{"id":30272,"date":"2025-12-05T05:30:17","date_gmt":"2025-12-05T10:30:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/?p=30272"},"modified":"2025-11-19T14:39:41","modified_gmt":"2025-11-19T19:39:41","slug":"take-five-early-al-stewart-classics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2025\/12\/05\/take-five-early-al-stewart-classics\/","title":{"rendered":"Take Five: Early Al Stewart Classics"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Al Stewart came to worldwide fame with the release of 1976\u2019s <em>Year of the Cat<\/em>. That lush album skillfully combined the Scottish singer-songwriter\u2019s vivid, cinematic storytelling lyrics and superbly catchy and melodramatic arrangements. But the title track and \u201cOn the Border\u201d were hit singles. Stewart followed that album with <em>Time Passages<\/em>, another hit record featuring two more hits: its title track and \u201cSong on the Radio.\u201d Stewart continues to record and tour to this day, make compelling music that showcases his many gifts.<\/p>\n<p>But Stewart was no newcomer to the music scene in \u201876. <em>Year of the Cat<\/em> was in fact his seventh album. And while the records made before his blockbuster breakthrough sold but a fraction of the later releases, they\u2019re filled with great lyricism and creative instrumentation. In celebration of Stewart\u2019s 80th birthday (September 5), here are five essential tracks from Al Stewart\u2019s earlier days.<\/p>\n<p><strong>\u201cThe Elf\u201d single (1966)<\/strong><br \/>\nStewart\u2019s debut single was this jaunty folk number, with a singalong character that highlighted his Scottish roots. \u201cThe Elf\u201d didn\u2019t chart, but it\u2019s a lovely exemplar of folk-rock, British Isles style. Stewart is joined on acoustic guitar by session musician Jimmy Page. Its flip side, \u201cTurn Into Earth\u201d was first recorded by the Yardbirds, Page\u2019s group.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/_mcIzYO6f2Q?si=sozEXv99ShjyT7hP\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u201cYou Should Have Listened to Al\u201d from <em>Love Chronicles<\/em> (1969)<\/strong><br \/>\nThe dramatic underpinning of Al Stewart\u2019s lyrics is a central quality of his music. The humor within his music is not often commented upon, but there are flashes of it if one looks (listens) closely enough. Stewart\u2019s second LP<em> Love Chronicles<\/em> is a more straight-ahead affair than his debut album, and it\u2019s notorious for one of the first uses of the f-word in a recorded pop song (the album\u2019s lengthy title track). Contrasting that serious tune, \u201cYou Should Have Listened to Al\u201d takes a more lighthearted approach to affairs of the heart. When Stewart found widespread success in 1976, a compilation called<em> The Early Years<\/em> brought together some of his pre-fame recordings. This track is a highlight of that collection as well.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/FFgqwPHVJeA?si=mSaFvq_qMY8kbbL9\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u201cI Don\u2019t Believe You\u201d from <em>Orange<\/em> (1972)<\/strong><br \/>\nA consummate and prolific songwriter, Al Stewart has rarely seen the need to cover songs written by other artists. But he\u2019s on record as being a major Bob Dylan fan, and for his fourth album, 1972\u2019s <em>Orange<\/em>, he turned in a tasty folk-rock reading of Dylan\u2019s \u201cI Don\u2019t Believe You (She Acts Like We Never Have Met).\u201d Orange is also notable for it session players: future Yes keyboardist Rick Wakeman and future Elvis Costello and the Attractions bassist Bruce Thomas.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/DMOVIGgnZQQ?si=_Hr9uu_NZfe5wu6E\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u201cTerminal Eyes\u201d from <em>Past, Present and Future<\/em> (1973)<\/strong><br \/>\nAfter mining themes of love for much of his material, Stewart executed a sharp pivot with 1973\u2019s <em>Past, Present and Future<\/em>. A concept album rooted in history, the album applied Stewart\u2019s masterful storytelling skills in service of top-notch songs. Side Two of the album featured two epic-length tracks, \u201cRoads to Moscow\u201d and \u201cNostradamus.\u201d In between those was the relatively compact \u201cTerminal Eyes,\u201d a musical suicide note with an arrangement inspired by the Beatles\u2019 \u201cI Am the Walrus.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/LHTzlcD0YUg?si=02bRosnZwNrWWiey\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u201cCarol\u201d from <em>Modern Times<\/em> (1975)<\/strong><br \/>\nOnce he moved toward wide-screen lyrical themes, Stewart largely left behind love songs. But for <em>Modern Times<\/em> \u2013 sixth studio LP and final release before the blockbuster <em>Year of the Cat<\/em>, he did pen the breezy and propulsive \u201cCarol,\u201d a tune inspired by a New York City groupie (\u201ceverybody\u2019s and nobody\u2019s lover\u201d). The tune effectively combines Stewart\u2019s folky musical foundation with vivid lyricism and supremely catchy guitar licks.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/RE_PDk6spUc?si=eJKzf221v9LDnibT\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Al Stewart came to worldwide fame with the release of 1976\u2019s Year of the Cat. That lush album skillfully combined the Scottish singer-songwriter\u2019s vivid, cinematic storytelling lyrics and superbly catchy [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":30273,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[5366],"class_list":["post-30272","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-essay","tag-al-stewart","cat-27-id","has_thumb"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30272","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30272"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30272\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":30276,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30272\/revisions\/30276"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30273"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30272"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30272"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30272"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}