Al Stewart
b. 5 September 1945, Glasgow, Scotland. Stewart first came to prominence during the folk boom of the mid-60s. His musical career began in Bournemouth, where he played guitar, backing Tony Blackburn in the Sabres. In 1965, he moved to London, played at various folk clubs and shared lodgings with Jackson C. Frank, Sandy Denny and Paul Simon. Stewart was signed to Decca in 1966 and released one unsuccessful single, The Elf, featuring Jimmy Page on lead guitar. The following year, he joined CBS and released the acoustic, string-accompanied, introspective BEDSITTER IMAGES. The succeeding LOVE CHRONICLES, a diary of Stewart's romantic life, was most notable for the lengthy title track and the fact that it used a contentious word (‘fucking’) in an allegedly artistic context. The singer's interest in acoustic folk continued on ZERO SHE FLIES, which featured the historical narrative Manuscript. Stewart's interest in the confessional love song reached its conclusion on ORANGE, with the impressive Night Of The 4th Of May. This was followed by his most ambitious work to date, PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE. Pursuing his interest in historical themes, Stewart presented some of his best acoustic workouts in the impressive Roads To Moscow and epic Nostradamus. A considerable gap ensued before the release of MODERN TIMES, which saw Stewart making inroads into the American market for the first time. After leaving CBS and signing to RCA, he relocated to California and surprised many by the commercial power of his celebrated YEAR OF THE CAT, which reached the US Top 10. The title track also gave Stewart his first US hit. Another switch of label to Arista preceded TIME PASSAGES, which suffered by comparison with its predecessor. The underrated 24 P CARROTS was succeeded by a part studio/part live album, which merely consolidated his position. With RUSSIANS AND AMERICANS, Stewart embraced a more noticeable political stance, but the sales were disappointing. Legal and contractual problems effectively deterred him from recording for four years until the welcome, if portentous, THE LAST DAYS OF THE CENTURY. During that time he had re-located to France and set about expanding his impressive cellar of vintage wines. Stewart remains one of the more underrated performers, despite his commercial breakthrough in the '70s.