vinyl LP album cover detail
detail photo by Styrous®
Today, September 5, is the birthday of Al Stewart who was born in Glasgow, Scotland in 1945. Stewart produced some excellent albums but, of course, I have a favorite. That album is, Past, Present and Future. What a fantastic album it is! The songs are based on historical events some of which never happened.
Of course, I have favorite songs from it; two of which are Old Admirals and Nostradamus. Old Admirals is a slow and nostalgic musing on the fact that the knowledge of the Admiral's years of experience is for naught; he is from a world whose time has come and gone, rendered irrelevant by the progress of technologies. But still, there is the lingering hope that he will be useful again one day.
Terminal Eyes has a Beatles, I am the Walrus, feeling to it; syncopated and bouncy it moves along with a relentless determination. The lyrics are just as mystifying as Walrus.
vinyl LP album cover
photo by Styrous®
vinyl LP album back cover
photo by Styrous®
Of course, I have favorite songs from it; two of which are Old Admirals and Nostradamus. Old Admirals is a slow and nostalgic musing on the fact that the knowledge of the Admiral's years of experience is for naught; he is from a world whose time has come and gone, rendered irrelevant by the progress of technologies. But still, there is the lingering hope that he will be useful again one day.
Old Admirals who feel the wind but never put to sea.
(link to lyrics below)
vinyl LP record sleeve w/lyrics
photo by Styrous®
vinyl LP record sleeve detail w/lyrics
detail photo by Styrous®
Nostradamus
is a tour de force; at almost ten minutes it has plenty of time to wander around with gay abandon. After a mellow guitar and vocal duet intro (2 minutes) it goes into a joyous exposition of the predictions of the Seer. The instrumental sections are wonderful and the vocal backup at the end by Krysia Kocjan is totally
sublime.
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
I am the eyes of Nostradamus, all your ways are known to me
(link to lyrics below)
vinyl LP album back cover detail
detail photo by Styrous®
Roads To Moscow has a slow, quiet guitar and balalaika intro that goes into a mellow waltz with a beautiful female chorus backing that speeds up and gets dramatic. The story is of a German soldier taken prisoner and transported to a damp transit camp during World War II.
And I wonder when I'll be home again and the morning answers
"Never"
And the evening sighs and the steely Russian skies go on forever
"Never"
And the evening sighs and the steely Russian skies go on forever
(link to lyrics below)
Cut glass porcupine sailing on the Serpentine
Fingers on the skyline pulling down the black blinds
Terminal eyes at the edge of the night
Fingers on the skyline pulling down the black blinds
Terminal eyes at the edge of the night
(link to lyrics below)
My copy of this album is a promotional recording meant to be distributed to broadcasters, such as music radio and television stations, and to DJs and music journalists, in advance of the release of commercial editions.
vinyl LP album cover detail
detail photo by Styrous®
vinyl LP album back cover detail
detail photo by Styrous®
vinyl LP album cover detail
detail photo by Styrous®
Stewart is best known for his 1976 hit single Year of the Cat, the title song from the platinum album of the same name. Though Year of the Cat and its 1978 platinum follow-up Time Passages brought Stewart his biggest worldwide commercial successes, earlier albums such as Past, Present and Future from 1973 are often seen as better examples of his intimate brand of historical folk-rock.
vinyl LP album back cover detail
detail photo by Styrous®
Stewart was a key figure in British music and he appears throughout the musical folklore of the revivalist era. He played at the first-ever Glastonbury Festival in 1970, knew Yoko Ono before she met John Lennon, shared a London flat with a young Paul Simon,
Stewart has worked with Peter White, Alan Parsons, Jimmy Page, Richard Thompson, Rick Wakeman, Francis Monkman, Tori Amos, Tim Renwick, Dave Nachmanoff and former Wings lead-guitarist Laurence Juber.
vinyl LP album back cover detail
detail photo by Styrous®
Stewart grew up in the town of Wimborne, Dorset, England, after moving from Scotland with his mother, Joan Underwood. His father, Alastair MacKichan Stewart, who served as a flight lieutenant in the Royal Air Force volunteer reserve, died in a plane crash during a 1945 training exercise before Stewart was born. After that, as he sings in the song Post World War II Blues (from Past, Present and Future): "I came up to London when I was 19 with a corduroy jacket and a head full of dreams." (link below)
photographer & date unknown
Al Stewart - February 13, 2010
vinyl LP album back cover detail
detail photo by Styrous®
vinyl LP, Side 1
photos by Styrous®
vinyl LP, side 2
photos by Styrous®
Tracklist:
Side 1:
A1 - Old Admirals - 5:54
A2 - Warren Harding - 2:39
A3 - Soho (Needless To Say) - 3:55
A4 - The Last Day Of June 1934 - 4:45
A5 - Post World War Two Blues - 4:17
Side 2:
B1 - Roads To Moscow - 8:00
B2 - Terminal Eyes - 3:22
B3 - Nostradamus - 9:46
Companies, etc.
Manufactured By – Arista Records, Inc.
Published By – Dick James Music
Produced For – Kinetic Productions Ltd.
Mastered At – Allen Zentz Mastering
Phonographic Copyright (p) – Arista Records, Inc.
Copyright (c) – Gwyneth Music Ltd.
Credits:
Acoustic Guitar – Peter Berryman*
Acoustic Guitar, Guitar [Spanish] – Isaac Guillory
Artwork [Graphics] – George Hardie
Backing Vocals – John Donelly, Kevin Powers, Krysia Kocjan, Mick Welton
Bass – Brian Odgers, Bruce Thomas
Concertina [English] – Alistair Anderson
Design [Cover], Photography By – Hipgnosis (2)
Drums – John Wilson*
Electric Guitar – Tim Renwick
Engineer – Mike Stone
Harmonica – Graham Smith
Keyboards – Bob Andrews, Bob Sargeant, Rick Wakeman, Tim Hinkley
Keyboards, Accordion [Piano] – Peter Woods*
Mandolin – Dave Swarbrick, Haim Romano
Percussion – Frank Ricotti, Roger Meddows Taylor*
Performer [Steel Band] – Lennox James, Luciano Bravo, Michael Oliver (4)
Photography By [Back] – Jill Furmanovski*
Producer – John Anthony
Remastered By – Chris Bellman
Steel Guitar – B.J. Cole*
Synthesizer [Moog] – Francis Monkman
Written-By, Acoustic Guitar – Al Stewart
Notes:
Lyrics printed on the inner sleeve.
Barcode and Other Identifiers
Matrix / Runout (Label Side A): AL 9524 SA
Matrix / Runout (Label Side B): AL 9524 SB
Matrix / Runout (Etched Side A): AL-9524 SA P
Matrix / Runout (Etched Side B): AL-9524-SB
Matrix / Runout (Stamped Both Side): MASTERED AT ALLEN ZENTZ L.A.,CALIF.
Rights Society: BMI
Al Stewart – Past, Present And Future
Label: Arista – AL 9524
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Reissue
Country: US
Released: 1980
Genre: Rock, Pop
Style: Pop Rock
Net links:
Al Stewart Discography
Old Admirals lyrics
Nostradamus lyrics
Road To Moscow lyrics
Terminal Eyes lyrics
YouTube links:
Old Admirals (with lyrics)
Nostradamus (with lyrics)
Post World War II Blues (with lyrics)
Roads To Moscow (with lyrics)
Terminal Eyes
Love Chronicles (18 minutes)
The Beatles - I Am The Walrus
Happy birthday, Al, may your sailing be smooth!
Styrous® ~ Tuesday, September 5, 2017
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