Jeff Beck says Rod Steward can't sing rock music anymore

For people dreaming about a reunion of the Jeff Beck Group, with Rod Stewart on vocals, don't get your hopes up. Beck and Stewart have had a love-hate relationship over the years, but this time, their differences are of a physical nature. Beck told us that he and Stewart tried to work together recently, but Stewart just doesn't have it anymore: "Rod doesn't sound the same. We had a rehearsal, and it was 'People Get Ready,' and he couldn't sing it in the key of D anymore, which kind of threw the spanner in the works for me because the whole song loses its majestic quality when you lower it to C. I don't know what it was, but he can't reach D anymore, and I thought, 'This is not good.' He doesn't sing heavy rock-and-roll anymore -- (just) The American Songbook, kind of lightweight ballads and stuff. Which is great -- you know, he's sensible not to push his voice if it's not gonna happen."

The Stewart-Beck relationship was neatly summed up in January 1994 when Stewart was inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame and Beck said, "He loves me, and I hate him."

Stewart will release a new album called Still The Same... Great Rock Classics Of Our Time on October 10th, with cover versions of songs by Elvin Bishop, Creedence Clearwater Revival, and Bob Dylan, among others.

Beck kicks off a U.S. tour on September 6th in Clearwater, Florida.