0:00:02 > 0:00:09This programme contains some strong language
0:00:09 > 0:00:11# I realise maybe I was wrong to leave
0:00:11 > 0:00:14# Swallow up my silly country pride
0:00:14 > 0:00:17# Going home, rolling home
0:00:17 > 0:00:20# Down to Gasoline Alley Where I was born
0:00:20 > 0:00:24# Going home and I'm rolling home
0:00:24 > 0:00:26# Down to Gasoline Alley... #
0:00:26 > 0:00:30Rod Stewart was born with a voice that sounds shot to pieces,
0:00:30 > 0:00:33but in the spring of 1965, he had no sense yet
0:00:33 > 0:00:36of where that voice would take him.
0:00:37 > 0:00:41I've been a professional singer now for last nine or ten months.
0:00:41 > 0:00:43Before that, I worked with my brother.
0:00:43 > 0:00:47If it lasts a year and a half, I shall be happy,
0:00:47 > 0:00:49which I think it will do. I'll get another 18 months.
0:00:52 > 0:00:55He would go on to become one of the most successful singers
0:00:55 > 0:00:56of all time.
0:00:56 > 0:00:59# I don't want to
0:00:59 > 0:01:03# Talk about it
0:01:03 > 0:01:07# How you broke my heart
0:01:10 > 0:01:15# If I stay here just a little bit longer... #
0:01:15 > 0:01:17He's been famous for a lot of things -
0:01:17 > 0:01:19mayhem on stage...
0:01:21 > 0:01:24..rearranging hotel rooms...
0:01:24 > 0:01:26and misbehaving with women.
0:01:26 > 0:01:30In the back of one of those limousines, was a journalist.
0:01:30 > 0:01:33Were you shagging Susan George, was the question.
0:01:33 > 0:01:37I ask you only to look at it at some point and reflect
0:01:37 > 0:01:40- on what was going through your head. - Don't put me on the spot, Alan.
0:01:40 > 0:01:41I'm trying to be a gentleman here!
0:01:41 > 0:01:48# Mother, don't you recognise me now? #
0:01:50 > 0:01:55But how much of this has just been playing up the Jack-the-lad image?
0:01:55 > 0:01:58- Intrepid fox, Rod!- Tell us a story, Ronnie.- OK, Sherlock.
0:01:58 > 0:02:03# I was singing in the clubs Singing in the pubs
0:02:03 > 0:02:06# Then along came Maggie May... #
0:02:06 > 0:02:11Almost five decades on and he has a new album out of his own songs,
0:02:11 > 0:02:13that tell the story of his life.
0:02:15 > 0:02:18# I will climb this mountain With this God-given gift
0:02:18 > 0:02:22# If it's the last thing that I do And I remember thinking... #
0:02:25 > 0:02:29He's broken most of the rules and just about got away with it
0:02:29 > 0:02:32and he shows no sign of stopping now.
0:02:32 > 0:02:36That's what I thought we might call the film - They Can't Stop Me Now.
0:02:36 > 0:02:39I love the idea of that. I love it.
0:02:39 > 0:02:43- # So proud- They can't stop me now The world is waiting
0:02:43 > 0:02:47# So proud Oh, yeah!
0:02:47 > 0:02:52# They can't stop me now The tide is turning... #
0:02:59 > 0:03:03Last year saw the publication of Rod's autobiography,
0:03:03 > 0:03:07a very honest and entertaining romp through his eventful life.
0:03:10 > 0:03:13I wondered if it was writing the book that had enabled him
0:03:13 > 0:03:17to create these new songs, his first in over 20 years.
0:03:19 > 0:03:22You're writing your autobiography and, somehow or other,
0:03:22 > 0:03:26that did make you dig deeper and deeper. Is that what happened?
0:03:26 > 0:03:28That is exactly what happened.
0:03:30 > 0:03:33My family were instrumental in helping me with this book
0:03:33 > 0:03:37and that's what helped the songs, in so many ways.
0:03:37 > 0:03:40But my favourite is You Can't Stop Me Now,
0:03:40 > 0:03:42cos it is a tribute to my dad.
0:03:42 > 0:03:46# Thanks for the faith Thanks for the patience... #
0:03:48 > 0:03:51Do you ever worry about him getting mixed up with all these
0:03:51 > 0:03:53purple heart-types you read about in the papers?
0:03:53 > 0:03:57No, we never worry about that sort of thing. Not with Roddy.
0:03:57 > 0:04:00I think he's too sensible for that sort of thing.
0:04:00 > 0:04:01At least, I think so.
0:04:01 > 0:04:03ROD APPLAUDS
0:04:03 > 0:04:08Rod lives with his parents in a small flat above their shop
0:04:08 > 0:04:09in Archway Road, Highgate.
0:04:09 > 0:04:14He doesn't usually get up before lunchtime, but on Good Friday,
0:04:14 > 0:04:15he was up and dressed by 11.30.
0:04:15 > 0:04:20- I'm in my house. - I told you, I recognised it,
0:04:20 > 0:04:21- with the washing line.- Yeah.
0:04:21 > 0:04:25This is where me dad used to have a shop underneath.
0:04:25 > 0:04:28He seems to be doing quite well at singing. Were you disappointed
0:04:28 > 0:04:32- when he gave up football? - No, I wasn't disappointed.
0:04:32 > 0:04:35- Do you think he could have gone further as a footballer?- I think so.
0:04:35 > 0:04:39# You can't stop me now The tide is turning... #
0:04:39 > 0:04:41How long have you been playing?
0:04:41 > 0:04:44Footballing family. Since about five, you know.
0:04:44 > 0:04:47Footballing family. They all play football. The brothers, you know.
0:04:47 > 0:04:50And my sisters play football! My dad was the best of the lot.
0:04:53 > 0:04:57# Thanks for the love Thanks for guidance... #
0:04:57 > 0:05:00The game itself, we lost 4-2, unfortunately,
0:05:00 > 0:05:03but it doesn't really matter to me. It's just a workout.
0:05:05 > 0:05:10His dad told him that every man needed a job, a sport and a hobby.
0:05:11 > 0:05:14The sum of Rod's hobbies would become legendary,
0:05:14 > 0:05:19but one lifelong love has been building model railroads.
0:05:21 > 0:05:25And you've got a view from your bedroom window of the, sort of,
0:05:25 > 0:05:27of London's railway network.
0:05:27 > 0:05:32I did see the marshalling yards of Highgate and Archway
0:05:32 > 0:05:35and beyond that, my next love, was the football pitch,
0:05:35 > 0:05:38so I had the two things right in front of me.
0:05:38 > 0:05:40All I needed was a nude blonde in the distance
0:05:40 > 0:05:42and that would have been all three!
0:05:44 > 0:05:48And those early years, you were probably a pretty spoilt child,
0:05:48 > 0:05:50given that you were the youngest?
0:05:50 > 0:05:54Spoilt with attention, not with gifts, because we didn't have...
0:05:54 > 0:05:58It was just after the war. We didn't have that much money,
0:05:58 > 0:06:03but certainly spoilt with attention, by my two brothers and two sisters.
0:06:03 > 0:06:06- Because he was the youngest, was he spoilt?- Definitely.
0:06:06 > 0:06:08You didn't hesitate there, at all.
0:06:08 > 0:06:13- No. And I don't hesitate now! - He's still spoilt?- I think so, yes.
0:06:13 > 0:06:16Haven't you ever thought about moving out of home
0:06:16 > 0:06:17and getting your own flat?
0:06:17 > 0:06:20- No, no. You know, life's too hard. I've done it before.- Why not?
0:06:20 > 0:06:24It's terrible, you know. At night, always having to wash your clothes.
0:06:24 > 0:06:28My old mum always washes me clothes. You can't go wrong.
0:06:28 > 0:06:29Dinner's always there. It's terrific.
0:06:32 > 0:06:34And how did music come into your life?
0:06:34 > 0:06:36ROD CACKLES
0:06:36 > 0:06:38# This here's a story about the Rock Island Line... #
0:06:38 > 0:06:44Rock Island Line, I believe that was the first time I'd ever heard
0:06:44 > 0:06:46anything that resembled rock and roll.
0:06:46 > 0:06:49In actual fact, it was skiffle music and that was brand new.
0:06:49 > 0:06:55We'd all been listening to Bing Crosby and Al Jolson and Sinatra.
0:06:55 > 0:06:59That was the only music - and big band stuff - that existed for me.
0:06:59 > 0:07:02So, when Lonnie Donegan came along with this mad...
0:07:02 > 0:07:06MIMICS: # Oh, the Rock Island Line is a mighty fine line. #
0:07:06 > 0:07:10..it sort of, changed everything.
0:07:10 > 0:07:11# You gotta ride it like you find it
0:07:11 > 0:07:15# Get your ticket at the station on the Rock Island Line. #
0:07:15 > 0:07:19My dad got me my first guitar, for really no apparent reason.
0:07:19 > 0:07:21He just, for some unknown reason,
0:07:21 > 0:07:24brought home a guitar and gave it to me.
0:07:24 > 0:07:27At what point did you discover your voice, for instance?
0:07:27 > 0:07:31Probably, when I realised I had a voice was when I was about 16 or 17
0:07:31 > 0:07:34and I was a beatnik on Brighton beach
0:07:34 > 0:07:38and I'd learnt quite a few songs on the guitar, American folk songs,
0:07:38 > 0:07:42and people would say "Hey, Rod, open your guitar up and give us a song."
0:07:42 > 0:07:44And people would gather round to listen to me play.
0:07:49 > 0:07:53# I am a man of constant sorrow
0:07:55 > 0:07:58# I've seen trouble all my days... #
0:07:59 > 0:08:02And how did you become a beatnik?
0:08:02 > 0:08:04Why I became a beatnik, I don't know.
0:08:04 > 0:08:07Probably because it was all the go.
0:08:07 > 0:08:10So I said, "I'll jump on this bandwagon."
0:08:10 > 0:08:14And also, I'd been joining in the Aldermaston marches.
0:08:16 > 0:08:19# Through this open world I'm about to ramble
0:08:21 > 0:08:25# Throughout snow sleet and rain... #
0:08:26 > 0:08:29About two years ago, we all used to support the CND.
0:08:29 > 0:08:32We used to go down Trafalgar Square, to see Bertrand Russell.
0:08:32 > 0:08:37# Perhaps I'll die on that train... #
0:08:38 > 0:08:41Were you a lefty? Did you read The Daily Worker?
0:08:41 > 0:08:43Ooh, serious lefty, yeah, yeah.
0:08:43 > 0:08:45I was a real communist, I must admit.
0:08:45 > 0:08:48Not a real communist. I think it sprang out of the fact
0:08:48 > 0:08:51I just wanted to be different to everybody else.
0:08:51 > 0:08:54I think that's why I became a beatnik.
0:08:54 > 0:08:56I think that's why I read the Daily Worker,
0:08:56 > 0:08:57just to upset people.
0:09:00 > 0:09:03But Rod's communist leanings were short-lived.
0:09:03 > 0:09:04This time last year,
0:09:04 > 0:09:09they had all those demonstrations in Trafalgar Square. It was very good.
0:09:09 > 0:09:12But it's just had it now.
0:09:12 > 0:09:15It's a drag, you know. Quite honestly, to spend Easter last year
0:09:15 > 0:09:19marching back from Aldermaston, it's not as good as people think.
0:09:22 > 0:09:24So that was politics.
0:09:24 > 0:09:27He then found himself on Brighton beach
0:09:27 > 0:09:32and fell in love for the first time, with a girl called Sue.
0:09:32 > 0:09:39# You were the finest girl that my eyes had ever seen
0:09:41 > 0:09:46# I guess you found it hard to simply just ignore
0:09:46 > 0:09:51# This scruffy, beat-up working-class, teenage troubadour
0:09:52 > 0:09:57# So we fell in love and I toured your heart
0:09:57 > 0:10:01# With my out of tune guitar... #
0:10:01 > 0:10:07Brighton beach has got particular memories for you.
0:10:07 > 0:10:12Is it true that Sue Boffey broke a guitar over your head?
0:10:14 > 0:10:17No, she didn't break it over my head.
0:10:17 > 0:10:23She was pregnant at the time and we were on Brighton beach and I think
0:10:23 > 0:10:28she decided that I wasn't giving her enough attention and she threw
0:10:28 > 0:10:32one of those great big rocks that you get on Brighton beach at me.
0:10:32 > 0:10:35I wish it had hit me, but it hit me guitar and split it
0:10:35 > 0:10:36right up the middle.
0:10:36 > 0:10:39In actual fact, I think she was quite in order,
0:10:39 > 0:10:41because I was being selfish.
0:10:41 > 0:10:44She was pregnant and I was busy entertaining, you know.
0:10:44 > 0:10:46So, good on you, Sue.
0:10:46 > 0:10:51# Seems like only yesterday
0:10:51 > 0:10:53# Under the stars
0:10:53 > 0:10:57# On Brighton beach... #
0:10:57 > 0:10:58APPLAUSE
0:10:58 > 0:11:03Soon after, Sue gave birth to a daughter, Sarah,
0:11:03 > 0:11:06and Rod went off busking round Europe.
0:11:06 > 0:11:10The young parents decided to put the baby up for adoption,
0:11:10 > 0:11:14but eventually, Sarah was reunited with her father,
0:11:14 > 0:11:20and at a recent concert, he dedicated Brighton Beach to Sarah.
0:11:20 > 0:11:22# Kennedy and King... #
0:11:22 > 0:11:24Over the years, I've been to loads of concerts,
0:11:24 > 0:11:27but I think this was probably one of the best.
0:11:27 > 0:11:31And he dedicated a song to me.
0:11:31 > 0:11:37# Oh, how I long for yesterday
0:11:37 > 0:11:42# Under the stars on Brighton beach... #
0:11:42 > 0:11:45Yeah, that was, um, very nice.
0:11:45 > 0:11:47APPLAUSE
0:11:47 > 0:11:49ROD: True story.
0:11:49 > 0:11:52My favourite song is Pure Love,
0:11:52 > 0:11:55a song that I think has beautiful lyrics,
0:11:55 > 0:11:58which he's written for his children.
0:11:58 > 0:12:01I don't know if he was thinking of me when he wrote that -
0:12:01 > 0:12:04I'd like to think he was - but, whatever, it's just a beautiful,
0:12:04 > 0:12:06beautiful song and it actually made me cry when I first listened to it.
0:12:08 > 0:12:12# Just open up that great big loving heart
0:12:12 > 0:12:18# And you'll always be You'll always be
0:12:18 > 0:12:23# You'll always be a part
0:12:23 > 0:12:24# Of me... #
0:12:27 > 0:12:31The song is a tribute to fatherhood and to his eight children,
0:12:31 > 0:12:35who range in age from 50 to two years old.
0:12:35 > 0:12:39But young Rod, now returning from Europe,
0:12:39 > 0:12:41had to face his own parents.
0:12:41 > 0:12:45When I came back, me mum and dad burnt me outfits,
0:12:45 > 0:12:48burnt me beatnik outfit, so, then, I became a mod.
0:12:50 > 0:12:53'I usually get treated very well in these big stores.
0:12:53 > 0:12:56'I've been there a few times. They even call me "Mr Stewart", now.
0:12:56 > 0:12:59'I like tweed. The country gentleman appearance
0:12:59 > 0:13:01'appeals to me a lot'
0:13:01 > 0:13:03That's a completely different look from the scruffy look, isn't it?
0:13:03 > 0:13:08- That's more of a manicured, tailored look.- Also quite self conscious.
0:13:08 > 0:13:12- You want to look sexy, you want to look appealing.- Yeah. Always, yeah.
0:13:12 > 0:13:15Always, even when I was a beatnik, I wanted to look appealing.
0:13:15 > 0:13:19It was just, erm, a search for identity.
0:13:19 > 0:13:24This is another model. This is the up-to-date boot.
0:13:24 > 0:13:27This is what the Beatles wear. I've been wearing them about three years.
0:13:27 > 0:13:31- I've only just caught on.- All his money goes on clothes, practically.
0:13:31 > 0:13:37Clothes and boots, shirts. He's got about two dozen shirts upstairs,
0:13:37 > 0:13:38he must have.
0:13:38 > 0:13:42What I was thinking of was a, sort of wool. It's a woolly thing.
0:13:42 > 0:13:43That's it.
0:13:43 > 0:13:47Rod's fashion sense would become notorious and it all began here.
0:13:47 > 0:13:51- It suits me, don't you think? - But what do girls think about it?
0:13:51 > 0:13:53Oh, they love it. Can't go wrong.
0:13:53 > 0:13:55His look might have appealed to the girls,
0:13:55 > 0:13:58but not to the record companies.
0:13:58 > 0:14:01I went for many auditions.
0:14:01 > 0:14:04I went to Decca Records, I think I went to EMI,
0:14:04 > 0:14:07and got turned down by most of them,
0:14:07 > 0:14:09because they didn't know what to do with me.
0:14:09 > 0:14:13They didn't know what to do with me hair, me nose, clothes,
0:14:13 > 0:14:15and especially the voice.
0:14:21 > 0:14:24But the record companies were not always keeping up
0:14:24 > 0:14:26with the fast-moving times.
0:14:26 > 0:14:31the transition from jazz to blues was happening in clubs and basements
0:14:31 > 0:14:34and it would take his fellow musicians to recognise
0:14:34 > 0:14:38the gravely, cracked voice that would become his trademark.
0:14:41 > 0:14:43And there's a very, very vibrant club scene,
0:14:43 > 0:14:46so were you hanging around that club scene, at that time?
0:14:46 > 0:14:50Yeah, there was a place called Eel Pie Island, you know,
0:14:50 > 0:14:52that was in the middle of the Thames and I remember seeing
0:14:52 > 0:14:56some of the great bands. The Stones were there, they were fabulous,
0:14:56 > 0:14:59I saw them when there was only 12 people in the audience.
0:14:59 > 0:15:03There was the Downliners Sect and The Yardbirds and The Animals
0:15:03 > 0:15:05were brilliant. Some brilliant bands.
0:15:05 > 0:15:09So, then I kept watching them and thinking, you know, "I can do that.
0:15:09 > 0:15:11"I could be like Eric Burdon or Mick Jagger
0:15:11 > 0:15:14"or Keith Relf from The Yardbirds."
0:15:14 > 0:15:19So then, I definitely got my mind set on becoming a rock singer.
0:15:24 > 0:15:27And then young Rod the mod got his lucky break.
0:15:27 > 0:15:31He was discovered by the legendary blues performer Long John Baldry,
0:15:31 > 0:15:34after a late-night gig on the Thames.
0:15:37 > 0:15:40I don't know who we'd been over to Eel Pie Island to see,
0:15:40 > 0:15:43but I was on the train coming back to Waterloo.
0:15:43 > 0:15:46I'd had a couple of bevvies and it was in the middle of winter
0:15:46 > 0:15:50and I was on the floor, covered up with me coat and scarf, playing a
0:15:50 > 0:15:54harmonica, and John saw me there and listened to me playing harmonica and
0:15:54 > 0:15:59singing and prodded me, He said, the way he describes it, he said,
0:15:59 > 0:16:04"I saw this heap of clothes, old rags on the floor, with a nose
0:16:04 > 0:16:08"sticking out. I thought it was an old tramp." But it was me playing
0:16:08 > 0:16:12the harmonica and he said, "Would you like to join my band?"
0:16:12 > 0:16:16But I think, to be serious, I think he saw potential in me
0:16:16 > 0:16:19as being a... just a good blues shouter.
0:16:19 > 0:16:23We play blues in this band. We play blues and we sing blues.
0:16:23 > 0:16:28That's it. At the moment, we are only the nucleus of a band.
0:16:28 > 0:16:32But what I have in mind, in about a year, maybe two years' time,
0:16:32 > 0:16:35this is going to be about a 12-piece, 14-piece orchestra.
0:16:35 > 0:16:38And he had to hire you, via your mum,
0:16:38 > 0:16:40- he had to ask your mum's permission? - Yeah, he did, yeah!
0:16:40 > 0:16:44Yeah, I remember, I said, "Well, you better go talk to me mum,
0:16:44 > 0:16:49"me dad, me mum". And, I think, the next day or the day after
0:16:49 > 0:16:52he turned up at me mum's sweet shop with a bunch of flowers
0:16:52 > 0:16:56and said, "I'd like Roddy to join the band", and she said,
0:16:56 > 0:17:00"Well, you make sure you look after him. Make sure he's in by 11."
0:17:03 > 0:17:05I think blues is more or less human feeling, whether you are
0:17:05 > 0:17:09black or white. I think a white person can sing blues
0:17:09 > 0:17:13with just as much conviction, if he knows what he's singing about.
0:17:13 > 0:17:17Ladies and gentlemen, thank you very, very much, thank you.
0:17:17 > 0:17:19Now, it gives me great pleasure to introduce to you
0:17:19 > 0:17:23once more, with feeling, our wonderful young singer, Rod Stewart.
0:17:23 > 0:17:26Let's give him a big warm welcome, come on, please!
0:17:26 > 0:17:29CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
0:17:29 > 0:17:31Thank you.
0:17:31 > 0:17:35This one's called I'm Going To Put A Tiger In Your Tank.
0:17:43 > 0:17:46'I wanted to sound black.
0:17:46 > 0:17:49'Anything from Big Bill Broonzy, to Muddy Waters,
0:17:49 > 0:17:52'right up to Sam Cooke, Chuck Berry.'
0:17:52 > 0:17:54# I put a tiger in your tank
0:17:56 > 0:17:58# I put a tiger in your tank
0:17:59 > 0:18:01# I put a tiger in your tank
0:18:03 > 0:18:05# I put a tiger in your tank
0:18:06 > 0:18:09# I don't care what people think
0:18:09 > 0:18:11# I put a tiger in your tank... #
0:18:11 > 0:18:14I used to lose me voice a lot in the old days.
0:18:14 > 0:18:18I was totally self taught, when it came to the breathing
0:18:18 > 0:18:22and using your diaphragm. No-one ever taught me how to do that.
0:18:22 > 0:18:24# I don't care what the people think
0:18:24 > 0:18:26# I put a tiger in your tank. #
0:18:26 > 0:18:28Take it away now!
0:18:33 > 0:18:37It was a tremendous band to be in, because they were all superb
0:18:37 > 0:18:41jazz musicians, because the jazz era, the trad jazz era just finished
0:18:41 > 0:18:46and these guys just went straight into playing the blues, no problem.
0:18:50 > 0:18:53# I can raise your hood I can change your oil... #
0:18:57 > 0:19:00Not only were these brilliant musicians,
0:19:00 > 0:19:03Rod had found the perfect mentor in Long John Baldry.
0:19:03 > 0:19:08# Above my head above my head I see trouble in there
0:19:08 > 0:19:10# I really do believe it I really do believe it
0:19:10 > 0:19:14# Somewhere up above my head Up above me head
0:19:14 > 0:19:17# I see angels everywhere See angels everywhere... #
0:19:17 > 0:19:21It was John that instilled the confidence. Thank you, John.
0:19:21 > 0:19:26# Yes, I do believe you Yes, I do believe it
0:19:26 > 0:19:31# Yes, I do believe it Yes, I do believe it
0:19:31 > 0:19:36# Yes, I really believe it Do you believe? #
0:19:40 > 0:19:45The great thing was that Long John encouraged everybody and so people
0:19:45 > 0:19:49were free. It was a very creative environment.
0:19:49 > 0:19:54Rod started to develop his own particular style,
0:19:54 > 0:19:59but his stagecraft, because Baldry would step out of the way -
0:19:59 > 0:20:04"Go on, Rod", whatever - he got really good at connecting
0:20:04 > 0:20:10with the audience and because of his dressing from Carnaby Street,
0:20:10 > 0:20:13these kids would come and they would dress like him.
0:20:18 > 0:20:22Long John's new incarnation, Steampacket, allowed Rod
0:20:22 > 0:20:26to experiment with all kinds of musical styles -
0:20:26 > 0:20:29Motown, soul, blues and gospel.
0:20:30 > 0:20:34Motown had melody and soul music had melody
0:20:34 > 0:20:37and this was something I was beginning to really, really
0:20:37 > 0:20:39fall in love with.
0:20:40 > 0:20:44We were doing the university circuit. Just playing universities.
0:20:44 > 0:20:46It was wonderful, wonderful stuff.
0:20:48 > 0:20:50And we were earning big money.
0:20:50 > 0:20:54I remember our agent said, "You are up to £500 a night.
0:20:54 > 0:20:57"This is about what The Small Faces get and they've had three hits."
0:20:58 > 0:21:03Rod would sidle up to us at the bar, being extremely thrifty
0:21:03 > 0:21:06at the time, and say, "Brian, buy us a drink."
0:21:06 > 0:21:09I'd say, "What do you want? A beer?"
0:21:09 > 0:21:12"No, I want a double port and a double brandy."
0:21:12 > 0:21:14"Wait a minute. Where's your money?"
0:21:14 > 0:21:18"My mum made me put all my money in my Post Office account."
0:21:21 > 0:21:23I'm saving up to buy a car at the moment.
0:21:23 > 0:21:27Somehow, I manage to put away about £20-25 a week of the money I earn.
0:21:27 > 0:21:30It's a regular thing. Every Saturday, I pay it in
0:21:30 > 0:21:32at the Post Office. I don't believe in banks.
0:21:32 > 0:21:37Listen, I think it's like most boys, you want cars and girls.
0:21:37 > 0:21:40And that was utmost, one comes with the other.
0:21:40 > 0:21:43You get a nice fancy car, you got a slim chance of pulling a girl.
0:21:43 > 0:21:46- Definitely will leave your name on the door.- OK.
0:21:46 > 0:21:50- If you're not there... - I'll be there, don't worry.
0:21:50 > 0:21:54Obviously, we know that it was around this time you met Ronnie,
0:21:54 > 0:21:58- when you were still... - Oh, that ponce!- Remember him?
0:21:58 > 0:22:00Yeah, my old mucker.
0:22:06 > 0:22:11For Rod's next chapter, he had a well-known partner in crime.
0:22:11 > 0:22:15Yentob's looking at us, Ronnie. Get tuned up, mate.
0:22:15 > 0:22:18Let's just sing the blues!
0:22:19 > 0:22:23# It takes a worried man to sing a worried song
0:22:23 > 0:22:27# It takes a worried man to sing a worried song
0:22:27 > 0:22:31# It takes a worried man to sing a worried song
0:22:31 > 0:22:35# I'm worried now But I won't be worried long. #
0:22:37 > 0:22:41In the beginning, there was Rod and there was Ronnie
0:22:41 > 0:22:46- and Rod and Ronnie met in a pub. - Yeah. The Intrepid Fox, Rod!
0:22:46 > 0:22:48- Tell them the story, Ronnie. - OK, Sherlock.
0:22:48 > 0:22:51- Can you remember that story or..? - Yeah, yeah, I can remember it.
0:22:51 > 0:22:54It was The Intrepid Fox, as Ronnie said, in Wardour Street.
0:22:54 > 0:22:58- Yeah.- Wardour Street. We bumped into each other and I think we were
0:22:58 > 0:23:01vaguely aware of each other, through the business.
0:23:01 > 0:23:04He had Good Morning, Little Schoolgirl, which was new
0:23:04 > 0:23:07on the scene to me - Rod The Mod.
0:23:07 > 0:23:11And he was with The Birds and we recognised a nice big nose
0:23:11 > 0:23:13and a fairly similar haircut, when we saw each other.
0:23:13 > 0:23:16He came up to me, we had similar hair, and he said, "Hello, face".
0:23:16 > 0:23:21And I'll never forget it and, years later, we were Faces.
0:23:21 > 0:23:25- Great answer.- Great answer. - You really do look like brothers.
0:23:25 > 0:23:28- We're bookends or a pickaxe. - Let's see the pickaxe.
0:23:28 > 0:23:29That's the pickaxe.
0:23:29 > 0:23:36- You did actually write songs, didn't you, in Rod's room?- Trousers.
0:23:36 > 0:23:40And we tried round my old mum's house, as he would say.
0:23:40 > 0:23:42No, Ron, we used to go round his mum's house.
0:23:42 > 0:23:46We went round there and we had a yellow page
0:23:46 > 0:23:48and we'd sit there and nothing would happen.
0:23:48 > 0:23:53Just sit there, get a bottle of wine out and get pissed as a fart
0:23:53 > 0:23:55and both of us would fall on the floor.
0:23:55 > 0:23:58And his mum came in and said, "Well, you're not going to be much
0:23:58 > 0:24:01"of a challenge to The Beatles like that, are you?"
0:24:11 > 0:24:14By the mid '60s, the music scene had exploded,
0:24:14 > 0:24:19with many bands emerging, such as the Small Faces and The Yardbirds,
0:24:19 > 0:24:23whose innovative guitarist Jeff Beck would now become a catalyst
0:24:23 > 0:24:25for Ronnie and Rod.
0:24:31 > 0:24:35When Jeff left The Yardbirds, I rang him up.
0:24:35 > 0:24:37I said, "What are you going to do?" and he went,
0:24:37 > 0:24:41"Oh, hello, mate, Don't fancy getting together, do you?"
0:24:41 > 0:24:45I said, "Sure". Then, he said, "I've got this idea
0:24:45 > 0:24:47"for this vocalist, Rod Stewart."
0:24:47 > 0:24:50Jeff said, "Listen, The Beatles are writing their own songs
0:24:50 > 0:24:54and The Stones had just written one of their own songs and why don't we
0:24:54 > 0:24:57"start trying to write songs?"
0:24:57 > 0:24:59Back in Ronnie's mum's council house,
0:24:59 > 0:25:03the boys' writing now took off.
0:25:03 > 0:25:07Soon, they were heading, into the studio with Jeff.
0:25:08 > 0:25:13- I want to sing it in harmony. - However you want.- I'll try something
0:25:13 > 0:25:17on this first few chords. If it sounds duff, stop me, right?
0:25:17 > 0:25:20Make the voice nearly in the background.
0:25:20 > 0:25:23But, musically, that was also very... It was very potent stuff.
0:25:23 > 0:25:26When it was good, it was really, really good.
0:25:26 > 0:25:31# I've woken up on mornings such as this
0:25:31 > 0:25:35# And thought exactly as I'm thinking now
0:25:35 > 0:25:39# Every night for a year I've slept alone
0:25:39 > 0:25:43# My cold bamboo looks worse than me
0:25:43 > 0:25:47# I got a fear of death that creeps home every night... #
0:25:47 > 0:25:50How loud do you want it? Here we go.
0:25:52 > 0:25:54With Jeff, we were always good.
0:25:54 > 0:25:58They make you a better vocalist
0:25:58 > 0:26:03and you use up the space, because Jeff was good at that,
0:26:03 > 0:26:04leaving space for me.
0:26:05 > 0:26:09Yeah, and you talked about that ability to have that dialogue,
0:26:09 > 0:26:12- if you like, with the guitar. - Yeah, shout and response.
0:26:16 > 0:26:19Rod was now becoming aware of how he could use his voice
0:26:19 > 0:26:21as an instrument.
0:26:21 > 0:26:26# I wonder how you could cheat me so low down and dirty... #
0:26:26 > 0:26:31With Jeff Beck's backing, the band were now ready to take to the road.
0:26:31 > 0:26:36Their first stop was New York and a daunting venue, Fillmore East.
0:26:38 > 0:26:41So, Rod, you were particularly nervous?
0:26:41 > 0:26:45Well, I've always wanted - Woody's always wanted to play like
0:26:45 > 0:26:48Big Bill Broonzy - I wanted to sound like Muddy Waters or Otis Redding.
0:26:48 > 0:26:49They're all black and we're not.
0:26:49 > 0:26:52So I thought, when the curtain opens at the Fillmore,
0:26:52 > 0:26:55never having been to America, it will be all full of black people
0:26:55 > 0:26:57and they're going to go, "Fraud, fraud, fraud!"
0:26:57 > 0:27:00- Of course, it wasn't.- They loved it. We used to blow them away
0:27:00 > 0:27:05and we'd be selling them their own music, but unknowing to us.
0:27:05 > 0:27:09We were selling them songs we loved, but it all came from America.
0:27:09 > 0:27:16# The shapes of things before my eyes
0:27:16 > 0:27:21# Just help me to define... #
0:27:21 > 0:27:23Robert Shelton, from The New York Times,
0:27:23 > 0:27:28wrote "the interplay of a Pinter play between Rod and Jeff Beck"
0:27:28 > 0:27:31and that went front page, New York Times.
0:27:31 > 0:27:35We had it copied and it was sent from coast to coast.
0:27:35 > 0:27:38So in Chicago, in Detroit and by the time we got to LA,
0:27:38 > 0:27:41we'd already set a precedent.
0:27:42 > 0:27:47The Jeff Beck Group were blazing a trail across the United States.
0:27:47 > 0:27:50It was a chance for Rod to develop his stage presence
0:27:50 > 0:27:53and play to much larger crowds.
0:27:53 > 0:27:58The band had created the template for a new kind of performance,
0:27:58 > 0:28:01that others wanted to emulate.
0:28:05 > 0:28:10I remember we was in Houston and Jimmy Page would show up
0:28:10 > 0:28:13and then Jimmy Page would show up with Peter Grant, the manager,
0:28:13 > 0:28:17the two of the would show up with Robert Plant and they just,
0:28:17 > 0:28:19sort of, based Led Zeppelin on The Jeff Beck Group.
0:28:19 > 0:28:20But good luck to them.
0:28:24 > 0:28:28Hugely influential, The Jeff Beck Group and first album, Truth,
0:28:28 > 0:28:31became the blueprint for the heavy blues rock bands
0:28:31 > 0:28:33that would follow.
0:28:33 > 0:28:37It was a groundbreaking album in a groundbreaking moment.
0:28:37 > 0:28:42You sensed that, again, you've got artists here with fabulous vision,
0:28:42 > 0:28:43they've got energy, great ability,
0:28:43 > 0:28:47but you can just hear the way that they work off one another.
0:28:47 > 0:28:52You know, that was the springboard, wasn't it, for Rod's career, really.
0:28:52 > 0:28:54I think the Truth album was massively important for him.
0:28:57 > 0:29:01But despite the brilliance of the music, the band was falling apart
0:29:01 > 0:29:03because of poor management.
0:29:03 > 0:29:10So, it was girls, booze and hair, basically, and clothes. That was it.
0:29:10 > 0:29:12Yeah. And sleeping. That was about it.
0:29:12 > 0:29:14I'm surprised there was much time for sleeping.
0:29:14 > 0:29:17Not with the shagging we did, Ronnie, eh?! Yah!
0:29:17 > 0:29:21Shut up, Rod! What about all the miserly money?
0:29:21 > 0:29:25- We used to scrimp and save and steal eggs.- We did.
0:29:25 > 0:29:29- It wasn't Jeff's fault.- Very frugal. - He was a great musician.
0:29:29 > 0:29:32He wasn't really interested in the band, as such.
0:29:32 > 0:29:36- He let Peter Grant run it.- Peter Grant was a horrible slave driver.
0:29:36 > 0:29:39- Yeah. - He used to put us on a pittance.
0:29:39 > 0:29:42Pittance is the word, Ronnie. We had to steal, sometimes,
0:29:42 > 0:29:46- to get some food.- We did, yeah. From Horn & Hardart in New York.
0:29:46 > 0:29:49Every time I drive by there, I point out, "We used to nick food
0:29:49 > 0:29:51"from there, cos we weren't getting paid"!
0:29:51 > 0:29:53What was it, where things went wrong?
0:29:53 > 0:29:58We broke up two weeks before Woodstock and it was all money.
0:29:58 > 0:30:02We were all making a stand and all that and it all went so sour,
0:30:02 > 0:30:04- didn't it?- Yeah.
0:30:04 > 0:30:10'In 1969, Ronnie left the band, and joined the Small Faces.
0:30:10 > 0:30:15'Rod left soon after, and his first album came out that same year.
0:30:15 > 0:30:18'An Old Raincoat Won't Ever Let You Down
0:30:18 > 0:30:21'became a model for his solo sound.'
0:30:21 > 0:30:25# Ever seen a blind man cross the road
0:30:25 > 0:30:28# Tryin' to make the other side?
0:30:33 > 0:30:37# Ever seen a young girl growin' old
0:30:37 > 0:30:41# Tryin' to make herself a bride?
0:30:46 > 0:30:51# So what becomes of you My love... #
0:30:52 > 0:30:56'He was just a great singer with a fantastic voice.
0:30:56 > 0:31:00'I mean, whatever, wherever it all went from then on,
0:31:00 > 0:31:03'the one thing that you could centre back into
0:31:03 > 0:31:07'was the fact that Rod has this absolutely amazing voice.'
0:31:07 > 0:31:14He was delivering these songs, you know, touching your heartstrings
0:31:14 > 0:31:18with the way that he was interpreting the songs.
0:31:18 > 0:31:21And yet, at the same time, it was as good as effortless for him.
0:31:21 > 0:31:23He could just reach these notes.
0:31:23 > 0:31:28If he set himself to hit a note, he'd just hit it.
0:31:28 > 0:31:30There was no effort to it at all, it was just...
0:31:30 > 0:31:33I always used to think, "Wow, blimey,
0:31:33 > 0:31:38"one of the great, great vocalists is emerging here."
0:31:38 > 0:31:40And how did that album do? It did well?
0:31:40 > 0:31:45Yeah. I thought, "They're never going to sell 30,000 records," but they did.
0:31:45 > 0:31:48And the song that sort of stands out for a lot of people
0:31:48 > 0:31:52is Handbags And Gladrags, cos I kind of sense that that's a song,
0:31:52 > 0:31:55that melody really, really got to you.
0:31:55 > 0:31:57It feels like that when you listen to it.
0:31:57 > 0:32:01Yeah, it, erm, it was written by Mike d'Abo,
0:32:01 > 0:32:03who was the singer with Manfred Mann.
0:32:03 > 0:32:07I always had it up there and I thought, "I'm going to do that song one day," and I did.
0:32:07 > 0:32:09# The handbags and the gladrags
0:32:09 > 0:32:12# That your poor old grandad had to sweat to buy... #
0:32:17 > 0:32:20'It showed his talent for finding and chasing a song
0:32:20 > 0:32:22'that he knew was right for him.'
0:32:26 > 0:32:29'But for all the success of his solo career,
0:32:29 > 0:32:32'he loved being part of a band.
0:32:32 > 0:32:35'Luckily, Ronnie Wood was now with the Small Faces,
0:32:35 > 0:32:38'who had lost their lead singer.'
0:32:38 > 0:32:40'When the Small Faces split up,'
0:32:40 > 0:32:44the three of us used to get together, me, Mac and Ronnie,
0:32:44 > 0:32:45and we went down to...
0:32:45 > 0:32:48The Stones had a warehouse in Bermondsey Street,
0:32:48 > 0:32:51and down the bottom they had a soundproof room,
0:32:51 > 0:32:54so we went in there to play and jam once a week.
0:32:54 > 0:32:57'And the following week, Woody brought down his best mate,
0:32:57 > 0:32:59'which was Rod.'
0:33:00 > 0:33:04- No, well, we were down there and I said, 'Well, look, Rod's upstairs..."- Listening.
0:33:04 > 0:33:07And they were, "We don't want another bossy vocalist."
0:33:07 > 0:33:10'He's not bossy. He's really like one of us'.
0:33:10 > 0:33:13Anyway, eventually Kenny went up and asked him, and he came down.
0:33:15 > 0:33:19Rod was sitting on the amps most of the time, waiting for us to have a break.
0:33:19 > 0:33:22'And I was sitting there looking at a great vocalist and I thought,
0:33:22 > 0:33:25"Yeah, there you go. We've got to have him."
0:33:25 > 0:33:28# I don't need no-one's opinion
0:33:28 > 0:33:32# On the matter concerning my dress
0:33:32 > 0:33:36# I was raised in a clinic down in Oklahoma... #
0:33:36 > 0:33:40You were asked to join. I forced my way in.
0:33:40 > 0:33:44# I never complained because my father said
0:33:44 > 0:33:48# You'll get your chance before you're my age... #
0:33:48 > 0:33:51'The other Faces recognised a kindred spirit,
0:33:51 > 0:33:55'another working class lad who loved rhythm & blues,
0:33:55 > 0:34:00'and one of the most influential British rock-and-roll bands was born.'
0:34:00 > 0:34:03'It's interesting, then, that what it is that somehow wasn't working
0:34:03 > 0:34:07'for the Jeff Beck band was absolutely at the heart of the Faces, really.'
0:34:07 > 0:34:08'In other words, that relationship...'
0:34:08 > 0:34:11I felt the Faces were like a brotherhood...
0:34:13 > 0:34:16'The Faces were a gang of yobbos.'
0:34:24 > 0:34:26'A lot of these songs, I gather,'
0:34:26 > 0:34:29you're practically writing them as you went on stage, is that right?
0:34:29 > 0:34:33Lots in the dressing room, didn't we? Stay With Me, with The Faces, we wrote in the dressing room.
0:34:33 > 0:34:36So Stay With Me, which is the sort of anthem of The Faces,
0:34:36 > 0:34:42- you wrote in the dressing room? - Yeah, I had the riff and Rod said, "Hold that, I've got the words."
0:34:42 > 0:34:44# In the morning
0:34:44 > 0:34:47# Don't say you love me
0:34:47 > 0:34:51# Cos I'll only kick you out of the door
0:34:52 > 0:34:55# I know your name is Rita
0:34:55 > 0:34:58# Cos your perfume's smelling sweeter
0:34:58 > 0:35:02# Since when I saw you down on the floor... #
0:35:02 > 0:35:05'Where would the lyrics come from on those occasions?'
0:35:05 > 0:35:09'You just your imagination, or just base it on, on truth,'
0:35:09 > 0:35:12or just be inspired by something, you know?
0:35:12 > 0:35:17Yeah, and it often might suit a situation that you're in at the time, you know?
0:35:17 > 0:35:23You might be missing home, or missing your girlfriend, or whatever.
0:35:23 > 0:35:26- Or missing a penalty.- Missing a penalty in his case, yeah.
0:35:31 > 0:35:33# So Mother when you see me
0:35:33 > 0:35:35# Don't forget that I'm your boy
0:35:35 > 0:35:38# I know my brother has done you proud
0:35:38 > 0:35:40# But he's one foot in the grave
0:35:40 > 0:35:47# Mother don't you recognise me now? #
0:35:47 > 0:35:48Woo!
0:35:50 > 0:35:54'And if the rumours were true of the Faces' life on the road,
0:35:54 > 0:35:58'hotel managers can't have been too pleased to see them checking in.'
0:36:02 > 0:36:07'Clearly what the Faces got up to on stage and off stage was...'
0:36:07 > 0:36:09One and the same.
0:36:09 > 0:36:11It was just an extension.
0:36:11 > 0:36:14We used to give the audience a bottle of, a crate of Liebfraumilch
0:36:14 > 0:36:17'or on a special occasion it would be champagne.
0:36:17 > 0:36:21- 'They'd all be in the same mood as we were.'- 'Are you serious?'
0:36:21 > 0:36:26Yeah. That was our backing group a lot of the time, was cases of booze.
0:36:26 > 0:36:30This is an arena that holds about 13,000, 14,000.
0:36:30 > 0:36:33Look at all the audience just wandering around the stage, sitting on the stage.
0:36:33 > 0:36:38- We used to have them on stage with us.- You wouldn't get that any more.- And then back at the hotel.
0:36:43 > 0:36:45'How mad did it get? How crazy did it get?'
0:36:45 > 0:36:50'Here's how mad... Detroit always used to be a stronghold for us.'
0:36:50 > 0:36:54- 'It was fabulous there.'- 'Detroit, Cobo Hall and...'- 'Grande Ballroom.'
0:36:54 > 0:36:58'And the Grande Ballroom. We used to invite the audience back to the hotel.
0:36:58 > 0:37:02'So it was a Holiday Inn, they'd let about 300 in on our floor,
0:37:02 > 0:37:03'cos we'd have the whole floor.'
0:37:03 > 0:37:06But the great thing about it, everybody had wine,
0:37:06 > 0:37:08everybody would bring wine. These were good old days.
0:37:08 > 0:37:12And you could actually leave your room open, nothing would get nicked.
0:37:12 > 0:37:15There was loads of girls going up and down the corridor, it was just...
0:37:15 > 0:37:17- Pool parties, you know. - Pool parties.
0:37:17 > 0:37:21'We had private planes sometimes. The pilot would end up in the pool.'
0:37:21 > 0:37:24'Now, as you can see, this is a charming piece of tapestry,
0:37:24 > 0:37:29'which hangs upon the wall in the Ramada Inn here.'
0:37:29 > 0:37:34'Now, I know that everyone thinks that The Who were most destructive,
0:37:34 > 0:37:37'but you broke up a fair number of hotel rooms in your time?'
0:37:37 > 0:37:42'Very politely, and we used to rearrange more than break them up.
0:37:42 > 0:37:45'One of mine, what we all participated in,
0:37:45 > 0:37:50'was actually constructing the room in the corridor.'
0:37:50 > 0:37:51'Oh, that was a good one, yeah.'
0:37:51 > 0:37:54So, we would just sit, you know, having a fag
0:37:54 > 0:37:57and playing a bit of football and having a cup of tea,
0:37:57 > 0:38:00and people would come out the elevator and they'd be like going into somebody's room.
0:38:00 > 0:38:04- We arranged all the pictures, all the furniture.- Everything would go into the corridor
0:38:04 > 0:38:09- and we'd all just sit round and enjoy an afternoon cup of tea.- And I remember one hotel manager came up
0:38:09 > 0:38:13'to witness it, and he just folded his arms, and he just walked along and he just smiled.'
0:38:17 > 0:38:20DRUNKEN SINGING
0:38:23 > 0:38:26We were banned from the Holiday Inn chain.
0:38:26 > 0:38:28We used to have to check in as Fleetwood Mac.
0:38:28 > 0:38:32Yeah, we did that for a while, yeah. Just before they got famous, we'd book in as Fleetwood Mac.
0:38:32 > 0:38:34Yeah. For years!
0:38:46 > 0:38:49'But, back in London, this was the early '70s,
0:38:49 > 0:38:53'and the Faces weren't just rock icons, they were fashion models, too.
0:38:53 > 0:39:01'At last, Rod was getting proper recognition for his hair and fashion flair.'
0:39:01 > 0:39:06Is it true to say, one of the reasons this caught fire, the Faces,
0:39:06 > 0:39:09was because there was a sort of denim and beards mob
0:39:09 > 0:39:13coming up in music at that time? It was all rather po-faced?
0:39:13 > 0:39:15Yeah, serious. Yeah.
0:39:15 > 0:39:18We came along, we were all loud jackets, loud trousers,
0:39:18 > 0:39:23- loud mouths, loud haircuts! - Yeah, velvet and satin.
0:39:23 > 0:39:26'Where did we used to go and get the clothes? Granny Takes A Trip, wasn't it?'
0:39:26 > 0:39:29We both had jackets, I had a pink one, you had a yellow one
0:39:29 > 0:39:31with the big cherries on it, do you remember?
0:39:33 > 0:39:37'We used to meet Mick and the boys in King's Road.'
0:39:37 > 0:39:40"Can't buy that one, no. Old Mother Bowie's got it.
0:39:40 > 0:39:41"Can't buy that jacket."
0:39:41 > 0:39:45And Marc Bolan, with the feather boas.
0:39:53 > 0:39:56CROWD: # We'll meet again
0:39:56 > 0:39:58# Don't know where... #
0:39:58 > 0:40:00'You've got your solo career going,
0:40:00 > 0:40:04'and sometimes you'd see the Faces on stuff which was your gig,'
0:40:04 > 0:40:06and sometimes it would be the other way round.
0:40:06 > 0:40:08How, from your point of view, Ronnie,
0:40:08 > 0:40:12the fact that Rod was becoming more and more successful
0:40:12 > 0:40:15and more and more known as a solo performer...
0:40:15 > 0:40:17How did that, what did it make you feel?
0:40:17 > 0:40:21We used to have respect for anybody in our age group
0:40:21 > 0:40:24that was a couple of years older, if they got famous first you'd go,
0:40:24 > 0:40:28"That's OK." In fairness, he'd always ring me up and say,
0:40:28 > 0:40:34"I'm going to make another album, have you got any songs?"
0:40:34 > 0:40:38- He'd always make me part of his solo album.- Number one man.
0:40:38 > 0:40:40# Wake up, Maggie
0:40:40 > 0:40:44# I think I've got something to say to you
0:40:45 > 0:40:51# It's late September and I really should be back at school... #
0:40:51 > 0:40:55'In 1971, Rod's third solo album came out.
0:40:55 > 0:41:00'One song, Maggie May, was a sensation.'
0:41:00 > 0:41:03# Oh, Maggie, I couldn't have tried
0:41:03 > 0:41:05# Any more... #
0:41:05 > 0:41:08'It shot Rod into the realms of superstardom,
0:41:08 > 0:41:10'and changed his life forever.'
0:41:14 > 0:41:17CROWD: # You stole my heart
0:41:17 > 0:41:20# And that's what really hurt... #
0:41:20 > 0:41:23'The Faces management now saw Rod as the star,
0:41:23 > 0:41:27'and the Faces as a glorified backing band.'
0:41:38 > 0:41:41'The six-year party that had been the Faces
0:41:41 > 0:41:43'was coming to an end.'
0:41:49 > 0:41:53'What happened was, after Maggie May, it became Rod Stewart And The Faces.'
0:41:53 > 0:41:56And I was embarrassed, I really was embarrassed.
0:41:56 > 0:41:59- I mean Maggie May, that... - That was number one both sides of the Atlantic,
0:41:59 > 0:42:03- one of the first records that... - Mmm. Album and single.
0:42:03 > 0:42:06- I mean, it was explosive, Maggie May, its impact, wasn't it, really? - Yeah. Yeah, yeah.
0:42:06 > 0:42:09So, was it very difficult after that to...?
0:42:09 > 0:42:14Yeah. It was the seed that was sown that I think really started breaking the Faces up.
0:42:14 > 0:42:18- Not for me, though. - No, not for me.- It was like, "Well done, great. This is great."
0:42:20 > 0:42:24'Rod's career was shifting slowly more to a solo career.'
0:42:27 > 0:42:30We were touring so much, it kind of slipped by us,
0:42:30 > 0:42:33it just overtook us, Rod's career.
0:42:33 > 0:42:37What happened was, we lent Woody to the Stones.
0:42:37 > 0:42:40I'd have stayed with the Faces for the rest of my life.
0:42:40 > 0:42:43He was the first one who left, didn't you? You left first.
0:42:43 > 0:42:45Well, cos Rod left the band, yeah.
0:42:45 > 0:42:47- No, I didn't! You left first! - Yes, he did!
0:42:47 > 0:42:49Jagger asked you to join the group.
0:42:49 > 0:42:51Well, that was a year before I joined.
0:42:51 > 0:42:54But he didn't want to split up the Faces either.
0:42:54 > 0:42:59When Woody came back, he came back a Rolling Stone, really
0:42:59 > 0:43:02and that was... And Rod had moved to America,
0:43:02 > 0:43:05so the whole thing was falling apart in a sense, you know?
0:43:05 > 0:43:09We're in the United States now, we've been here ten days, we've got nine days to go,
0:43:09 > 0:43:13then we go home for nine days, then we come back for three weeks. Did you get all that?
0:43:13 > 0:43:15Yeah, I think I did.
0:43:15 > 0:43:19'After that last American tour, the band returned to England,
0:43:19 > 0:43:22'but Rod stayed behind.'
0:43:23 > 0:43:28Yeah, so after Rod announced, viewers, that he was going to leave the band...
0:43:28 > 0:43:30THEY LAUGH
0:43:30 > 0:43:34- No, it was just that it was in the air.- I got sucked into it a little bit, I suppose.
0:43:34 > 0:43:36He was off sailing, literally.
0:43:39 > 0:43:42# I am sailing
0:43:43 > 0:43:47# I am sailing
0:43:47 > 0:43:50# Home again... #
0:43:50 > 0:43:52'In the spring of 1975,
0:43:52 > 0:43:55'Rod met the most glamorous woman of the moment,
0:43:55 > 0:43:58'Swedish actress and movie star Britt Ekland,
0:43:58 > 0:44:02'and the working class lad from London felt that he'd arrived.'
0:44:02 > 0:44:06# To be near you
0:44:06 > 0:44:09# To be free... #
0:44:09 > 0:44:12'Rod has lived here in Los Angeles since that time,
0:44:12 > 0:44:15'returning for only three months a year to England,
0:44:15 > 0:44:18'where he also has a home.'
0:44:18 > 0:44:21We're coming to the Britt period.
0:44:21 > 0:44:23"Britt broadened my outlook in everything," you said.
0:44:23 > 0:44:26Yeah. Yeah, she did. She was, er...
0:44:26 > 0:44:31not only a fabulous film star at the time, she had that, er...
0:44:31 > 0:44:35- The Bond film?- ..Bond film out, so it was a real feather in my cap.
0:44:35 > 0:44:38'And that was really your Los Angeles moment.
0:44:38 > 0:44:40'You'd kind of left England.'
0:44:40 > 0:44:43You're laughing cos you can see it coming.
0:44:43 > 0:44:46Well, it's cos I... I really felt I'd arrived, you know?
0:44:46 > 0:44:49In Los Angeles, with a film star,
0:44:49 > 0:44:52and I'm rock star, and, you know, a few shillings in the bank,
0:44:52 > 0:44:55'sun is shining, love is in the air.'
0:44:57 > 0:45:00He's a very generous person, emotionally.
0:45:00 > 0:45:03And I think...
0:45:03 > 0:45:07- In an emotional way I was really swept off my feet.- Were you?- Yes.
0:45:07 > 0:45:09What do you think of her?
0:45:09 > 0:45:12"She's all right, I guess, for a girl!"
0:45:12 > 0:45:14She's magnificent. I mean...
0:45:14 > 0:45:17The thing that I am more impressed with more than anything is
0:45:17 > 0:45:20her insight into my business.
0:45:20 > 0:45:23She was extremely worldly. She knew...
0:45:23 > 0:45:28Because I'd earned a few shillings getting in to trying to
0:45:28 > 0:45:31invest my money in art, which I've always wanted to do
0:45:31 > 0:45:35if I ever earned any money but she was way out there.
0:45:35 > 0:45:39She knew everything so I owe her a great deal.
0:45:39 > 0:45:43# Cos I tried to love ya
0:45:43 > 0:45:45# But I didn't fit in... #
0:45:45 > 0:45:49No, there was a reason for those. If you remember the reason.
0:45:49 > 0:45:52And actually if we did it the two of those would make
0:45:52 > 0:45:56the shipping and custom of all the rest worthwhile.
0:45:56 > 0:45:59# My little baby is calculating
0:45:59 > 0:46:01# What these lamps are going to cost!
0:46:01 > 0:46:04# Ba-doo-doo-doo-doo.... #
0:46:07 > 0:46:11Rod had entered the heady world of glamour and celebrity.
0:46:11 > 0:46:14PHOTOGRAPHERS CLAMOUR
0:46:14 > 0:46:18BAGPIPES PLAY
0:46:18 > 0:46:22He appeared to have left his working-class roots far behind.
0:46:26 > 0:46:31And for the first time, his music was getting negative press.
0:46:31 > 0:46:35The albums had done brilliantly, you were still absolutely
0:46:35 > 0:46:41at the top of your game at that point and then the song that people
0:46:41 > 0:46:45- recall at that time was Tonight's The Night.- Yeah.
0:46:45 > 0:46:49Not necessarily in a flattering way, some people don't say it is
0:46:49 > 0:46:53but it's a great song, which even now is a great song.
0:46:53 > 0:46:58# It's gonna be all right... #
0:47:04 > 0:47:08- Didn't the BBC ban it?- Yeah, yeah, yeah. For a little while.
0:47:08 > 0:47:12Yeah, just because I sang, "Spread your wings and let me come inside."
0:47:12 > 0:47:15What's wrong with that, Alan, I ask you?!
0:47:15 > 0:47:19# Spread your wings and let me come inside
0:47:19 > 0:47:23# Tonight's the night... #
0:47:26 > 0:47:31If popularity is measured in champagne, I know who wins.
0:47:31 > 0:47:33Look at that. How do you like that?
0:47:33 > 0:47:37Look at that. See?
0:47:37 > 0:47:40Sometimes it pays to be a pop star.
0:47:40 > 0:47:46PHONE RINGS
0:47:46 > 0:47:49During that period, in the back of one of those limousines was
0:47:49 > 0:47:55- a journalist where you were asked about Susan George.- Yeah.
0:47:57 > 0:47:59I ask you only to look at it at some point
0:47:59 > 0:48:03and reflect on what was going through your head!
0:48:03 > 0:48:06What about you, Rod, you've got a great reputation as a womaniser
0:48:06 > 0:48:09and we all read the scandal, you are chatting up Susan George
0:48:09 > 0:48:12and got a smacked face for it. Do you get annoyed?
0:48:12 > 0:48:15It's not true, I have to point out at this time,
0:48:15 > 0:48:17it was absolutely not true.
0:48:17 > 0:48:23It was one of several totally and utterly fabricated stories about us.
0:48:23 > 0:48:26Yes, darling. It's quite true. What she says is very true.
0:48:26 > 0:48:29- No, it is true.- What she says has made it very clear, hasn't it?
0:48:29 > 0:48:31It has. You're a very good boy.
0:48:34 > 0:48:37Were you shagging Susan George was the question.
0:48:37 > 0:48:40I don't know what the answer might be.
0:48:40 > 0:48:43At that time, no, Susan George was a lot later.
0:48:43 > 0:48:45Oh, come off it.
0:48:45 > 0:48:48Yeah, it was. It was a lot later.
0:48:48 > 0:48:52Don't put me on the spot, Alan. I'm trying to be a gentleman here!
0:48:54 > 0:48:58I wasn't the most faithful of boyfriends in the world.
0:48:58 > 0:49:04That, to be honest, is something that I'm, to this day, very embarrassed about.
0:49:04 > 0:49:07I treated women very shabbily
0:49:07 > 0:49:11and didn't break up relationships very well.
0:49:11 > 0:49:15In fact, I didn't break up relationships I just ran away.
0:49:15 > 0:49:18You know, which is terrible. It's embarrassing.
0:49:19 > 0:49:21That was the last time you ran away.
0:49:21 > 0:49:25- No, there's been a few running aways!- Oh, sorry.
0:49:25 > 0:49:29Do you ever sit back to yourself and say, "How the hell did I ever get this?"
0:49:29 > 0:49:32Oh, yes, sometimes you sit back and think am I really worth
0:49:32 > 0:49:37being paid X amount of pounds for achieving whatever on a record?
0:49:37 > 0:49:42- Sometimes it makes you a bit depressed...- Why depressed?
0:49:42 > 0:49:47I suppose you get a feeling of, a feeling of guilt really -
0:49:47 > 0:49:52which is very stupid but I've come from absolutely nothing
0:49:52 > 0:49:55and I've done it all on my own back.
0:50:02 > 0:50:05Rod had come a long way from the football terraces to the
0:50:05 > 0:50:07Hollywood Hills.
0:50:09 > 0:50:13But although he'd developed a taste for the finer things in life,
0:50:13 > 0:50:15he still kept his family close beside him.
0:50:17 > 0:50:21His love of football was a constant and he would fly in to
0:50:21 > 0:50:25watch his beloved Scotland, together with his brothers and dad.
0:50:33 > 0:50:35There's a journalist called Penny
0:50:35 > 0:50:40and she said to you, "You used to be a lad from London,
0:50:40 > 0:50:44"who used to be a working class lad and you've turned into a posh git!"
0:50:44 > 0:50:45HE LAUGHS
0:50:45 > 0:50:48And you sort of defended yourself.
0:50:48 > 0:50:52You don't think the way you live gets in the way of that image?
0:50:52 > 0:50:55I don't know what my image is.
0:50:55 > 0:50:59We've established it's changed three or four times in the last four years.
0:51:00 > 0:51:04Yeah, but not so noticeably as it has in the last two years.
0:51:04 > 0:51:09There was a point of identification with, say, The Faces,
0:51:09 > 0:51:15that was very like the crowd on the terraces. It was...
0:51:15 > 0:51:18Why should that change now I've moved to Los Angeles?
0:51:18 > 0:51:22Because now they read about you not living here and having more
0:51:22 > 0:51:24money and having a different kind of life.
0:51:24 > 0:51:27That hasn't changed the person.
0:51:27 > 0:51:29The music is more sophisticated, it's a different kind of music
0:51:29 > 0:51:33and you're a different person, you are. You've changed a lot.
0:51:33 > 0:51:35Oh, well... it! I'll play the London Palladium
0:51:35 > 0:51:38and if they don't turn up I'll sing to my mum and dad!
0:51:38 > 0:51:41I suppose you were thinking, I think,
0:51:41 > 0:51:44the look on your face is I'm so successful, I'm doing so well,
0:51:44 > 0:51:47I've got this beautiful woman at my side, what are you on about?
0:51:47 > 0:51:49Yeah, that was more or less it.
0:51:49 > 0:51:54I did what most guys would have done in my position
0:51:54 > 0:52:00coming from my background. I didn't know how long it was going to last.
0:52:00 > 0:52:03I enjoyed myself. Every hour of every day.
0:52:12 > 0:52:17Now solo in LA, Rod was free to go in his own musical direction.
0:52:32 > 0:52:35Sam Cooke used to say...
0:52:35 > 0:52:37I said, "What do you think about this artist?"
0:52:37 > 0:52:43He said, "Well, right now he's... He's an entertainer."
0:52:43 > 0:52:47He says, "He grow older, he become an artist."
0:52:48 > 0:52:51# Sweet little rock'n'roller
0:52:51 > 0:52:55# Sweet little rock'n'roller
0:52:55 > 0:52:58# Her father doesn't have to scold her
0:52:58 > 0:53:02# Her partner can't hardly hold her
0:53:02 > 0:53:04# She never gets any older
0:53:04 > 0:53:07# Sweet little rock'n'roller
0:53:07 > 0:53:10# Sweet little rock'n'roller... #
0:53:10 > 0:53:15To watch somebody, this is before black was in.
0:53:15 > 0:53:19The soul singer meant black, it was the soul singer.
0:53:19 > 0:53:25When I look, I say Rod has been soulful all his life
0:53:25 > 0:53:29and even though people say, "He's trying to sound like this,"
0:53:29 > 0:53:33I say, everybody tries to sound like somebody else but I say
0:53:33 > 0:53:35they are blessed with what they have.
0:53:35 > 0:53:39All you can do is cultivate it.
0:53:49 > 0:53:54And so I watched Rod Stewart, it was like watching myself become
0:53:54 > 0:54:00more sure of himself, he recognised who he was and he cultivated it.
0:54:05 > 0:54:08But the critics were less sure.
0:54:08 > 0:54:11And perhaps his lifestyle was getting in the way
0:54:11 > 0:54:12of his credibility.
0:54:18 > 0:54:23# But if anything should happen and my plans go wrong... #
0:54:23 > 0:54:27Back in the UK, his fans felt left behind.
0:54:30 > 0:54:35He's getting too big, it's got into him, that Hollywood stuff.
0:54:35 > 0:54:38- It's not right.- You think he's left you all behind a bit?
0:54:38 > 0:54:41Yeah, he didn't even do a farewell concert.
0:54:41 > 0:54:44He thinks he's left us behind but he's not though!
0:54:48 > 0:54:53But then in 1976 Rod surprised everyone.
0:54:56 > 0:55:01The Killing Of Georgie, tell me about that and how that came about.
0:55:01 > 0:55:08Well, first of all it was a true story and Georgie was a black guy,
0:55:08 > 0:55:13a dear friend of the Faces, very handsome guy.
0:55:13 > 0:55:17And he would bring us, bring us, you know, music -
0:55:17 > 0:55:20great singles and albums and turn us on to all that stuff.
0:55:20 > 0:55:24So, the facts are nearly absolutely correct.
0:55:24 > 0:55:28He got killed on 43rd and 3rd it was, I think, I'm not sure.
0:55:28 > 0:55:31# Pa said there must be a mistake
0:55:31 > 0:55:33# How can my son not be straight?
0:55:33 > 0:55:38# After all I've said and done for him... #
0:55:38 > 0:55:41First of all, that was an incredibly brave song.
0:55:41 > 0:55:43Secondly, you've made yourself up,
0:55:43 > 0:55:48you're incredibly seductive on camera and it's an amazing song.
0:55:48 > 0:55:50# Leavin' home on a Greyhound bus
0:55:50 > 0:55:53# Cast out by the ones he loves
0:55:53 > 0:55:57# A victim of these gay days it seems... #
0:55:57 > 0:56:01I did look a bit of a tart in some of the videos, I must admit.
0:56:01 > 0:56:06Eye make-up on galore. But it was all the go at the time.
0:56:08 > 0:56:11The band used to shout out, "Avon Calling!"
0:56:11 > 0:56:15when I walked on the stage!
0:56:19 > 0:56:24It's so hard for me to analyse songs because I didn't sit down
0:56:24 > 0:56:28and say, "I'm going to write a song about my dear friend Georgie."
0:56:28 > 0:56:31It's just the chords... I still do it to this day,
0:56:31 > 0:56:35I will sing along with the chords until something comes up.
0:56:35 > 0:56:39And I don't know what sparked the song, I really don't. I wish I did.
0:56:39 > 0:56:45I dedicate this tune to the newspapers.
0:56:45 > 0:56:49I Don't Want To Talk About It.
0:56:50 > 0:56:56# I don't want to talk about it
0:56:57 > 0:57:01# How you broke my heart
0:57:04 > 0:57:11# If I stay just a little bit longer
0:57:12 > 0:57:16# If I stay won't you listen?
0:57:20 > 0:57:24Despite the fact that you're incredibly successful,
0:57:24 > 0:57:28it's the arrival of punk soon afterwards
0:57:28 > 0:57:35and there is Joe Strummer and others are very condescending towards you.
0:57:35 > 0:57:39I think you refer to it that you'd got a kick in the harem pants.
0:57:39 > 0:57:41Yes, absolutely.
0:58:00 > 0:58:03What do you feel about what you are doing at that time
0:58:03 > 0:58:07and what this new wave of music was, what punk was doing?
0:58:07 > 0:58:10Well, it was a question of I'm doing my thing,
0:58:10 > 0:58:13there's no reason why they can't do what they do.
0:58:13 > 0:58:16We can all live on this planet making different music,
0:58:16 > 0:58:18that's the way I looked at it.
0:58:18 > 0:58:21And I think they used me
0:58:21 > 0:58:23and stabbed me in the back to get publicity.
0:58:23 > 0:58:27There's nothing wrong with that. We're all big boys, we can take it.
0:58:27 > 0:58:32- It was a good kick up the arse for the likes of me and...- Elton.
0:58:32 > 0:58:35Elton and Bowie and everybody that was around at that time.
0:58:35 > 0:58:37# There's no future
0:58:37 > 0:58:41# In England's dreaming
0:58:41 > 0:58:43# God save the Queen! #
0:58:43 > 0:58:47God Save The Queen was in the charts and you, of course, put out,
0:58:47 > 0:58:50I Don't Want To Talk About It and The First Cut Is The Deepest
0:58:50 > 0:58:54and you got to the top of the charts and God Save The Queen didn't,
0:58:54 > 0:58:55so you got your revenge.
0:58:58 > 0:59:02# The first cut is the deepest
0:59:02 > 0:59:07# Baby, I know the first cut is the deepest... #
0:59:07 > 0:59:12But far removed from punk and the London riots, Rod was still loving
0:59:12 > 0:59:17the LA life and he had met Alana who would become the first Mrs Stewart.
0:59:18 > 0:59:21I saw him across the crowded table,
0:59:21 > 0:59:25we were sitting at the same table and no, I thought he was very
0:59:25 > 0:59:28cocky and sure of himself and I thought, "Who does he think he is anyway?"
0:59:28 > 0:59:31I can't remember what we talked about - sex and drugs probably.
0:59:31 > 0:59:34- In that order. - Yes. No, I can't remember.
0:59:34 > 0:59:37I don't remember what we talked about. What I do remember was
0:59:37 > 0:59:40I realised he was really a terrific person,
0:59:40 > 0:59:43very bright and sensitive and all the things I hadn't thought
0:59:43 > 0:59:46he was and had a wonderful sense of humour
0:59:46 > 0:59:48and we stayed up till six o'clock in the morning talking
0:59:48 > 0:59:51and I had a completely different impression of him by the end.
0:59:51 > 0:59:54- Then what did we do, darling, from six o'clock onwards?!- Don't be rude!
0:59:54 > 0:59:56The rest is not history.
0:59:56 > 1:00:01# Hot legs, you're wearing me out
1:00:01 > 1:00:05# Hot legs you can scream and shout! #
1:00:05 > 1:00:11But Rod as partygoer and Casanova was beginning to overshadow Rod the musician.
1:00:13 > 1:00:17You've added to that mythology, that sort of anthem for tall blondes with
1:00:17 > 1:00:22beautiful legs, which has certainly been a regular element in your life.
1:00:22 > 1:00:25- Nothing wrong with that, Alan. - I take that, absolutely.
1:00:25 > 1:00:28- It is a great promo, that promo of...- Hot Legs?
1:00:28 > 1:00:30Shot between the girls, yeah.
1:00:31 > 1:00:35# Hot legs wearing me out... #
1:00:35 > 1:00:38'It was my idea to shoot it through the legs and then I think
1:00:38 > 1:00:42'they copied that idea with a Bond film a couple of years later.'
1:00:43 > 1:00:45# ..I love you, honey! #
1:00:47 > 1:00:50Not everyone got the joke
1:00:50 > 1:00:52and the next hit was the last straw.
1:01:04 > 1:01:08Around that time also you brought out Do Ya Think I Am Sexy?
1:01:08 > 1:01:14And this was probably one of the most successful songs
1:01:14 > 1:01:15you wrote at the time.
1:01:15 > 1:01:18Yeah. It was an absolute tearaway, it really was.
1:01:18 > 1:01:23# If you want my body and you think I'm sexy
1:01:23 > 1:01:26# Come on, sugar let me know
1:01:27 > 1:01:31# If you really need me Just reach out and touch me
1:01:31 > 1:01:34# Come on, honey Tell me so
1:01:34 > 1:01:35# Tell me so, baby... #
1:01:35 > 1:01:39'I went down to Brazil for the carnival in Rio,'
1:01:39 > 1:01:41and I heard this melody.
1:01:41 > 1:01:45# Da-da-da-da-da-da Da-da-da-da-da-da
1:01:45 > 1:01:48# Da-da-da-da-da-da-dad-da. #
1:01:48 > 1:01:51And when we came to record, I don't know, eight months later,
1:01:51 > 1:01:52that melody was still in my head
1:01:52 > 1:01:55and I didn't know where I had got it from, and I just went for it.
1:01:55 > 1:02:00# ..If you want my body and you think I'm sexy... #
1:02:00 > 1:02:04But Rod didn't realise what he was setting himself up for.
1:02:10 > 1:02:14LAUGHTER
1:02:16 > 1:02:18It was a skit on the Kenny Everett television show
1:02:18 > 1:02:21and it was the time when Rod was turning his back on the audience
1:02:21 > 1:02:24and doing a lot of wiggling and all of that kind of stuff.
1:02:24 > 1:02:28# ..If you want my body and you think I'm sexy
1:02:28 > 1:02:30# Come on, sugar, let me know... #
1:02:32 > 1:02:37He turns round and wiggles and then his buttocks have inflated.
1:02:41 > 1:02:43And then they inflate again and then they inflate again.
1:02:46 > 1:02:50Until finally, Rod is drifting up to the ceiling,
1:02:50 > 1:02:53propelled by these massively inflated buttocks.
1:02:53 > 1:02:54HE LAUGHS
1:02:56 > 1:03:01It is so funny as a sketch. It is absolutely brilliant and,
1:03:01 > 1:03:06of course, it did pin public opinion of Rod at that particular moment.
1:03:06 > 1:03:10But it was also, of course, that was the moment of disco
1:03:10 > 1:03:14and you had somehow captured the mood of the moment.
1:03:14 > 1:03:18Yeah, and I think that is why it is so popular today.
1:03:18 > 1:03:19CLATTERING
1:03:19 > 1:03:21What is that noise coming in the background here?
1:03:21 > 1:03:23I think you have got some tea here.
1:03:27 > 1:03:32Hi, boys. Thank you. Let's do it together now.
1:03:32 > 1:03:33# Come on, you boys in green!
1:03:33 > 1:03:35- BOYS:- # Glasgow's green and white!
1:03:35 > 1:03:38- How is that then?- Good.
1:03:38 > 1:03:42- It is good?- Can you open that, please?- You can have some raisins.
1:03:42 > 1:03:44Daddy is going to have a nice cup of tea. Thank you, boys.
1:03:47 > 1:03:49The critics now had it in for Rod Stewart.
1:03:49 > 1:03:53Punk had redefined the musical landscape
1:03:53 > 1:03:55and authenticity was all the rage.
1:03:55 > 1:03:59What Rod was doing for many people was selling out.
1:03:59 > 1:04:05Selling out, to me is trying to be somebody else.
1:04:05 > 1:04:09He just went wherever the music flowed, just like Stevie said,
1:04:09 > 1:04:11"Well, if I hear it, there is no bad music."
1:04:11 > 1:04:18You know? So Rod has been in many different bands,
1:04:18 > 1:04:22but when it all come out on top, stood Rod Stewart.
1:04:22 > 1:04:26One thing about any career that demonstrates genuine
1:04:26 > 1:04:31longevity is the longer that career goes on
1:04:31 > 1:04:36and the more, particularly, as time goes by, it begins to rethrive,
1:04:36 > 1:04:38you have to have respect for that
1:04:38 > 1:04:42because it demonstrates resilience,
1:04:42 > 1:04:45commitment and talent, sheer talent.
1:04:45 > 1:04:51# ..Now you're moving in high society... #
1:04:51 > 1:04:57OK, you can lose track, you can lose yourself in this strata
1:04:57 > 1:05:00of parties and shopping at Prada,
1:05:00 > 1:05:02or whatever it is, girlfriends,
1:05:02 > 1:05:05it is the way you come out the other side of that
1:05:05 > 1:05:07that then becomes important.
1:05:10 > 1:05:14Musically and business-wise, I mention two things,
1:05:14 > 1:05:17in the early days, the Faces' business was
1:05:17 > 1:05:21hopeless, apparently, completely hopeless
1:05:21 > 1:05:25and I take it it was not very good around this time
1:05:25 > 1:05:28when you're with Alana because that is when you bring Arnold in.
1:05:34 > 1:05:35It is so easy to,
1:05:35 > 1:05:40when you hit success, take your eye off the ball and forget about,
1:05:40 > 1:05:44you know, who's running the band, who's doing the finances,
1:05:44 > 1:05:48who's doing anything because you're so flushed with success.
1:05:50 > 1:05:54In the mid-'80s he and Alana broke up, and he went on to
1:05:54 > 1:05:56have a daughter with model Kelly Emberg.
1:05:58 > 1:06:01Once again, his lifestyle was counting against him.
1:06:03 > 1:06:08Clearly Rod was suffering from er... a backlash,
1:06:08 > 1:06:13and being seen suddenly as no longer that troubadour street singer,
1:06:13 > 1:06:17but a fancy guy with sports cars and gorgeous blondes
1:06:17 > 1:06:21and, living, you know, a life that didn't seem as real as those
1:06:21 > 1:06:25people who were his core audience wanted it to be.
1:06:25 > 1:06:28And at the top of the list were the music critics.
1:06:28 > 1:06:29They were really unhappy.
1:06:32 > 1:06:35So at the very beginning, what was your conclusion about what
1:06:35 > 1:06:37did Rod need next?
1:06:37 > 1:06:42What I thought we had to do was build a pyramid that would get him
1:06:42 > 1:06:45back to what he should be doing, and what he did so well.
1:06:45 > 1:06:47- Mark.- Ow!
1:06:47 > 1:06:51Did you feel you'd been sort of lost for a while and somehow recovered?
1:06:51 > 1:06:57- Erm...through the '80s? - Through those mid-'80s, yeah.
1:06:57 > 1:07:01It was cloudy, the '80s. I can't remember too much about me that...
1:07:01 > 1:07:05- I'm moving on a bit now and I am moving to...- We are moving on.
1:07:05 > 1:07:08I am moving on to a period where those mid-'80s were
1:07:08 > 1:07:13- not your finest hours, where they? - No.- So let's just move on.
1:07:13 > 1:07:15- Shall we gloss over them? - Yes, let's just do that.
1:07:15 > 1:07:17Post Do Ya Think I'm Sexy?
1:07:17 > 1:07:21Pre Downtown Train, I think
1:07:21 > 1:07:26that was the lost years as far as Rod going into the studio
1:07:26 > 1:07:29and making great music was concerned.
1:07:29 > 1:07:31You carried on into the '80s and everything,
1:07:31 > 1:07:35but Downtown Train just redefined all of that.
1:07:35 > 1:07:39# ..Will I see you tonight?
1:07:39 > 1:07:42# On a downtown train? #
1:07:42 > 1:07:47But then you take a Tom Waits song and it is a brilliant success.
1:07:47 > 1:07:50- Downtown Train?- Downtown Train, yeah.
1:07:50 > 1:07:52# ..On a downtown train... #
1:08:01 > 1:08:05# ..I know your window and I know it's late
1:08:05 > 1:08:07# I know your stairs... #
1:08:07 > 1:08:12Rod was back. The critics loved him and that same year he fell in love.
1:08:17 > 1:08:21She was the stunning 21-year-old New Zealand model
1:08:21 > 1:08:23and fitness instructor Rachel Hunter.
1:08:25 > 1:08:29You fall in love with Rachel and then the marriage doesn't succeed.
1:08:29 > 1:08:33- It was good for a few years.- Yeah.
1:08:33 > 1:08:35Do you want to talk about the good years?
1:08:35 > 1:08:37They were great, they were good years.
1:08:37 > 1:08:40We had two wonderful children, we were madly in love
1:08:40 > 1:08:43but, to be honest with you, she was far too young.
1:08:43 > 1:08:47I remember my sister said at the wedding that she was too young,
1:08:47 > 1:08:49"Far too young for our Roddy, you know,"
1:08:49 > 1:08:52she said as she sat in the church and she was right.
1:08:52 > 1:08:59# ..The congregation sang We knelt and prayed
1:08:59 > 1:09:02# As we stood before God... #
1:09:02 > 1:09:04And Mary was right.
1:09:04 > 1:09:06The relationship lasted eight years
1:09:06 > 1:09:10and then Rod was hit with the news that Rachel wanted to leave him.
1:09:11 > 1:09:17But he had just started a two-week run at Earls Court when Rachel came
1:09:17 > 1:09:18and gave him the news that,
1:09:18 > 1:09:21as a song on the new album says, it's over.
1:09:21 > 1:09:26And he was devastated but he played every one of those shows.
1:09:28 > 1:09:36Came offstage in tears and he really went into quiet depression.
1:09:36 > 1:09:39# ..I don't want our kids to suffer
1:09:39 > 1:09:42# Can we talk to one another?
1:09:42 > 1:09:48# I was once your wife, your lover It's gone now
1:09:48 > 1:09:50# All the pain and all the grieving
1:09:50 > 1:09:53# When did we stop believing?
1:09:53 > 1:09:57# Too late now, stop the bleeding it's gone now... #
1:09:59 > 1:10:03You were rejected and it pulled you down, didn't it?
1:10:03 > 1:10:05Yes, it did.
1:10:05 > 1:10:10- It was hard.- And you went to therapists.- Yeah.- How was that?
1:10:10 > 1:10:15Fucking therapists! I can't tell you what they said. It is in the book.
1:10:15 > 1:10:17I will have to swear to tell the story.
1:10:17 > 1:10:18You can swear, it is all right.
1:10:18 > 1:10:25The first therapist I went to said, "Why don't you get yourself a cat?"
1:10:25 > 1:10:28"Is that the best you can come up with?"
1:10:28 > 1:10:30And the male therapist I went to, get ready for this, girls,
1:10:30 > 1:10:32I walked in, he said, "Don't worry about it.
1:10:32 > 1:10:38- "You have seen one- BLEEP,- you've seen them all." That was therapy for me.
1:10:38 > 1:10:40That was therapy? It sounds like that was in Beverly Hills.
1:10:40 > 1:10:44- Beverly Hills therapy, yes. - Within months, of course...
1:10:45 > 1:10:48Yeah, I went for a routine check-up
1:10:48 > 1:10:53and they found a little node on my... Not on my vocal chords,
1:10:53 > 1:10:57on my thyroid chord, thyroid, so I was whipped into hospital
1:10:57 > 1:11:00and out of the hospital all in the space of 48 hours.
1:11:00 > 1:11:02I was very, very, very lucky.
1:11:02 > 1:11:05Not only that, but you had to learn to sing again?
1:11:05 > 1:11:09Yeah, because what they do is they cut all the way through
1:11:09 > 1:11:12your muscles in your throat to get to the thyroid.
1:11:12 > 1:11:15I really wasn't even speaking very well.
1:11:15 > 1:11:16It was like I was a drunk
1:11:16 > 1:11:19because I could not pronounce the words correctly.
1:11:19 > 1:11:24It took me nine months to be able to get back to be able to do a concert.
1:11:24 > 1:11:27Was it scary? Did you ever think, "Am I going to get better?"
1:11:27 > 1:11:30You bet your life I did, yeah. I really did.
1:11:30 > 1:11:36It was...something I love so much, to this day
1:11:36 > 1:11:38and I think people know that when they see me in a show.
1:11:38 > 1:11:42It is who I am, it is what I was put on this earth to do
1:11:42 > 1:11:47and to have it taken away so abruptly...
1:11:47 > 1:11:51But I had plans, I was going to be a landscape gardener. Jesus!
1:11:51 > 1:11:53CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
1:11:55 > 1:12:00Miraculously his voice came back and with a deeper range,
1:12:00 > 1:12:03more suited to a style of singing he had always longed to try.
1:12:05 > 1:12:08# The way you wear your hat
1:12:10 > 1:12:14# The way you sip your tea
1:12:14 > 1:12:17# The memory of all that
1:12:17 > 1:12:23# No, no, they can't take that away from me... #
1:12:23 > 1:12:25The night before the first album came out,
1:12:25 > 1:12:27I said to Arnold, "I feel like a rock'n'roll traitor.
1:12:27 > 1:12:31"They are going to hate me." And I did. I just...
1:12:31 > 1:12:34But, you know, I try to explain to people
1:12:34 > 1:12:37if songs are good enough for Billie Holiday and they are good
1:12:37 > 1:12:42enough for Louis Armstrong and Frank Sinatra - these songs are beautiful.
1:12:42 > 1:12:45They are beautiful lyrically, the way they are created,
1:12:45 > 1:12:47they are just gorgeous.
1:12:47 > 1:12:51# I see trees of green
1:12:51 > 1:12:54# Red roses too
1:12:54 > 1:13:00# I see them bloom for me and you
1:13:00 > 1:13:06# And I think to myself
1:13:06 > 1:13:09# What a wonderful world... #
1:13:09 > 1:13:16And that proved to be an extraordinary new scene for Rod.
1:13:16 > 1:13:23Amazing. It has become the largest-selling, continuous series
1:13:23 > 1:13:28of record albums ever recorded, ever.
1:13:28 > 1:13:31We've sold over 23 million of them already.
1:13:31 > 1:13:37# ..No, you can't take that away from me... #
1:13:37 > 1:13:39Killed the critics.
1:13:39 > 1:13:42The music critics didn't know how to hate it more
1:13:42 > 1:13:44and the more it sold, the more they hated it.
1:13:47 > 1:13:51On tour, he never sang very much of The Great American Songbook,
1:13:51 > 1:13:56but just the halo effect of it really increased his touring.
1:13:56 > 1:14:00# Someone like you makes it easy... #
1:14:00 > 1:14:02Everybody cherishes their fantasy of what
1:14:02 > 1:14:06they loved about Rod Stewart and people remember where
1:14:06 > 1:14:08they were the first time they heard Maggie May.
1:14:08 > 1:14:10People know what they were doing it the first time
1:14:10 > 1:14:11they heard Tonight's The Night.
1:14:11 > 1:14:14It is like these are signposts in people's lives.
1:14:14 > 1:14:16CROWD SINGS ALONG
1:14:18 > 1:14:20# ..It's all true
1:14:23 > 1:14:26# ..Knowing
1:14:26 > 1:14:30# That you lied straight-faced
1:14:30 > 1:14:33# While I cried
1:14:33 > 1:14:40# Still I will look to find a reason to believe... #
1:14:41 > 1:14:46I think the reason that Rod stopped writing as many
1:14:46 > 1:14:49terrific songwriters do, and Rod really is a marvellous songwriter.
1:14:49 > 1:14:52So many of our favourite Rod Stewart songs he wrote,
1:14:52 > 1:14:55the music and the lyrics.
1:14:55 > 1:15:00He had gotten so outside of life. In the rarefied space you occupy
1:15:00 > 1:15:03when you are an international superstar, icon,
1:15:03 > 1:15:05what is there to write about?
1:15:05 > 1:15:07He would say to me, "What do you want me to write about?
1:15:07 > 1:15:10"A song about the gardener charged too much?
1:15:10 > 1:15:12"Or there is an incident in the rose bushes on the back lawn?
1:15:12 > 1:15:15"What am I going to write a song about?" He had a point.
1:15:17 > 1:15:21And then Rod surprised everyone, not least himself, by writing
1:15:21 > 1:15:25a hugely popular and acclaimed autobiography.
1:15:25 > 1:15:26And in doing so,
1:15:26 > 1:15:32he unearthed a rich seam of material for a whole album of original songs,
1:15:32 > 1:15:34his first in over 20 years.
1:15:34 > 1:15:39His conflict within himself and the ease with which he wrote that book
1:15:39 > 1:15:43made him realise that he indeed is a writer.
1:15:43 > 1:15:47His relationship with photographer Penny Lancaster seems to have
1:15:47 > 1:15:51given him the confidence to write both the book and the new songs.
1:15:51 > 1:15:55He had first spotted her on the dancefloor 14 years ago
1:15:55 > 1:15:56and was again in love.
1:15:56 > 1:15:59# These boots are made for walking
1:15:59 > 1:16:02# And that's just what they'll do
1:16:02 > 1:16:07# One of these days these boots are going to walk all over you... #
1:16:07 > 1:16:10Penny has given Rod another two children
1:16:10 > 1:16:13and brought the entire family together.
1:16:13 > 1:16:15How did it come about, this album?
1:16:15 > 1:16:17How did it emerge for him
1:16:17 > 1:16:20because he had not been writing songs for years?
1:16:20 > 1:16:23- Not for a long, long time. - He didn't need to, of course.
1:16:23 > 1:16:28- He didn't need to, no. - The standards were so successful.
1:16:28 > 1:16:32I think as the years had gone by he had lost a lot of confidence.
1:16:32 > 1:16:35He had lost his belief in writing again,
1:16:35 > 1:16:39but the need really sprung forth when he started doing
1:16:39 > 1:16:44the autobiography and he started remembering his early years.
1:16:44 > 1:16:47It was just one of those moments when all the stars collided
1:16:47 > 1:16:51and the right chords and the right mood - it just happens.
1:16:51 > 1:16:55He was getting up in the middle of the night with a scrap
1:16:55 > 1:16:58piece of paper, a pencil, and writing down.
1:16:58 > 1:17:01He would ring them in and say, "Record this.
1:17:01 > 1:17:03"Record this message on your phone."
1:17:03 > 1:17:07It came out in scraps and bits and you caught hold of it every time.
1:17:07 > 1:17:11- Exactly. Catch hold of it and put it down.- He kept surprising himself.
1:17:11 > 1:17:14He was like, "I can't believe all these words are coming out."
1:17:14 > 1:17:16And, "Quick, quick, quick!" We would be in a restaurant
1:17:16 > 1:17:18and he would be grabbing a waiter for a notepad.
1:17:18 > 1:17:20This melody, I'd go, "This is fantastic."
1:17:20 > 1:17:22Haven't got a microphone, haven't got a tape recorder,
1:17:22 > 1:17:24haven't got a pencil I can jot it down.
1:17:28 > 1:17:31'That is how Can't Stop Me Now came around.'
1:17:31 > 1:17:35I have the melody first, it sounds like a marching band melody.
1:17:35 > 1:17:38# Da-da-da-da-da-da! #
1:17:38 > 1:17:43# I stood up straight and sign for the record company man
1:17:43 > 1:17:46# My enthusiasm filled the room... #
1:17:46 > 1:17:48'I don't think with this album,'
1:17:48 > 1:17:54I don't think I broke any new ground, but...
1:17:54 > 1:17:57it is what I do best
1:17:57 > 1:17:59and I have returned to what I do best.
1:18:01 > 1:18:03This is perhaps what Rod does best.
1:18:03 > 1:18:07Songs from the heart, simple lyrics about his own experience,
1:18:07 > 1:18:11sung with a voice designed to deliver emotion.
1:18:11 > 1:18:16# You can't stop me now The world is waiting
1:18:16 > 1:18:19# It is my turn to stand out in the crowd
1:18:19 > 1:18:23# They can't stop me now The tide is turning
1:18:23 > 1:18:27# I am going to make you proud
1:18:27 > 1:18:31# So proud, so proud, oh yeah... #
1:18:31 > 1:18:37And the new songs suggest that he has never strayed very far from home.
1:18:37 > 1:18:38Throughout the rock'n'roll years,
1:18:38 > 1:18:42his father's influence still hung over everything,
1:18:42 > 1:18:44particularly Rod's sense of family.
1:18:44 > 1:18:47This is Kimberly. Here is Kimberly.
1:18:47 > 1:18:50- Hi. Hi.- This is Ruby.
1:18:50 > 1:18:54I don't normally dress like this. Hi, nice to meet you.
1:18:54 > 1:18:56This is Liam.
1:18:57 > 1:19:00His eight children from five different mothers are all
1:19:00 > 1:19:01central to his life
1:19:01 > 1:19:06and have kept their ties with the Stewart family home in Britain.
1:19:07 > 1:19:10- Father and grandfather.- Yes.
1:19:13 > 1:19:15Sorry. Our dad has to be the make-up artist.
1:19:15 > 1:19:18So the first question is a collective question,
1:19:18 > 1:19:19if that is permissible,
1:19:19 > 1:19:23which is his sense of family.
1:19:23 > 1:19:26It is like we will have to take care of each other, we are like
1:19:26 > 1:19:30a clan of some sort and we do.
1:19:30 > 1:19:33- A football team. - Yeah, a football team.
1:19:33 > 1:19:36Dad definitely instilled that in us at a very young age,
1:19:36 > 1:19:39that family was very important.
1:19:39 > 1:19:43And so he gave us lots of brothers and sisters.
1:19:43 > 1:19:45THEY LAUGH
1:19:47 > 1:19:51It is like Buster Keaton walking across the set, isn't it?
1:19:59 > 1:20:03It is Sunday, somewhere in Essex, not so very far from the sweet shop
1:20:03 > 1:20:07in north London, which was the Stewart family home.
1:20:07 > 1:20:09# May the good Lord be with you
1:20:09 > 1:20:12# Every road you roam... #
1:20:15 > 1:20:17# And may sunshine and happiness... #
1:20:17 > 1:20:22A typical weekend for Rod is getting friends and family together
1:20:22 > 1:20:27for Sunday lunch and kicking a ball around in his back garden -
1:20:27 > 1:20:30where he happens to have a full-size football pitch.
1:20:42 > 1:20:46- Penny.- How are you?- How nice to see you.- You too. Say hi.
1:20:46 > 1:20:49- Say hi, Alan. - Not playing football?
1:20:49 > 1:20:52Today, former Celtic players have joined Rod
1:20:52 > 1:20:58and his elder brothers, Bob who is 77 and Don the referee who is 83.
1:21:01 > 1:21:05- Football is in the DNA of the Stewart family?- Very much so.
1:21:05 > 1:21:08Absolutely. All comes from my dad.
1:21:08 > 1:21:11This sense of family that you all have and Rod has very,
1:21:11 > 1:21:15very strongly, has it been all through your lives together?
1:21:15 > 1:21:18I would say yes, definitely.
1:21:18 > 1:21:22He seemed to like to get all his family around him.
1:21:22 > 1:21:26He never seems to be without them and I think it is like that.
1:21:26 > 1:21:29We do keep together, yes.
1:21:29 > 1:21:34It is very clear to me, listening to him talk about all of you,
1:21:34 > 1:21:36that he is deeply attached to all of you
1:21:36 > 1:21:39and to his family in a way that quite a lot of people who go off on another
1:21:39 > 1:21:44journey into a different world lose touch, but he has not lost touch.
1:21:44 > 1:21:48No, he has not lost touch with his roots, definitely not.
1:21:50 > 1:21:54- Wherever you go around Rod, he is surrounded by...- Love.- By love.
1:21:56 > 1:21:59- Is he good at giving it as well as getting it?- Oh, yes.
1:21:59 > 1:22:00Yes, definitely.
1:22:00 > 1:22:03He gives a lot of love and I always say to him,
1:22:03 > 1:22:06"Mum and dead are watching you. Dad especially."
1:22:50 > 1:22:53Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd