The artist: Rod Stewart

The album: Soulbook (J Records)

The spin: Rod Stewart reinvented himself in the new millennium by exercising his distinctly soulful pipes on classic standards with his “Great American Songbook” collection. Now he returns to his soul roots on “Soulbook,” a thirteen-song collection that represents the soul sounds of Philadelphia, Memphis, and Motown.

Stewart kicks things off with a dramatic rendition of the Four Tops classic, “It’s the Same Old Song” and between that and the last song, he honors soul music’s greats, including The O’Jays, the Temptations, and Sam Cooke. And while it’s a pretty good record, it does have a few minor bumps.

Whenever an artist covers somebody else’s material, it’s important that they offer something fresh in return, and for the most part Stewart delivers. But some of the arrangements are too close to the originals. No one will ever confuse Stewart with Jimmy Ruffin on “What Becomes of the Broken Hearted,” or Brook Benton on “Rainy Night in Georgia,” but he breaks no new ground on either song.
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