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09.04.2024, 10:00

Wolfie's goes Germany: sipping his whiskey backstage with Rod Stewart

Around four weeks to go until Rod Stewart's European tour kicks off with a concert in Antwerp on 11 May. As is well known, the 79-year-old singer will also be performing numerous concerts in Germany as part of...   mehr

21.02.2024, 14:03

Swing Fever: Rod Stewart and Jools Holland release their first album together

A new swing album is being released, which in itself is not big news. It happens every now and then in the music world. But when this new album is released by Rod Stewart and Jools Holland, it's worth taking a...   mehr

25.01.2024, 14:14

Ranking: The best live albums of all time

The music magazine "Musikexpress" has published a list of the best 100 live albums of all time. Rod Stewart made it to 93rd place with the album "Absolutely Live". The magazine also voted Nirvana's MTV...   mehr

17.01.2024, 10:17

Concert tickets: the secret behind the pricing

The announcement of a tour by our favourite artist regularly sends us into a state of complete ecstasy and anticipation. We have to be there, preferably very close to the stage, in row 1, eagerly awaiting the...   mehr

10.01.2024, 12:32

10 January - the date that connects me to Rod Stewart more than any other

Sharing your birthday with your favourite musician is something special. You experience the day with even more joy because you know that somewhere else the singer you trust is also celebrating his very special...   mehr

An evening at Twickenham railway station changed the music world thanks to Long John Baldry

In the long career of Rod Stewart, there are probably two events that had the greatest impact on his career as one of the world's best singers. One was the day in 1971 when a radio presenter in Cleveland switched the sides of a single and played Maggie May instead of Reason To Believe. Maggie became a mega hit, landed at number one in the charts and from then on everyone knew the name Rod Stewart.
But there was also this one day in the early 1960s when the young Rod sat down on a bench at Twickenham station in West London and began to warble a few songs to himself. Nobody took any notice of the young man on the bench, who was apparently waiting for his train. Nobody? Wrong! One man noticed the almost 18-year-old with the slightly too big nose. His name: Long John Baldry. This moment changed Roderick David Stewart's life, as it was to be the starting signal for a unique career.
"I owe so much to Long John Baldry. He discovered me and turned me into a singer and entertainer and so much more," said Rod Stewart many years later. But who was this Long John Baldry? I'm sure many of us have heard the name before and almost everyone knows that he was Rod Stewart's discoverer. But Long John was much more than "just" the discoverer of Rod Stewart.
John William Baldry, as he was born, grew up in north London and first came into contact with the blues at the tender age of twelve. Through a neighbour who lived just a few houses away from John, the 12-year-old got to know the two American blues musicians Leadbelly and Big Bill Broonzy. These encounters prompted the young John to spend more and more time in London's Soho entertainment district. He quickly made friends there and performed in various clubs with the Thameside Four and acoustic guitarist Davy Graham.
He gradually made a name for himself as Long John Baldry, performing on stage in various clubs at night and working as a commercial artist during the day. In 1960, however, he focussed solely on music and toured Denmark as a professional with the Bob Cort Skiffle Group - his first tour as a professional musician. In 1962, Baldry became the lead singer of the band Blues Incorporated, whose drummers included a certain Charlie Watts, who later achieved world fame with the Rolling Stones.
And then one evening Long John was strolling through Twickenham railway station and noticed the delicate singing of a young man. Baldry immediately recognised that this young man, who still goes by the name of Rod Stewart today, had enormous talent and from then on encouraged him in his band Hoochie Coochie Men. According to legend, however, Stewart's first performance with the Hoochie Coochie Men was more of a disaster. The first song Rod sang for the Hoochie Coochie Men was met with an icy silence from the audience. No applause, no cheers, but no boos either - the reaction was simply zero. But even this rather difficult start left Long John in no doubt about Rod's talent. In 1965, Baldry founded the band Steampacket with Stewart and singer Julie Driscoll, but the band disbanded after less than a year.
Steampacket became Bluesology and was joined by, among others, keyboardist Reg Dwight, who today is only known as Elton John. After the formation of Bluesology, Long John had a controversial, mediocre chart success in 1967 and 1968 with the number one ballad Let The Heartaches Begin and the theme song for the 1968 Olympic Games - Mexico.
In the early 1970s, Rod Stewart and Elton John then produced the Baldry albums It Ain't Easy and Everything Stops for Tea together, which made it into the charts in the USA. Shortly afterwards, however, Long John withdrew from the public eye due to mental health problems and a lengthy stay in hospital. He returned in 1979 and let the public know this with the album Baldry's Out.
A year later, the singer settled in Vancouver, Canada, became a Canadian citizen and toured Canada and the American Northwest several times.
At the beginning of the new millennium, Baldry returned to his roots once again and released his last studio album Rembering Leadbelly. In 2004 and 2005, he appeared several times as frontman of the British Blues All Stars - a blues festival group led by the British blues pianist Bob Hall. Among others, Peter Green, Kim Simmonds, Dave Kelly and Tom McGuinness were also part of the group.
The artists and musicians who had the pleasure of meeting and working with Long John Baldry over the course of his career all make similar comments about the man's personality today: he could be completely outrageous and yet remained a perfect gentleman; he was always very self-effacing about both his encyclopaedic knowledge of the history of the blues and his crucial role in the emergence of British blues in the early 1960s.
Long John lost a four-month battle with a severe chest infection on 21 July 2005 in Vancouver. He was 64 years old.

Discography (albums) Long John Baldry
1964: Long John's Blues
1966: Looking At Long John
1968: Let The Heartaches Begin
1968: Let There Be Long John
1969: Wait For Me
1971: It Ain't Easy
1972: Everything Stops For Tea
1974: Heartaches (Golden Hour)
1976: Welcome To Club Casablanca
1979: Baldry's Out
1986: Silent Treamtment
1988: Let The Heartaches Begin
1990: Beat Goes On
1991: It Still Ain't Easy
1993: On Stage Tonight
1995: A Thrill's A Thrill: The Canadian Years
1996: Rock With The Best
1997: Right To Sing The Blues
2000: Long John Baldry Trio - Live
2002: Remembering Leadbelly
2014: The Best Of The Stony Plain Years

03.01.2024, 11:32

Welcome 2024 - the tour countdown is on

We would like to take this opportunity to wish all our readers and friends a happy, healthy and successful New Year 2024. Many of us spent the New Year with friends and acquaintances, family and colleagues....   mehr

11.12.2023, 11:24

The song that really got everything going: Maggie May

"Wake up Maggie, I think I got something to say to you ...." - With this line of text, long-time Rod Stewart fans immediately know what's coming. The opening of the song MAGGIE MAY is like an anthem at the...   mehr

03.12.2023, 11:02

European Championship kick-off and Leipzig concert: Saxon fans may be expected to be flexible

Football and Rod Stewart belong together like Big Ben and London, like Paris and the Eiffel Tower, like Munich and the Oktoberfest: you can't have one without the other. The now 78-year-old singer has been a...   mehr

27.11.2023, 18:01

Between Rod Stewart and Vladimir Klitchko: Düsseldorf musician Gina Brese tells her story about a legendary performance with Rod Stewart

Who among us hasn't dreamed of being on stage with Rod Stewart and performing a song? Gina Brese, singer, saxophonist and songwriter from Düsseldorf, experienced this dream back in 2015. On 28 November 2015,...   mehr

27.11.2023, 10:38

Album of the week: Tonight I'm Yours (1981)

We all know the feeling. You hear the latest song by your favorite artist on the radio and of course you want to have that record right away. So you run off to the nearest record store .... Oops, sorry, wrong...   mehr

24.11.2023, 09:09

Concert Review: Saying Goodbye to 2023 in Style (by Sue Walton)

The November 22, 2023 was Rod Stewart’s last show of the year at Caesars Palace and in true Rod Stewart fashion he ended on a high note, leaving fans wanting more. Fortunately, “more” will be coming our way...   mehr

23.11.2023, 11:50

Wetten dass.... I'll meet you, Rod?

Next Saturday, the legendary TV show Wetten dass will take place for the last time in Offenburg. Since 1981, Wetten dass has been THE big Saturday evening entertainment programme on German television and has...   mehr

17.11.2023, 11:49

Concert marathon 2024: Will Las Vegas really be the end?

The moment that Rod Stewart fans have always dreaded is getting closer and closer: the singer's departure from the stage. Barring a miracle, 2024 will be the last year in which the now 78-year-old will thrill...   mehr

15.11.2023, 10:04

Rod Stewart: Concert history in Germany

As we all know, Rod Stewart began his unique career in the early 1960s thanks to the legendary Long John Baldry, who listened very carefully to a young man squatting on the floor at a grey and uncomfortable...   mehr

12.11.2023, 13:43

Concert and party review: Rockin' In The Round Hamburg 2007

In the early 2000s, even before Facebook, Twitter & Co, the good old Storyteller was THE forum for Rod Stewart fans in Germany. You could register at the web address www.rod-stewart.de and then post, comment...   mehr

12.11.2023, 13:02

Rod Stewart Tribute: Rud Stewart (If the original obliges you and saves your butt)

He likes to call himself an Englishman who lives in Sweden: Michael Dean, probably better known to most as Rud Stewart, has also lived in Mallorca and has a soft spot for Australia and New Zealand. His great...   mehr

12.11.2023, 12:04

Rod Stewart Tribute: Rob Caudill (When Your Nose Gives You Direction)

Imagine you're at the airport, strolling relaxed through the city or sitting comfortably in a restaurant and all the people around you are staring at you as if you're from another galaxy, or constantly asking...   mehr

30.09.2023, 13:54

My ultimate setlist

There were 60 years of a unique career to work through. If my personal setlist were to be performed, Rod would probably have to be on stage for several days at a stretch. The following list of Rod Stewart and...   mehr

30.09.2023, 12:58

The arenas in Germany

Quarterback Arena in Leipzig Address: Am Sportforum 2, 04105 Leipzig Opening: 11 May 2002 Capacity: 8000 seats Website: https://www.quarterback-immobilien-arena.de The Rod Stewart concert will take...   mehr

27.09.2023, 14:03

Rod Stewart Tribute: Robin Stone

Young Reinhard discovered his love of music when he was still a three-year-old. It all began with a drum kit his father had made himself and the music of the Bee Gees. Today he can look back on a long musical...   mehr

25.09.2023, 14:05

Album of the Week: Foolish Behaviour

Foolish Behaviour is the tenth of 31 studio albums by Sir Rod Stewart and was released on 21 November 1980. The ten songs on the album were recorded at Record Plant Studios and Cherokee Studios in Los Angeles...   mehr

25.09.2023, 09:12

Story: The Faces thrill at their first concert in Germany - "Stewart's voice gives you goosebumps"

Hamburg, 2 December 1970: It's a cloudy day on the Elbe, with rain showers coming down again and again. At seven degrees it is quite cool. Not the kind of weather to chase a dog out the door. And yet, on this...   mehr

24.09.2023, 14:14

Album of the week: TIME - back to the roots

One should never say there is nothing left for a person to do after publishing his autobiography. Rock star Rod Stewart is a prime example in this respect. In 2012, he published his autobiography with the...   mehr

23.09.2023, 14:18

When Georgie Boy Really Pissed Off John Lennon

Without a doubt, ex-Beatle John Lennon, who would be 83 years old today, and Rod Stewart belong to the group of the greatest music stars this planet has ever seen. Both started their careers in the early 60s....   mehr