When Rod Stewart is in residence in Los Angeles 鈥� which is to say, when he鈥檚 not on the road or in his native England or in Palm Beach, Florida, where he owns a third home about a kilometre up the beach from Donald Trump鈥檚 place 鈥� the 73-year-old rocker lives in a sprawling and lavishly appointed mansion in Beverly Park outside Los Angeles.
Tucked safely behind a series of gates, the house has a library and a movie theatre and a garage big enough that a Mercedes and a Ferrari both looked lonely on a recent afternoon. There鈥檚 also a soccer field 鈥� a small one, but still.
Despite all this, Stewart had frugality on his mind as he strolled out onto an expansive back patio holding two bottles of water.
鈥淕ot any kids?鈥� he asked, his scratchy voice even scratchier than usual. Stewart鈥檚 two school-age children (out of eight total) were with their mother, Penny Lancaster, in London; the singer had flown to L.A. on his own after calling off a handful of tour dates because of laryngitis.
鈥淭wo mouthfuls off the top,鈥� he went on, describing with some exasperation the way his offspring use bottles like these. 鈥淭hen they just leave them all over. So what I do is I pour them all into one big bottle, then I refill them and screw the tops back on. They never know.鈥�
Rod Stewart, pinchpenny?
鈥淭ight as two coats of paint,鈥� he replied. 鈥淚鈥檓 trying to prove a point! You can鈥檛 just waste things.鈥�
Famously dissolute when he was coming up in the late 1960s and early 1970s, Stewart is big these days on not squandering his resources.
Look at his career in the past few years. At a point when many in his position are coasting with tribute projects or covers albums 鈥� records not unlike Stewart鈥檚 Great American Songbook series from the early 2000s 鈥� he鈥檚 recommitted himself to songwriting because he claims he has more to write about now than he did during his 20s and 30s.
Last month he released Blood Red Roses, his third album of original material since 2013. It鈥檚 got folky, soulful tunes about missing old friends and about the pain of parenthood; the title track imagines life aboard a whaling ship en route from Boston to Cape Horn.
And, yes, he knows this isn鈥檛 the stuff people come to his concerts to hear. Whenever he introduces a new song, he鈥檚 straight with them.
鈥淚鈥檒l say: 鈥業 want you to applaud like you鈥檝e just heard Maggie May or Hot Legs or Tonight鈥檚 the Night 鈥� any of those,鈥� 鈥� Stewart said as he sat on a couch overlooking an elaborate fountain. He was wearing shorts and a white shirt unbuttoned nearly to his navel, and his crinkly eyes were hidden behind a pair of mirrored aviator sunglasses.
鈥淎nd they do!鈥� he added. Still, his fans鈥� indulgence is not to be abused. 鈥淵ou certainly can鈥檛 do more than one or two a night,鈥� he said.
鈥淏ut writing is what keeps you fresh 鈥� it鈥檚 what keeps the adrenaline going.鈥�
Stewart, who performs in Victoria Oct. 30, thinks about freshness in terms of how engaged he is in the task at hand. Others around him, though, have wondered if this happily hard-working veteran might be ripe for discovery by a new audience.
After the rapper ASAP Rocky sampled a vintage Stewart vocal for his 2015 hit Everyday, the singer鈥檚 manager and record label began assembling an album of remakes of his old classics performed by Stewart alongside various collaborators 鈥� precisely the kind of thing, in other words, we鈥檙e accustomed to seeing from artists around Stewart鈥檚 age. (Elton John, who鈥檚 71, oversaw two such tributes to himself this year.)
We got a taste of one such remake 鈥� Da Ya Think I鈥檓 Sexy? featuring Joe Jonas鈥� electro-pop band DNCE 鈥� when the acts teamed for 2017鈥檚 MTV Video Music Awards. Stewart also recorded tracks with James Bay and Bastille.
Eventually the project stalled, at least in part because Stewart鈥檚 attention had shifted to the original songs on Blood Red Roses. But as we talked it wasn鈥檛 hard to gauge his level of interest in the abandoned concept.
鈥淚 sort of prefer my versions,鈥� he said, which definitely feels like the right opinion: Why waste a Rod Stewart song on somebody other than Rod Stewart? Especially when he doesn鈥檛 seem all that troubled by the idea that he鈥檚 moved to the margins of the pop conversation?
鈥淵oung people look at me and go: 鈥榃hy鈥檚 he got that haircut?鈥� 鈥� he said with a laugh.
As proud as he is of Blood Red Roses, Stewart鈥檚 commercial ambitions for the new album are relatively modest: a top 10 debut in the U.S. and a No.1 showing at home in the U.K., where he says he鈥檚 a much bigger deal than he is here 鈥� 鈥減art of the fabric of the country,鈥� in his words.
Monte Lipman, who heads up Stewart鈥檚 label, Republic, said he鈥檚 aiming for a Grammy nomination, and that could be within reach, given the Recording Academy鈥檚 habit of recognizing later work by living-legend types.
Which isn鈥檛 to say that鈥檚 how Stewart carries himself.
鈥淚 like to think I鈥檓 still a pretty normal guy,鈥� he said. 鈥淥bviously, when you鈥檝e got a lot of money, it changes you. But I do a lot of regular things when I鈥檓 with my wife in London. I go 鈥檙ound to the supermarket; I don鈥檛 send people to shop for me.鈥�
In L.A., he enjoys going out for dinner with his adult children 鈥� 鈥淚t thrills me to pick up my phone and see Stewart, Stewart, Stewart, Stewart, Stewart, Stewart鈥� 鈥� and playing what he calls football on his private pitch. (Asked if he cares about American football, he said no 鈥� then demonstrated it by casting about for the name of an NFL team: 鈥淭he Philadelphia Penguins? The Pittsburgh Persons?鈥�)
He moved here in 1975 to escape a punishing British tax rate that he estimated at about 96 per cent of his income. 鈥淭his was the Harold Wilson government,鈥� he
said, the former prime minister鈥檚 name still a bitter taste in his mouth. And though he was homesick at first, he quickly grew to love L.A.
Of course, he added, the rise of the celebrity-industrial complex has rolled back the ease with which stars once amused themselves in this town. 鈥淭he things I used to get away with ... ,鈥� he said, trailing off. 鈥淏ut now everyone鈥檚 got a phone with a camera. You鈥檝e got to watch your step.鈥�
Boo-hoo for Rod Stewart?
鈥淟ook how long I鈥檝e been at it,鈥� he said. 鈥淚f I鈥檓 not used to it by now, I never will be. It鈥檚 all part of the game.鈥�
That also includes watching what he says. Stewart declined to offer his thoughts regarding his neighbour in Palm Beach, explaining that he鈥檇 gotten himself 鈥渋nto a little trouble鈥� recently by describing Trump as a friend.
鈥淪o I refuse to talk anymore,鈥� he said, friendly but firm.
But then he went ahead and complained about the disruption of the president鈥檚 visits. 鈥淵ou鈥檝e got no idea what trouble it causes,鈥� he said. 鈥淣one of us can get along the coastline. We have to go all the way around.鈥�
Stewart chuckled, as though he were suddenly aware of how this one-percenter鈥檚 lament might sound to some. Or perhaps he was simply gladdened by the thought of his spread in Florida, where he said he loves to sit and watch the ocean.
Surely he could do that in L.A.
鈥淵ou see that statue?鈥� he asked in response, pointing maybe 20 feet away. 鈥淭he ocean is that close there. It鈥檚 a gorgeous place.鈥�
In fact, he鈥檇 been down that way just a couple of weeks before, he said.
As we neared the end of our chat, he went inside and rummaged around until he laid his hands on something he鈥檇 evidently lugged home from Florida. It was a painting of himself, clearly made by a fan, overlaid with an image of the Amway Center in Orlando.
He scrawled his signature in one corner of the painting and cheerfully handed it over.
Pinchpenny Rod was regifting it to me.
