Al Stewart

Jim Nasium · 06-13-2005, 11:35 AM

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 · 06-13-2005, 06:05 PM

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!

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

Sydney Steve · 06-15-2005, 02:58 AM

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.

06-15-2005, 06:24 AM

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 · 06-15-2005, 09:45 AM

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 · 06-15-2005, 10:50 AM

Jim,

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

-- David

Jim Nasium · 06-16-2005, 01:05 PM

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 · 06-16-2005, 01:13 PM

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 · 06-17-2005, 01:18 AM

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 · 06-17-2005, 11:23 AM

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 · 06-17-2005, 03:10 PM

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.

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.)

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 · 06-17-2005, 11:39 PM

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 · 06-18-2005, 07:55 AM

Welcome, folks.

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

mnmouse · 06-18-2005, 08:53 AM

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 · 06-18-2005, 12:49 PM

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 · 06-18-2005, 01:18 PM

Try these links:

www.alstewart.com

http://alstewart.famousfolk.com/

Sheryl · 06-18-2005, 06:12 PM

Thanks, djb.

Sheryl · 06-19-2005, 04:30 PM

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 · 06-21-2005, 11:19 AM

Quote:

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 · 06-21-2005, 02:50 PM

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

Sheryl · 06-21-2005, 08:15 PM

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 · 06-21-2005, 09:56 PM

[quote]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
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

Janice · 06-22-2005, 12:41 PM

Quote:

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 · 06-22-2005, 02:31 PM

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 · 06-22-2005, 03:18 PM

Quote:

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


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