After Rod's Aussie gig he joined Jeff Beck Group,
once again as vocalist. In 1968, 'Truth' their first album became
a hit on both sides of the pond and they group toured extensively.
Their second album Beck-ola was another hit in the middle of 1969
but by the end of the year, sadly, they would disband. Although
this might have been a slight set-back for Rod, much of his sense
of phrasing was believed to have developed during his time with
Jeff Beck Group. It seems that most of the bands were short-lived
when Rod joined them - could this have been due to his increasing
popularity?
Cactus, a US band were prepared to offer Rod a job
as lead singer but he made the decision not to take it and instead
joined up with Ron Wood ( also had been in the Jeff Beck Group
as bass player.) and The Faces (which originally start out as 'The
Small Faces' until Steve Marriot left them).
Rod signed a solo recording contract and in 1969
released his first solo album, ' An Old Raincoat Won't Let You
Down', became a huge success and was known as ' The Rod Stewart
Album in the US'. This album reflected all of Rod's individual
talents and heartfelt mixture of folk, rock, and country blues.
In early 1970, 'First Step', The Faces debut album
was released. 'First Step' had the familiar style of the time similar
to The Rolling Stones. Discouragingly the album did better much
better in the UK than the US. During this time, Rod released his
second album, 'Gasoline Alley', ( Martin Quittenton, lead guitarist
supplying mandolin) and launched a solo tour.
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