hypersongs

Al Stewart

A Scottish-born singer and songwriter who came out of the London folk clubs of the 1960s, made historical and literary songs his signature, and had a hit in 1976 with "Year of the Cat".

The folk clubs

Alastair Ian Stewart was born on September 5, 1945 in Greenock (MusicBrainz says Glasgow) and grew up in Wimborne, Dorset. He started out in a Shadows-style instrumental group, was turned toward folk by Dylan, moved to London in 1965 (one source says 1964) and learned fingerstyle after seeing Bert Jansch. He shared a flat with Paul Simon and listened through the wall as Simon wrote, played at Les Cousins among Jansch, Cat Stevens, Van Morrison and Roy Harper, and in 1965 played guitar on Jackson C. Frank's debut album. His 1966 single "The Elf" on Decca reportedly has Jimmy Page on guitar.

His debut, Bedsitter Images (CBS, October 6, 1967), was recorded in September 1967 with Roy Guest producing and an orchestra arranged by Alexander Faris; Stewart has said the orchestra followed the success of a Judy Collins record and that the cost took about three years of gigs to pay off. Love Chronicles (1969) had an 18-minute title track voted Melody Maker's folk album of the year, with Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones and members of Fairport Convention playing on it. Zero She Flies (April 1970) holds "Manuscript", his first song about historical events, and he played the first Glastonbury Festival in 1970.

Historical songs and Year of the Cat

Orange (1972) and Past, Present and Future (recorded at Trident in April 1973, with Rick Wakeman and Francis Monkman) followed; he called the latter his thesis and says it outsold his first four albums combined. Modern Times (1975) was the first with the producer Alan Parsons and reached number 30 in the US. Year of the Cat (October 22, 1976) reached number five in the US and went platinum, and Time Passages (1978) reached number ten. The title song, written with Peter Wood and released at 4:38 against 6:40 on the album, reached number eight on the US Hot 100, and Phil Kenzie played its saxophone; Stewart says Wood repeated the riff at soundchecks on a Linda Ronstadt tour, the title came from a book on Vietnamese astrology, and Parsons suggested the saxophone.

Later records include 24 Carrots (1980), Russians and Americans (1984), Between the Wars (1995) and Sparks of Ancient Light (2008), and he performed Past, Present and Future and Year of the Cat in full at the Royal Albert Hall in 2015. He received a lifetime achievement award at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards in 2017, and a 50-CD box, The Admiralty Lights, covering 1964 to 2009, came out in 2022. A UK farewell tour with the Empty Pockets was announced for his 80th birthday year.

Albums

  • Bedsitter Images 1967 · CBS

    His 1967 debut: eleven songs of London bedsit life with orchestral arrangements by Alexander Faris.

Songs

  • Swiss Cottage Manoeuvres Bedsitter Images · 1967

    The second track on his debut: a chance meeting in a London bookshop that ends with the narrator unsure what he gained or lost.

Sources

  1. Al Stewart, Wikipedia
  2. Al Stewart bio, alstewart.com
  3. Year of the Cat (song), Wikipedia
  4. Al Stewart interview, Songwriter Universe (2021)