Rod Stewart - Don't You Tell Nobody - Non-Album Tracks (1964-1969)

It used to be that Rod Stewart had a widespread, well-regarded musical reputation. His work with the Jeff Beck Group in the late 1960s was great, and his early 1970s solo and Faces albums were excellent. Then he got too slick and commercial for my tastes, except for a usual good hit song or two per album. So the only reason I've made this collection of his very early stuff is because it's good music, heavily influenced by blues and soul. So if you're into British 1960s rhythm and blues, forget all about that later day Rod Stewart stuff and enjoy this.

Stewart had a long slow start to his musical career. He began singing in public in 1961, if not earlier. In 1963, he saw soul great Otis Redding in concert and became fascinated by soul music. The problem was, for several years, he lacked a steady band or musical identity. As you can see from the credits here, he joined and left various bands while sometimes putting out solo records. Nothing fully clicked until 1967, when he became the leader singer for the Jeff Beck Group and had two hit albums. But even that was temporary since he and Jeff Beck clashed. It wasn't until 1969 when he released his first solo album and also joined the Faces where he really established himself as a major star.

This album contains his various experiments and efforts as he struggled to make a name for himself. There's at least twice the amount of material from this time period, but I cherry picked that for what I thought was the best stuff. Note that I didn't include anything from the Jeff Beck Group. They do have some rarities from the Rod Stewart era, but I'll deal with those at another time.

One song here, "In a Broken Dream," was a big hit, but in a very odd way. It was a song by the band Python Lee Jackson. But their lead vocalist felt he didn't have the right voice for the song, so Stewart was brought in to sing on it plus two other songs, in mid-1969, while he was between bands and working as a session musician. Stewart was paid by being given new seat covers for his car! The song was released in a single in 1970, but went ignored. Then, in 1972, after Stewart was a big star, it was released again. This time, it became a number three hit in Britain.

This album is 51 minutes long. That would have been a stretch for albums of that time, but it would have been possible.

UPDATE: On March 19, 2021, I updated the mp3 download file by removing two songs. Those songs ("Wonderful One" and "Can I Get a Witness") were done by Stewart when he was a part of the band the Steampacket. I got rid of them because I've posted an entire album of music by that band, with those two songs and many more sung by Stewart, so they're no longer needed here.

01 Don't You Tell Nobody (Rod Stewart & Long John Baldry & the Hoochie Coochie Men)
02 Just like I Treat You (Rod Stewart & Long John Baldry & the Hoochie Coochie Men)
03 Good Morning Little Schoolgirl (Rod Stewart)
04 I'm Gonna Move to the Outskirts of Town (Rod Stewart)
05 The Day Will Come (Rod Stewart)
06 Why Does It Go On (Rod Stewart)
07 I Just Got Some (Rod Stewart)
08 Come Home Baby (P. P Arnold & Rod Stewart)
09 Stone Crazy (Rod Stewart, Peter Green, Aynsley Dunbar & Jack Bruce)
10 I Could Feel the Whole World Turn Round (Rod Stewart & the Shotgun Express)
11 Little Miss Understood (Rod Stewart)
12 So Much to Say (Rod Stewart)
13 In a Broken Dream (Python Lee Jackson with Rod Stewart)
14 Cloud Nine (Python Lee Jackson with Rod Stewart)
15 How Blue Can You Get (Python Lee Jackson with Rod Stewart)
16 Diamond Joe (Rod Stewart & Quiet Melon)

https://www.imagenetz.de/a3Jsv

Once again, the album cover was made by PJ of his "Albums I Wish Existed" blog. It dates to a TV performance he made to promote his first solo single in 1964.