Rod Stewart: Sing It Again, Rod (1972)

Sing It Again Rod

Compilation album: Rod Stewart

Released: August 10, 1973

Producer: Rod Stewart

I bought the album, Sing It Again, Rod soon after we arrived in Kaiserslautern, Germany. It was the first LP I purchased. I used my school lunch money. Records cost $4.50 at the Post Exchange, the department store on the military base.

One of my favorite songs on it was "Handbags and Gladrags," written by the lead singer of Manfred Mann, Mike d'Abo. He describes the song as "saying to a teenage girl that the way to happiness is not through being trendy. There are deeper values."

Rod Stewart

Rod Stewart ca. 1973

Mike D'Abo revealed how Rod Stewart came to record his version: "Rod made me promise to let him record Handbags & Gladrags once he got himself an album deal. In 1969 he knocked on my door saying he had secured an album deal with Mercury Records, and could he now record the song? Also, could I play the piano and create a woodwind arrangement? This session came together quickly, with The Faces as the rhythm section. Little was known of Rod at the time. This was a year before the success of "Maggie May."

Maggie May

The album was called An Old Raincoat Won't Ever Let You Down. Keith Emerson, from the progressive rock group Emerson, Lake, and Palmer, played on this album. The song didn't get sales or radio play in the United States in 1969. It was re-released as a single in 1972 and charted on Billboard Hot 100, peaking at number 42 in March.

Handbags and Gladrags
Rod Stewart

The Stereophonics

Stewart's version of "Handbags And Gladrags" didn't chart in the UK and remained a footnote in music history for 30 years. That's when the Stereophonics recorded their cover - "just for a laugh." Something in lead singer Kelly Jones' voice sounded like a young Rod Stewart. The Stereophonics version became the standard, reaching number 4 in the UK charts and earning the band a gold record.

Handbags and Gladrags

The Stereophonics