & Gladrags” by Mike D’Abo

“Dirty Old Town” by Ewan MacColl

Finally, “Blind Prayer” sounds an awful lot like David Ruffin’s “I Lost Everything I’ve Ever Loved’ right down to the opening lines about being an only child, losing his parents “killed in a fire way up on the fourteenth floor” and his only friend being his dog ( only later to be taken away as well.) It’s truly a tragic tale all around but as Rod once stated back in the day, he never rode no rails or no freight train but neither did those old blues guys who sang about doing such things did either. (Actually, I think some of them really might have done so, just getting around from place to place while plying their trade.)

There’s a story in either Neill’s ( or maybe MacLagan’s ) book about Faces doing a show once with David Ruffin and Rod being too shy to leave his hotel room and party with Ruffin after the show. Maybe he was feeling a little self-conscious about “Blind Prayer.” I don’t know really, just wonderin’

 

Would this be the two-fer you have? It appears to be a 1976 reissue of his first two albums.

 

That must have been the overused Papyrus font of its day.

 

So if Rod was signed to Mercury, that means the masters were shipped here and a dupe made a right at Greenland, right?

 

I believe that's the case, yes.

And as noted, it means it also seems likely that "The Rod Stewart Album" was the intended title.

 

The 2017 Japanese CD has both covers.