Believe it or not, at one time Rod Stewart was one of us. A quick glance at the songwriting credits for this, Stewart's second 'solo' effort, reveal where Rod's head was at: covers of Bobby & Shirley Womack's 'It's All Over Now' (more famously, and somewhat more enjoyably covered by The Rolling Stones), Bob Dylan's 'Only a Hobo', Elton John and Bernie Taupin's 'Country Comforts', and Steve Marriott & Ronnie Lane's 'My Way of Giving'. I've tried to keep my record collection pure of disco, and with composers such as these I don't believe anyone can accuse me of harboring anything as defiling as 'Hot Legs' or 'Do Ya' Think I'm Sexy?'. Unfortunately for me, each time I hear Rod's voice, a bit of the 'Hot Legs' overplay corrupts my capacity to concentrate on his earlier (and better) sensibilities. Rod's raspy vocal cords made him one of rock's premier vocalists before career decisions became of more immediate concern than the art. His defection to 'the other side' was perhaps the most disconcerting loss of the era.

Nevertheless, from his debut 'Rod Stewart Album' through his epic 'Every Picture Tells a Story' and it's sequel, 'Never a Dull Moment', Stewart left behind a fine legacy. 'Gasoline Alley' is Rod's second 'solo' effort, and while it failed to spawn even one single, it is a consistantly fine production. In fact, since it generated absolutely no Top 40 attention, the songs on this disc have managed to escaped the dred overplay that has afflicted some Stewart numbers, most notably 'Maggie May', and even 'You Wear It Well'.

At first glance the disc appears weighted toward more subdued numbers, such as the lilting 'Only a Hobo' and the gentle strains of 'Country Comforts', and in sheer numbers the disc is fairly reserved, especially toward the end when two Stewart compositions, 'Lady Day' and 'Jo's Lament' emerge. But the three longest songs on the disc are all rockers, and they are wisely distributed on tracks two, six and nine. 'It's All Over Now', 'Cut Across Shorty', and 'You're My Girl' consume nearly eighteen minutes of the disc's 41 minute running time, and 'My Way of Giving' is no slouch either. It predictably possesses an upbeat pop sound (reminiscent of Rod's previous gig with The Small Faces) since it was written by Marriott and bassist Ronnie Lane.

Here and there we are enticed by tell-tale sounds that allude to the emerging Stewart epic, 'Every Picture Tells a Story'. The fine back-home opener, 'Gasoline Alley', possesses a mandolin that harkens to 'Mandolin Wind', and 'Cut Across Shorty' and 'You're My Girl' feature sharp guitar riffs that would fuel similar Stewart classics such as his cover of the Temptation's 'I'm Losing You'.

The only disappointing aspect of this particular disc is that the rework didn't add any bonus tracks or informational material to the package... you get only what you got in 1970 with the original vinyl release. Weren't there any other tracks sitting in the vault from this session that ended up on the editing floor, or interesting anecdotes from the contributing artist's that could spice this up a bit? Many people buying this CD today also purchased the recordings on vinyl and cassette. We deserve a few more crumbs from the table.

Rod Stewart upped the ante on his second album, Gasoline Alley. He took the basic folk sound of acoustic guitars and juiced it up by adding mandolins and electric instruments to create an unique sound. The album doesn't contain any hit singles, but many of the songs have become staples in Rod Stewart's repertoire. Songs like the title track, "Cut Across Shorty", "Lady Day" and "Jo's Lament" are filled with vivid lyrics and Mr. Stewart sing them in that signature whiskey-soaked voice. He does fine covers of Bobby Womack's, by way of The Rolling Stones, "It's All Over Now", Bob Dylan's "Only A Hobo" and Elton John's "Country Comforts".

Back in the early seventies, when Rod Stewart had not yet abandoned his own artistic path in order to become a spiky-haired, glitzy pop singer in pink outfits, he wrote some of the best folk rock songs, turned out some of the best cover tunes, and worked with one of the best backing band ever.

If you prefer the Rod Stewart of the 1980s, "Blondes Have More Fun" and all, this might not be your thing. But between 1969 and 1972, Stewart turned out four primarily acoustic albums of folk, rock, blues and country that he has never since come close to matching, and this one is the second-best, almost matching Stewart's masterpiece "Every Picture Tells A Story".

"Gasoline Alley" (the sublime title track is written by the unbeatable team of Rod Stewart and Ronnie Wood) sports perhaps the best Bob Dylan cover of all time, a beautiful "Only A Hobo", as well as a hoarse, ragged, folkish version of Elton John's and Bernie Taupin's "Country Comforts", Stewarts own "Lady Day", and an incredibly rocking, reeling "Cut Across Shorty", built around a howling violin, two or three acoustic guitars, and the pounding drums of Kenneth Day Jones.

That one song rocks harder than any acoustic country tune has a right to, and therein lay the genius of Rod Stewart the interpreter and Rod Stewart the songwriter: He and Ronnie Wood knew that you didn't need to pull in Phil Spector, the synth and the horn ensemble to make a folk song sound good. Instead of looking for the rock within the folk, they proved how folk could rock like hell on its own!

Gasoline Alley is by far the finest Rod Stewart Album he has ever or will ever record. Great tunes - "Cut Across Shorty" is an example of solid lyric and instrumentals. If you hate Rod Stewart, you won't hate Gasoline Alley.

Eight years ago, a child of the Sixties asked me... If I posessed this LP -- I said NO There were no hits on that album, I thought to myself... Didn't blow the dough...

The album I did offer up to my liberal-crackpot-nostalgic friend/boss (Ellen, you know I love ya) was Every Picture Tells A Story. She didn't bite...dear readers, don't you make the same mistake. Every Picture is as good as Rod gets, unless you're into his current lounge-music act.

But Gasoline Alley has more than a few tempting fumes to offer. I bought the CD recently and here are my remarks:

Straight up: "Cut Across Shorty" is FLAT-OUT CLASSIC Rod, with the whisky bottle in hand as he urges his blue-collar band -- which includes one of the great lost drummers of all time, Mickey Waller -- on to ragged heights of glory. Listening to this cut, it's clear that in his prime, Rodney was more than a great singer...the guy knew how to lead and inspire a band. Big-time.

But apart from that and the title track, Warm Rod was still too derivative...literally. The guy was always singing somebody else's songs! Covering a lame-o tune like Elton John/Bernie Taupin's "Country Comforts" makes one wonder about the man's taste, even as he puts on his most affected clothes in giving Dylan's "Only a Hobo" a very credible reading. The Stones had already done the definitive version of "It's All Over Now" so what was the point of that?

Given that, "Lady Day" anticipates one of his other great singles, "Mandolin Wind," in terms of (real, heartfelt?) apology to the fairer sex... only to get trumped by "Joe's Lament" and its outright admission that men, being the screw-ups that they are, really need a good woman at the end of the day to snuggle up against, no matter what kind of evil/neglect they've been a part of that day.

Sorry, Rod...you lost me there. You were always best when surrounded by a bunch of guys who just wanted to play a little rock and roll.

"Goin' home, goin' home, back to Gasoline Alley where I started from..."