1969–1975

The U.S. band Cactus offered Stewart a job as lead singer but he and Jeff Beck Band mate Ron Wood decided instead to join The Faces (the remnants of Small Faces after the departure of singer Steve Marriott).

Stewart also signed a solo recording contract with Mercury Records. An Old Raincoat Won't Ever Let You Down became his first solo album in 1969 (it was known as The Rod Stewart Album in the U.S.). It established the template for his solo sound: a heartfelt mixture of folk, rock, and country blues, all informed by a British working-class sensibility, with both original material (Cindy's Lament and the title song) and cover versions (Ewan MacColl's Dirty Old Town and Mike d'Abo's Handbags and Gladrags) being very effective.

The Faces released their debut album First Step in early 1970 with a rock and roll style similar to the Rolling Stones that was a major departure from the psychedelic-tinged pop of Small Faces. While the album did better in the UK than the U.S., the Faces quickly earned a strong live following. Stewart would release his second album, Gasoline Alley that autumn (Elkie Brooks would go on to achieve a hit with a version of the title track in 1983). Rod's new approach was similar to his first album, as exemplified by the dynamic but haunting title track, also mandolin was introduced into the sound. He also launched a solo tour.

Stewart sang guest vocals for the Australian group Python Lee Jackson on In a Broken Dream in 1970. His payment was a set of seat covers for his car. It was re-released in 1972 to become a worldwide hit.


The single cover to Maggie MayStewart's 1971 solo album Every Picture Tells a Story made him a household name when the B-side of his minor hit Reason to Believe, Maggie May, started receiving radio play. The album and the single hit #1 in both the U.S. and the UK simultaneously, a chart first, in September. A loss of innocence tale set off by a striking mandolin part (by Ray Jackson of Lindisfarne), Maggie May was also named in The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll, which is one of three songs by him to appear on that list. The rest of the album was equally strong, with Mandolin Wind again showcasing that instrument, (I Know) I'm Losing You adding hard-edged soul to the mix, and Tomorrow is a Long Time a cover of a Bob Dylan song. But the ultimate manifestation of the early Stewart solo style was the Stewart-Wood-penned Every Picture Tells a Story itself: powered by Mick Waller's drumming and a mostly acoustic arrangement, it is a fast, rocking, headlong romp relating the picaresque adventures of the singer.

The second Faces album, Long Player, was released in early 1971 which enjoyed greater chart success than First Step. The Faces also got their only U.S. Top 40 hit with Stay With Me from their third album A Nod Is as Good as a Wink...To a Blind Horse released in late 1971. This album reached the Top 10 on both sides of the Atlantic on the back of the success of Every Picture Tells A Story. Throughout this period there was a marked dichotomy between Stewart's solo and group work, the former being meticulously crafted while the latter tended towards the boozy and sloppy. The Faces were unable to perform Stewart's solo work effectively in concert, as the subsequent Rod Stewart/Faces Live album would show; faithful renditions of those songs would have to wait two decades until Stewart's MTV Unplugged appearance. However Steve Jones from The Sex Pistols regarded The Faces very highly and named them as a main influence on the British punk rock movement.

The Faces had an extensive tour in 1972 with growing tension in the band over Stewart's solo career enjoying more success than the band's. Stewart released Never a Dull Moment in the same year. Repeating the Every Picture formula for the most part, it reached #2 on the U.S. album charts and #1 in the UK and enjoyed further good notices from reviewers. You Wear It Well being a hit single that reached #13 in the U.S. and went to #1 in the UK, while Twisting the Night Away made explicit Stewart's debt to Sam Cooke.

For the body of his early solo work Stewart earned tremendous critical praise. Rolling Stone’s 1980 Illustrated History of Rock & Roll includes this in its Stewart entry:

Rarely has a singer had as full and unique a talent as Rod Stewart [...] a writer who offered profound lyricism and fabulous self-deprecating humor, teller of tall tales and honest heartbreaker, he had an unmatched eye for the tiny details around which lives turn, shatter, and reform [...] and a voice to make those details indelible. [... His solo albums] were defined by two special qualities: warmth, which was redemptive, and modesty, which was liberating. If ever any rocker chose the role of Everyman and lived up to it, it was Rod Stewart.
The Faces released their final album Ooh La La which reached #1 in the UK and #21 in the U.S. in 1973. The Faces went on their final tour in 1974 to support Ooh La La and the single Pool Hall Richard. The band formally broke up in 1975 with Ron Wood joining The Rolling Stones as their guitar player and Stewart pursuing his solo career.

Stewart would release the Smiler album in late 1974 which proved to be a disappointment. In Britain it reached No.1, and the single Farewell, #7, but only #13 on the Billboard pop album charts and the single Mine For Me only #91 on the Billboard pop singles charts. Smiler is generally regarded as Stewart's weakest album of the seventies; it was also his last original album for Mercury Records. After the release of the double album compilation The Best Of Rod Stewart, he switched over to Warner Bros. Records and remained with them throughout the vast majority of his career.