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Al Stewart was born on September 5, 1945 in Greenock, a sleepy town situated
on the west coast of Glasgow SCOTLAND, but grew up near Bournemouth, a
seaside town in the south of England, where he learned to play guitar
and develop his voice. He moved to London in 1965 and started performing
in venues from small bars to legendary Folk clubs such as Bunjies and
Les Cousines.
A year later Stewart recorded his first single, "The Elf" and
caught the attention of CBS Records who released his first album, "Bedsitter
Images", in October of 1967, this album was repackaged and reissued
in 1970 with two tracks replaced.
The artist soon gained a following among the college scene and in early
1969 delivered his second album, "Love Chronicles", which featured
the ever-long title-track, an autobiographical recount of different love
affairs with guitar by Led Zeppelin's
Jimmy Page.
1970's "Zero She Flies" entered the top 40 of the U.K. National
Pop chart, its follow-up "Orange", released in early 1972, continued
in similar style, basically a Folk-Rock effort with tales of romance.
With his next album, Stewart, decided to write about any and everything
but himself; he began incorporating historical data, elements of film
and literature into his lyrics; "Past, Present & Future",
which featured Queen's Roger Taylor on drums,
was issued in October 1973, the record become his first U.S. release and
his first American Pop Albums chart entry at #133.
In the spring of 1975, the Scottish singer+guitarist, released "Modern
Times", it broke the top 30 of the Official U.S. Pop Albums list.
After Stewart lost his contract with CBS, he moved to California where
he recorded his masterpiece, "Year Of The Cat", for Janus Records,
the artist signed with RCA in the U.K. and later with major label Arista
in the States; the album was released in 1976, it rose to #5 on The U.S.
Pop chart and went on to sell over one million copies on the strength
of the title-track which hit #8 on Pop Singles chart, the track also became
a top 40 hit in Britain; the second single, "On The Border",
barely missed the top 40 in the States.
Delivered two years later, "Time Passages", continued the formula
of the previous effort, resulting in another platinum album, it peaked
at #10 on the Top 200 LPs & Tapes list and the album's title-song
hit #7 in U.S. Pop Singles chart; the follow-up single, "Song On
The Radio", reached the #29 slot in the same chart.
In the summer of 1980 was released "24 Carrots", this album
credited to Al Stewart & Shot In The Dark, reached the #37 slot in
the U.S. Pop chart and generated "Midnight Rocks" which peaked
at #24 on the Pop Singles chart; the record had minimal impact in the
U.K. chart and the sales were modest.
One year later, he released his final Arista album, the double "Live/Indian
Summer" made a mid-chart appearance peaking at #110 in the U.S. Pop
Albums chart.
Stewart returned in spring of 1984 with his tenth studio album entitled
"Russians & Americans" but sales in America were disappointing
and in Britain the record failed to rise higher than #83.
A few years of legal and contractual problems followed, eventually, a
new contract with Enigma Records produced "Last Days Of The Century"
which was released in September 1988 and featured the single/video "King
Of Portugal".
Another five full years passed before Al Stewart returned with his next
album of all-new-material: "Famous Last Words".
He followed up with "Between The Wars", a collection of songs
musically and lyrically inspired by the turbulent '20s and '30s, the album
recorded in collaboration with former Wings guitarist Laurence Juber,
was released in May 1995.
Stewart, with his distinctive vocal style, continued to play live in his
favourite clubs across America and with Juber also made concert tours
of Britain in 1995 and Holland the following year; a tour of Spain and
England in late summer 1997 was very successful. He spent a considerable
amount of time collecting French wine, in October 2000 the artist released
"Down In The Cellar", all songs related in some way to the world
of wine.
In 2005 Al Stewart returned with the new album, "A Beach Full Of
Shells", qualifies as his first U.S. release since 1995.
Al Stewart biography is an exclusive of 100xr.com
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