Rod Stewart regrets making one album – and fans might be surprised to find out which one. The Maggie May hitmaker, who was forced to cancel a second gig of his Las Vegas residency at Caesars Palace today due to ill health (June 5), branded one of his records a “c**k-up”.
The album? His 2009 project Soulbook, which featured a collection of soul covers, including a collaboration with Stevie Wonder on My Cherie Amour. He also sang with Mary J. Blige on You Make Me Feel Brand New, and duetted with Jennifer Hudson on Let It Be Me. Smokey Robinson appeared on his song Tracks of My Tears, and the album also featured songs like Wonderful World and Rainy Night in Georgia.
But, according to Far Out magazine, the album lacked “nuance”, and even Rod himself wasn’t keen on the results. He said: “It was a c**k-up, simply because you can’t beat the originals. You’ll never beat the originals, because they’re still on the airwaves.”
In an interview with The Guardian, Rod explained that music bosses left him feeling insecure when they branded his songwriting “sh**” – and he feared the knack had “left him” for good.
He said his reason for quitting songwriting stemmed from “a combination of the Great American Songbook albums, being somewhat lazy, and certain remarks made by a high-flying executive at a record company saying that my songs were sh** and didn’t sound like nothing new.
“Songwriting’s never been a natural art for me; it’s always been a bit of a struggle. I just thought it had got up and left me. I’d done the best I could and maybe I’d got nothing to write about any more.”
Thankfully he soon got back into it, and admitted: “I’ve always put myself out there for ridicule, and the rewards are just wonderful.”