Have you heard "Palace of Versailles"? It's just as amazing - also with Alan Parsons.

Add The Murmansk Run & Ellis Island to those - both perfection.

On the Boarder was another brilliant song.

@@bobolulu7615 Yes indeed - you are correct!!

Also "Nostradamus" and "Roads To Moscow"!

You couldn't have said it better!

so true

Agreed. What a wonderful guy.

Agreed! Bump into him at the local Pub and he’d be more than happy to chat with ya…

I agree he seems very genuine and modest. Nothing like Taylor Swift ! I know I need to becareful saying that !

seems like a first class guy. BTW you just can't beat those 1970's album art covers.

yeah seems really cool and down to earth.

He's so goofy it's awesome!

@@ArtofFreeSpeech A positive disposition and having all the stars lined up . Worked out well for him . Bravo !

Absolutely

Wow!! Of all time??

El Conquistador that is the beauty of opinions. I can have mine and you yours.

And I have been searching for a dress that looks like that ever since I heard those lyrics. Such an evocative phrase!

He is a great wordsmith. The only Stewart album I ever bought was "Modern Times" , and some of those songs are like narrative poetry. I still listen to them ,several times a week ,here on KZfaq. "Carol" is the first Stewart song I ever heard and still sounds as fresh today as it did then. I play "Apple Cider Reconstitution" as I make my coffee, and it starts my day off beautifully.

@@anneharvey3811 Me too! Haven't found that dress yet!

Also Time Passages and Across The Border. Great stuff!

You are right. Haven’t heard it for years but when I listen to it now, it actually sounds better than it did in the seventies and I loved it already then.

I agree. Interesting to hear the story behind the song after all these years.

Yes he does, I loved this piece of music from the first time I heard it

Yes he is for an old pirate. He and his mate Barry James. "Tommy James and the Shin dells" Both got their start on Radio Caroline working with promoters Ronan O' Riley and James Stevens. One of Al Stewart's radio names is Kevin Turner.

I worked selling his merch for him briefly. Great song--but he was a very obnoxious drunk.

What a great interview.

I saw him live in 2017. He signed my album cover and posed for selfies. As nice as can be.

Yeah! Me too! So cute

Me too!

😍

Met him once in Cinci after a concert. He was most gracious!!!

Me too....my favorite song ever

I never knew those were the words... and now that you wrote them, I see how they are phrased a bit oddly, but great tune! Thanks for this memory!

:I'm thinking it was a "water colour in the rain" but there are plenty of lyrics I've misheard over the years. :)

@@Blogzer That's what I said " water color in the rain"!

Gives me goosebumps every time I hear it.

@@jivanbansi9640 Are you sure you didn't edit your post? I read "water cooler in the rain" which, of course, made absolutely no sense. lol :)

Yes it was and Alan Parsons is an Old Offshore Pirate to. I think they used to bunk together on the Miamego or Caroline South. I can not remember which one.

Signature sax solo

@@jkt3937 yes, Phil Kenzie, he played sax on Time Passages also

Phil Kenzie was watching a movie and didn't want to do this session but did it as a favor for Parson's. He came down and played the sax parts in 2 takes and immediately left to go back home and finish the movie. Al Stewart didn't like the sax solo at first, then changed his mind...

I had no idea! but that makes total sense. Thanks for this bit of trivia!

I agree The music is absolutely beautiful, especially the piano. And his voice is one in a million. Glad to see he is such a humble guy as well.

One of the all-time great songs. And yes, a very humble and unassuming man.

Dat piano!

Phil UK Net indeed.

bradster67 .......always and forever is a soulful song among many of his songs

Yes his laughs. He really deserves to laugh like that. 😂

@@75hilmar He's so genuinely modest. Great guy!

It’s just unbelievable the way he put the lyrics together. It seemed like a piece of cake or easy as pie to him!

I'm very late on this album but you are right on. I've heard the title track for 40 yrs like everyone else my age but only played the whole album recently. It is terrific.

Alan Parsons is the founder of art pop.

Phil Kenzie was watching a movie and didn't want to do this session but did it as a favor for Parsons. He came down and played the sax parts in 2 takes and immediately left to go back home and finish the movie. Al Stewart didn't like the sax solo at first, then changed his mind... it makes the song for me...

Very true, the instruments all sound amazing and the production is top notch

For sure. Real quality in the production.

i was about to comment on that and then i saw yours. i love this song and it makes happy that it still keeps him secure.

that make a great lyric

He co wrote the song and publisher has publishing so he maybe gets 25%.

Glad he gets his just desserts for his work.

Peter Wood passed away in the 90's,so his family would still recieve royalties, as great as piano riff is & is very much part of the song, I do believe the song is a classic even if that riff didn't exist.

When the sax cuts in in the middle of the song I'd say that is one of THE highlights of 70s pop music.

He's SCOTTISH!!! IF IT'S NOT SCOTTISH, IT'S CRAP!!!!

Very much a gentleman

@@michaelmakes4883 he was born in Scotland but made in England..

@Iain Herridge yep all great, you talkiing about neil finn and russell crowe.. but i call this the Rod Stewart effect, born bred in London England talks with a london accent, has an English mother but is somehow Scottish lol, I don`t think so, he has a scottish heratage on fathers side as i have an irish heratage on fathers side but i aint Irish,

I thought he was from Scotland

Mark Burnham I did not know that! It certainly worked!

@ Mark Burnham Absolutely! Parsons did an incredible job on this one and "Time passages". Outstanding.

Didn't know that. Very interesting

And his backup musicians are marvelous.

The more you learn about Alan Parsons, the more you realize what a brilliant genius he was and definitely still is.. I mean, this guy was working with the Beatles at age 21.

@Stephen Beck-von-Peccoz I agree 100 percent. I'm sure that was part of the inspiration.

Both mainstream concessions, tho. Much of his other work is underappreciated.

I'm over 50 yrs old and never heard that whole album. I just did the other day, and you are so right. Beautiful songs. I'm going to go a little deeper on his stuff too.

@@MrAitraining check out his live 2 lp set indian summer before digging into his discography very well recorded my fave

@@jsteed44 Thanks brother. Will do!

And one of my personal favorites..... Life in Dark Water

Flying Sorcery.

On the Road to Moscow

Love the guitar in On The Border.

Pretty golden hair, small fruit song.. So many, that man is an underrated genius

I hear ya,u.s.m.c.75-79,was a great time & song.semper to.

I first encountered him in the late 60s before he was famous

Yes!!!! Return to the 70's, but put an end to the corruption in education, the legal system, law enforcement, medicine, business; to environmental destruction, animal abuse, illiteracy, deliberately-induced poverty, misogyny, racism, hatred of the LGBTQ community - ALL the above go hand-in-hand.

I was born in 1961 and that means I really was a child of the 60s and 70s..there was no era in rock and roll better than this.. my opinion only...

So do I

Says a lot about a song when kids today hear it and discover what us "old folks" have known for over 40 years.....

Year of the Cat and Time Passages albums are hard to hold a candle to- even Last Days of the Century sounds anti-climatic-all his music and lyrics are THAT illustrious.

most gay men are

Seems like a smashing bloke, really

He's not gay.

@@andrewlaitres9080 I said "guy" not "gay". And it wouldn't matter to me in any way at all if he is gay or not.

Phillip hart wasnt you first post under you

Al Stewart has his Negative side like all humans. Leftists try to pretend that they are Perfectly Enlightened Humans and can make things Wonderful. That is Why they end up with the Atrocities like Hitler, Stalin, Mao's, Che, Amin. On and On. And there ends up being Well over 100 Milion Corpses Stacked Up in about the Last One Hundred Years. Conservatives Recognize the partly Evil Nature of Humans and Work to Create Laws and a System to Limit the Harm that Any one Person or Groups Can Do. Conservative Don't Have Millions of Corpses on there Hands. But they have Created the opportunities for Countless Millions to Improve there Health, Wealth And Freedom not only in the U.S.but around the World. And the left is trying g to Change it AGAIN! It is the leftist Controlled Cities that are Burning and People are being Murdered in Record numbers. ( including very young Black Children! ) And the leftist Propaganda " news media" is encouraging the Violence of the " Peaceful Protesters." Domestic Terrorists is What they Clearly are. Read b.l.m's own website. They tell you they are working to Destroy our System of Governance. That System that have been a Beacon of Freedom and Hope Around the World. You sounded so Naive with your comment. I couldn't Help myself! Best Wishes! M.H.

@@mikehagan4320 Still, it's a great album

I've never equated this song with smoking.

Tim Webb it’s a visual metaphor of the days when after love making a couple would have a cigarette. You and Investor Guy must be pretty young not to remember that imagery.

I don't know about Tim, but I got the metaphor, and I'm glad if it's dying out from the youth. That being so standard our culture is built around it was a hell of a shame. Good riddance.

Passive income.

Thank you for sharing this memory. ♥️

Your have excellent taste.

Wayne, buy me a ticket on the last train home tonight.

@@danbev9313 Wow. Pure magic.

Yep my favorite Al Stewart song

Time Passages facilitates time travel. Every time I hear it, I am transported back to the beautiful moments in life. Thank you, Al.

But it e know it.and it still tugs on my heart strings.

@ Hill Shepherd You can't say that, Parsons and Stewart made several truckloads of money with it and it's still one of the biggest hits on classic rock radio stations to this day. Fantastic song that a lot of people know and love.

I wrote a paper on his song "Old Admirals." I don't think there's an Al Stewart song I don't like.

Can you imagine that?!! Your neighbor is one 1/2 of one of the greatest song writing duos, amazing!

Paul Simon writes alone...Art Garfunkel helped with arrangements but not composing... incidentally,I saw Paul interviewed on Jools Holland's show,and he(Simon) said that he writes the music first,and when that's finished he decides what the song should be about,THEN and only then he writes the lyrics...that is really strange,imagine writing that way....

Let me add that he is a seriously underrated guitar player..

@@lettyguerra371 Paul Simon wrote all the songs

I have see Al more times than I can count at this point. I hope the day never comes that he is no longer able to sing and play.... but if that were to happen, I would still pay to hear him talk and tell stories. He is the greatest Lyricist ever, dead or alive.

Except for maybe when he called Henry Tudor “Henry Plantagenet.”

I've never seen him live but hope to next month and have been listening to more of his music What amazing instrumentation!

@@kurtissjacobs5618 Or when he changed "Peter Lorre" to "Dick Cheney" in live performances...

Al did a free outdoor concert at New Mexico State University while I was there in the late '80s. I didn't make it, but a musician acquaintance of mine did, and he said the same thing, that Al spent several minutes after the show talking "shop" with him, and even explained what patchouli is, which my acquaintance admitted he didn't know.

Is he? I've never heard anyone say that. Underrated by whom?

@Alchemica Blackwood He has a writing credit, so he does, although you never know how big a slice...

He ought to be exalted.

I often think about my first girl friend. so I know how you feel. )

that's a good girl..

Wow i share same memories,my first girlfriend gave me my first 45 record ever ,still have it!

Best music best times.flash back.close my eyes and I'm there again.

Met my giro when I was twelve she was fithteen.and where still together.three grown kids.six grand kids.and forty three years together.still love my classic rock.

Still is

@Bass mike Thank you for your response; I enjoyed reading it. I don't remember the circumstances of how I began listening to that album, but I may have picked it up from the bargin bin at the Rhino Record store and was intrigued by the song titles. The same thing happened at another time when I picked up a Loreena Mckennit album. Thanks again for your Past, Present, and Future story

Bareege that song, like a tragic Russian poem put to music never fails to make me cry. I absolutely love that song!

That haunting melody was one of my favorite songs from The High School Years. Master storyteller.

I agree... Roads to Moscow is my favorite too. In fact, that song got me into Russian history.

I moved to nwi from chicago.thete is a room in the basement that screams the 70s. Everytime I go in that room I'm 14 again.its awesome.its the vibe in that room.classic rock on the radio all day.no lie.it feels so good you just want to cry..

This is so true. I was a high school senior in 1976 and what a great time for music. Now, my 2 sons are 38 and 35 and they like to listen to the same music I listened to back then.

I’m 37 and I totally agree !

No doubt, the best. It actually started going down hill musically right on que in 1980.

Robbie D ....7os Disco is awesome without comparison. Not the mass produced, cheesy stuff later.. Thinking 1972-1977, Barry Whites Love Unlimited Orchestra, The Ojays,The Bluenotes, KC, First Choice, Eddie Kendricks. Beautifully orchestrated music... it wasn’t until after SNFever that it went nuts.

mudhens4ever safely top 10 all time.

exactly!

It's up there with Waterloo Sunset.

It's a great song!

It is on my top three.

I love a good story, and YOTC tells a great one.

YOTC ?

Memories of 1976!

For me it's time passages that wins out with year of the cat second.

I like "Song On The Radio."

I always loved Time Passages until a guy I was dating sang the chorus with a lisp saying, "Thyme Sausages". Totally ruined the song.

Time Passages is in my Top 3 favs of all time.