Borrowed that description from Invisible Pedestrian in the ICE forum. Here's some Rod news, and yes it's yet another album of covers:

>> Rod Stewart is about to come out of the Great American Songbook into the book of great songs -- rock songs, that is. Stewart has been working in Los Angeles with Grammy-winning producer John Shanks, recording a set of covers that includes Bob Seger's "Still the Same," Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Have You Ever Seen the Rain?," Elvin Bishop's "Fooled Around and Fell in Love," and songs by Neil Young, Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, and Van Morrison.

There's no word yet on when the album will be out, but it marks the first time since 1998's When We Were The New Boys, another covers set, that Stewart has worked in the rock field.

The Seger cover is particularly ironic since the two singers famously tussled over Tom Waits' "Downtown Train" in the late '80s. Seger claimed that a record company executive who knew of Seger's plans to record the song gave Stewart the idea to record it himself. Stewart's version appeared on his 1989 box set Storyteller: The Complete Anthology.

Stewart's studio band for these sessions includes guitarists Tim Pierce and Dean Parks, bassist Leland Sklar, keyboardist Jamie Mahobrec, and drummer Kenny Aronoff.

Stewart's last four albums have been collections of old-time pop standards, all of which have hit the Billboard Top Five. <<

Time for a South Park quote: "Pooped my pants!"

Robert K. Tipsy from Austin

Oh, God. Lee Sklar on bass? Sure sign of a snoozer.

He's a fine bass player, but he mostly winds up playing on stuff like Phil Collins solo albums and songs written by Dianne Warren.

Me too.

He’s always been one to throw in a couple of covers, but Stewart's a decent song writer. Wonder why he doesn’t pen anymore.

I suspect that Stewart is getting similar record label problems as Dolly Parton. She's also a prolific and excellent song writer, but I believe most of her recent albums have been all cover songs. In Dolly's case she has covered recent pop hits and folk songs from the 60s and 70s. Even Bruce Springsteen's latest album is full of cover songs by Pete Seeger.

Springsteen’s got a ‘higher concept’ thing going though.

Is Lee Sklar the skinny freaky bearded dude who was ubiquitous in the eighties? Lemme Google...

Yes! That's him. If there was a Prince's Trust concert or tribute show or benefit this or that, you *always* saw him on bass, it seemed to me. And it was probably often one of those fretless basses whose sound I don't like. (Whoo-oop, whee-oooop mhooop.)

Let's test the IMWAN knowledge pool: Lee Sklar had a counterpart, a percussionist who, like Lee, would show up for any filmed event that included a big band of diverse musicians. So if Phil Collins was playing drums, this guy would be patting bongos. If Steve Winwood needed a gourd-shaker, it would be this guy. If Paul Shaffer was putting together the group to bridge all kinds of musical waters, you'd see this guy kinda bopping behind the timpani.

He was a little guy, completely bald, usually wearing all black, I think. He always wore little round glasses, sunglasses maybe. He'd be the guy in the group the director would cut to for one-point-five seconds between Eric Clapton and, well, probably Lee Sklar.

I don't know his name. Anyone?

Ray Cooper.

That's him!

He and Paul Shaffer have grown into the same person.

Doesn't Cooper have a gig with Six Flags?

Wait a minute. Wasn't Elton only allowed one other musician when he toured the USSR? Wasn't that Ray Cooper?

Lee Sklar usually worked with Danny Kootchmas, Russ Kunkel and Craig Doerge in a session group called The Section. They were all terrific players and released a couple albums of their own. They were often called on to play with singer-songwriter types or chanteuses who didn't have a standing band, so they're all over James Taylor, Jackson Browne, Linda Rondstadt, Graham Nash, etc. (Sklar played a bass with frets.)

Probably. Ray's worked extensively with Elton. First time I ever noticed him was on an Elton John concert video, roundabout '84 or so.

I first learned his name when he was co-musical director with Eric Clapton at The Concert For George, and he was interviewed between songs.