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
Production
Keith Naftaly – A&R
Clive Davis – producer
Richard Perry – producer (1–3, 7, 11, 13)
Phil Ramone – producer (4–6, 8–10, 12, 14), vocal production (11)
Tal Bergman – associate producer (1)
Renato Neto – associate producer (1)
Ben McCarthy – production coordinator (1–3, 7, 11, 13)
Daphna Kaster –music consultant (1–3, 7, 11, 13)
Jill Dell'Abate – production manager and music contractor (4–6, 8–10, 12, 14)
Alli Truch – creative director
Jeri Heiden for SMOG L.A. – art direction
Andrew MacPherson – photography
Rod Stewart – liner notes
Bill Zehme – liner notes
Annie Challis – management
Arnold Stiefel – management
Technical credits
Stephen Marcussen – mastering (1–3, 7, 11, 13) at Marcussen Mastering (Hollywood, California)
Ted Jensen – mastering (4–6, 8–10, 12, 14) at Sterling Sound (New York City, New York)
Lauren Wild – special production support at Tyrell Studios (1–3, 7, 11, 13)
Larry Emerine and Don Tyler – additional production support at Precision Lacquer (Hollywood, California) (1–3, 7, 11, 13)
Drew L. – additional production support at Quality CD Duplication (Los Angeles, California) (1–3, 7, 11, 13)
Carter Humphrey – mixing (1–3, 7, 11, 13), recording (2, 3)
Mark Valentine – recording (1)
Jeffrey "Woody" Woodruff – recording (2, 3, 7, 11, 13), additional engineer (4–6, 8–10, 12, 14)
Frank Filipetti – recording (4–6, 8–10, 12, 14), mixing (4–6, 8–10, 12, 14)
J.J. Blair – additional engineer and Pro Tools technician (1–3, 7, 11, 13)
Brian Cook – additional engineer and Pro Tools technician (1–3, 7, 11, 13)
Steve Deutsch – additional engineer and Pro Tools technician (1–3, 7, 11, 13), Pro Tools operator (4–6, 8–10, 12, 14)
Alex Gibson – additional engineer and Pro Tools technician (1–3, 7, 11, 13)
Bobby Ginsberg – additional engineer and Pro Tools technician (1–3, 7, 11, 13)
Johnny Kubelka – additional engineer and Pro Tools technician (1–3, 7, 11, 13)
Trent Slatton – additional engineer and Pro Tools technician (1–3, 7, 11, 13)
Joel Moss – additional engineer (4–6, 8–10, 12, 14)
Freddy Pinero – additional engineer (4–6, 8–10, 12, 14)
Chris Steinmetz – additional engineer (4–6, 8–10, 12, 14)
Wade Childers – assistant engineer (4–6, 8–10, 12, 14)
Brian Dixon – assistant engineer (4–6, 8–10, 12, 14)
Andrew Felluss – assistant engineer (4–6, 8–10, 12, 14), mix assistant (4–6, 8–10, 12, 14), Pro Tools operator (4–6, 8–10, 12, 14)
Nick Howard – assistant engineer (4–6, 8–10, 12, 14)
Timothy Olmstead – assistant engineer (4–6, 8–10, 12, 14), mix assistant (4–6, 8–10, 12, 14)
Ryan Smith – assistant engineer (4–6, 8–10, 12, 14)
Pete Karam – Pro Tools operator (4–6, 8–10, 12, 14)
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)