Rod Stewart’s occupation is that of rock-star legend. Which is a fine thing to be, but by itself it doesn’t bring in any cash. Ask Bo Diddley.
The difference is that in 1993 Stewart is a walking, talking, commercially viable legend, which is a much better thing to be.
But even that rosy glow that comes with being one of rock’s elder statesmen doesn’t quite suit Stewart. Here he was, ready to mix it up with reporters at a Hollywood press conference recently. But no one wanted to offend a legend with the questions they really wanted to ask:
Shouldn’t he really be married to Rachel Hunter’s mom instead of Rachel Hunter?
Does he just roll out of bed with his hair looking like that?
“Hot Legs” unplugged? Get real.
Actually, that last question was asked, but in nicer terms. And Stewart, as candid today as he was 20 years ago, addressed it.
“It’s not the most brilliant set of lyrics,” he conceded, seated on a sound stage where he was doing a tour rehearsal. He appears Aug. 13 and 14 at Poplar Creek Music Theatre in Hoffman Estates.
Stewart was game, but for the most part there’s not a whole lot left unknown about him. That prompted questions that even Stewart’s publicist called silly, questions such as “Are you looking forward to the tour?”
“No!” Stewart said, eyes rolling to the sky.
He didn’t need to meet with the press. But here he was, taking questions after allowing reporters to watch a seven-song rehearsal set, including “Have I Told You Lately” and “Forever Young.”
And he’s simply got life in the bag. He goes where he wants, he does what he wants and he’s richer than some countries. Despite some career lulls, he has been topping the charts for more than two decades. He never frittered it away like so many rock stars. He never got caught with his pants down except when he wanted them down; he never got strung out on drugs.
As he was meeting with reporters, his 27-year-old wife was off posing for her new swimsuit calendar, he noted.
Only time has been an enemy, and even then a somewhat benevolent one.
“I would be lying if I told you I had as much energy as 15 years ago,” Stewart said. “But I sing a lot better. I’m pretty fit. I still do soccer. I’m a pretty fit 48-year-old.”
He does more recycling than Greenpeace. The first single from his most recent album was “Have I Told You Lately,” a cover of a Van Morrison song. The second will be “Reason to Believe,” which got nearly as much airplay as “Maggie May” when it was released as the latter’s B-side in 1971.
The album, “Unplugged . . . and Seated,” marks just another cultural wave he has nimbly ridden.
“It’s a reaction to maybe too much electronic music,” Stewart said of his unplugged gig. Last time there was such a back-to-basics revolution in rock, it was the punk movement whose members scorned the likes of Stewart.
“The whole punk movement gave us a good kick . . . in ’76 when we were a little too complacent,” he said.
But while he’s on the strength of “Unplugged . . . and Seated,” this tour is hardly stripped-down.
“We actually started this tour to be an unplugged tour,” he said. “As it went on, it got plugged in.”
So now there’s a full string section with its own conductor, three vocalists, four guitarists, fiddle, sax, two keyboards, drums and percussion.
“I don’t think the show will get any bigger,” he said.
And he’s avoiding acoustic songs such as “You’re in My Heart” because they’d be “too obvious” to perform.
Then, of course, there are the ones that are too stupid.
“We don’t do that anymore,” he said diplomatically of his big disco hit “Da Ya Think I’m Sexy?”
But even in his worst moments, there were redeeming qualities. “Blondes Have More Fun” spawned the awful “Da Ya Think I’m Sexy” but also had the wonderful title cut and “Ain’t Love a Bitch.” For every rancid song such as “Tonight’s the Night” there’s a magnificent song such as “I Was Only Joking.”
But because it’s Stewart’s voice that fans come to hear, why not leave it unadorned? Why not walk out with a couple of guitarists and keep things very simple?
A great idea and just what he was planning to do next, Stewart said. It’s likely the next release will be very stripped-down.
