Every Picture Tells a Story

Every Picture Tells a Story
Studio album by Rod Stewart
Released	May 1971
Recorded	January 1971
Genre	Roots rock[1]
Length	40:31
Label	Mercury
Producer	Rod Stewart
Rod Stewart chronology
Gasoline Alley (1970) Every Picture Tells a Story (1971) Never a Dull Moment (1972)
Singles from Every Picture Tells a Story
"Reason to Believe" / "Maggie May" Released: 1971 "Every Picture Tells a Story" Released: 1971 (Spain) "I Know I'm Losing You" Released: 1971

Every Picture Tells a Story is the third album by Rod Stewart, released in May 1971. It incorporates hard rock, folk, and blues styles.^[2] It went to number one on both the UK and US charts and finished third in the Pazz & Jop critics' poll for best album of 1971.^[3] It has been an enduring critical success, including a number 172 ranking on Rolling Stone magazine's 2003 list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.^[4]

History

The album is a mixture of rock, country, blues, soul, and folk, and includes Stewart's breakthrough hit, "Maggie May", as well as "Reason to Believe", a song from Tim Hardin's debut album of 1966. "Reason to Believe" was released as the first single from the album with "Maggie May" as the B-side, however, "Maggie May" became more popular and was a No. 1 hit in both the UK and US.

The album also included a version of Arthur Crudup's "That's All Right (Mama)" (the first single for Elvis Presley) and a cover of the Bob Dylan song "Tomorrow Is a Long Time," an outtake from Dylan's 1963 album The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan (it would see release on 1971's, Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits Vol. II).

All five members of the Faces (with whom Stewart at that time was lead vocalist) appeared on the album, with guitarist/bassist Ronnie Wood and keyboardist Ian McLagan on Hammond B3 organ being most prominent. Due to contractual restrictions, the personnel listings were somewhat vague, and it was unclear that the full Faces line-up recorded the version of the Motown hit "(I Know) I'm Losing You".^[5] Other contributors included Ray Jackson on mandolin (though Stewart forgot his name and merely mentioned "the mandolin player in Lindisfarne" on the sleeve). Micky Waller on drums. Maggie Bell performed backing vocals (mentioned on the sleeve as "vocal abrasives") on the title track, and Madeline Bell sang backup on the next track, "Seems Like A Long Time". Pete Sears played all the piano on the album except for one track, "I'm Losing You" which featured Ian McLagan on piano, along with the Faces as a band.

It reached the number-one position in both the UK (for six weeks) and the US (four weeks) at the same time that "Maggie May" was topping the singles charts in both territories, making Stewart one of the few artists to achieve such a feat. It has often been voted among the best British albums of all time.

In 1992, the album was awarded the number-one spot in Jimmy Guterman's book The Best Rock 'N' Roll Records of All Time: A Fan's Guide to the Stuff You Love.

Every Picture Tells a Story was ranked 99th in a 2005 survey held by British television's Channel 4 to determine the 100 greatest albums of all time.

The Temptations cover, I Know I'm Losing You reached the top 40, at No. 24 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the US.

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[2]
Robert Christgau	A+[6]
Rolling Stone	(average)[7]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide	[8]

In his original Rolling Stone review, John Mendelsohn wrote: "Boring as half of it may be, there's enough that is unqualifiedly magnificent on the other half."^[7] However, Robert Christgau gave the album a glowing review for The Village Voice, writing: "Rod the Wordslinger is a lot more literate than the typical English bloozeman, Rod the Singer can make words flesh, and though Rod the Bandleader's music is literally electric it's the mandolin and pedal steel that come through sharpest."^[6] In a retrospective review for AllMusic, Stephen Thomas Erlewine wrote: "Without greatly altering his approach, Rod Stewart perfected his blend of hard rock, folk, and blues on his masterpiece, Every Picture Tells a Story."^[2]

Track listing

Side one

1. "Every Picture Tells a Story" (Rod Stewart, Ronnie Wood) – 6:01
2. "Seems Like a Long Time" (Theodore Anderson) – 4:02
3. "That's All Right" (Arthur Crudup) – 3:59
4. "Amazing Grace" (Traditional, arranged by Stewart) – 2:03
5. "Tomorrow Is a Long Time" (Bob Dylan) – 3:43

Side two

1. "Henry" (Martin Quittenton) – 0:32
2. "Maggie May" (Stewart) – 5:16
3. "Mandolin Wind" (Stewart) – 5:33
4. "(I Know) I'm Losing You" (Norman Whitfield, Eddie Holland, Cornelius Grant) – 5:23
5. "Reason to Believe" (Tim Hardin) – 4:06

Notes

"Henry" was only printed on the label of the original British and international releases, not on the sleeve. It was omitted in the track listing of some CD versions, as in some pressings of the album and most Stewart compilations, the "Henry" intro is incorporated into the full "Maggie May" track.

"Amazing Grace" is not listed on the label on most editions, and on some CDs is part of "That's All Right". Its words were actually written by John Newton.

Charts

Weekly charts Chart (1971–72) Position Australian Kent Music Report[9] 1 Canadian RPM Albums Chart[10] 1 Dutch Albums Chart[11] 2 Italian Albums Chart[12] 20 Japanese Oricon LPs Chart[13] 84 Norwegian Albums Chart[14] 9 Spanish Albums Chart[15] 4 Swedish Kvällstoppen Chart[16] 5 UK Albums Chart[17] 1 US Billboard 200[18] 1 West German Media Control Albums Chart[19] 23

Year-end charts Chart (1971) Position Australian Albums Chart[9] 17 Dutch Albums Chart[20] 5 Italian Albums Chart[12] 75 UK Albums Chart[21] 2 U.S. Billboard Pop Albums[22] 34 Chart (1972) Position Australian Albums Chart[9] 23 Dutch Albums Chart[23] 47 U.S. Billboard Pop Albums[24] 65

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/Sales
United States (RIAA)[25]	Platinum	1,000,000^^
^^shipments figures based on certification alone

Personnel

• Rod Stewart - lead vocals, acoustic guitar
• Ronnie Wood - electric guitar, 12-string guitar, slide guitar, pedal steel guitar, bass guitar
• Martell Brandy - acoustic guitar
• Sam Mitchell - resonator guitar
• Martin Quittenton - classical guitar
• Pete Sears - piano, celeste
• Micky Waller - drums
• Ian McLagan - organ, piano on "(I Know) I'm Losing You"
• Danny Thompson - upright bass
• Andy Pyle - bass guitar
• Dick Powell - violin
• Long John Baldry - vocals on "Every Picture Tells a Story"
• Maggie Bell - "vocal abrasives" on "Every Picture Tells a Story"
• Madeline Bell and friends (Mateus Rose, John Baldry) - "vocal abrasives" on "Seems Like a Long Time"
• Lindsay Raymond Jackson ("the mandolin player in Lindisfarne") - mandolin
• Kenney Jones - drums on "(I Know) I'm Losing You"
• Ronnie Lane - bass guitar and backing vocals on "(I Know) I'm Losing You"

^[26] Front cover photo: Lisa Margolis

References

1. Strong, Martin C. (2006). The Essential Rock Discography. Canongate. p. 1046. ISBN 1841958271. ...the album was a masterclass in roots rock...
2. Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. Every Picture Tells a Story at AllMusic. Retrieved 29 November 2005.
3. "The 1971 Jazz & Pop Critics Poll". The Village Voice. 10 February 1972. Retrieved 16 Jul 2011.
4. Levy, Joe; Steven Van Zandt (2006) [2005]. "172 | Every Picture Tells a Story - Rod Stewart". Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time (3rd ed.). London: Turnaround. ISBN 1-932958-61-4. OCLC 70672814. Retrieved 16 Jul 2011.
5. Liner notes, Faces' The Definitive Rock Collection, Rhino Records, 2007
6. Christgau, Robert. "CG: Every Picture Tells a Story". Robert Christgau. Retrieved 22 January 2008.
7. Mendelsohn, John (8 July 1971). "Every Picture Tells A Story". Rolling Stone (86). Retrieved 15 Aug 2011.
8. "Rod Stewart: Album Guide". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 23 November 2012.
9. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. St Ives, NSW: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
10. "Top Albums/CDs - Volume 16, No. 12". RPM. 6 November 1971. Retrieved 15 June 2013.
11. "dutchcharts.nl Rod Stewart – Every Picture Tell a Story" (ASP). Hung Medien (in Dutch). MegaCharts. Retrieved 1 May 2012.
12. "Hit Parade Italia – Gli album più venduti del 1971" (in Italian). hitparadeitalia.it. Retrieved 1 May 2012.
13. Oricon Album Chart Book: Complete Edition 1970-2005. Roppongi, Tokyo: Oricon Entertainment. 2006. ISBN 4-87131-077-9.
14. "norwegiancharts.com Rod Stewart – Every Picture Tell a Story" (ASP). Retrieved 1 May 2012.
15. Salaverri, Fernando (September 2005). Sólo éxitos: año a año, 1959–2002 (1st ed.). Spain: Fundación Autor-SGAE. ISBN 84-8048-639-2.
16. "Swedish Charts 1969–1972/Kvällstoppen – Listresultaten vecka för vecka > Augusti 1971 > 10 Augusti" (PDF) (in Swedish). hitsallertijden.nl. Retrieved 3 May 2012. Note: Kvällstoppen combined sales for albums and singles in the one chart; Every Picture Tells a Story ranked at the number-thirteen on the list on 10 August 1971.
17. "Rod Stewart > Artists > Official Charts". UK Albums Chart. Retrieved 1 May 2013.
18. "Allmusic: Every Picture Tell a Story : Charts & Awards : Billboard Albums". allmusic.com. Retrieved 1 May 2013.
19. "Album Search: Rod Stewart – Every Picture Tell a Story" (ASP) (in German). Media Control. Retrieved 1 May 2013.
20. "Dutch charts jaaroverzichten 1971" (ASP) (in Dutch). Retrieved 2 April 2014.
21. "The Official UK Charts Company : ALBUM CHART HISTORY". Archived from the original on 17 December 2007. Retrieved 17 December 2007.
22. "Billboard.BIZ Top Pop Albums of 1971". billboard.biz. Archived from the original on 31 December 2012. Retrieved 29 April 2014.
23. "Dutch charts jaaroverzichten 1972" (ASP) (in Dutch). Retrieved 2 April 2014.
24. "Billboard.BIZ Top Pop Albums of 1972". billboard.biz. Archived from the original on 6 December 2012. Retrieved 29 April 2014.
25. "American album certifications – Rod Stewart – Every Picture Tells a Story". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved 16 February 2012. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH
26. Rod Stewart- Every Picture Tells a Story @Discogs.com Retrieved 8-13-2011.

• A.V. Club Permanent Records review