Not The Faces, Not The Jeff Beck Group: Rod Stewart's Band That Time Forgot

Before a wildly successful solo career and his time in the Faces, Rod Stewart was a member of the Jeff Beck Group, the Ronnie Wood act that set the blueprint for hard rock in the late '60s. And prior to that, Stewart was in another notable, if fleeting, musical collective. That act was called Steampacket, and if they had formed even five years after their mid-'60s genesis, they'd likely rank among the best supergroups in history. Instead, Steampacket was a remarkably effective British rock and pop talent incubator. Even though the act never recorded a true album or even released a single, Steampacket merits a mention in rock history for bringing exposure to Stewart and other musical luminaries. 

Steampacket (or "The Steampacket," as they were sometimes known) was an evolution of the Brian Auger Trinity, a jazz and blues tribute group formed by its eponymous organ player, with a consistently growing and changing lineup that once included Jimmy Page on guitar. And while the band had a lot going for it, Steampacket barely got off the ground before they disbanded. 

In 1965, the Brian Auger Trinity attracted singers Julie Driscoll and Long John Baldry. At that time, Brian Auger and Baldry's goals aligned: The former was growing more interested in soul, while the latter wanted to create a group with multiple singers who could perform various soul favorites. The group, now called Steampacket, included a third vocalist and rock star chameleon who played in an absurd number of bands: Rod Stewart.

Steampacket secured the same manager as the popular Yardbirds and opened for the Rolling Stones on 1965 tour dates, but it's tough to last in the music industry without any recorded material. Baldry had a record deal apart from that of Steampacket, complicating efforts to cut an album. Their handler, Giorgio Gomelsky, taped a pre-show Steampacket rehearsal and that bootleg has circulated for decades.

In the end, Steampacket barely lasted a year and was over by 1966, although the members all found success on their own. Baldry topped the U.K. chart in 1967 with "Let the Heartaches Begin," while Julie Driscoll and the Brian Auger Trinity had a Top 5 hit in the U.K. in 1968 with "This Wheel's on Fire." And after a stint in the Jeff Beck Group in the late '60s, Stewart went on to become one of the biggest solo rock stars of the '70s and beyond.