The Year of Al Stewart Trivia Quiz

Answer: Glasgow, Scotland

Alastair Ian Stewart was born in Glasgow but grew up in Bournemouth, England. In HHe took up residence in the United States in 1977.

Answer: Bedsitter Images

"Bedsitter Images" was released in the UK by CBS records in 1967. Produced by Roy Guest, the tracks were:

Bedsitter Images
Swiss Cottage Manoeuvres
The Carmichaels
Scandinavian Girl
Pretty Golden Hair
Denise at 16
Samuel, Oh How You've Changed
Cleave to Me
A Long Way Down From Stephanie
Ivich
Beleeka Doodle Day.

Stewart claims that he was signed by CBS as part of a "package deal". "I was only signed to CBS in 1967 because my manager had another band they wanted to sign called the Piccadilly Line," he told Record Collector magazine.

Answer: Jimmy Page

Jimmy Page, then a studio musician, went on to play lead guitar for the Yardbirds and Led Zeppelin. He has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice, once for each group.

Robert Fripp was one of Stewart's early teachers, as well as guitarist for King Crimson.

"The Elf" was not a big success, and legend has it that it only sold 500 copies.

Answer: true

It was at these clubs where he first began performing his own works. This brought him to the attention of record company Decca, which recorded his song "The Elf".

Les Cousins was in the basement of 49 Greek Street, run by Andy Matthews. Just about anyone in the folk-rock genre performed there, and albums were recorded live. It is now the home of the Sak Bar.

I have not found the location of "Bunjies" - if anyone out there has information about the club, please let me know!

Answer: The First Album (Bedsitter Images)

A few tracks changed, too. The track listing on the new version was

Lover Man
Swiss Cottage Manoeuvres
The Carmichaels
Clifton in the Rain
Bedsitter Images
Denise at 16
Samuel, Oh How You've Changed!
A Long Way Down From Stephanie
Ivich
Beleeka Doodle Day.

Answer: Love Chronicles

The "f" word was found in the lyrics of "Love Chronicles", in the 1969 album of the same name. The other songs listed were also on that album, but a bit more, well, printable.

Supporting artists on the album included Jimmy Page, of Led Zeppelin and Yardbirds fame, and Simon Nichol, Richard Thompson and Ashley Hutchings from Fairport Convention. The album was voted "Folk Album of the Year" by Melody Maker magazine.

Answer: Nostradamus

At 9 minutes 43 seconds long, it didn't really fit in with commercial radio formats, but "Nostradamus" became something of a cult classic on college campuses.

Nostradamus, Michel de Nostredame, lived from 1503-1566. He was a French apothecary who made over 6,300 prophecies.

Sybal was the name given to the various Greek prophetesses, including the one at the oracle at Delphi. Ten separate prophetesses are accorded this title.

Zoroaster was a Persian prophet who lived somewhere around 1200 BCE and started his own religion.

Edgar Cayce was much more modern, living from 1877 to 1845. He reputedly would go into a trance and describe events or diagnose illnesses.

Answer: WWII invasion of the Soviet Union

It was WWII. The lyrics tell it all:

"They crossed over the border the hour before dawn
Moving in lines through the day
Most of our planes were destroyed on the ground where they lay
Waiting for orders we held in the wood - word from the front never came
By evening the sound of the gunfire was miles away
Ah, softly we move through the shadows, slip away through the trees
Crossing their lines in the mists in the fields on our hands and our knees
And all that I ever was able to see
The fire in the air glowing red silhouetting the smoke on the breeze
All summer they drove us back through the Ukraine
Smolyensk and Viyasma soon fell
By autumn we stood with our backs to the town of Orel
Closer and closer to Moscow they come - riding the wind like a bell
General Guderian stands at the crest of the hill
Winter brought with her the rains, oceans of mud filled the roads
Gluing the tracks of their tanks to the ground while the sky filled with snow
And all that I ever was able to see
The fire in the air glowing red silhouetting the snow on the breeze
In the footsteps of Napoleon the shadow figures stagger through the winter
Falling back before the gates of Moscow,
Standing in the wings like an avenger
And far away behind their lines the partisans are stirring in the forest
Coming unexpectedly upon their outposts, growing like a promise
You'll never know, you'll never know
Which way to turn, which way to look, you'll never see us
As we're stealing through the blackness of the night
You'll never know, you'll never hear us
And the evening sings in a voice of amber, the dawn is surely coming
The morning road leads to Stalingrad, and the sky is softly humming
Two broken Tigers on fire in the night flicker their souls to the wind
We wait in the lines for the final approach to begin
It's been almost four years that I've carried a gun
At home it'll almost be spring
The flames of the Tigers are lighting the road to Berlin
Ah, quickly we move through the ruins that bow to the ground
The old men and children they send out to face us, they can't slow us down
And all that I ever was able to see
The eyes of the city are opening now it's the end of the dream
I'm coming home, I'm coming home
Now you can taste it in the wind, the war is over
And I listen to the clicking of the train wheels as we roll across the border
And now they ask me of the time
That I was caught behind their lines and taken prisoner
"They only held me for a day, a lucky break", I say;
They turn and listen closer
I'll never know, I'll never know
Why I was taken from the line and all the others
To board a special train and journey deep into the heart of holy Russia
And it's cold and damp in the transit camp, and the air is still and sullen
And the pale sun of October whispers the snow will soon be coming
And I wonder when I'll be home again and the morning answers
"Never"
And the evening sighs and the steely Russian skies go on forever"

Now if high school history books were written like this, one might have aced the course...

Answer: False

In an interview with the syndicated radio show "Acoustic Storm", he said,

"I have never really cared for that song; I know it was a big hit and all that. It was just one of those things where the record company asked me to write something that sounded like "Year of the Cat" and we ended up doing that. But I didn't realize truly how bad a song it was until one day I was in an elevator and I was listening to what I thought was Muzak. About 30 seconds went by, and I finally began to recognize it and said to myself, 'this sounds pretty horrible'. Then, horror of horrors, I heard my voice come on, it actually was the record. So I'm thinking, 'oh my God what have I done, this is terrible'!"

Answer: crime

Written by Al Stewart and Peter Wood, the song was the last track on an album which also contained the much-loved song "On the Border".

There's a funny tale about Al Stewart and Tori Amos. In 1991, Stewart was playing the London Festival Hall when his pianist became ill. Tori was in the UK playing another gig with a restriction on her visa only allowing that one gig, when Stewart asked her to cover for his player. She couldn't do it under her name, so was introduced as the Russian pianist "Viliana Tchaikovskaya" - and the audience fell for it. Years later, legitimately playing the venue, Amos admitted that it wasn't her first time on that stage... Thanks to GentleGiant17 for the info!

"On a morning from a Bogart movie
In a country where they turn back time
You go strolling through the crowd like Peter Lorre
Contemplating a crime

She comes out of the sun in a silk dress running
Like a watercolour in the rain
Don't bother asking for explanations
She'll just tell you that she came
In the year of the cat

She doesn't give you time for questions
As she locks up your arm in hers
And you follow 'till your sense of which direction
Completely disappears

By the blue tiled walls near the market stalls
There's a hidden door she leads you to
These days, she says, I feel my life
Just like a river running through
The year of the cat

Well, she looks at you so cooly
And her eyes shine like the moon in the sea
She comes in incense and patchouli
So you take her, to find what's waiting inside
The year of the cat

Well, morning comes and you're still with her
And the bus and the tourists are gone
And you've thrown away the choice and lost your ticket
So you have to stay on

But the drum-beat strains of the night remain
In the rhythm of the new-born day
You know sometime you're bound to leave her
But for now you're going to stay
In the year of the cat"