Al Stewart was born in 1945 in Glasgow, Scotland. In the 1960s, he became active in the London folk scene. His first four albums were collections of folky love songs, and only one was released in the US. That album, Love Chronicles, featured Jimmy Page on guitar and the title track caused a controversy because Stewart used the word (gasp!) "fucking" in the autobiographical song about his romantic relationships.
Today, Stewart is not happy with these albums. He came into his own with the 1974 album Past, Present and Future, which set the tone for his future work: introspective and exotic songs, often about historical people and events - everything and everyone from Nostradamus to Napoleon. This and his next three albums would be his biggest successes, not only on the pop charts, but critically and artistically as well. He is best remembered for the albums Year of the Cat and Time Passages. The title tracks of those albums received plenty of airplay and made it into the top ten.
A creative dry spell and legal problems with his record label insured that this success would not last. Subsequent albums were commercial disappointments. Today, he's a resident of Los Angeles and is still touring and releasing albums, not to mention indulging in his hobby of wine collecting.
1967 Bedsitter Images Epic
1969 Love Chronicles Epic
1970 Zero She Flies Epic
1972 Orange BGO
1974 Past, Present & Future Arista
1975 Modern Times Rhino
1976 Year of the Cat Arista
1978 Time Passages Arista
1980 The Live Radio Concert Arista
1980 24 Carrots Razor & Tie
1981 Live/Indian Summer Arista
1984 Russians & Americans Passport
1988 Last Days of the Century Enigma
1992 Rhymes in Rooms Mesa Blue Moon
1993 Famous Last Words Mesa
1995 Between the Wars Mesa
1996 Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time Acoustic Music
1997 Live at the Roxy Los Angeles 1981 EMI
1998 Acoustic Evening with Al Stewart (live) EMI
2000 Down in the Cellar Miramar |
