Every Picture Tells a Story

Every Picture Tells a Story
Studio album by Rod Stewart
Released	May 1971 (US) July 1971 (UK)
Recorded	November 1970
Genre	Rock
Length	40:31
Label	Mercury
Producer	Rod Stewart
Professional reviews
Allmusic link Robert Christgau (A+) link Rolling Stone link
Rod Stewart chronology
Gasoline Alley (1970) Every Picture Tells a Story (1971) Never a Dull Moment (1972)

Every Picture Tells a Story is the third album by Rod Stewart, released in the middle of 1971. It became Stewart's most critically acclaimed album, and became the standard by which all of his subsequent albums were judged.^{[citation needed]}

History

The album is a mixture of rock, country, blues, soul, and folk, and includes his breakthrough hit, "Maggie May", co-written by classical guitarist Martin Quittenton, as well as "(Find A) Reason To Believe", a song from Tim Hardin's debut album of 1966. "Reason" had initially been the A-side of the single and "Maggie May" the B-side, until general reaction resulted in their reversal.

The album also included a version of Arthur Crudup's "That's All Right (Mama)" (the first single for Elvis Presley) and a cover of the Bob Dylan song, "Tomorrow Is A Long Time", an outtake to Dylan's 1963 album The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan (it would see release on 1971's, Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits Vol. II).

All five members of the Faces (with whom Stewart at that time was lead vocalist) appeared on the album, with guitarist/bassist Ronnie Wood and keyboardist Ian McLagan on Hammond B3 organ being most prominent. Due to contractual restrictions, the personnel listings were somewhat vague, and it was unclear that the full Faces line-up recorded the version of the Motown hit "(I Know) I'm Losing You".^[1] Other contributors included Ray Jackson on mandolin (though Stewart forgot his name and merely mentioned "the mandolin player in Lindisfarne" on the sleeve). Micky Waller on drums. Maggie Bell performed backing vocals (mentioned on the sleeve as "vocal abrasives") on the title track, and Madeline Bell sang backup on the next track, "Seems Like A Long Time". Pete Sears played all the piano on the album except for one track, "I'm Losing You" which featured Ian McLagan on piano, along with the Faces as a band.

It reached the number-one position in both the UK (for six weeks) and the U.S. (four weeks) at the same time that "Maggie May" was topping the singles charts in both territories, making Stewart the first artist to achieve such a feat. It has often been voted among the best British albums of all time.^{[citation needed]}

In 1992, the album was awarded the number-one spot in Jimmy Guterman's book The Best Rock 'N' Roll Records of All Time: A Fan's Guide to the Stuff You Love.

In 2003, the album was ranked number 172 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.^[2]

Every Picture Tells a Story was ranked 99th in a 2005 survey held by British television's Channel 4 to determine the 100 greatest albums of all time.^{[citation needed]}

Track listing

Side One

1. "Every Picture Tells a Story" (Rod Stewart, Ronnie Wood) - 6:01
2. "Seems Like a Long Time" (Theodore Anderson) - 4:02
3. "That's All Right" (Arthur Crudup) - 3:59
4. "Amazing Grace" (Traditional, arranged by Rod Stewart) - 2:03
5. "Tomorrow Is a Long Time" (Bob Dylan) - 3:43

"Amazing Grace" is not listed on the label on most editions, and on the CD is part of "That's All Right."

Side Two

1. "Link Music - Henry's Time" (Martin Quittenton) - 0:32
2. "Maggie May" (Rod Stewart, Martin Quittenton) - 5:16
3. "Mandolin Wind" (Rod Stewart) - 5:33
4. "(I Know) I'm Losing You" (Norman Whitfield, Eddie Holland, Cornelius Grant) - 5:23
5. "Reason to Believe" (Tim Hardin) - 4:06

Chart positions

Personnel

• Ronnie Wood - guitar, pedal steel guitar & bass
• Sam Mitchell - slide guitar
• Martin Quittenton - acoustic guitar
• Micky Waller - drums
• Pete Sears - piano
• Ian McLagan - organ
• Danny Thompson - bass
• Andy Pyle - bass
• Dick Powell - violin
• Maggie Bell - "vocal abrasives" on the title track
• Madeline Bell & friends (Mateus Rose, John Baldry) - "vocal abrasives" on "Seems Like A Long Time"
• Lindsay Raymond Jackson ("the mandolin player in Lindisfarne") - mandolin
• Kenney Jones - drums on "(I Know) I'm Losing You"
• Ronnie Lane - bass on "(I Know) I'm Losing You"

References

1. ^ Liner notes, Faces' The Definitive Rock Collection, Rhino Records, 2007
2. ^ 172) Every Picture Tells a Story, Rollingstone.com

External links

• A.V. Club Permanent Records review