As a general "Words To Live By" rule, I HATE Rod 'the Sod' Stewart. His solo biz is just...DREADFUL. Even in the '70s, during his "golden" era (Maggie Mae, blah blah blah), I was never moved to care much more than a "meh." And I get his angle, he is/was a pop star that wanted to be something of a SOUL singer (didn't they all), but he couldn't really pull it off. His glittery swagger was entertaining and he could write a pop song, but his voice wasn't suited to the deep soul he'd attempt. I still wince on hearing his butchered version of Etta James' "I'd Rather Go Blind." So WEAK.

As he grew up neck deep in London's R&B scene it's (almost) odd that he couldn't really pull off singing soul. During the '60s he was a strong come on...he was in (Long John Baldry's) Hootchie Cootchie Men, the Steampacket (DIG THIS), the Shotgun Express, the Jeff Beck Group...so it was ALL greatness!!! But...his raspy voice would serve him best when sung wide open as a London boy singing pilled up English R&B, he couldn't make the jump to more sophisticated and nuanced soul. Still, while singing for the Faces he was usually on, though the Faces were more likely to play wide open boogie/Rock and/or Roll (hard NOT to with the lion's share of the Small Faces AND Ronnie Wood), but they could still be a bit patchy as Rod was still the cheeky Sod.

Now...having said all that...here's the Faces playing my fave Temptations song, live...and they're dead ON!! It's a moment of greatness (the solo) Rod should have held onto desperately...YES, held onto even with a drum solo. It rules over the kinda bumpy studio version from Rod's solo LP, Every Picture Tells A Story (in the studio version he's also backed by the rest of the Faces).