The Faces support Stewart on a single track Every picture tells a storyan extended workout of the Temptations' “(I Know) I'm Losing You”, teasing the interlocking, energetic and noisy blues-rock they'd take A Nod. It's a stunning cover, enhanced by its placement on an otherwise melancholic and reflective second side. David Ruffin loved the Faces' version so much, he joined them on stage to sing it with them at the Cobo Arena in Detroit in December 1971.
But you could also say that the song choice, about one person's premonition of a romantic partnership falling apart, is a subliminal flashpoint that comes after the triumph of “Maggie May” and “Mandolin Wind.” The other Faces always worried that Stewart would one day replace them, which is exactly what happened. Subsequent tours often featured “Rod Stewart and the Faces” on the marquee.
The band's lifespan was brilliant, fleeting, formative, and unhealthy—like going to college. With an ever-expanding ego, Stewart shot down 1973's excellent oh la la in a Melody Maker interview and Lane, who was leading the sessions and writing half the songs, left three months later. In 1975, the Rolling Stones made Wood an offer he couldn't refuse: Spend the rest of your life cheering Mick Jagger and Keith Richards for staggering sums of money. His departure was the funeral draw and the Faces were no more.
8. “I would find a way to put the past behind me”
Its obvious reading Every picture tells a story it's not necessarily the fault: A photo or a song is more than a piece of time. It's a world. But another way of understanding Every picture tells a story is that a person is not defined by a moment – it is a confluence of incidents both mundane and acute that form a personality. Rod Stewart is not primarily an aspiring singer, a teenage folk, a horndog, a romantic, a poet or a clown. It is all of these things. What is universal is that each person knows they are more than a caricature and wants everyone else to know it too.
Its contradictions and double meanings Every picture tells a story form the basis of Stewart's cover of Tim Hardin's “(Find a) Reason to Believe,” a perfect closer. Stewart and Wood arrange it as a hybrid of gospel and British folk, which makes it feel like an old English ballad. The refrain, “Still looking for a reason to believe,” conveys perseverance in the face of life's obstacles. In fact, the song is about someone who self-destructively keeps going back to a bad relationship. Stewart sings it sympathetically, as if to say that you shouldn't judge someone by their weaknesses, you should focus on the strength they display in trying to overcome them.
At 2:40 the song drops and you wait for the album to end. But Stewart, forever the showman, picks up a few beats and then starts singing a capella. Seconds later, the band plays together for another minute, as if closing a concert. The curtain wings crumple to the floor and the house lights come up. The scum-singer goes on his desired decline. Following the immortal, the staccato ripple of snickers and applause.
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