Happy Birthday, Every Picture!

Exactly 55 years ago today, Rod Stewart released his groundbreaking debut album, *Every Picture Tells A Story*. The album included, among other tracks, the song “Maggie May”, which really launched the singer’s career and set his unique journey in motion. It is highly unlikely that we would be sitting here today writing these lines if it weren’t for this song and this album.
To celebrate the 55th anniversary of ‘Every Picture’, we’re handing over to music editor Bernd Schleßelmann, who in 2024 offered a very personal perspective on this album in the series ‘The Greatest Albums of All Time’.

By Bernd Schleßelmann (Radio Bremeneins)

Why “Every Picture Tells A Story” is one of the greatest albums of all time
You simply couldn’t escape this song in 1975. “Sailing” was one of the mega-hits of the year and was playing constantly somewhere. What a schmaltzy ballad, what sentimental kitsch. That’s what I thought back then, at the age of eleven. And I would have preferred to simply ignore that singer with the tousled hair. But then, that same year, I was given a 70s compilation album for Christmas. One song on it: ‘Maggie May’. And I really liked that one. It was, in a way, a completely different Rod Stewart from the one who was sailing through the charts. A bit of folk with an acoustic guitar, a bit of rock with an electric one: not too hard, but not too soft either. That was the secret to the British singer’s success in 1971. The album ‘Every Picture Tells A Story’ presented him as a rough-and-ready rocker, just like in the title track, which he’d written with his old mate Ronnie Wood. But songs like ‘Mandolin Wind’ or ‘Seems Like A Long Time’ also showed that Rod Stewart had a great future ahead of him as a ballad singer. A truly outstanding singer with an unmistakable voice.

Good to know
It was wet, cold and miserable. Just a typical autumn day in London when Rod Stewart set out to record his first single in September 1964. He was just 19 and had, naturally, chosen an old blues number – what else? “Good Morning Little Schoolgirl” was to be the track. The singer later recalled that memorable day: When he checked in at the studio reception, the secretary asked: “Rod, who?” The shy young man repeated his name. The woman then said: “I’m sorry to have to tell you this, um, Mr Stewart, but I’m afraid you’re exactly a week early for your recording session.” The session a week later went smoothly. Rod Stewart can still remember the laughter of his musicians when he unwrapped a rather meagre cheese sandwich for his lunch break. And then there was this: The Yardbirds had recorded “Good Morning Little Schoolgirl” a few weeks earlier. But Rod knew nothing of this. So he still had some work to do on his timing…