Rod Stewart - A Night on the Town Deluxe Edition CD Review (Rhino/Warner)

Rod Stewart's seventh solo CD, A Night on the Town, was originally released in 1976 and this was Stewart's first platinum release. The disc has aged well and Rhino Records has now given it deluxe treatment by adding a second disc with an unreleased alternate version of the full A Night on the Town album along with four studio outtakes. These thirteen unreleased tracks are a 'must have' for long-time Rod Stewart fans and well worth a "trade up" from an LP or single disc versions of A Night on the Town. For the uninitiated, this disc is a return to the blues/bar-stomping sound of The Faces and 70's era Rolling Stones. While there are a few slow songs, "Trade Winds" is really the only syrupy ballad (and the only dud on the disc). If you are a fan of 70's British blues/rock, you aren't going to go wrong with this disc.

There are already a lot of reviews out of A Night on the Town, so I'm just going to focus this review on the bonus tracks. Disc 1 contains one bonus track, "Rosie", which was originally issued as the b-side to the single "The Killing of Georgie". This cut is a great New Orleans blues style bar room stomper. The song has a great build-up which features horns, strings and piano.

Disc 2 starts with the studio outtake "Share" which is a bit too soft for my taste but it doesn't fall to "Trade Winds" status as the song features intricate guitar work and raw vocals from Stewart. The alternate version of A Night on the Town follows and this is a great companion piece to the studio LP. These are "early versions" which are less produced, rawer versions of the songs. The early versions of the fast songs capture the rawness of a live-in-the-studio performance and the slow songs are more intricate than the fully produced versions would imply. While all of the songs are finished versions, this disc includes some studio banter which adds to the overall work-in-progress ambiance. In addition to including an early version of "Rosie", this second disc also includes an early version of Stewart's cover of The Beatles' "Get Back" (the final version was used in the film All This And World War II).

A Rod Stewart box set is supposed to be released sometime later this year and deluxe editions of Foot Loose And Fancy Free and Blondes Have More Fun will follow early next year.

Links:
Rhino Records
Rod Stewart's Website

Rod Stewart Releases Deluxe Versions of His First Two Post-Faces LPs ("A Night on the Town" and "Atlantic Crossing")

Mentioning Rod Stewart to some of the younger sect often gets often get a response of rolled eyes as they only know him from his (horrid) disco songs or his more recent crooner-type ballads. What these folks have missed is the Rod Stewart and The Faces were top-notch rock act that were selling out stadiums in the early-to-mid 70's. The Faces included Ron Wood (guitar) Ian McLaglan (keyboard), Kenny Jones (drums) and Tetsu Yamauchi/Ronnie Lane (bass).

On June 30th, Rhino Entertainment is releasing limited-edition deluxe versions of Rod's first two post-Faces albums, Atlantic Crossing and A Night on the Town. Each of these 2-disc sets contains bonus tracks, outtakes and a complete alternate version of the original studio LP.

Click on Rod's picture to stream an 11-track sampler from these two releases.

Here are the details on these two releases...

Atlantic Crossing was originally released in 1975 and it was Stewart's sixth solo disc. It was certified gold and contains the singles "Sailing" and "I Don't Want To Talk About It". Here is the complete track list:

Disc 1

FAST HALF
“Three Time Loser”
“Alright For An Hour”
“All In The Name Of Rock ’N’ Roll”
“Drift Away”
“Stone Cold Sober”

SLOW HALF
“I Don’t Want To Talk About It”
“It’s Not The Spotlight”
“This Old Heart Of Mine”
“Still Love You”
“Sailing”
“Skye Boat Song” – The Atlantic Crossing Drum & Pipe Band (non-LP bonus track)

Disc 2 – ALL PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED
“To Love Somebody” (Studio Outtake) – with The MG’s
“Holy Cow” (Studio Outtake) – with The MG’s
“Return To Sender” (Studio Outtake) – with The MG’s

THE ALTERNATE ATLANTIC CROSSING
“Three Time Loser” (Alternate Version)
“Alright For An Hour” (Alternate Version)
“All In The Name Of Rock ’N’ Roll” (Alternate Version)
“Drift Away” (Alternate Version)
“Too Much Noise” (Early Version of “Stone Cold Sober”)
“I Don’t Want To Talk About It” (Alternate Version)
“It’s Not The Spotlight” (Alternate Version)
“This Old Heart Of Mine” (Alternate Version with The MG’s)
“Still Love You” (Alternate Version)
“Sailing” (Alternate Version)
“Skye Boat Song” (Alternate Version) – The Atlantic Crossing Drum & Pipe Band

A Night on the Town was originally released in 1976 and went double-platinum. The disc contains the singles “Tonight’s The Night (Gonna Be Alright)”, a cover of Cat Stevens’ “The First Cut Is The Deepest,” and “The Killing Of Georgie” (Part I and II). Here is the complete track list:

Disc 1

SLOW SIDE
“Tonight’s The Night (Gonna Be Alright)”
“The First Cut Is The Deepest”
“Fool For You”
“The Killing Of Georgie” (Part I And II)

FAST HALF
“The Balltrap”
“Pretty Flamingo”
“Big Bayou”
“The Wild Side Of Life”
“Trade Winds”
“Rosie” (non-LP bonus track)

Disc 2 – ALL PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED
“Share” (Studio Outtake)

THE ALTERNATE NIGHT ON THE TOWN
“Tonight’s The Night (Gonna Be Alright)” (Early Version)
“The First Cut Is The Deepest” (Early Version)
“Fool For You” (Early Version)
“The Killing Of Georgie” (Part I And II) (Early Version)
“The Balltrap” (Early Version)
“Pretty Flamingo” (Early Version)
“Big Bayou” (Early Version)
“The Wild Side Of Life” (Early Version)
“Trade Winds” (Early Version)
“Rosie” (Early Version)
“Get Back” (Alternate Version)

Rumors continue to fly that Sewart and The Faces will be reuniting so stay tuned!

Links:
Rod Stewart's MySpace Profile