with LPs of Mary, and photos of God

A couple of nights ago, after I first posted my little manifesto on Al Stewart, a friend and I got drunk and listened to some. My friend seemed impressed by what he heard, so we listened to some more, and I offered to do a CD for him. I thought I'd share what I ended up putting together. Now, I know this differs somewhat from my earlier recommendations about how to approach the Stewart canon... chalk it up to space restrictions, an attempt to appeal to my sense of another person's tastes, as well as the simple fact that my own favorites within Al's oeuvre are constantly changing.

1. Year of the Cat (Year of the Cat)
2. On the Border (Year of the Cat)
3. Flying Sorcery (Year of the Cat)
4. Apple Cider Re-Constitution (Modern Times)
5. The Dark and The Rolling Sea (Modern Times)
6. Clifton in the Rain (Bedsitter Images)
7. Gethsemane, Again (Zero She Flies)
8. Manuscript (Zero She Flies)
9. Burbling (Zero She Flies)
10. Electric Los Angeles Sunset (Zero She Flies)
11. Running Man (24 Carrots)
12. The Last Day of June 1934 (Past, Present and Future)
13. Joe the Georgian (Between the Wars)
14. Class of '58 (A Beach Full of Shells)
15. Mr. Lear (A Beach Full of Shells)
16. Katherine of Oregon (A Beach Full of Shells)
17. Almost Lucy (Time Passages)
18. The Night of the 4th of May (Orange)

Now, go ahead and download it from your preferred legal music service. Don't steal music, especially not music this good.

By the way, there supposedly exists a much longer (13 minutes or so) version of the rock and roll tribute epic Class of '58. I haven't heard it myself, it may only be available on the single, but if you get a chance to hear it, it should really be something.