Al Stewart

[Jim Nasium]

Listening to the car radio a couple of hours ago, heard an interview with Al Stewart. Have always been aware of him through "Year Of The Cat." The song they played was "Somewhere In England 1915." What a great song. I vaguely remember hearing a song "Old Admirals" sometime ago. Any Al Stewart fans here? If so, what have I been missing all this time?

[Borderstone]

What have you been missing Jim? ;) Just one of the most eclectic and lyricly creative (& sometimes confusing) artist of the late '70s. :)

Besides the brilliant,"Year Of the Cat" LP & hit song,Al's recording career spans back to 1967 with his first UK LP,"Bedsitter Images" which I can't find here at all. I do however have his 2nd LP,"Love Chronicles" featuring the guitar work of Jimmy Page. Excellent!

After that are the LP's,"Zero She Flies" (also UK). U.S. LPs like the very hard to find "Orange"
and then the ones I have like "Past,Present & Future","Y.O.T.C",even better than "Cat" his best one,"Time Passages" with the hit of the same name and "Song On The Radio". In 1980 came,"24 Carrots" (get it? :D ) which gave him the hit,"Midnight Rocks". Yep,only 4 hits.

After that the hits stopped but the LP's continued. The others are:

Russians & Americans (nice commentary on cold war mentality.)1984

Last Days Of The Century 1988

(Live)Rhyme In Room 1992

Famous Last Words 1993

Between The Wars 1995 (How prophetic a title!)

A CD from 1996,"Seemed like A Good Idea At The Time".

and in 2000 Down In the Cellar and this year a new CD,"Beach Full Of Stars".

There ya B! Jim. Hope that was helpful,of the handful of LP's I have,i can say the tracks as well as the hits are worth it. Later! :cool:

[ June 13, 2005, 18:10: Message edited by: Borderstone ]

[Sydney Steve]

Jim,
You are right on the mark.
Al Stewart is a master. I recommend you start with his Greatest Hits (to get used to him). Many of the songs he has written are (oddly enough), heavily researched songs describing historical world events. They are invariably ultra melodic and ethereal and well written. They take you away. Hook into him mate . You won't regret it.

[<Ordinary Man>]

Al Stewart is definitely recommended listening. I have only heard his two most famous albums, "Year of the Cat" and "Time Passages," but I can tell you that both of those albums are great. There is something wonderfully strange about his music; many of his songs are about mysterious world travelers who make shady deals while they ponder the endless time-space continuum. It's hard to explain! Anyway, I've been pleasantly surprised by the Al Stewart material that I've heard.

[DJ in MJ]

Al and Gord are one-two with me, and I will sing the praises of both of them.

Stewart's "A Beach Full Of Shells" will be released next week. I caught the 13 tracks from a recent radio show, and I highly recommend this album.

[DJ in MJ]

Jim,

Which radio station were you listening to, what format, and which city? Thanks.

-- David

[Jim Nasium]

David,
sorry I am slow in replying, I am having difficulty calling up Small Talk for some reason, I have somehow got here. If you click on the link below you should see Listen Again click on Mon (Monday) and the show broadcast last Monday should load. The Al Stewart interview starts at about 2 hrs 20 mins. You can jump forward in 5 & 15 min intervals. Do not click to quickly as it can jump back to the begining, if you hear 'Year of The Cat' stop as the interview follows. It is worth listening to. The song 'Somewhere in England 1915' is terrific.

Good luck

Jim.


http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio2/shows/wright/

[DJ in MJ]

Thanks. I wasn't sure if it was the beeb interview or somewhere else, so I appreciate the confirmation.

I haven't been able to log on to small talk either, so it's not just you! :)

[Sheryl]

Right after reading this thread the other day, I was shopping and what do you think they played on the market's radio?? "Time Passages" by Al Stewart! I haven't heard that one on the radio since, what, the 70's? or 80's.... either way, it's been a looooong time!

[Jim Nasium]

Borderstone, SYDNEY STEVE, Ordinary Man & djb. Thank you all for your response to my post, much appreciated. Should have mentioned this in my last post. Remiss of me.

[Borderstone]

You are so welcome Jim! ;) By the way,I was rimiss myself by not mentioning Stewart's various "live" albums but I'm sure they'd be in among his studio ones. :cool:

Also,one of my favorite tracks from "Time Passages" is the song "End Of the Day". It's mostly a moody instrumental but it ends some lyrics about a woman who lives alone. (I'd post the lyrics but I can't recall them all just now.) :rolleyes:

I did have "Russians and Americans" but I found it too "80s" and just a little too "cold war political" for my taste. I gave it away. Guess I'll just stick with late 60's through 1980. ;)

[Sheryl]

Sydney Steve was kind enough to send me some songs of Al's and I was blown away! You were right, he is brilliant!! I suggest everyone give a second look to Al. I have to go run out and buy his greatest hits now....!!

[DJ in MJ]

Welcome, folks.

Now you know why I rank Gord and Al as my two at the top!

[mnmouse]

I remember listening to Al Stewart as a teen. Need to check out some of his new stuff, I guess. Gotta tell ya, I am having a blast learning from you all...it's good to find people who love the songsmiths and storytellers as much as I do.

Al had this line in one of his songs that I have always loved:
"You're on my mind like a song on the radio"

Okay, going off to explore Amazon.com now...

Mouse

[Sheryl]

Just got another gem from Steve... and I've already been to Amazon.com buying his Greatest Hits collection. Now I need more advice -- which one to buy next??

[DJ in MJ]

Try these links:

www.alstewart.com (http://www.alstewart.com)

http://alstewart.famousfolk.com/

[Sheryl]

Thanks, djb.

[Sheryl]

My husband (Gabe) just called from work. He was on the 'net and found out that Al Stewart is playing at a small guitar shop in Santa Monica (McCabe's) next month, so we're going to try to get tickets -- they go on sale this Friday at 10:00 a.m. Ever since Sydney Steve was kind enough to send me some of his songs, I've been re-introduced to Al and am very excited at the thought of seeing him.
****
Tickets go on sale at 10 AM on Fridays, three weeks prior to the weekend of each show. They can be purchased either in person at McCabe's or by phone with your credit card at (310) 828-4497. There is a $3.00 per order charge (not per ticket) for telephone orders.

Tickets may also be purchased by mail, and picked up on the day of the show, although these orders are not processed until the second day of sales. Please send check or money order to Concert Tickets, c/o McCabe's, and be sure to include your phone number, as well as the desired artist, date and showtime with your order. We've had a few stops and starts selling concert tickets online, and we're still working on it, but we hope to have this convenience available to our patrons soon.

All ticket sales are ABSOLUTELY FINAL! There are no refunds or exchanges at any time. Yes, we're nice folks, but this policy must be maintained, so please make your choices carefully. Also, please note that the taking of photographs and all other forms of recording are strictly prohibited during concerts at McCabe's.

Hours of Business:
Monday to Thursday 10 AM-10 PM
Friday and Saturday 10 AM-6 PM
And we're open Sunday 1 PM-5 PM
Phone:
(310) 828-4497
Fax:
(310) 453-4962 Address:
3101 Pico Blvd
Santa Monica, CA 90405
USA
*******
Hey folks, guess who else is playing there??

FRI & SAT 8/12 & 13 - IAN TYSON ($24.50 - on sale 7/22) 8:00 PM each night

Who else is excited?

[Janice]

Originally posted by Sheryl:
Hey folks, guess who else is playing there??

FRI & SAT 8/12 & 13 - IAN TYSON ($24.50 - on sale 7/22) 8:00 PM each night

Who else is excited? Sheryl, are you just finding out about McCabe's? You should definitely keep an eye on their schedule, they have some great stuff that gets booked there.

Ian Tyson is also playing for our concert series here in San Diego (www.AcousticMusicSanDiego.com) on August 10! :)

We are pretty excited to have that feather in our cap.

Janice

[charlene]

Janice - and I am SO jealous you have Ian on Aug.10!!!
it's gonna be great!

[Sheryl]

I first heard of Ian & Sylvia from seeing the old CBC archives, but, loved their sound. So, it would be thrilling to see him for the first time. Janice, when my husband first came here from Toronto when he was 22, he lived in Santa Monica (over the hill from where I live and a bit more into the city -- by the ocean) and he is quite aware of McCabe's. He's known about it all along, he's just not into any evening activities anymore -- we're both too tired usually (that's our fault for getting married late and having kids too late!!) Put it this way -- he was 50 was Joshua was born. Joshua is 5 1/2 now... and he's our third child. "Days off" are never truly days off. Obviously, time to re-prioritize...

[fowlesjohn]

Originally posted by Janice:
[QUOTE]FRI & SAT 8/12 & 13 - IAN TYSON ($24.50 - on sale 7/22) 8:00 PM each night

Ian Tyson is also playing for our concert series here in San Diego (www.AcousticMusicSanDiego.com) on August 10! :)

We are pretty excited to have that feather in our cap.

Janice Woo Hoo! brilliant Janice to think that you will be wearing a Robin Hood style hat with a feather in it.UK readers will know what I mean about you then being the Principal Boy.

Just one piece of advice
I suspect you would like to shamelessly promote your site a la Madame Cowette.
I see that you put your site's address as plain
www.AcousticMusicSanDiego.com (http://www.AcousticMusicSanDiego.com)
if instead you put the full moniker i.e.
http://www.AcousticMusicSanDiego.com
I reckon it will appear as a clickable hyperlink. OK now I'll do a preview to check; bingo
I wuz rite (but now the way you wrote it is also a hyperlink how strange!)
John Fowles
http://www.teachwithmovies.org/guides/robin-hood-DVDcover.jpg

[Janice]

Originally posted by charlene:
Janice - and I am SO jealous you have Ian on Aug.10!!!
it's gonna be great! Well, Char, you and Lisa come for a visit in August. By then I'll be all settled into the house and there will be plenty of room for visitors.

[charlene]

oh how I wish I could! We'll just be back from Florida on Aug.7 and unfortunately I'll have to get back to work to pay for any future excursions.
If between now and then I win the lottery you can expect us there pronto!!!!
Char

[BILLW]

Originally posted by charlene:
oh how I wish I could! We'll just be back from Florida on Aug.7 and unfortunately I'll have to get back to work to pay for any future excursions.
If between now and then I win the lottery you can expect us there pronto!!!!
Char Char,

People from Canada visit Florida in August ? Be careful I hear it's hot but I've never been there in the Summer. Have fun - bring sunscreen, LOL.

Bill :)

[fowlesjohn]

I am rather amused at how often Al the Stewart not our watchman Al is featured in topics here.
I feel as a former teenager who grew up in the Bournemouth area of England that I should
mention that:-
"Glasgow native Al Stewart began his career playing guitar in Tony Blackburn's (Bournemouth) band the
Sabres, and moved from there to the London folk club scene. ...

and I suspect that not many people will know that his illustrious pop music career started in a lowly fashion as a sidesman
to an aspiring singing star from Bournemouth by name of Tony Blackburn in 1963.UK readers will be well aware that Tony and
his faithful dog Arnold in fact ended up as a Disk Jockey instead ,first on the 60's "pirate" station Radio Caroline
http://www.eylard.nl/OffShoreRadio/Caroline/Ross_September83.jpg
then in 1967 when the BBC finally overcame the ridiculous needle-time limits imposed by the Musician's Union,Tony in fact opened the
new Radio One on at some point he blotted his copy book and fell out of favo(u)r with the Beeb and joned the independant
(commercial) statio Radio London.Al of couse faired rather better. I say all this because as a poor student in the late 50's
I used to work the summer vacation for Bournemouth Corporation who in those days had a total monopoly on all beach opertions.
The last 3 or 4 years were enjoyably spent in a beach cafe/restaurant at Durley Chine:-
http://www.247selfdrive.com/images/BournemouthBeachDurleyChine.jpg
there I met Jacquie now the wife of my old school friend and Lighthead Alan (it was Jackie who organised a series of great
skiing holidays in the 70's that I will be mentioning in a small talk forum topic shortly.Now Jackie's main and embarassing
claim to fame is that (after I left the cafe) Tony Blackburn started working there and she had a date with him
I did a google for these two stars and found an interview with Al at:-
http://groups-beta.google.com/group/rec.music.dylan/msg/bf7c69f50a642c7b?hl=en
i.e. a Bob Dylan newsgroup of all places
part of it said
"RC: To go from the sublime to the ridiculous, what about Tony Blackburn & the Sabres?


AS: I was a Sabre, but I was seventeen, so there are mitigating circumstances! I played lead guitar, very briefly, and got paid
ten shillings a night, as I recall. I only did about five gigs for him. That was during his Elvis Presley impersonator period
He used to wear a gold lame jacket and, at a strategic moment during "One Night With You" he would lie down on stage and rip
it open and expose his chest. This supposedly should have sent the female fans into a frenzy, had they not been filing their
nails and looking in the other direction at the time!


[Tony Blackburn later had one or two very minor hit records, but
is more famous as a DJ. After working on the 'pirate stations'
which operated from ships and other off-shore locations in the
1960's, he played the very first record on the BBC's pop station,
Radio 1, which opened in 1967. Today, he operates on a local
station in London, and is the butt of many media 'jokes'. -C.H."

[charlene]

I love Florida in the summer! I'm either in the pool, in the pond or in the Gulf of Mexico with a drink in my hand!!. I'm a Cancerian and can't get enuf of the water!
lol
The heat I absorb during my holiday is stored for the long cold winter.....along with the weight gain!
lol
I wear SPF 45 and still get tanned up pretty good. Must be the Italian blood in me....
;)

[Jim Nasium]

Question for John Fowles.

Who said "Tonight we will eat at the table of my fuddur at Noddingham"

He then proceeded to walk the 205 miles between Dover & Noddingham in an eye watering speed of approx. 35 miles per hour.

This is an oblique reference to your picture of Olivia & Errol.

[Patti]

Back in the eartly 70's, I was hitchkiking with a friend and two polite gentlemen picked us up. The were polite enough to get us ripped out of our minds and I remember them playing this good music. I asked who it was and they said it was Al Stewart. Ever since then I've liked Al Stewart. (and polite people.)

[Borderstone]

I just read the album jacket of Time Passages LP and found out it was produced by Alan Parsons (of Alan Parsons Project of course:rolleyes: ) I never noticed that,now I see why Al went from cult favorite to hit maker...(all 4 hits! :) )

Good job Mr. Parsons! :cool:

[DJ in MJ]

AP also produced the two previous LPs - Modern Times and Year Of The Cat.

[Sheryl]

I'm off in a few minutes to go see Al! I'll report back tomorrow!

[johnfowles]

Great if you sneak backstage Sheryl!!!
just tell Al that I once worked at the same cafe omn the Bournemouth beach front where his old friend Tony Blackburn later worked OK
John

[Sheryl]

Well, it's officially tomorrow - it's 1:15 a.m. (late Friday night). I have just been to the local "midnight madness" at our bookseller to buy Harry Potter... but, this post is not to discuss that!

Gabe and I had an AMAZING time at the Al Stewart concert! He is phenomen-AL! He sounds *exactly* the same as he did in the 70's! To cut to the chase, he was witty, entertaining, EXTREMELY chatty, and a consummate performer. There were only 150 of us in the back room of the guitar store, McCabe's, in Santa Monica (California). It was a regular performance area with a stage, lights, sound room, the whole deal. There were vintage guitars, mandolins, banjos, autoharps, and everything hanging from the walls, as well as pictures and posters of many music greats throughout the store. It looked as if we'd stepped back into a time warp from the 60's. Al sang two of my favorite songs of his: Merlin's Time and Roads to Moscow. He took requests and was very friendly to everyone. We were third in line awaiting him before the performance and just as the babysitter called me, UP HE WALKS!! Gabe jogged my arm and I was like (to the babysitter) "Yeah, sure, whatever. I gotta go." And I hung up! He came up and, apparently, knew the guy at the head of the line, they hugged, he then stood there and surveyed us all in line and waved to us, saying, "Hello! See you all later!" What a nice guy!! He is average height, thin, wore tan slacks and a long-sleeved light blue business-type shirt, open at the top button. Although on one of his CDs his face looks angular, it looks more rounded now, and his hair is a greyish/blond shade, short, and combed straight back.

http://sc.groups.msn.com/tn/70/B1/corfiddisplay/4/38.jpg

He smiled a LOT and really had us in the palm of his hand. I didn't take down a set list as I don't the names of most of his songs. But, he did sing those two I mentioned plus Year of the Cat, the Immelman Turn, Katherine of Oregon, Gina in the Kings Road, Oh Carol, Apple Cider Re-constitution, and several others from his Greatest Hits CD. O.K., here are the ones from his Greatest Hits album he sang: Bedsitter Images (I think he sang this one), In Brooklyn, Soho, On the Border, Song on the Radio. Oh, also one about Joseph Stalin called, I think, Joe the Georgian. He had a *really* funny way of introducing that one. He could very well have sung others, but, as I have never heard many of them before, I couldn't say. The ones I mentioned I'd already heard from the three CD's I recently bought. I really can't rave enough about him. He was signing autographs before and after the performance and I really would have loved to have stayed and chatted, but, it was already 11:00 p.m. and we had to get back to release the babysitter. A memorable evening for sure! Oh, almost forgot to mention... throughout the evening, Al did a few impressions, one of Dylan (dead on!), another of a famous rocker who he refused to name because he was making fun of him, and someone else.. it's too late now and I can't think of it. What a funny guy!!

Lastly, I'll just mention that Gabe and I plan to get tickets to see Ian Tyson who will also be playing there in August.

[ July 18, 2005, 00:14: Message edited by: Sheryl ]

[DJ in MJ]

Very typical Al.

Exactly why he ís at the top of my list with Gord.

[Sydney Steve]

Sheryl,
Thou art a bitch. I am jealous to the nth degree...(and in part your wonderful post is responsible!)

To see and experience masters of their art like you have so recently - don't underestimate how blessed you are...

XX

[mnmouse]

Sheryl,

Glad you had a great time. Al Stewart's music brings me back to a great time in my life. Missed you at chat last night...but nice to hear you were having such an enjoyable evening!!

Sharron

[Sheryl]

Thanks, all! (Don't worry about Steve's post -- he and I are "sympatico"!! Funny guy!) I hope to see Al again, although the flyer said it was a rare West-coast appearance. He was also mentioning that he had just moved. I'd *hoped* it was to L.A.!! Oh, almost forgot, he also sang "On the Border." He travels quite a bit, he said. So, if he plays Vegas or something, that'll be another reason to return there!! (HINT HINT -- YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE)

[Sydney Steve]

http://img335.imageshack.us/img335/4647/cakbin8d6wc.jpg (http://www.imageshack.us)

....and what good taste in a song Sheryl. On The Border" is a classic....

[Borderstone]

Mr. Stewart will be here in Phoenix next week for all those close enough to travel. I forgot the date but then again,I doubt I'll be attending. Check tour date guides wherever you may find them. Good luck ya'll! :)

[Sheryl]

O.K, just edited my original "review" a bit to include more songs. I had to get the CD case out of the car to see the song names.