The Guardian (USA)

Rod Stewart’s first studio recording to be sold at auction

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A tape of Sir Rod Stewart’s first studio recording, which helped secure his first record deal, will be sold at auction by his former manager.

Jonathan Rowlands, 83, said the 15IPS analogue tape was sent to Decca Records as an audition recording in 1964, and the result was Stewart’s first recording contract.

The tape, being sold as a collector’s item only and with no intellectu­al property rights, has a pre-auction estimate of £500 to £1,000.

Also included in the lot being sold at Cheffins auctioneer­s in Cambridge are photocopie­s of Rowlands’s 1964 appointmen­t book, which details his meetings with Stewart.

The recording was made on 18 June1964, in the basement studio of engineer Pepe Rush in Berwick Street in Soho, London.

Its track listing is: Just Like I Treat You, Moppers Blues, Bright Lights Big City, Keep Your Hands Off Her, Don’t Tell Nobody, Ain’t That Loving You Baby, and Worksong.

Rowlands, of Bakewell, Derbyshire, said the tape would “make someone very happy”.

“The tape was used as audition material for a future recording contract for

Rod with Decca Records,” he said.

“We had got lucky finding out about Pepe Rush’s studio that was hidden in the basement of a shop in Berwick Street, Soho.

“At the time it was incredibly difficult to get into major studios, as they were all owned and controlled by the likes of Decca, CBS, Polydor and Phillips

Records.

“Rod had asked a certain Reg Dwight to come and play piano; unfortunat­ely he had a cold that day and couldn’t make it.

“However, we were lucky for the musicians we used were from Long John Baldry’s Hoochie Coochie Band, led by pianist Ian Armit who Rod normally sang with.

“With my then partner, Geoff Wright, we then sent the tape to Decca Records as an audition recording in June 1964 and the result was we obtained Rod’s first recording contract.

“The first single released then by Decca was Good Morning Little Schoolgirl.”

He said Stewart was about 18 at the time, adding: “In those days, you couldn’t sign a management contract until you were 21, so I had visited his parents in Highgate [north London] to ask them to sign on his behalf.”

Rowlands continued: “We knew Rod was something special from the word go.

“He had that absolute star quality which he shares with the likes of Tom Jones and Elton John, which has allowed them to stay relevant in the music industry even after all of these years.”

He said he worked with Stewart for around nine years.

Martin Millard, a director at Cheffins, said: “There are armies of Rod Stewart fans across the world, and this tape is an opportunit­y for someone to own the seminal recording which would go on to propel his career skywards.

“He is one of the most loved artists of the past century, and this is a chance for someone to buy a part of musical history.”

The tape is to be sold as part of an art and design sale at Cheffins in Cambridge on Thursday, 23 February.

 ?? Photograph: Gary I Rothstein/UPI/REX/Shuttersto­ck ?? Sir Rod Stewart, pictured at the Hard Rock Live in Hollywood, Florida, February 2023, was only about 18 at the time the tape was made.
Photograph: Gary I Rothstein/UPI/REX/Shuttersto­ck Sir Rod Stewart, pictured at the Hard Rock Live in Hollywood, Florida, February 2023, was only about 18 at the time the tape was made.

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