Rod Stewart's Classy Classics Trivia Quiz

Answer: Cyril Davies and the All Stars

Rod Stewart was first "discovered" by a blues musician named John William "Long John" Baldry, of the All Stars, and it was he who gave Rod the moniker, "Rod The Mod" Stewart, due to his manner of dress and his spiked-up hair. During this time, Rod not only sang with the group, but went solo with some of his work as well.

Jeff Beck recruited Rod Stewart into his group in 1967, yet Rod admitted that the band's relationship was less than a friendly one, due to all the angst and animosity that had developed between the almost constantly changing members of the group. He later recalled: "It was a great band to sing with but I couldn't take all the aggravation and unfriendliness that developed.... In the two and a half years I was with Beck I never once looked him in the eye - I always looked at his shirt or something like that."

Later, Rod and another former Jeff Beck Group member, Ronnie Wood, joined up with the band known as The Faces (previously The Small Faces). After a tenure with them, Rod again struck out on his own, but maintained a good relationship with the group and even verbally mentioned the possibility of having a reunion tour with them in 2008, although that never materialized.

Answer: The Rod Stewart Album

I have absolutely NO IDEA why the album had two names; one for each side of the Atlantic, but below are listed the tunes found on it.
(One possibility is that marketing played a big part in the title, since we Americans might not be as prone to understand the nuances of English weather.)

"An Old Raincoat Won't Ever Let You Down" aka "The Rod Stewart Album"

Side One
1."Street Fighting Man"
2."Man of Constant Sorrow"
3."Blind Prayer"
4."Handbags and Gladrags"

Side Two
1."An Old Raincoat Won't Ever Let You Down"
2."I Wouldn't Ever Change a Thing"
3."Cindy's Lament"
4."Dirty Old Town"

Answer: Gasoline Alley

The album, Gasoline Alley featured all of these songs, including the title song "Gasoline Alley", which had been written by Rod Stewart and former Faces member, Ronnie Wood. "Cut Across Shorty" was written by Wayne P. Walker and Marijohn Wilkin; "Country Comfort" had been penned by Elton John and Bernie Taupin, while "Only A Hobo" had been written by Bob Dylan.

Answer: Every Picture Tells A Story

The album "Every Picture Tells A Story" became a number one album in both the U.K. and the U.S. in 1971 at the same time that one the singles off the album, "Maggie May", was hitting the top of the singles charts in both countries.

Answer: Sailing

Of course, all of these were sung by Rod Stewart, but it was "Sailing" that was recorded for his album "Atlantic Crossing", and even though he had previously enjoyed great success in the U.S. the song only reached the number 58 position on the Billboard Hot 100 music charts.

It was re-released by Rod Stewart for charity purposes in 1987, after a ferry capsized in the Belgian port of Zeebrugge, killing 193 people.

Answer: rhythm of my heart

"The rhythm of my heart is beating like a drum
With the words I love you rolling off my tongue
Never will I roam, for I know my place is home
Where the ocean meets the sky
I'll be sailing"

"Rhythm Of My Heart" was released on Rod Stewart's 1991 album, "Vagabond Heart".

Answer: A Night On The Town

While all of these were names of Rod Stewart albums, "A Night On The Town" was released in 1976. The album's cover was based on an 1876 painting by Renoir called "Bal du moulin de la Galette". An image of Rod, dressed in the style of the people in the rest of the painting, was inserted into the foreground of the picture that had been redone to look like a reasonable facsimile of the original painting.

Answer: Tom Waits

Thomas Alan (Tom) Waits' songs are generally better known as being cover versions by other artists. His own voice is distinctive, and music critic Daniel Durchholz once described it as being, "like it was soaked in a vat of bourbon, left hanging in the smokehouse for a few months, and then taken outside and run over with a car."

Rod Stewart's version was a smashing success, perhaps because his voice too, at times, can get quite raspy. That is a part of his ongoing appeal, I believe.

At any rate, Rod paid honor to his old mentor and fellow musician, Jeff Beck, and requested that he play slide guitar for the video release. Rod Stewart received a Grammy nomination for the song.

Answer: True

The album "Soulbook" is a compilation of only older material which consists of a blend of old Motown and Soul music, all having been sung previously by other artists. The album was released in 2009, and peaked in the U.S. at number four. It was also successful in Canada, hitting the number three spot, and in the U.K. making it to the number nine position.

Answer: Tom Petty

"Well I chased her down the alley
And over the hill to steal her away
She was as hot as the Georgia asphalt
When the aircraft came to adore her brain
So leave Virginia alone
Leave Virginia alone
She's not like you and me
She's not like you and me."

Florida native Tom Petty wrote "Leave Virginia Alone", but never recorded it. The album from which it was taken, "A Spanner In The Works" was Stewart's first album in four years, a hiatus during which the artist once again spent time "re-inventing" his style.