Highlights of the story behind Rod Stewart's classic Every Picture Tells A Story

Rod Stewart's Every Picture Tells a Story is undoubtedly one of the great albums of the early 70's. Mick Wall has written a great background article, detailing the creation of this outstanding album, at Louder, the classic rock site. It is quite a lengthy piece, but I would definitely recommend reading it, for its comprehensive detail.

Having been a huge fan of the album, in my formative years, many details about the album's recording fascinated me. Some were entirely new, while others reaffirmed snippets that I knew from the past.

There are some insightful details about how the album differed, in both style and the recording process, to the Faces albums recorded during the same period. This detail does not go unnoticed in comments from three of the Faces, Kenney Jones, who only featured on one track of Every Picture Tells a Story, Ron Wood and Ian McLagan who both took part in most of the album.

The only track that features all of the Faces is, the Temptations cover, I Know I'm Losing You. It was surprising to read that this song was declined by the Faces, for one of their own albums, but was one of their most popular tunes, particularly in their live set.

The legend of Rod Stewart's frugality pervades throughout the article. Danny Thompson, from the folk group Pentangle, was never paid for his double bass contributions to Reason To Believe. Ray Jackson, from Lindisfarne, received only £15 for his defining mandolin inputs to Mandolin Wind and Maggie May, and Stone the Crow's singer Maggie Bell's priceless supporting vocal, on the title track, was only worth £30.

Incidentally, for anyone who doesn't know it, check out the Stone the Crows album Ontinuous Performance. The term 'underrated' is massively over used, but that album is truly underrated and Maggie Bell's bluesy vocals are a joy to behold.

In contrast to his frugality, Stewart was already driving a Lamborghini and a Rolls Royce, at the time the album was recorded. I am surprised that he picked up these accoutrements before his big break with Maggie May

What permeates throughout the article, is the sense that everyone involved enjoyed their time and were happy to be part of what they created. Recording sessions were brief and efficient and plenty of time was spent down the pub.

Nearly 50 years later, Every Picture Tells a Story is always worth a revisit.