![]() The whole room froze…you could have heard a pin drop. I got an acoustic guitar out, and I played “Masters Of War,” which was one of Dylan’s most intense early songs. So while the guys were at the pub, I’d play some songs onstage during the interval. I didn’t drink, so I didn’t want to go to the pub. We’d play for an hour and then the rest of the band would go over to the pub, and then come back to play for another hour. We were a regular band at Bournemouth’s hottest club, and we played there every week. ![]() I started buying his records, and as a side project, I started learning his songs. In the midst of doing that, I discovered this very esoteric American singer named Bob Dylan, who I thought sounded like a farmhand but wrote incredible lyrics. Here’s the audio of Al Stewart’s classic hit, “Year of the Cat.” Around 1963-65 I was playing in local beat groups in Bournemouth. In the midst of doing that, the Beatles came along, and the Shadows were pushed out of the limelight. When I got a guitar, I learned lots of Shadows tunes, and I joined an instrumental combo and we played at the local village dances. They were incredibly successful with about 30 hit records all instrumentals. In England, the Shadows were the catalysts. ![]() The next thing that happened was when I left school, rock & roll had launched all these guitar players and rock bands. So I was listening to all of that, and I wasn’t writing songs at that time. Like everybody else, when I was around 13, I got caught up listening to all the early rock & roll stars like Eddie Cochran, the Everly Brothers, Elvis and Chuck Berry. How did you get into music and start writing songs?Īl Stewart: Well, those are two different things. Stewart spoke openly about his career, his songs, and key points in his life, and he also told some funny stories.ĭK: I read that you were born in Glasgow, and then you grew up in England. He tells how he got started as a singer/songwriter, how he wrote his hits “Year of the Cat” and “Time Passages, and he discusses his songwriting process. We are pleased to do this new Q&A interview with Al Stewart. He subsequently released the albums 24 Carrots (1980, which contained the hit “Midnight Rocks”), Russians & Americans (1984), Last Days of the Century (1988), Famous Last Words (1993), Between The Wars (1995), Down in the Cellar (2000), A Beach Full of Shells (2005) and Sparks of Ancient Light (2008). ![]() Besides the title track single, the album contained the chart hit, “On The Border.” Then in 1978, he released the album Time Passages, which contained the title track hit and “Song on the Radio,” which was a Top 30 hit.įollowing these two platinum albums, Stewart focused more on his folk/rock music style (rather than pop). In 1976, Stewart released his breakthrough album, Year of the Cat. In 1975, he released his next album, Modern Times, which contained his first chart hit, “Carol.” Then in 1973, Stewart released his classic album, Past, Present and Future, which he considers to be his best album. He became known for his unique and descriptive lyric writing, and he wrote in-depth about literary and historical topics. Al Stewart performing live.īy the late ‘60s and early ‘70s, Stewart became a leading figure on the British folk scene, and he recorded his albums Bedsitter Images (1967), Love Chronicles (1969), Zero She Flies (1970) and Orange (1972). He was influenced by listening to early classic songs by Bob Dylan and Paul Simon, and then he developed his own songwriting. He learned to play guitar, and he played in rock cover bands before developing a passion for folk music. Stewart, who is now 76, was born in Glasgow, Scotland, and he grew up in Wimborne, England. Here’s a link for more information: Time Passages Special Edition The new packages also come with a DVD and an illustrated 69-page book. The new Time Passages edition comes in a 4-disc boxed set, with the recordings newly remastered from the original master tapes by legendary producer, Alan Parsons. These two records have become classics and remain popular to this day.īoth the Year of the Cat and Time Passages albums have recently been released in new deluxe editions by Esoteric Recordings, a UK label. Both songs were six minutes long (with edited versions for radio airplay), and featured soaring saxophone solos, lush strings and other instrumentation. Both songs had unique, distinctive lyrics accompanied by long, flowing music arrangements. The singles “Year of the Cat” and “Time Passages” were two of the biggest and most memorable songs of that era. Here’s an excerpt of our interview with Al Stewart, about how he wrote his classic hit “Year of the Cat,” and his albums Year of the Cat and Time Passages.
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