Talk:Al Stewart

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[edit] Historical references

I've started a thorough listing of historical references in Al's songs on the Between the Wars page. Please join in! Mdiamante 21:41, 8 October 2007 (UTC)


[edit] Bed-Sitter Images vs. Bedsitter Images

I put the dash in Bedsitter after looking at the album cover; however, I wonder if I was hasty. The album cover I looked at was the re-released edition and not the original. I can't seem to locate my copy of the original right now and the scans of it I found online are rather small and hard to make out, but it looks as if Bedsitter has no dash on the original album cover. If that's the case, I'm inclined to believe it should remain dashless. Can someone check the original album? Nyutko 01:58, 9 April 2007 (UTC)

I searched for images of the cover online and all I could find (including those on Al's official site) appeared to have the dash. However, looking at the larger version of the sleeve in the "To Whom It May Concern" booklet, it appears that what I took to be a dash is actually an ornate squiggle in the font. Just to make things more complex, the S is upper case, giving us a third variant ("BedSitter Images), though it's lower case on Al's official website. Unless anyone objects, I think I will revert the changes that added the dash, but add a note in the article on the variant spellings. Rodparkes 02:28, 9 April 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Rod Stewart

Regarding this

Arguably, Stewart's superb musical body of work suffered the fate of his not being the most famous "Stewart" in popular music in the 1970's and 1980's. Fellow countryman Rod Stewart was rather busy in those decades, and may have 'pre-empted' that last name in the minds of many a music fan.

Where did this come from? Is this just (original) speculation on the part of the writer, or have such sentiments been voiced elsewhere?

Fourohfour 22:30, 10 March 2006 (UTC)

Followup; someone else has removed this- suits me. Fourohfour 12:55, 12 March 2006 (UTC)

Little I could add to a comprehensive article other than the full name. I heard an interview with Al saying the record company was more interested in promoting "The Wombles" than YOTC.Barrison 08:18, 28 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Live/Indian Summer

I've changed these back to one album in the discography. They were originally released as one, and that is how they should be listed in the discography. It doesn't make sense to separate them, since there is no studio album called just Indian Summer. --Richardrj 10:58, 15 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] What is this based on?

"The songs on Stewart's debut album, Bedsitter Images (1967), were somewhat stifled by the dramatic string orchestration (Stewart premiered the album with an orchestra at the Royal Festival Hall in London). Love Chronicles (1969) was a distinct improvement...

A distinct improvement, how?

Simply because most fans would agree that Love Chronicles was a better album than Bedsitter Images. Feel free to change it if you disagree. --Richardrj talk email 08:17, 5 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Most recent changes deleterious

Coming back to this article several changes after my last addition (most of which someone has deleted without explanation), I find that most recent changes to it are harmful and often inaccurate. Just to cite a few examples:

  • a 2-track 45rpm record is called a single; why change it to "EP", which in the pre-CD era usually meant that it contained more than 2 tracks?
  • "of which he is credited for by many of his fans" is a meaningless phrase. I think the writer is trying to limit the scope of what was said before by suggesting that it is only his fans who credit Stewart with creating the history-rock genre, but it's not at all clear.
  • The discography does not mention the 1970 reissue The First Album (Bedsitter Images) which had some tracks changed from the original 1967 release. This was also covered in my deleted addition.
  • It is not true that Bedsitter Images has never appeared on CD. It was included (as my now-deleted addition made clear) in the 3-album-on-2-CD collection To Whom It May Concern. Incidentally a forthcoming CD reissue of many of Stewart's albums (remastered with bonus tracks) has recently been announced by Collector's Choice Music, and will include this title (with all songs from both versions).

I don't have time now to clean up all this crap and restore the omissions, but will try to do so later. Rodparkes 03:12, 22 February 2007 (UTC)

Someone has cleaned up most of this - thanks. I've finished the job. Rodparkes 04:30, 12 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Instruments

Vocals is a standard part of the musical artist infobox per Template:Infobox musical artist, so I've added that to the infobox. I've deleted keyboards because I can't think of a single example of him ever playing keyboards either live or on record. If I'm wrong, please correct me. --Richardrj talk email 14:15, 12 July 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Encyclopedic? Not!

Is it just me, or does the opening paragraph seem extremely biased with loaded language? "...one of his era's most ambitious, original, and intelligent songwriters." "...among the most significant folk/rock artists" of the era? And the "some would say" hardly dampens the gushing tone of "[h]e possesses one of the most distinctive, idiosyncratic, and some would say compelling singing voices in popular music...."

I like Al Stewart, but I'm ready to slap a tag on this thing.... Anyone else agree? --Eliyahu S Talk 18:13, 29 April 2008 (UTC)

I like him too and I agree with you. I'd just be bold and cut out that crap. --Richardrj talk email 19:03, 29 April 2008 (UTC)

I have removed all of the "crap" I added to the article. It's all yours now. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 99.239.140.17 (talk) 18:06, 3 May 2008 (UTC)