Sep 15, 2021Liked by Mitch Blum, CJ Kaplan, Ken Warshaw
First off, your assessments of YOTC were extremely well written, boys. I enjoyed reading every one of them.
At first, I couldn't figure out where the heck Mitch was going with his fish story, but he brought the story back wonderfully. Al Stewart has long been a favorite of mine, too. Lord Granville is one of my favorites, particularly a live version. I really like On Stage Before as well.
I love the way he can weave historical stories into interesting music. Live versions of extended versions of Roads to Moscow or Nostradamus off of Indian Summer are simply spectacular.
I was unaware Alan Parson's produced the YOTC album, but it makes sense - he seems to make magic with everything he takes on. I never made the connection between Lord Granville and a Tull song, but instantly recognized CJ's point. Now it will forever be in my head when listening to either artist. I'm a huge Tull fan.
We winter in AZ and just this past winter I found an ad for an Al Stewart concert. I bought two tickets and told my wife we were going. She excitedly said Rod Stewart - I no, Al. She said, who? Never heard of him! She was skeptical, even after I reminder her of the song YOTC, which she vaguely recalled.
Al was performing at a small venue in Phoenix and we had great seats to a not-sold-out show. He walked out in an oxford shirt and what appeared to be the bottom slacks of a suit. He looked more like a college professor than a rock artist. My wife skeptical look seemed frozen on her beautiful face. Al appeared elderly, he was 75 y/o and the long hair had thinned almost to a bad comb-over. He reminded me of my 6th grade English teacher, also named Al. Bottom line, he and his band mates put on a wonderful show, and although she only knew the song YOTC, she enjoyed the concert as much as I did. It was a delightful evening.
While I wouldn't go so far as to say this is my favorite album of all time, and was surprised by Mitch's admission, (it certainly doesn't equate to Aqualung) I would say this is definitely the best album now sitting at Newberry Street. Good pick, Mitch.
Alan Parsons & Al Stewart had a great run together from 'Modern Times" to "Year of the Cat" to "Time Passages". Not a bad follow-up to Alan's work on "Dark Side of the Moon".
I've seen Al many, many times over the years and he has a delightful stage presence. The first time I saw him was with Peter White (the show is captured in his "Rhymes in Rooms" live release) and it was at a bar in Ballston Spa, NY where most people weren't there for Al. After a few songs he had won the crowd over and asked for a glass of wine (Al is a known wine collector). The bartender passed him a giant water glass of Franzia and Al looked at it askew and said "They must think I'm Keith Richards!" The placed just exploded in laughter.
First off, your assessments of YOTC were extremely well written, boys. I enjoyed reading every one of them.
At first, I couldn't figure out where the heck Mitch was going with his fish story, but he brought the story back wonderfully. Al Stewart has long been a favorite of mine, too. Lord Granville is one of my favorites, particularly a live version. I really like On Stage Before as well.
I love the way he can weave historical stories into interesting music. Live versions of extended versions of Roads to Moscow or Nostradamus off of Indian Summer are simply spectacular.
I was unaware Alan Parson's produced the YOTC album, but it makes sense - he seems to make magic with everything he takes on. I never made the connection between Lord Granville and a Tull song, but instantly recognized CJ's point. Now it will forever be in my head when listening to either artist. I'm a huge Tull fan.
We winter in AZ and just this past winter I found an ad for an Al Stewart concert. I bought two tickets and told my wife we were going. She excitedly said Rod Stewart - I no, Al. She said, who? Never heard of him! She was skeptical, even after I reminder her of the song YOTC, which she vaguely recalled.
Al was performing at a small venue in Phoenix and we had great seats to a not-sold-out show. He walked out in an oxford shirt and what appeared to be the bottom slacks of a suit. He looked more like a college professor than a rock artist. My wife skeptical look seemed frozen on her beautiful face. Al appeared elderly, he was 75 y/o and the long hair had thinned almost to a bad comb-over. He reminded me of my 6th grade English teacher, also named Al. Bottom line, he and his band mates put on a wonderful show, and although she only knew the song YOTC, she enjoyed the concert as much as I did. It was a delightful evening.
While I wouldn't go so far as to say this is my favorite album of all time, and was surprised by Mitch's admission, (it certainly doesn't equate to Aqualung) I would say this is definitely the best album now sitting at Newberry Street. Good pick, Mitch.
I wouldn't be surprised if Al was the "minstrel in the gallery" that Ian was referring to
Thank you to another Alan!
Alan Parsons & Al Stewart had a great run together from 'Modern Times" to "Year of the Cat" to "Time Passages". Not a bad follow-up to Alan's work on "Dark Side of the Moon".
I've seen Al many, many times over the years and he has a delightful stage presence. The first time I saw him was with Peter White (the show is captured in his "Rhymes in Rooms" live release) and it was at a bar in Ballston Spa, NY where most people weren't there for Al. After a few songs he had won the crowd over and asked for a glass of wine (Al is a known wine collector). The bartender passed him a giant water glass of Franzia and Al looked at it askew and said "They must think I'm Keith Richards!" The placed just exploded in laughter.
Our work here is done! Thanks for reading and listening to Al.