Rod Stewart returns to standards

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PALM BEACH, Fla., Oct. 19 (UPI) -- The Great American Songbook continues to hold sway over British-born singer Rod Stewart.

"An addiction, really, to these songs" has led the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer to release "Fly Me to the Moon ... The Great American Songbook Volume V," another in his ongoing, best-selling collection of standards. Stewart said he and producer Richard Perry "tried to emphasize a bit more tempo on this album," but he said it's never a problem filling one of these sets with great material.

"It's just an inexhaustible supply of songs," Stewart said, "but I think this is by far the best of the whole lot. I'm very comfortable with these songs now."

Stewart is gearing up for an eight-show run starting Nov. 6 in the Colosseum at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas and is eyeballing a 2012 tour that will focus on his five American Songbook Albums. He also "wouldn't mind my old job back" with the rock band the Faces, which has recently reunited with Simply Red's Mick Hucknall singing, but Stewart said schedules need to be coordinated for that to happen.