Rod Stewart - Once in a Blue Moon - Alternate Version (1992)

As I commented recently when I posted an alternate version of Rod Stewart's 1991 album "Vagabond Heart," I feel Stewart had a minor career revival in the early 1990s. I'm not talking about sales, since his stayed strong for decades; I mean a critical revival. For a few years, he at least partially returned to his early 1970s classic rock and R&B roots.

The problem is this change wasn't well reflected on his studio albums at the time. "Vagabond Heart" had many good songs on it, but it was bloated with some weak songs, being nearly an hour long. "Once in a Blue Moon" is a much worse case, because it wasn't really released at the time. It only came out in 2010, despite being recorded in 1992!

The reason it wasn't released was because of his 1993 live album, "Unplugged... and Seated." His record company correctly figured this would be a huge seller. By the early 1990s, most established artists like Stewart waited a couple of years, at least, between studio album releases. The record company didn't want to put an album out and then have another album come out while singles were still being released from the first one. 

So instead, they did something strange with the songs recorded for "Once in a Blue Moon." They released an album in Britain and Germany only called "Lead Vocalist." It had just five of the songs recorded for "Once in a Blue Moon." It contained another seven songs which were some of his greatest hits from the late 1960s and 1970s. This was a terrible decision, in my opinion. It didn't have enough new songs to be seen as a new album, yet only seven older songs wasn't nearly enough for a decent greatest his collection. Not surprisingly, the album sold only a tiny fraction of "Vagabond Heart."

That's a shame, because it was a good album. Unlike most of his albums, it was basically a covers album, with only one original song. The songs were well chosen, with a mix of recent songs and older classics, including two by Bob Dylan. 

That said, I think the 2010 version of "Once in a Blue Moon' has some issues. There were a couple of songs on it that I didn't like. For instance, the cover of "Ruby Tuesday" rubbed me the wrong way. The Rolling Stones version is so iconic and perfect that it just doesn't sound right when Stewart sings it. So I left that off. I also prefer the "fast version" the Motown classic "First I Look at the Purse," which was only included as a bonus track. So I used that instead of the regular album version. Furthermore, an archival box set called "The Rod Stewart Sessions 1971 - 1988" was released in 2009. It contained different versions of many of the "Once in a Blue Moon" songs. I often prefer these versions, as they're earlier versions that don't suffer from overproduction. "Windy Town" is especially different, with this version basically being just Stewart's voice and a piano.

Another key change is that I replaced "Ruby Tuesday" with a 1992 version of "In a Broken Dream." That song was a hit for the band Python Lee Jackson in 1972, but with Stewart singing lead vocals. Stewart came up with what I consider to be a superior version in 1992, featuring some excellent guitar work from Pink Floyd lead guitarist David Gilmour. But unfortunately that version wasn't released at the time, and only came out on the 2009 box set.

I think if Rod Stewart released a "Vagabond Heart" in 1991 close to the version I posted recently, followed by "Once in a Blue Moon" in 1992, followed by "Unplugged... and Seated," he would have had an undisputed critical revival, as well as continued commercial success. It's too bad that didn't happen, but at least it can happen retroactively with these revised albums.

01 The Groom's Still Waiting at the Altar (Rod Stewart)
02 Shotgun Wedding (Rod Stewart)
03 The Downtown Lights (Rod Stewart)
04 Let the Day Begin (Rod Stewart)
05 First I Look at the Purse [Fast Version] (Rod Stewart)
06 Tom Traubert's Blues [Single Version] (Rod Stewart)
07 In a Broken Dream [1992 Version] (Rod Stewart with David Gilmour)
08 This Wheel's on Fire (Rod Stewart)
09 I Wanna Stay Home (Rod Stewart)
10 Windy Town [Piano Version] (Rod Stewart)

https://www.upload.ee/files/16697079/RODSTWRT1992_OncinBluMonAlternte_atse.zip.html

The album cover here is similar to, but not the same as the 2010 official cover. I used the photo on the back, which was similar to the photo on the front. I kept the text exactly the same, in the same place.