Rod Stewart could join Colosseum’s rotating lineup

You gotta love Rod Stewart's memory tools.

The singer who showed the world how to party like a rock star leaves a puzzle unsolved at the beginning of a phone interview. Yellowing clips in the R-J archives reveal that when he sang at the Thomas & Mack Center in 1984, he told the crowd Faces had played Vegas in 1972.

Any memories of that one?

No. Not at first, anyway. But by the end of the short chat, Stewart circles back to it. "It's all coming back to me now. ... We did play in Vegas with Faces. Yes, we did," he says.

"I was going out with a certain girl at the time who had the centerspread in Playboy."

And another thing.

"We all hired Lear jets. We had one each. We were becoming really big shots, so we all took a Lear jet and did the show. Now, where we played, I do not know."

And the centerfold's name? "You know, I'm only trying to remember her name now. I only have to look through all 12 months of 1974!"

(Based on a Ron Wood fan website, the Faces date was probably Aug. 29, 1972, at the old convention center. Elvis Presley would have been singing right next door at the Las Vegas Hilton. And the centerfold? Quite likely Bebe Buell, a famous groupie who went on to be the November 1974 Playmate and mother of Liv Tyler).

Stewart never will be accused of not living well, but things have changed. The 65-year-old and his third wife, Penny Lancaster, have a 4-year-old at home and another baby due early next year. And the singer just released his fifth album of Sinatra-era standards, "Fly Me to the Moon ... The Great American Songbook: Vol. 5."

And now he's playing Caesars Palace, which would have seemed unimaginable when he was screamin' "Stay With Me" with Faces.

In fact, Stewart says it still seems unimaginable to some. Promoting the new album in England, he had to explain to some interviewers that Vegas shows are no longer "people having their dinners (with) banging of plates and waiters walking back and forth."

The eight shows in the Colosseum at Caesars Palace between Saturday and Nov. 21 are being positioned as a test. If Stewart fills seats and both he and venue operator AEG Live are happy, he will join the Colosseum's rotating lineup the way Cher, Bette Midler and Elton John have done before him.

"I think I'm gonna love it," he says. "I live down in Los Angeles, so it's cool for me to go (home) every night, be in my own bed instead of being out on the road. Hopefully, it's a big success and I can stay longer."

But Stewart says he wouldn't accessorize a custom production the way John did with "The Red Piano."

"The only criticism I had of the show was there was a bit too much paraphernalia onstage," he says. "And I don't think he needs it. I think his music stands up for itself. Just a bit too many flashing lights. I think he had floating dolls? I think his music is good enough. For my money, anyway."

The Colosseum shows will be a career retrospective, the same production Stewart toured last summer, playing 33 dates from Europe to Russia. He promises some "pretty good tricks" that "went down very well."

But, "once again, I like to let the music speak for itself."

"Fly Me to the Moon" debuted at No. 4 on Billboard's album chart last month. Five albums of standards is more than some career crooners have recorded.

"It never was a lark," Stewart says. "These are songs I love, that we all grew up with, no matter how old you are. These songs seem to enter your consciousness and stay there, don't they?"

But lest you think this is simply what he does now, "I've got the feeling this will be the fifth and final 'American Songbook.' "

He had to do at least one more, he explains, so he could finally record some up-tempo songs. He wants to be able to do a whole concert of the standards. And if you do that, "you need some up-tempo stuff."

He might slip "I Get a Kick Out of You" into the Caesars shows, to see if a swingin' tune fits in better with his classic hits. "I tried four or five years ago to do a rock show with the standards in the middle of the show, and the two don't blend. I've found it's either one or the other."

"They're two genres so far removed from each other. When I'm doing 'Hot Legs,' I don't think of 'These Foolish Things.' "

Contact reporter Mike Weatherford at mweatherford@ reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0288.