Biography
Glasgow native Al Stewart began
his career playing guitar in Tony Blackburn's band the Sabres, and moved from
there to the London folk club scene. After an unsuccessful single on Decca, "The Elf" (which featured Jimmy Page on guitar), Stewart signed with CBS and, beginning in 1967, released a series of albums largely consisting of introspective, confessional love songs. Love Chronicles was the only one to be released in the U.S., and the autobiographical title track, which detailed Stewart's romantic involvements, attracted a bit of attention for the singer's use of the word "f*cking" in a song with supposed artistic credibility.
On 1974's Past, Present and Future, Stewart switched gears, exploring his fascination with historical tales, and was rewarded with his first U.S. chart album.
Modern Times was even more successful, and Year of the Cat was an unqualified hit, selling over a million copies and spawning the Top Ten title single. Time Passages duplicated both feats, but Stewart's creativity dried up soon afterward, and difficulties over his contract and change of labels prevented him from releasing any new material until 1984.
Russians and Americans was highly political, but sales were disappointing.
Even so, Stewart recorded and toured sporadically in the late '80s and '90s while devoting time to his hobby of wine collecting.
Bedsitter Images (1967)
Love Chronicles (1969)
Zero She Flies (1970)
Orange (1972)
Past, Present and Future (1973)
Modern Times (1975)
Year of the Cat (1976)
Time Passages (1978)
24 P/Carrots (1980) (with Shot In The Dark)
37 US Live/Indian Summer (1981) (with Shot In The Dark)
Russians and Americans (1984)
And that's where a lot of the information seems to stop. Even his official web site just gives a few bits of factual information, mixed in with broken links.
So you just have to take my opinion that in the 90s there were son fine new albums, especially the historically based 'Between the Wars'.
Last Days of the Century (1988)
Rhymes in Rooms (1992)
Famous Last Words (1993)
Between the Wars (1995) (with Laurence Juber)
Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time (1996)
Down in the Cellar (2000)
A Beach Full of Shells (2005)