(CBS/Janus, LP & CD, 1974)
When most people think about Al Stewart – if they think about him at all – what comes to mind is his mega-hit Year of the Cat. The 1976 album named from that single went platinum and established him as a musical star known the world over. His follow-up album, Time Passages, also did very well. However his star gradually faded after that and his subsequent efforts, while artistically worthwhile, have not proved as popular. His discography currently numbers some 16 studio albums and 4 live albums, 3 of the latter with different collaborators and the most recent released just last year.
However the Year of the Cat album certainly did not spring from an unknown, untried musician who had not paid his dues. Though born in Scotland Stewart grew up in England and came up through the ranks of British folk musicians in the ‘60s & ‘70s, gradually developing his style from a more purely folk sound into one that would meld folk with pop and rock sensibilities and wonderfully lyrical songs that often told stories based on historical situations. He played in venues with many other musicians who would soon become famous as well, such as Cat Stevens, Paul Simon, Jimmy Page, and others.
His work and talent landed him a contract with Columbia Records (which in Britain was CBS). His first album, Bedsitter Images, was released by that label in 1967. Three more albums followed, which gained him a steadily growing following in Britain. (His 4th for CBS, 1972’s simply titled Orange, featured keyboard work by Rick Wakeman of Yes.) Then came this album, that I would promote and call to your attention as being very worthy of your attention. It was Stewart’s fifth, coming out 2½ years before Cat.
The album was originally released by CBS in Britain with a staid, stuffy, typically English cover in 1973. The record company powers that be decided that it was deserving of a shot at the American market, and a year later it was released here on the Janus label, with a cover showing the comic book character of Doctor Strange stepping through a mystical portal. I was in the army in that year, and it was then that a fellow enlisted audiophile / music lover introduced me to it and I fell in love with it.
This is nominally, or at least partially a “concept” album, most of the songs covering different decades of the previous century. “Old Admirals” leads off the album, an old seaman reminiscing about his life on the ocean and the Great War. “Warren Harding” is a somewhat up-tempo song about the US’s 29th president and how lonely he was in the White House.
A song of special note is “Roads to Moscow,” recounting the German invasion of Russia during WWII through the eyes a of Russian soldier – who Stewart later indicated was meant to be Nobel prize winning author Alexander Solzhenitsyn. Different verses of the song relate different phases of the campaign. My favorite cut is “Post World War Two Blues,” an up-tempo, autobiographical song about growing up in the United Kingdom in the ‘50s and ‘60s.
The album closes with “Nostradamus,” a fascinating, mystical song that relates to the album title and cover. Here Stewart weaves in a recounting of many of the predictions of the famous French oracle:
“Man, man, your time is sand, your ways are leaves upon the sea
I am the eyes of Nostradamus, all your ways are known to me.”
There is a most interesting writeup about Nostradamus on the back of the album by a woman who wrote a book about him.
As well as the songs being well-written and engrossing, they are well performed by Stewart with an excellent supporting line-up of musicians. It has since been re-released on CDs and additional LPs on a couple different labels. Check it out on Discogs. One version I have is a 180-gram LP pressing on the Friday Music Label issued in 2015. Friday Music is not a true “audiophile” label, but this version sounds a bit better than the original. And it was produced with a gatefold cover that features lyrics to all the songs and notes by Stewart about his inspiration for writing the different songs.
All that said, I’m afraid that the sonics and production of this album do not render it quite an audiophile treasure, however they are not at all bad. And I CAN say that musically this is a truly wonderful album that will reward anyone who takes the time to listen into it.