Al Stewart Turns 80: Revisiting Four Classic Songs from the ‘Year of the Cat’ Icon”

Al Stew­art at 80: From Folk Begin­nings to Time­less Clas­sics

Born in Greenock, Scot­land, in 1945 and raised in Wim­borne, Eng­land, Al Stew­art first cut his teeth in Bea­t­les-inspired beat groups before grav­i­tat­ing toward the acoustic folk scene of 1960s Lon­don. Influ­enced by Bob Dylan, Stew­art released his debut album Bed­sit­ter Images in 1967, fol­lowed by Love Chron­i­cles (1969), which fea­tured future Led Zep­pelin mem­bers Jim­my Page and John Paul Jones, along with mem­bers of Fair­port Con­ven­tion.

By the mid-1970s, Stew­art was mov­ing away from pure folk toward a more melod­ic rock sound. His col­lab­o­ra­tion with pro­duc­er Alan Par­sons began with Mod­ern Times (1975), open­ing the door to his com­mer­cial break­through. Over the fol­low­ing decades, Stew­art kept record­ing and tour­ing steadi­ly, with his last stu­dio album, Spark of Ancient Light, released in 2008. He is cur­rent­ly wrap­ping up a U.S. farewell tour before head­ing to Europe this fall.

In hon­or of Stewart’s 80th birth­day, here’s a look back at four of his most mem­o­rable hits:

“Year of the Cat” (1976)

Stewart’s sig­na­ture song and break­through hit, co-writ­ten with key­boardist Peter Wood. Built around Wood’s piano riff and fea­tur­ing Phil Kenzie’s jazzy sax solo, the track blend­ed romance and film-noir imagery, famous­ly ref­er­enc­ing Casablan­ca. It reached No. 8 on the Bill­board Hot 100 and helped the album of the same name go plat­inum in the us

“Time Pas­sages” (1978)

Pro­duced again by Par­sons, this breezy, jazz-tinged sin­gle became Stewart’s biggest U.S. hit, peak­ing at No. 7 and spend­ing 10 weeks atop Billboard’s Easy Lis­ten­ing chart — the longest run of the decade. Though writ­ten at the urg­ing of his label, the track endures as one of Stewart’s most beloved.