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