Wine and History with Al Stewart

Most of you probably know Al Stewart as a one hit wonder. Unless you're a fan, you probably haven't heard much beyond his hit Year of the Cat. As you might expect, Al continued to have a productive and fascinating musical career well past the 1970s. He is intelligent folk-rock singer with most of his songs drawn from his deep interest in history and world events (and now, wine).

Several years ago, he released an album only to fan club members that included songs that he recorded as demos but never released on any commercial album as well as several unreleased live gems. The album was called Seemed Like A Good Idea At The Time and contained a number of astonishingly melodic and sophisticated songs. One of those songs is featured here - Soho (Needless To Say) a great recording of the song that originally appeared on Past, Present, and Future. In 2001 (or so), he released an album that highlights his love of wine. Down In The Cellar is a fantastic collection of Al Stewart melodies with clever and intelligent lyrics. The song featured here from that album is Turning It Into Water. Apparently some legal problems prevented the album from being released in the US until now. The album is scheduled to be released in the USA on August 28.

I urge you to revisit the Al Stewart catalog. If you have only heard Year of the Cat, you're in for many pleasant surprises as you listen to all his albums. You can find a nice greatest hits collection here. Past, Present and Future is here and Down In The Cellar is available for pre-order here. An import version is available here. Find other Al Stewart gems here.

1. Al Stewart - Soho (Needless To Say) (3.68 MB; 128kbps MP3)
2. Al Stewart - Turning It Into Water (4.23 MB; 128kbps MP3)

Wish I Had Said This Earlier

One of my favorite musicians is J.J. Cale and it amazes me that he is not more widely known by mainstream music fans. Most lay people probably know him as a songwriter, writing Eric Clapton's mega hits Cocaine and After Midnight, and Skynyrd's Call Me The Breeze. However, he is an accomplished musician with a great voice and a knack for melody.

One of the first albums I owned by J.J. Cale was Shades which is probably why it remains my favorite album. Here are a couple of cuts from that album. Although I would be remiss in not including his fun hit Mama Don't from the album, I'm going to resist and instead feature the equally upbeat Carry On. I also want to feature another cut that I think portrays his sensitive side. His ability to hit you in the gut with his lyrics and music is quite astounding.

For some reason, Amazon only carries Shades as an import. You can find it here. Although the Anthology collection is my favorite, the track listing on Definitive Best also seems like a great starting point (and at a lower price). It is definitely worth buying some Cale (if you don't already have some in your collection. You can find other albums here.

1. J.J. Cale - Wish I Had Not Said That (3.1 MB; 128 kbps)

2. J.J. Cale - Carry On (2.14 MB; 128kbps)