It Had to Be You: The Great American Songbook is the first album of American pop standards recorded by British musician Rod Stewart, and his 20th album overall. It was released on 22 October 2002, and became the first in a five-volume series.
The album was Stewart's first release for Sony Music imprint J Records. It included his second recording of "Ev'ry Time We Say Goodbye".
A live DVD of the same title was released on 4 February 2003, which featured performances of material from the studio album as well as Stewart's earlier material.
Contents
Personnel
Production
Producers – Richard Perry (tracks 1–3, 7, 11 & 13); Phil Ramone (tracks 4–6, 8–10, 12 & 14)
Associate producers on track 1 – Tal Bergman and Renato Neto
Vocal production on track 11 – Phil Ramone
Executive producer – Clive Davis
Production coordination on tracks 1–3, 7, 11 & 13 – Ben McCarthy
Music consultant on tracks 1–3, 7, 11 & 13 – Daphna Kaster
Production manager and music contractor on tracks 4–6, 8–10, 12 & 14 – Jill Dell'Abate
Recording engineers – Mark Valentine (track 1); Carter Humphrey (tracks 2 & 3); Jeff "Woody" Woodruff (tracks 2, 3, 7, 11 & 13); Frank Filipetti (tracks 4–6, 8–10, 12 & 14)
Additional engineering and Pro Tools technicians on tracks 1–3, 7, 11 & 13 – J.J. Blair, Brian Cook, Steve Deutsch, Alex Gibson, Bobby Ginsberg, Johnny Kubelka and Trent Slatton
Additional engineering on tracks 4–6, 8–10, 12 & 14 – Joel Moss, Freddy Pinero, Chris Steinmetz and Jeff "Woody" Woodruff
Assistant engineers on tracks 4–6, 8–10, 12 & 14 – Wade Childers, Brian Dixon, Andrew Felluss, Nick Howard, Timorhy Olmstead and Ryan Smith
Pro Tools operation on tracks 4–6, 8–10, 12 & 14 – Steve Deutsch, Andrew Felluss and Pete Karam
Mixing – Carter Humphrey (tracks 1–3, 7, 11 & 13); Frank Filipetti (tracks 4–6, 8–10, 12 & 14)
Mix assistants on tracks 4–6, 8–10, 12 & 14 – Andrew Felluss and Timorhy Olmstead
Tracks 1–3, 7, 11 & 13 mastered by Stephen Marcussen at Marcussen Mastering (Los Angeles, California); tracks 4–6, 8–10, 12 & 14 mastered by Ted Jensen at Sterling Sound (New York City)
Special production support on tracks 1–3, 7, 11 & 13 – Lauren Wild
Additional production support on tracks 1–3, 7, 11 & 13 – Larry Emerine at Precision Lacquer (Los Angeles); Drew L. and Don Tyler at Quality CD Duplication (Los Angeles)
Creative director – Alli Truch
Art direction – Jeri Heiden for SMOG L.A.
Photography – Andrew MacPherson
Liner notes – Rod Stewart and Bill Zehme
Live DVD
"Forever Young" (Jim Cregan, Kevin Savigar, Bob Dylan, Rod Stewart)
"Some Guys Have All the Luck" (Jeff Fortgang)
"They Can't Take That Away from Me" (G. Gershwin, I. Gershwin)
"The Way You Look Tonight" (Fields, Kern)
"These Foolish Things" (Link, Marvell, Strachey)
"Moonglow" (DeLange, Hudson, Mills)
"Every Time We Say Goodbye" (Porter)
"The Very Thought of You" (Noble)
"That Old Feeling" (Brown, Fain)
"You Go to My Head" (Coots, Gillespie)
"For All We Know" (Coots, Lewis)
"The Nearness of You" (Carmichael, Washington)
"That's All" (Brandt, Haymes)
"We'll Be Together Again" (Fischer, Laine)
"Rhythm of My Heart" (Marc Jordan, John Capek)
"Downtown Train" (Tom Waits)
"Maggie May" (Stewart, Martin Quittenton)
"Young Turks" (Stewart, Carmine Appice, Duane Hitchings, Savigar)
"Hot Legs" (Stewart, Gary Grainger)