Year of the Cat by Al Stewart
Another one that is out-of-genre for me, but this has always been a favorite of mine. It has a mystical feel. Maybe it was the Alan Parsons influence. Anyway, here it is. From Wikipedia: Year of the Cat is a song by Scottish singer-songwriter Al Stewart. It is the title track of the album Year of the Cat, which was recorded at Abbey Road Studios, London in January 1976 by engineer Alan Parsons, and released in July of that year. It remains one of Stewart’s most well loved songs and receives regular airplay on both classic rock and folk rock stations. It is noted for its lengthy instrumental sections, including a long solo that encompasses violin, piano, acoustic guitar, distorted electric guitar, and saxophone. The transition from acoustic guitar to electric to saxophone was intiated by Tim Renwick. Parsons had Phil Kenzie add the saxophone part of the song – and by doing so transformed the original folk concept into the jazz-influenced ballad that place Al Stewart onto the charts. It was Stewart’s first Top 10 US single, peaking at #8 on the US singles chart. The song was co-written by Peter Wood. The lyrics tell a tale about a tourist who meets a hippie girl in an exotic market, stays the night with her (cue instrumental interlude), and thus misses his tour bus. The track was used in the film version of Running with Scissors in 2006.
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Filed under: Acoustic Guitar
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fantastic song. i heard this song when I was about seven. To this day it brings back fantastic memories of my child hood.
wonderful-as always!
k cancion tan bonita en ese tiempo si habia musik la adoro
I was 13 when this song came out in 1976. I fell in like with it immediately!
Teenagers, can you imagine growing up without rap, hip hop and auto-tune? No cell phones, personal computers, video games, etc. It was a lot more peaceful…
The Music on earth came out of the Super 70′s…
This song is just a real feel excellent song..
I like this song!
There is of course a year of the Cat in Vietnamese zodiac, instead of the Rabbit in Chinese. Next one in 2011!
Reminds me of a time when I was carefree…..
Gorgeous………….
I often wonder if excellent song writing is dead… I mean excellent solid song writing. I know it is being done but not being played… you know what I mean?
Fascinating comment. As a Vietnam Veteran, this song painted a vivid picture of those days for me. Very creative piece of work. Maybe it’s the symbolism of the lyrics that make me appreciate it so much. I listen to it often. Fantastic posting.
Not to split Hares, MrBunnyBear, but the Tiger is a Cat.
This is a very unusual song. I once read a treatise on this song that places it in Vietnam in 1963. The mentions of silk, patchoolie, market stalls could place it there. All that aside, the song is fantastic. I wonder though, could this song get any radio play now, if it were just written? The sixties and seventies saw an explosion of creativity in well loved music which I doubt will ever happen again.
so you are not a teenager !!!;-) I like this song, …. the piano at the beginning and the saxo at the end …
@pkrieter same for me ! “excellent ancient times”!!!
I like this song. it brings me back to the 70′s.
To know this song, you need to know that there is no Year of the Cat. Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Ram, Monkey, Rooster, Dog and Boar … but no Cat. The cat was too arrogant to come to the meeting of the animals.
Damn! So you know my first ex-wife! You called that one nearly perfectly.
I don’t care who she is. . . .silk dress running like a water colour in the rain or not. . . . she’s a nutter! Just look into those eyes on 2:52
After she’s boiled y’bunny, shagged your best mate and torn up your football programmes, she’ll be away in your car with your David Attengrough DVD collection and your wallet to the nearest third rate lawyer, claim for emotional neglect and end up with your house. . . for sure
Who cares? It’s a sensational vid and a fantastic Song. Thanks for posting
haha just now i realized that nearly all the girls on the video is zooey deschannel, dah. im slow D:
Yup!
2:58 she´s zooey deschannel, right?
simple to tell which stewart songs were produced by parsons. the best ones.
You’re very welcome. I’m listening/watching some of your Yes vids now, also brilliant. Next to The Beatles, Yes is also a huge favorite of mine.
Wow, Thanks!
Fantastic job all around on a fantastic tune vzqk50.
Hypnotizing!