Bash out pop-rock songs. Put in feelings. Give listeners a good time. Rod Stewart has made enough money using this simple logic, strutting his raspy vocals from album to album with sackfuls of gusto, which is very much intact on his thirty-second effort — The Tears of Hercules (releases today).
The impish rock star maintains the spirit of albums like Never a Dull Moment and Vagabond Heart — yes, that’s quite a range — and this is quite evident in the lyrics, where the only changes involve talking about a cuddle rather than sex, like on the 1971 classic Maggie May.
On the album opener One More Time, the 76-year-old sings I don’t wanna settle down, I am just a rambling man/ I’d rather be out rocking with my good old country band, yes I would. The level of honesty remains intact. And so does his appreciation for the people (namely his wife, Penny Lancaster) in his life, which he celebrates on I Can’t Imagine: And when I’ve been down and out/ And my back’s been against the wall/ Only you, baby, only you/ Stood up on me proud and tall.
His wife, in fact, has been a pillar, ensuring the man is on the road and in the studio as often as he was even two decades ago. The pandemic may have slowed down Stewart’s touring but the Celtic fan is always looking forward to the next gig where he can kick footballs into the crowd. “I’m not talking about sex, but a kiss and a cuddle and a hold. Penny and I do that every morning. We hug each other — sometimes in bed, sometimes out of bed, all throughout the day. It’s a wonderful relationship. Lucky geezer, aren’t I?” he said in a recent interview with People magazine.
Stewart is no longer the guy hotels were scared of (the rock star made an exception last year when he threw a punch at Breakers Palm Beach Hotel) and first-class travelling doesn’t involve painting cabin walls with mustard. The years have earned him accolades, money by the millions and Jack the Lad reputation. And he kept good company when it came to such rapscallion moments, which he’s not — and rightly so — embarrassed about. Stewart developed a taste for Spandex and earned the nickname Phyllis while Elton John became Sharon!
Maggie May hitmaker Rod Stewart captured in a relaxed mood in 1973
Now he spends his days popping in and out of cafes with his 50-year-old wife and among his priorities is her safety: “I don’t sleep unless I get a call to know she’s safe. I send a driver for her every night — her area can be rough,” he recently said. (Lancaster has been working with the City of London police as a special constable.)
The phase of life he is in gets reflected clearly on tracks like Precious Memories and Some Kind of Wonderful while Born to Boogie is a tribute to Marc Bolan. “I couldn’t ask for anything better. What makes me happiest now is seeing all my kids and my wife with big smiles on their faces,” Stewart said.
Known for his revealing remarks in his music, he keeps the music high-energy and upbeat in tone. The best part of the album is that nine of the 12 songs while co-producing the effort with Kevin Savigar, a keyboardist/ songwriter that has been working with him since 1978. “I’ve never said this before about any previous efforts but I believe this is by far my best album in many a year,” Stewart said in a statement.
Tears of Hercules is Stewart’s fourth album of original songs since 2013, something his fans always enjoy. There was a long phase when he had moved away from songwriting, focusing on cover collections, like the Great American Songbook , a soul album and a rock [covers] album.
Singing to generations of listeners, Stewart has managed to defend his rock-star crown by avoiding capitalising too much on success stories from the past. The bar-rock element may have gone missing but not the warmth of his voice or his vocal mirth.
