Since 2002, Rod Stewart has released eight albums. Each and every one of them includes songs that were written before ‘Maggie May’ hit No. 1 in 1971. A lot of them, in fact, were written before the 68-year-old rock legend learned to walk. Five ‘Great American Songbook’ albums, a rock oldies collection, an R&B oldies collection and a Christmas album – that’s pretty much how Stewart has spent the past decade.
Freed from the confines of Creedence Clearwater Revival, which had become a stifling presence in the final years, John Fogerty took the opportunity of his debut solo album to revisit, pay tribute to and replicate the country music he occasionally played with his old band. But instead of going about it the traditional country-music way – with a bunch of musicians sitting together in a room and performing the music live as the tapes roll – Fogerty played every single instrument on ‘The Blue Ridge Rangers’ himself.
‘So Beautiful or So What,’ the album Paul Simon released last year, was his best in two decades. It’s funny, smart, tuneful and, most of all, personal. Simon has never shied away from revealing too much. Going all the way back to Simon and Garfunkel’s earliest recordings, and continuing throughout his solo albums, the singer-songwriter finds universal truths through his own relationships.
