ROD STEWART – NEVER A DULL MOMENT LP – EXC+ 1Y1/2Y1 UK 1972

Rod Stewart – Never A Dull Moment
(Mercury Records  1972  6499153)
Matrix No’s: 1Y1/2Y1 – UK Pressing

UK Gatefold Sleeve in Excellent+ condition
– sticker mark in top right corner

Vinyl in Excellent+ condition
(there are some surface marks visible on the vinyl when held up to the light but they don’t affect the sound quality apart from the odd light pop/crackle – Side 1 is Nr MINT – Side 2 a little cracklier and would grade as only Excellent+)

Sir Roderick David Stewart, CBE (born 10 January 1945) is a British rock singer and songwriter. Born and raised in London, he is of Scottish and English ancestry. Stewart is one of the best-selling music artists of all time, having sold over 100 million records worldwide. He has had six consecutive number one albums in the UK and his tally of 62 UK hit singles includes 31 that reached the top ten, six of which gained the #1 position. Stewart has had 16 top ten singles in the US, with four reaching #1 on the Billboard Hot 100. He was knighted in the 2016 Birthday Honours for services to music and charity.

With his distinctive raspy singing voice, Stewart came to prominence in the late 1960s and the early 1970s with The Jeff Beck Group, and then with Faces, though his music career had begun in 1962 when he took up busking with a harmonica. In October 1963, he joined the Dimensions as a harmonica player and part-time vocalist. In 1964, Stewart joined Long John Baldry and the All Stars, and in August, Stewart signed a solo contract, releasing his first single, “Good Morning Little Schoolgirl“, in October. He maintained a solo career alongside a group career, releasing his debut solo album, An Old Raincoat Won’t Ever Let You Down in 1969. Stewart’s early albums were a fusion of rock, folk music, soul music, and R&B.

From the late 1970s through the 1990s, Stewart’s music often took on a new wave or soft rock/middle-of-the-road quality, and in the early 2000s, he released a series of successful albums interpreting the Great American Songbook. In 1994, Stewart staged the largest free rock concert in history when he performed in front of 3.5 million people in Rio de Janeiro. In 2008, Billboard magazine ranked him the 17th most successful artist on the “Billboard Hot 100 All-Time Top Artists”. A Grammy and Brit Award recipient, he was voted at #33 in Q Magazine‘s list of the Top 100 Greatest Singers of all time, and #59 on Rolling Stone 100 Greatest Singers of all time. As a solo artist, Stewart was inducted into the US Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994, the UK Music Hall of Fame in 2006, and was inducted a second time into the US Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2012 as a member of Faces.

Never a Dull Moment is a 1972 album by rock musician Rod Stewart. It became a UK number-one album (for two weeks) and reached number two on the US Album chart the same year. The track, “You Wear It Well”, co-written by Stewart and classical guitarist Martin Quittenton, was a smash hit (another UK No. 1; in US No. 13), as well as “Twistin’ the Night Away”, a song originally recorded (and written) by Sam Cooke.

Like many of Stewart’s albums from the era, Never a Dull Moment features significant musical contributions from the members of his band Faces. Other guest musicians included Ray Jackson of the band Lindisfarne on mandolin, Spike Heatley on upright bass, Gordon Huntley on steel guitar, Dick Powell on violin, Pete Sears on piano and bass.

“Mama You Been on My Mind” is a cover version of a Bob Dylan song. Stewart’s version is one of the songs featured in Nick Hornby’s book 31 Songs.

“Angel” can also be heard in one of the scenes of the Charlie’s Angels (film).

Track listing

Side One

1. “True Blue” (Stewart, Ronnie Wood) – 3:32
2. “Lost Paraguayos” (Stewart, Ronnie Wood) – 3:57
3. “Mama You Been on My Mind” (Bob Dylan) – 4:29
4. “Italian Girls” (Stewart, Ronnie Wood) – 4:54

Side Two

1. “Angel” (Jimi Hendrix) – 4:04
2. “Interludings” (A. Wood) – 0:40
3. “You Wear It Well” (Stewart, Martin Quittenton) – 4:22
4. “I’d Rather Go Blind” (Billy Foster, Ellington Jordon) –3:53
5. “Twisting the Night Away” (Sam Cooke) – 3:13

Personnel

• Ronnie Wood – guitar, acoustic guitar, bass
• Ronnie Lane – bass
• Micky Waller – drums
• Kenny Jones – drums
• Ian “Mac” McLagan – organ
• Neemoi “Speedy” Aquaye – congas
• Pete Sears – piano, bass
• Brian – chest piano
• Spike Heatley – upright bass
• Dick “Tricky Dicky” Powell – violin
• Martin Quittenton – acoustic guitar
• Gordon Huntley – steel guitar
• Lindsay Raymond Jackson – mandolin
• Arrangeables on “Twisting the Night Away” by Jimmy Horowitz