Fun Trivia : Stewart, Al

Structure Sub-topic of: Music Q-S Quizzes Interesting Questions, Facts and Information There are a total of 25 general entries.

Interesting Questions, Facts, and Information

Stewart, Al

Okay, the question you've been waiting for. The album "Year of the Cat" produced the eponymous hit for which Stewart is probably best known. In the lyrics, you "go strolling through the crowd like Peter Lorre" - but what is he contemplating?

The Year of Al Stewart


crime. Written by Al Stewart and Peter Wood, the song was the last track on an album which also contained the much-loved song "On the Border". There's a funny tale about Al Stewart and Tori Amos. In 1991, Stewart was playing the London Festival Hall when his pianist became ill. Tori was in the UK playing another gig with a restriction on her visa only allowing that one gig, when Stewart asked her to cover for his player. She couldn't do it under her name, so was introduced as the Russian pianist "Viliana Tchaikovskaya" - and the audience fell for it. Years later, legitimately playing the venue, Amos admitted that it wasn't her first time on that stage... Thanks to GentleGiant17 for the info! "On a morning from a Bogart movie In a country where they turn back time You go strolling through the crowd like Peter Lorre Contemplating a crime She comes out of the sun in a silk dress running Like a watercolour in the rain Don't bother asking for explanations She'll just tell you that she came In the year of the cat She doesn't give you time for questions As she locks up your arm in hers And you follow 'till your sense of which direction Completely disappears By the blue tiled walls near the market stalls There's a hidden door she leads you to These days, she says, I feel my life Just like a river running through The year of the cat Well, she looks at you so cooly And her eyes shine like the moon in the sea She comes in incense and patchouli So you take her, to find what's waiting inside The year of the cat Well, morning comes and you're still with her And the bus and the tourists are gone And you've thrown away the choice and lost your ticket So you have to stay on But the drum-beat strains of the night remain In the rhythm of the new-born day You know sometime you're bound to leave her But for now you're going to stay In the year of the cat"



Stewart wrote a number of songs in an historical theme. One of them, "Roads to Moscow", deals with which historical event?

The Year of Al Stewart


WWII invasion of the Soviet Union. It was WWII. The lyrics tell it all: "They crossed over the border the hour before dawn Moving in lines through the day Most of our planes were destroyed on the ground where they lay Waiting for orders we held in the wood - word from the front never came By evening the sound of the gunfire was miles away Ah, softly we move through the shadows, slip away through the trees Crossing their lines in the mists in the fields on our hands and our knees And all that I ever was able to see The fire in the air glowing red silhouetting the smoke on the breeze All summer they drove us back through the Ukraine Smolyensk and Viyasma soon fell By autumn we stood with our backs to the town of Orel Closer and closer to Moscow they come - riding the wind like a bell General Guderian stands at the crest of the hill Winter brought with her the rains, oceans of mud filled the roads Gluing the tracks of their tanks to the ground while the sky filled with snow And all that I ever was able to see The fire in the air glowing red silhouetting the snow on the breeze In the footsteps of Napoleon the shadow figures stagger through the winter Falling back before the gates of Moscow, Standing in the wings like an avenger And far away behind their lines the partisans are stirring in the forest Coming unexpectedly upon their outposts, growing like a promise You'll never know, you'll never know Which way to turn, which way to look, you'll never see us As we're stealing through the blackness of the night You'll never know, you'll never hear us And the evening sings in a voice of amber, the dawn is surely coming The morning road leads to Stalingrad, and the sky is softly humming Two broken Tigers on fire in the night flicker their souls to the wind We wait in the lines for the final approach to begin It's been almost four years that I've carried a gun At home it'll almost be spring The flames of the Tigers are lighting the road to Berlin Ah, quickly we move through the ruins that bow to the ground The old men and children they send out to face us, they can't slow us down And all that I ever was able to see The eyes of the city are opening now it's the end of the dream I'm coming home, I'm coming home Now you can taste it in the wind, the war is over And I listen to the clicking of the train wheels as we roll across the border And now they ask me of the time That I was caught behind their lines and taken prisoner "They only held me for a day, a lucky break", I say; They turn and listen closer I'll never know, I'll never know Why I was taken from the line and all the others To board a special train and journey deep into the heart of holy Russia And it's cold and damp in the transit camp, and the air is still and sullen And the pale sun of October whispers the snow will soon be coming And I wonder when I'll be home again and the morning answers "Never" And the evening sighs and the steely Russian skies go on forever" Now if high school history books were written like this, one might have aced the course...



Stewart's next album came out in 1973 and included a track which referred to predictions of a seer and possible links with modern history. Who was this seer?

The Year of Al Stewart


Nostradamus. At 9 minutes 43 seconds long, it didn't really fit in with commercial radio formats, but "Nostradamus" became something of a cult classic on college campuses. Nostradamus, Michel de Nostredame, lived from 1503-1566. He was a French apothecary who made over 6,300 prophecies. Sybal was the name given to the various Greek prophetesses, including the one at the oracle at Delphi. Ten separate prophetesses are accorded this title. Zoroaster was a Persian prophet who lived somewhere around 1200 BCE and started his own religion. Edgar Cayce was much more modern, living from 1877 to 1845. He reputedly would go into a trance and describe events or diagnose illnesses.



Stewart may have looked like the guy you would bring home to meet mother, but one thing she would probably not have approved: he was the first to use the "f" word in a song. What song contained that word?

The Year of Al Stewart


Love Chronicles. The "f" word was found in the lyrics of "Love Chronicles", in the 1969 album of the same name. The other songs listed were also on that album, but a bit more, well, printable. Supporting artists on the album included Jimmy Page, of Led Zeppelin and Yardbirds fame, and Simon Nichol, Richard Thompson and Ashley Hutchings from Fairport Convention. The album was voted "Folk Album of the Year" by Melody Maker magazine.



Stewart's first album was, in his view, overproduced with way too much orchestration. Eventually it was remixed without the contributions from The Sinfonia of London, and was released with which title?

The Year of Al Stewart


The First Album (Bedsitter Images). A few tracks changed, too. The track listing on the new version was Lover Man Swiss Cottage Manoeuvres The Carmichaels Clifton in the Rain Bedsitter Images Denise at 16 Samuel, Oh How You've Changed! A Long Way Down From Stephanie Ivich Beleeka Doodle Day.



Stewart's first album didn't contain his first single, however. His single "The Elf" was released on Decca in 1966. Which guitarist, who later became one of the most famous of our time, played on this single?

The Year of Al Stewart


Jimmy Page. Jimmy Page, then a studio musician, went on to play lead guitar for the Yardbirds and Led Zeppelin. He has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice, once for each group. Robert Fripp was one of Stewart's early teachers, as well as guitarist for King Crimson. "The Elf" was not a big success, and legend has it that it only sold 500 copies.



What was Al Stewart's first album, released in 1967, called?

The Year of Al Stewart


Bedsitter Images. "Bedsitter Images" was released in the UK by CBS records in 1967. Produced by Roy Guest, the tracks were: Bedsitter Images Swiss Cottage Manoeuvres The Carmichaels Scandinavian Girl Pretty Golden Hair Denise at 16 Samuel, Oh How You've Changed Cleave to Me A Long Way Down From Stephanie Ivich Beleeka Doodle Day. Stewart claims that he was signed by CBS as part of a "package deal". "I was only signed to CBS in 1967 because my manager had another band they wanted to sign called the Piccadilly Line," he told Record Collector magazine.



Al Stewart was born on September 5, 1945. In which city was he born?

The Year of Al Stewart


Glasgow, Scotland. Alastair Ian Stewart was born in Glasgow but grew up in Bournemouth, England. In HHe took up residence in the United States in 1977.