Editing Rod Stewart (section)

===1969–1975: Solo career established and Faces albums===
[[Mercury Records]] [[A&R]] man [[Lou Reizner]] had seen Stewart perform with Beck, and on 8 October 1968 signed him to a solo contract;<ref name="Gray-18-21"/> but contractual complexities delayed Stewart's recording for him until July 1969.<ref name="Gray-22"/><ref>Nelson and Bangs, ''Rod Stewart'', pp. 96–97, 100.</ref> Meanwhile, in May 1969, guitarist and singer [[Steve Marriott]] left English band [[the Small Faces]].<ref name="Gray-22"/> [[Ron Wood]] replaced him as guitarist in June and on 18 October 1969, Stewart followed his friend and became the band's new singer.<ref name="Gray-22"/> The two joined existing members [[Ronnie Lane]], [[Ian McLagan]], and [[Kenney Jones]], who soon decided to call the new line-up [[Faces (band)|Faces]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1997/06/06/arts/ronnie-lane-51-the-founder-of-small-faces-a-british-band.html|title=Ronnie Lane, the Founder Of Small Faces, a British Band|author=Jon Pareles|work=NY Times Archive|date=1997}}</ref>

''[[An Old Raincoat Won't Ever Let You Down]]'' became Stewart's first solo album in 1969 (it was known as ''The Rod Stewart Album'' in the US). It established the template for his solo sound: a heartfelt mixture of [[folk music|folk]], rock, and [[country blues]], inclusive of a British working-class sensibility, with both original material ("Cindy's Lament" and the title song) and cover versions ([[Ewan MacColl]]'s "[[Dirty Old Town]]" and [[Mike d'Abo]]'s "[[Handbags and Gladrags]]"). The backing band on the album included Wood, Waller and McLagan, plus [[Keith Emerson]] and guitarists [[Martin Pugh]] (of [[Steamhammer (band)|Steamhammer]], and later [[Armageddon (A&M band)|Armageddon]] and [[7th Order (band)|7th Order]]) and [[Martin Quittenton]] (also from [[Steamhammer (band)|Steamhammer]]).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-rod-stewart-album-rod-stewart/73413?ean=731455805826|title=Rod Stewart Album by Umvd Special Markets, Rod Stewart – 731455805826 – CD – Barnes & Noble|author=JohnQ|date=1 October 2010|work=Barnes & Noble}}</ref>

[[File:Rod Stewart (1971).png|thumb|upright|Stewart in a trade advert for his 1971 album ''[[Every Picture Tells A Story]]'']]
Faces released their debut album, ''[[First Step (Faces album)|First Step]]'', in early 1970 with a rock and roll style similar to the Rolling Stones. While the album did better in the UK than in the US, the Faces quickly earned a strong live following. Stewart released his second album, ''[[Gasoline Alley (album)|Gasoline Alley]]'' that autumn. Stewart's approach was similar to his first album and [[mandolin]] was introduced into the sound. He then launched a US tour with the Faces. Stewart sang guest vocals for the Australian group [[Python Lee Jackson]] on "[[In a Broken Dream]]", recorded in April 1969 but not released until 1970. His payment was a set of seat covers for his car. It was re-released in 1972 to become a worldwide hit.

Stewart's 1971 solo album ''[[Every Picture Tells a Story]]'' made him a household name when the B-side of his minor hit "[[Reason to Believe]]", "[[Maggie May]]", (co-written with Martin Quittenton) started to receive radio play. The album and the single occupied the number one chart position simultaneously in the UK, US, Canada and Australia, a chart first, in September.<ref>Marcus, Greil. ''The Rolling Stone Illustrated History of Rock and Roll.'' Second edition; Jim Miller, editor. New York: Random House, 1980, {{ISBN|0-394-51322-3}}, p. 379.</ref> ''Maggie May'' topped the single chart for five weeks in the US, and the UK and four weeks in Australia.  Set off by a striking mandolin part (by Ray Jackson of [[Lindisfarne (band)|Lindisfarne]]), "Maggie May" was also named in [[The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame]]'s ''500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll''. The rest of the album was equally strong, with "[[Mandolin Wind]]" again showcasing that instrument; "[[(I Know) I'm Losing You]]" adding hard-edged soul to the mix; and "[[Tomorrow Is a Long Time]]", a cover of a [[Bob Dylan]] song. But the ultimate manifestation of the early Stewart solo style was the Stewart-Wood-penned "Every Picture Tells a Story" itself: powered by Mick Waller's drumming, [[Pete Sears]]'s piano and Wood's guitar work in a largely acoustic arrangement; it is a song relating to the [[picaresque]] adventures of the singer.<ref>{{Cite web |title=every picture tells a story - Record Collector Magazine |url=https://recordcollectormag.com/articles/every-picture-tells-a-story |access-date=2025-05-03 |language=en}}</ref>

The second Faces album, ''[[Long Player (album)|Long Player]]'', was released in early 1971 and enjoyed greater chart success than ''First Step''. Faces also got their only US Top 40 hit with "Stay With Me" from their third album ''[[A Nod Is as Good as a Wink...To a Blind Horse]]'' released in late 1971.<ref name="BillboardChart"/> This album reached the Top 10 on both sides of the Atlantic on the back of the success of ''Every Picture Tells A Story''.<ref name="BillboardChart"/><ref name="Roberts">Roberts, David (2006). [[British Hit Singles & Albums]]. London: Guinness World Records Limited</ref> [[Steve Jones (musician)|Steve Jones]] from [[The Sex Pistols]] regarded the Faces highly and named them as a main influence on the British [[punk rock]] movement.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gibson.com/en-us/Lifestyle/Features/The%20Sex%20Pistols_%20Steve%20Jones|title=The Sex Pistols' Steve Jones: 'I lost everything, hit bottom, and had to work my way back up.'|publisher=Gibson.com|access-date=11 December 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120324183836/http://www.gibson.com/en-us/Lifestyle/Features/The%20Sex%20Pistols_%20Steve%20Jones_|archive-date=24 March 2012}}</ref>

The Faces toured extensively in 1972 with growing tension in the band over Stewart's solo career enjoying more success than the band's. Stewart released ''[[Never a Dull Moment (Rod Stewart album)|Never a Dull Moment]]'' in the same year. Repeating the ''Every Picture'' formula, for the most part, it reached number two on the US album charts and number one in the UK,<ref name="RockHall"/> and enjoyed further good notices from reviewers. "You Wear It Well" was a hit single that reached number 13 in the US and went to number one in the UK, while "Twisting the Night Away" made explicit Stewart's debt to [[Sam Cooke]].

For the body of his early solo work Stewart earned tremendous critical praise. ''Rolling Stone'''s 1980 ''Illustrated History of Rock & Roll'' includes this in its Stewart entry:<ref name="rshist-377">Marcus, "Rod Stewart", in ''Rolling Stone Illustrated History of Rock & Roll'', p. 377.</ref>

<blockquote>Rarely has a singer had as full and unique a talent as Rod Stewart; rarely has anyone betrayed his talent so completely. Once the most compassionate presence in music, he has become a bilious self-parody – and sells more records than ever [... A] writer who offered profound lyricism and fabulous self-deprecating humour, teller of tall tales and honest heartbreaker, he had an unmatched eye for the tiny details around which lives turn, shatter, and reform [...] and a voice to make those details indelible. [... His solo albums] were defined by two special qualities: warmth, which was redemptive, and modesty, which was liberating. If ever any rocker chose the role of everyman and lived up to it, it was Rod Stewart.</blockquote>
[[File:Rod Stewart and Ron Wood - Faces - 1975.jpg|thumb|left|Stewart (right) while in [[Faces (band)|Faces]], with [[Ronnie Wood]] (left)]]
The Faces released their final album ''[[Ooh La La (Faces album)|Ooh La La]],'' which reached number one in the UK and number 21 in the US in 1973.<ref name="BillboardChart"/><ref name="Roberts"/> During the recording of the album, the rift between Stewart and the rest of the Faces grew further, as (according to [[Ian McLagan]]), Stewart did not participate until two weeks into the sessions, "and then complained that some songs were in the wrong key for him. So we recorded them again and waited a week for him to come back. We cut the track for 'Ooh La La' three times before he eventually passed on it, leaving it for [[Ronnie Wood|Woody]] to sing. [...] The week the album came out he did all he could to scuttle it and told anyone who would listen how useless it was."<ref name="mac-206">McLagan, Ian, ''All The Rage'' (2011), p. 206.</ref> The band toured Australasia, Japan, Europe and the UK in 1974<ref name="nzentgrafwoodworks">{{cite web|last=Zentgraf|first=Nico|title=Woodworks 1957–1975|url=http://www.nzentgraf.de/books/tcw/works1.htm|access-date=14 June 2008}}</ref> to support the album and the single "Pool Hall Richard".

In late 1974, Stewart released his ''[[Smiler (album)|Smiler]]'' album. In Britain, it reached number one, and the single "Farewell" number seven, but only number 13 on the ''Billboard'' pop album charts and the single "Mine for Me" only number 91 on the ''Billboard'' pop singles charts. It was his last original album for Mercury Records. After the release of the double album compilation ''The Best of Rod Stewart'' he switched to [[Warner Bros. Records]] and remained with them throughout the vast majority of his career (Faces were signed to Warner Bros., and Stewart's solo releases in the UK appeared on the Riva label until 1981). In 1975, Faces toured the US twice (with Ronnie Wood joining [[the Rolling Stones]]' US tour in between).<ref name="nzentgrafwoodworks"/> With Ronnie Wood having released his second solo album in 1975 and also having joined the Rolling Stones (first as a temporary replacement for the departing [[Mick Taylor]], and later as a permanent member), as well as Stewart's own burgeoning solo career, it became impossible to maintain the Faces as a viable band, so the Faces broke up at the end of the year.<ref name="tioos-chronicle75">{{cite web|last=McPherson|first=Ian|title=The Rolling Stones Chronicle: 1975|url=http://www.timeisonourside.com/chron1975.html|access-date=14 June 2008}}</ref>