"Year of the Cat", anything else? Even the reasonably involved musical listener would have problems naming another song by Al Stewart. Just like "Streets of London" is forever associated with Ralph McTell, an artist not dissimilar to Stewart, "Year of the Cat" is the song of his that is well known but it still gives Stewart an audience and a career.
But, like McTell, Stewart has put out a lot of product. Some twenty albums thus far.
wikipedia: Al Stewart (born Alastair Ian Stewart, 5 September 1945) is a Scottish singer-songwriter and folk-rock musician. Stewart came to stardom as part of the British folk revival in the '60s and '70s, and developed his own unique style of combining folk-rock songs with delicately woven tales of the great characters and events from history. He is best known for his hit 1976 single "Year of the Cat" from the platinum album Year of the Cat.
This is his fourth album, four years before "Year of the Cat"… and it's firmly rooted in the English singer–songwriter movement which grew out of its 60s folk movement. Stewart's career seems to be fairly typical of many English singer-songwriters. He was turned on by the English skiffle boom, swept up by the Beatles and the English beat boom and then discovered, and fell in love with, Bob Dylan whose personal lyrics influenced his writing style as he entered into the English folk movement. Dylan, of course, went electric quite early and, in turn, most of the English folkies followed suite … the difference (apart from talent) being the English folkies, in their "pop" phase, were mining totally different (more commercial) areas to Dylan. Which is admirable, but dangerous, as there was a tendency for them, especially in the 70s to lean towards lush AM pop, though admittedly more quirky than the norm. Similarly, pop for pops sake is fine but pop filtered through a prism of meaningful folk can be cloying. Dylan may had put out clunkers but AM radio friendly they rarely were. Note in advance: Simon & Garfunkel got away with it.
I haven't heard much Al Stewart so I'll have to assume allmusic is correct when they refer to it as a transitional album between his earlier straight folk and his more electric AM lush pop of his more successful period. This album is quite "English" as I gather most of his work is, which is odd as he had much more success in the US than in England but maybe that's not unusual as The Kinks, at their most "English" (qv: "Village Green Preservation Society", "Arthur", "Preservation Act 1"), were selling more in the US than in England.
This album certainly isn't offensive but it hedges its bets and doesn't go in any direction very far. The real problem though I think is that there are no standout songs, so even though it's pleasant enough there is nothing that makes me want to keep spinning the record. Also, Stewart's vocals are quite restrained with no madness, passion or insanity. There are ,however, hints on this album of Leonard Cohen, early 70s Bowie, Donovan, Cat Stevens or a quieter Marc Bolan, which are all good things.
Also, on a plus, there are some good musicians. Rick Wakeman is normally a name I approach with some trepidation, but here he is definitely adding to the record with organ and piano giving some of the songs a lush baroque and grandiose feel. Amongst the other musicians are Brinsley Schwartz on acoustic guitar and Bob Andrews on keyboards. Both were later in Graham Parker's Rumour. Bob Thomas is on bass – later he was one of Deckshoes McAnus' Attractions – and Tim Renwick is on guitar and he has played with everyone.
So, it's well played, strangely listenable but where is the killer track?
Tracks (best in italics)
- You Don't Even Know Me – A strange way to open the album, with a so–so song. Very confessional …
- Amsterdam – I was hoping for a cover of the Jacques Brel classic. No luck, but oddly this song works on me. A narrative with enough detail to come across as a bastard cross between Woody Guthrie and Ray Davies. And the Dutch people were very friendly … apparently.
- Songs Out of Clay – lyrically this one is a little precious.
- The News from Spain – Big … and slightly over the top. Like Bowie around "Hunky Dory" ... and that is a good thing. Again I think Stewart's voice is too restrained but this one is a winner…..though again it's a little "dramatic".
- I Don't Believe You – (Bob Dylan) – The only cover on the album and one that, according to the liner notes, Stewart had been playing for some time and still found relevant. From Dylan's great "Another Side of Bob Dylan" (1964) album. A good cover.
- Once an Orange, Always an Orange – a baroque instrumental with a "ye olde worlde" English feel and more than a touch of Julian Bream or John Williams … If I was a fly on the studio wall I would have to get out of the way so as not to get injured by the court jester doing his dance. All we need is Ian Anderson in tights and his flute. Still, its pleasant, though a little too long.
- I'm Falling – blah
- Night of the 4th of May – Stewart apparent had recently gone through a break-up with a significant other and some of the songs on this album look at that but this song dwells on the gloomier results of a love lost and specifically on the "downside of free love" (downside!). Very journalistic in style and very matter of fact. A bit to long but still quite good.
The setup (verse 4):
You whispered in my ear and asked me
If I fancied her
You told me that he'd phoned you
When I was in America
Daring each other just to say okay
Swop for tonight, didn't I always say
That freedom seems to be everything to me
If I fancied her
You told me that he'd phoned you
When I was in America
Daring each other just to say okay
Swop for tonight, didn't I always say
That freedom seems to be everything to me
The crunch (verses 7 & 8)
Her hand touched my hand
And her eyes were offering the rest
If it wasn't for you, oh I would have stayed
But I came back home through the morning
To find you lying awake
And I knew all at once what you'd done
And I heard myself say
"Why did you have to sleep with him
Anyone else
Wouldn't have mattered
Half
As much as him"
And her eyes were offering the rest
If it wasn't for you, oh I would have stayed
But I came back home through the morning
To find you lying awake
And I knew all at once what you'd done
And I heard myself say
"Why did you have to sleep with him
Anyone else
Wouldn't have mattered
Half
As much as him"
I don't want to touch you
Somehow you feel unclean
I just wish that you
Were five hundred miles away from me
Don't talk at all, don't start to cry
Just pack up your things
Lady of ladies
Somehow you feel unclean
I just wish that you
Were five hundred miles away from me
Don't talk at all, don't start to cry
Just pack up your things
Lady of ladies
And…
Good, maybe very good but, I'm selling it … after I tape a couple of songs.
I'd go see him if he was playing at the Troubadour.
Chart Action
US
England
nothing in either
Sounds
Amsterdam
and attached
The News from Spain
I Don't Believe You
I'm Falling
Night of the 4th of May
and attached
and attached
Others
he looks like the public servant who works in the cubicle down the hall from me
well, I don't know what it all means because I'm a bimbo but …
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(originally posted: 16/01/2011)
