Rod Stewart Gasoline Alley CD

Personnel: Rod Stewart (vocals, acoustic guitar); Rod Stewart; William Gaff (whistling); Ron Wood (guitar, acoustic guitar, bass instrument); Sam Mitchell (guitar); Dennis O'Flynn (violin, bass violin); Pete Sears (piano); Ronnie Lane (bass instrument); Kenney Jones , Kenny Jones (drums); Martin Quittenton (guitar, acoustic guitar); Stanley Matthews (mandolin); Dick Powell (violin); Ian McLagan (piano, organ); Mickey Waller (drums).
Gasoline Alley follows the same formula of Rod Stewart's first album, intercutting contemporary covers with slightly older rock & roll and folk classics and originals written in the same vein. The difference is in execution. Stewart sounds more confident, claiming Elton John's "Country Comfort," the Small Faces' "My Way of Giving," and the Rolling Stones' version of "It's All Over Now" with a ragged, laddish charm. Like its predecessor, nearly all of Gasoline Alley is played on acoustic instruments -- Stewart treats rock & roll songs like folk songs, reinterpreting them in individual, unpredictable ways. For instance, "It's All Over Now" becomes a shambling, loose-limbed ramble instead of a tight R&B/blues groove, and "Cut Across Shorty" is based around a howling, Mideastern violin instead of a rockabilly riff. Of course, being a rocker at heart, Stewart doesn't let these songs become limp acoustic numbers -- these rock harder than any fuzz-guitar workout. The drums crash and bang, the acoustic guitars are pounded with a vengeance -- it's a wild, careening sound that is positively joyous with its abandon. And on the slow songs, Stewart is nuanced and affecting -- his interpretation of Bob Dylan's "Only a Hobo" is one of the finest Dylan covers, while the original title track is a vivid, loving tribute to his adolescence. And that spirit is carried throughout Gasoline Alley. It's an album that celebrates tradition while moving it into the present and never once does it disown the past. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine
With the help of his drinking buddies and members of the Faces (often one and the same), Rod Stewart made his breakout hit album, GASOLINE ALLEY. The marriage of bottleneck guitar and mandolin, abundant barrelhouse piano, and Rod the Mod's passionate rasp were the beginnings of a sound associated with Stewart up through the mid-'70s. After covering the Stones, Ewan McColl and Mike D'Abo on his debut album, Stewart included tunes by Dylan ("Only A Hobo"), Bobby Womack ("It's All Over Now"), and Elton John ("Country Comforts") for the follow-up.
Although songs like the Stewart-penned "Lady Day" and "Jo's Lament" show off the bawdy Scot's more introspective side, "You're My Girl (I Don't Want To Discuss It)" is a hearty slice of rock & roll that could easily be a Faces number (seeing as Ron Wood, Ronnie Lane, and Kenny Jones back him up here). With GASOLINE ALLEY serving as a stylistic blueprint, the table was set for many of this album's participants to return and partake in the creation of EVERY PICTURE TELLS A STORY, Stewart's most successful album ever.Rolling Stone (9/3/70, p.46) - "...Stewart has a rare sensitivity...His music has a gentleness and depth which seems to heal the wounds and ease the pain...a supremely fine artist..."