When Rod Stewart walks into the bungalow at the Beverly Hills Hotel, he's greeted by an enormous blow-up of his face on the cover of his new CD, "Soulbook."
"How do you like it?" asks his publicist.
The Rock and Roll Hall of Famer shrugs.
"At least it's not too airbrushed like some of the other ones," he says. "It's embarrassing when they do that."
At 64, Stewart is still the charming, self-deprecating dandy he was when he started out in the music business 40-odd years ago, gaining progressive fame with the Jeff Beck Group, the Faces, and finally as a solo artist -- where he's sold most of his estimated 250 million in album and singles sales.
After three decades of churning out such rollicking hits as "Stay With Me" (with the Faces), "Maggie May" and "Hot Legs," he re-invented himself as a crooner with his wildly popular "Great American Songbook" series. For his new album, "Soulbook" -- out Tuesday -- he mines the rich R&B catalog, re-interpreting gems like "Tracks of My Tears" and "Rainy Night in Georgia."
On this particular press day, Stewart is accompanied by his third wife, Penny. She looks like a Rod Stewart wife -- a blonde Amazon in a very short dress, with impossibly long legs. Penny pulls out a make-up bag and quickly dusts a powder brush over her husband's face before disappearing into the next room to go over his schedule with his manager.
Interestingly, for a man known for his high style, Stewart has no stylist. He runs his fingers through the rooster mop that famously sits atop his noggin.
"OK, let's go," he exclaims, impatient to tackle the first of a half-dozen interviews. It's been about two minutes since he walked through the door. Five minutes before that, he was sitting in his home at the top of the hill. The following is an edited version of the interview.
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