Rod Stewart – It Had to Be You: The Great American Songbook (2002) CD
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Rod Stewart – It Had to Be You: The Great American Songbook (2002) CD
£8.99
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Rod Stewart – It Had to Be You: The Great American Songbook (2002)
It Had to Be You: The Great American Songbook is the first volume of Rod Stewart's celebrated American Songbook series, released in October 2002 on J Records and produced by Richard Perry. The album sold over 5 million copies worldwide, reached No. 4 in the UK and No. 4 in the US, and launched one of the most commercially successful late-career pivots in pop history — Stewart would go on to record four further volumes in the series, all of which charted highly on both sides of the Atlantic. The album draws on the classic American popular song repertoire of the 1930s, 40s and 50s — songs by George Gershwin, Jerome Kern, Cole Porter, Hoagy Carmichael and others — and Stewart's voice, with its distinctive rasp and warmth, proves surprisingly well-suited to the material. Richard Perry's production is lush and orchestral, giving the familiar songs a contemporary sheen without sacrificing their period character. The album features a guest appearance by Helen Ward — the celebrated big band vocalist — on These Foolish Things.
Highlights
- The Way You Look Tonight — Jerome Kern and Dorothy Fields' 1936 standard and one of the most recorded songs in the American Songbook; Stewart's reading is warm and unhurried, Richard Perry's orchestral arrangement is generous and the performance captures the song's romantic directness with complete sincerity.
- These Foolish Things (feat. Helen Ward) — The album's most historically resonant track; the pairing of Stewart with Helen Ward — who sang with Benny Goodman's orchestra in the 1930s — gives the performance a genuine connection to the era the album celebrates, and the result is one of the most charming and unexpected moments on the record.
- They Can't Take That Away from Me — George and Ira Gershwin's 1937 standard, immortalised by Fred Astaire; Stewart's version is relaxed and confident, the swing arrangement is crisp and the performance demonstrates his ease in the idiom with real conviction.
- Every Time We Say Goodbye — Cole Porter's 1944 standard and one of the great American songs; Stewart's reading is one of the album's most emotionally direct and affecting moments, and the song's bittersweet lyric suits his voice's natural melancholy particularly well.
- I'll Be Seeing You — One of the most emotionally resonant songs in the American Songbook and a wartime standard of particular poignancy; Stewart delivers it with a restraint and sincerity that gives the performance a genuine emotional weight and makes it one of the album's most quietly moving moments.
CD Details
- Title: It Had to Be You: The Great American Songbook
- Artist: Rod Stewart
- Year: 2002
- Label: J Records / BMG
- Producer: Richard Perry
- Format: CD Album
- Tracks: 14
- Barcode: 743219686725
Condition
Condition: VG+/VG+ — see our Condition Grading Guide.
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