The CultureMap Interview
From signing body parts to album covers, Year of the Cat's Al Stewart explores &explains his long career
Musicians and bands are a little like past romances. There are some you fall head over heels in love with and can’t get enough of them, but are no more than a summer romance (that would be you, Herman’s Hermits.) And there is the long-term relationship with a Paul McCartney, Bruce Springsteen or even Madonna, that grows as you both add on the years.
But what about the musician you loved three decades ago who fades away, and then suddenly reappears on your radar screen?
But what about the musician you loved three decades ago who fades away, and then suddenly reappears on your radar screen?
Al Stewart, British songwriter and performer, rose to fame with his 1976 platinum single “Year of the Cat,” on the album of the same name, followed by his 1978 platinum single “Time Passages.” Stewart was a part of the '70s influx of British singer-songwriters, whose music was so addictive to Americans, and who followed the Beatles, with superstar performers like Eric Clapton, Elton John and Rod Stewart.
I loved Al Stewart. I found his lyrics deeply haunting and, as a young lawyer in Los Angeles in the late '70s, I heard him at small venues and even smaller settings, as he sometimes jammed at his manager’s home in the Hollywood Hills, who happened to be my neighbor. I swooned as his soulful music wafted out over the canyons. Although “Time Passages” and “Year of the Cat” are still on my iPad playlists, I had lost touch with Al Stewart.
As a fluke I listed Al Stewart on my Facebook. Within a week, a posting of an Al Stewart concert at the Dosey Doe in The Woodlands on Friday (Nov. 16) appeared. Like a woman who is about to see an old flame, I arranged a chat with Al.
CultureMap: You were such a hit in the '70s and then seemed to fade away.
Al Stewart: Yes, I think part of my success was based on that window of opportunity. Some types of music can be very trendy for a while; certain styles of music are not played on the radio anymore. So, to the public, it looks as though you’ve gone away, when in fact you haven’t gone anywhere; what has gone away is air play.
To the public, it looks as though you’ve gone away, when in fact you haven’t gone anywhere; what has gone away is air play.
I probably do 50 to 60 shows in the U.S. and another 20 or so if I’m touring in Europe. I typically get to Houston once a year.
CM: Do you still enjoy touring as much as you did 30 years ago?
AS: Yes, but it’s different. I would do the shows for free. The part I don’t like is the travel, but that’s part of the job. In fact, that’s what I get paid for...to sit on airplanes, in hotel and dressing rooms, and carry luggage around, etc. The playing part is great, but it’s only 4 percent of the job and the travel and waiting is the remainder.
CM: Why do you think “Year of the Cat” and “Time Passages” resonated so much?
AS: A lot of the music business is just being in the right place at the right time. If you look at what happened, especially for American radio, the folky stuff that happened in the '60s and kind of went into the '70s and the people who are pure folk singers, even like Bob Dylan, started to get bands and cultivated the singer-songwriter theme that ended up with James Taylor, Jackson Browne, etc. who are all playing with bands.
Joni Mitchell was everywhere in 1976 and nowhere in 1978 because she’d been replaced by Loverboy and whole host of bands in that style.
The next logical step was to expand the music just from guitar, bass and drums into something a little more sophisticated. When I was working with Alan Parsons, who is a music producer, we ended up with strings, saxophone, etc. that seemed like a logical extension of what had begun with just an acoustic guitar and then guitar, bass and drums and eventually, everything but the kitchen sink, which is where I came in with “Time Passages” and Year of the Cat.”
Immediately after that, the whole singer-songwriter popularity went away between 1976 to 1978 on FM radio, when it was all replaced by basically power pop. Joni Mitchell was everywhere in 1976 and nowhere in 1978 because she’d been replaced by Loverboy and whole host of bands in that style. And, of course, you’ve got punk rock in England which blasted away all the singer-songwriters and eventually, disco, grunge and the world moved on.
CM: What music do you listen to?
AS: People would rather hear the music they grew up listening to because that is the sound of being young and, of course, if you listen to that music, you get to be young forever. I have all my favorite records from the '60s and '70s, but I also force myself to listen to a lot of new bands as well, simply because I think I should be doing that. I don’t want my entire universe to have stopped in 1973.
I think Joanna Newsom might be the best lyric writer of our age. I put her along with Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Paul Simon, and Elvis Costello. In terms of pure pop, I like The Veronicas; they’re a lot of fun.
I’m also a fan of Arcade Fire. On a completely different level, I love the Ditty Bops; they do 1940s type swing music on acoustic instruments and are total fun. I also like Elbow; they have a line in one of their songs that says “You are the only person in any room you’re in.”
CM: Who comes to hear you perform nowadays?
AS: There are a whole bunch of people who were making out in the back of their Chevrolets when they were in college listening to “Year of the Cat” (laughs). Now of course, they’re grown up and tend to bring their kids who are now in college, so there’s a generational flip going on out there. And then you always get people who have never seen you before.
We perform at a fair number of art centers, and as many as 90 percent of the audience not only have never seen you before, but really don’t know what you do and that’s always fun because it’s a total challenge. You have to make your case, sort of starting at the beginning and working through the concert. I really enjoy that.
What is “Year of the Cat” about? The truthful answer is I don’t know.
CM: What would you want somebody to know about you if they’re just coming to hear you for the first time?
AS: The English singer-songwriter school is a little different from the American one. When you think about Americana, you think about the guys with the acoustic guitar, witty lyrics and pithy. The English thing is a little bit different; it’s more whimsical for a start. A lot of people who grew up along with me, including Paul McCartney, were influenced by music halls. So, I would say my music, for people who haven’t heard it before, is lyrically more whimsical and musically a little more diverse.
CM: What is “Year of the Cat” about?
AS: The truthful answer is I don’t know. Someone actually once said, and it’s a great quote, “Art is something that should hover on the fringe of the consciousness.” Who knows what it’s all about but it seems to hover on the fringe of my consciousness and everyone else’s too. If you know exactly what it’s about, then it’s less interesting.
CM: Will you sign my “Year of the Cat” album after the concert?
AS: Yes! I always sign everything at the end of the show. I mean 30 years ago it used to be body parts and now it’s mostly albums (laughs).
CM: Well, maybe you don’t want to sign 65-year-old body parts.
AS: Yeah, I mean that might be good news. Yeah.
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