With an estimated 250 million in album and single sales, Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Rod Stewart arguably possesses one of rock’s greatest and most distinctive voices. For many years, he called Warner Bros. home, first as lead singer of the influential band the Faces and later as an internationally successful solo artist. This fall, Warner Bros. will launch a comprehensive catalog release campaign that focuses on Stewart’s solo years with Warner Bros., featuring Collector’s Editions of some of the artist’s biggest-selling albums, a trio of boxed sets spotlighting studio, live and rare recordings, as well as compilations of Stewart’s duets, soundtrack contributions and more.
Warner Bros. launches the singer/songwriters’ catalog revamp with the November 18 release of THE DEFINITIVE ROD STEWART available in two versions: a standard two-CD edition and a deluxe edition that includes a bonus DVD of music videos. As one of Billboard magazine’s most successful chart artists of all time, the newly assembled collection offers 30 of his greatest, showcasing not only his unmistakable rasp, but also his evocative songwriting and unique ability to inhabit a song. The collections will be available at all retail outlets, including www.rhino.com, for suggested list prices of $19.98 (standard edition), $24.98 (deluxe edition), and $14.99 (digital).
Arranged chronologically, Stewart’s early solo years are represented by several cuts (“Maggie May” “You Wear It Well”) from the unforgettable classics, Every Picture Tells A Story (1971) and Never A Dull Moment (1972). The opening disc also includes “Stay With Me,” a nod to Stewart’s time with the Faces. The second half of the disc shifts to Stewart’s Warner Bros. years with the stadium-swooning ballad, “Sailing,” the #1 smash “Tonight’s The Night (Gonna Be Alright),” the Top 10 hit “You’re In My Heart” and “Da Ya Think I’m Sexy” from the #1 album Blondes Have More Fun (1978).
The second disc concentrates on music Stewart made during the ’80s and ’90s, including “Infatuation,” “Some Guys Have All The Luck,” “Love Touch,” “Forever Young” and “Motown Song” from the Top Ten album Vagabond Heart (1991). Among the other highlights is a rare studio version of Tom Waits’ “Tom Traubert’s Blues,” as well as a cover of Waits’ “Downtown Train” that Stewart took to #1, and “Have I Told You Lately” and “Reason To Believe”—a pair of standout performances recorded for MTV’s Unplugged series. The collection concludes with a previously unreleased track, “Two Shades Of Blue,” recorded in 1998 during the When We Were The New Boys session and features a sample of Borodin’s “Prince Igor,” which was also the main melody for “Stranger In Paradise” from Kismet.
The deluxe version of THE DEFINITIVE ROD STEWART features a bonus DVD with 14 music videos for some of the artist’s most beloved songs. Spanning 1975 to 1998, the video collection includes some never-before or rarely seen videos such as “Sailing,” “The Killing Of Georgie (Part I & II)” from A Night On The Town and “She Won’t Dance With Me,” along with MTV-era staples like “Hot Legs,” “Da Ya Think I’m Sexy,” “Young Turks,” amongst others.
Rod Stewart began his musical career in the mid-60s, and came to the forefront of the British pop music scene in 1968 with the Jeff Beck Group. He then teamed with the Small Faces (who subsequently changed their name to the Faces), and later released critically acclaimed solo records, including Every Picture Tells a Story, which made him world- famous. By the mid-’70s he’d gone solo for good, continuing a career of multiplatinum albums and chart-topping singles. Stewart was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994, a fitting tribute to a masterful songwriter and peerless vocalist.
Between 2002 and 2005, Stewart released four Grammy®-winning volumes of the The Great American Songbook, which comprise the biggest selling ongoing series of new music recordings in history, with a total of 17.5 million copies worldwide. Beginning with It Had To Be You…The Great American Songbook in 2002, followed by As Time Goes By…Volume II in 2003. Stardust…Volume III earned Stewart his first Grammy® and entered the chart at #1 in 2004. Thanks For the Memory…The Great American Songbook Volume IV (2005) rounds out the Songbook series. 2006 saw the release of Still The Same…Great Rock Classics of Our Time, his first rock album in over eight years, which featured songs by his contemporaries and a return to his roots.
THE DEFINITIVE ROD STEWART Track Listing
DISC ONE
1. “Maggie May”
2. “Mandolin Wind”
3. “Every Picture Tells A Story”
4. “Stay With Me” – the Faces
5. “You Wear It Well”
6. “Sailing”
7. “The Killing Of Georgie, Parts 1 & 2”
8. “Tonight’s The Night”
9. “The First Cut Is The Deepest”
10. “You’re In My Heart”
11. “I Was Only Joking”
12. “Hot Legs”
13. “Da Ya Think I’m Sexy”
14. “Passion”
15. “Young Turks”
DISC TWO
1. “Tonight I’m Yours”
2. “Baby Jane”
3. “Infatuation”
4. “Same Guys Have All The Luck”
5. “Love Touch”
6. “Forever Young”
7. “My Heart Can’t Tell You No”
8. “Downtown Train”
9. “This Old Heart Of Mine” – with Ronald Isley (1989 Version)
10. “I Don’t Want To Talk About It” – (1989 Version)
11. “Rhythm Of My Heart”
12. “The Motown Song” – with the Temptations
13. “Tom Traubert’s Blues (Waltzing Matilda)”
14. “Have I Told You Lately” – Unplugged Version
15. “Reason To Believe” – with Ronnie Wood (Unplugged Version)
16. “Two Shades Of Blue” – previously unreleased (1998)**
DISC THREE (DVD) – DELUXE EDITION only
1. “Sailing”
2. “I Don’t Want To Talk About It”
3. “The Killing Of Georgie, Parts 1 & 2
4. “The First Cut Is The Deepest”
5. “You’re In My Heart”
6. “Hot Legs”
7. “Da Ya Think I’m Sexy”
8. “Ain’t Love A Bitch”
9. “She Won’t Dance With Me”
10. “Young Turks”
11. “Tonight I’m Yours”
12. “Baby Jane”
13. “If We Fall In Love Tonight”
14. “Ooh La La”
**Previously unreleased
