Talk:Al Stewart/Archive 1

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Archive 1

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)

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)

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)

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)

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)

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)

General encouragement to contributors

The work done on what many of Al Stewart's fans believe to be one of the most underestimated and underpromoted musicians in history has been astonishing. To see Al's individual albums all listed with links and descriptions is testament to the esteem in which he is held. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 114.74.209.79 (talk) 14:02, 30 September 2009 (UTC)

Picture

Could anyone replace the picture of him? I think a picture when he was much younger will be better. When I first opened the article i thought it was about a sick person... —Preceding unsigned comment added by 93.126.132.51 (talk) 21:35, 19 November 2008 (UTC)

I agree, it's a terrible picture. However, the rules are that all photos must be free content, with a few limited exceptions. You're probably not going to find a free content picture of him taken when he was younger. --Richardrj talk email 13:00, 20 November 2008 (UTC)
That's fair enough, but could we find something a little more "flattering" to him —Preceding unsigned comment added by StormCloud (talk • contribs) 13:58, 21 November 2008 (UTC)
I'm not an expert on interpreting the free content policy, does CC license suffice? see for example http://www.flickr.com/photos/ac4lt/2786110826/ --alteregoz (talk) 16:36, 22 November 2008 (UTC)

Replaced with a photo I took of Al performing in the City Winery NYC yesterday. It's quite lousy quality as it is a frame from a video clip, but fits as "more flattering" until somthing better comes up...--alteregoz (talk) 08:16, 2 March 2009 (UTC)

It's a bit out of focus, but more flattering; a big improvement  :-) Stormcloud (talk) 08:47, 2 March 2009 (UTC)
I actually prefer the earlier one. It's better technically and is, I think, more attractive. The earlier is in-focus,and is in front of a wine menu, which is just perfect for an oenophile like Stewart; and has a better smile. The new one is blurry, smaller, and has the guitar tuning pegs partially or nearly (it's hard to tell) obscuring his face. TJRC (talk) 08:51, 2 March 2009 (UTC)
I agree it's not such great quality, I'll try and extract something better from what I recorded, but that's likely about the best I can. The best would be that one from Flickr, you could try contacting the photographer for a freer license, I tried but she didn't respond. I have to admit I had the same reaction to the previous picture as the first commenter... --alteregoz (talk) 17:01, 2 March 2009 (UTC)


Any ideas why the image has been reverted. The one we've gone back to is really bad. Stormcloud (talk) 07:55, 29 April 2009 (UTC)

If nobody has any objections I'm going to revert the picture Stormcloud (talk) 07:32, 6 May 2009 (UTC)
As nobody objected, or even commented, I've reverted the image. The new one isn't the best, but at least he doesn't look ill. Stormcloud (talk) 07:33, 12 May 2009 (UTC)
I've replaced the image with a new original photo from a recent concert. I hope it meets with the approval of those in this discussion. Elaborating (talk) 20:36, 9 November 2009 (UTC)
Good work; a huge improvement over the one you replaced. TJRC (talk) 21:06, 9 November 2009 (UTC)
Absolutely. Much improved. Stormcloud (talk) 08:56, 10 November 2009 (UTC)

External alstewart.com web site is currently carrier for malware

Do we remove links to known carriers of malware?

Does anyone know someone who is actually responsible for the damn web site, who can get the malware removed? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 66.218.47.225 (talk) 03:57, 17 August 2009 (UTC)

What sort of malware are we talking about? Stormcloud (talk) 09:03, 18 August 2009 (UTC)

This has been rectified. It was causing downloads (from a different host, elsewhere) of some sort of malware which turned affected machines into mail bots. It has been clear for at least two months now. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 72.5.239.5 (talk) 01:46, 9 January 2010 (UTC)

Encyclopedic?

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 am a big fan but there are fan sites - let's keep this encyclopedic and only include citable material with references. Arnold Gallagher (talk) 23:01, 28 September 2008 (UTC)Arnold Gallagher

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)

Do we still need to include the neutrality warning on the article front page? I ask because there are more objectionable statements in the descriptions of his albums. For example

  • Love Chronicles - "usually credited as the first use of the word "fucking" in popular commercial music" By who?
  • Love Chronicles - "... was apparently recorded with a heavy cold." What is apparent about it?
  • Orange - "Generally regarded as a 'transitional album'" - regarded by who?
  • Past, Present and Future - "This album is considered Stewart's first "major album" " - Again who's opinion is this?
  • 24 Carrots - "his first album which includes humour" - Was it really?. BTW What's wrong with the page title?

StormCloud (talk) 15:00, 21 October 2008 (UTC)

I've removed the neutrality warning after removing the last non-neutral and/or poetic language sections. The issues you mention above, btw, are mostly gone too, and what's left has more to do with references than NPOV. So I believe we're now ok with POV. --Alteregoz (talk) 07:40, 18 November 2008 (UTC)
Now also added citations for where it was requested, any other suggestions for what requires references are welcome, for now I removed the template. --Alteregoz (talk) 08:28, 18 November 2008 (UTC)
I've added a tag to this talk page as the article still needs (minor) cleaning up to an appropriate encyclopedic style. It still looks too much like it was copied from an article in a music review magazine, contains too much pov and too many weasel words. DerbyCountyinNZ (Talk Contribs) 06:52, 12 April 2010 (UTC)

Singles List

Moved query from main article RGCorris (talk) 12:29, 15 November 2010 (UTC)

Where are the rest of the singles? The first was The Elf. He also released Bedsitter Images as a single backed by Swiss Cottage Manouevres. 12:25, 15 November 2010 109.154.238.122

"24 Carrots" vs. "24 PCarrots"

An editor recently changed the title of this album from "24 Carrots" to "24 PCarrots". Apart from messing up wikilinking (which could be fixed with a piped link, of course), I think that's wrong. The title of the CD is "24 Carrots." The P is crossed off and replaced with a C. It's listed as "Carrots" in three sites I just checked:

I've reverted. TJRC (talk) 00:55, 19 February 2009 (UTC)

I think I might even have changed it to P/Carrots myself in the past, but that got reverted as well. To my mind the crossed out P is part of the title, otherwise what is the point of it appearing on the cover? I would suggest using a strikethrough i.e. 24 PCarrots. --Richardrj talk email 05:55, 19 February 2009 (UTC)
Surely the idea of calling it "24 Parrots" and then changing it to "24 Carrots" is nothing more then a simple pun and should not be regarded as part of the album name. According to Neville Judd's book he Al wanted to call the follow up album "A turnip for the books". Since nobody else calls the album "24 PCarrots" I don't think we should Stormcloud (talk) 11:30, 19 February 2009 (UTC)

My copy of Guiness' British Hit Singles & Albums lists the album as "24 Carat" !?! Gwladys24 (talk) 17:16, 21 July 2011 (UTC)

Where is his personal life ?

It says very little about his wife and two daughters. When did they marry ? How did they first meet ? The emphasis is on their move from Los Angeles to Marin County, California. Listening to Year of the Cat, I think he sounds gay or bisexual. The article doesn't even attempt to explain the apparent indication that Al Stewart never married until he was approximately 50 years old despite his getting rich in his 30's.— Preceding unsigned comment added by 98.151.8.239 (talk) 07:05, 5 June 2011 (UTC)

If you've got any well-sourced information regarding this, by all means put it in the article. That you happen to think an artist "sounds gay" is of no value whatsoever. --jpgordon::==( o ) 16:17, 5 June 2011 (UTC)
Perhaps you should listen to the lyrics of his first four albums - he was a part of Swinging London in the Sixties, and getting married and settling down with one woman when there were plenty on offer wasn't what that generation did. RGCorris (talk) 18:06, 21 July 2011 (UTC)

Glastonbury festival

The phrase "Stewart performed at the first ever Glastonbury festival to a field of 1,000 hippies who had paid just £1 each to be there" without any reference appears to be humorous rather than entirely factual. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 101.172.153.169 (talk) 06:07, 9 December 2011 (UTC)

Thank you for your suggestion. When you believe an article needs improvement, please feel free to make those changes. Wikipedia is a wiki, so anyone can edit almost any article by simply following the edit this page link at the top.
The Wikipedia community encourages you to be bold in updating pages. Don't worry too much about making honest mistakes—they're likely to be found and corrected quickly. If you're not sure how editing works, check out how to edit a page, or use the sandbox to try out your editing skills. New contributors are always welcome. You don't even need to log in (although there are many reasons why you might want to). TJRC (talk) 18:10, 9 December 2011 (UTC)

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)

I think the reference to Rhodesia in 'On the Border' is incorrect. The reference is more likely to the insurgency in Anglola Mozambique and Guinea Bissau, Portuguese provinces in Africa. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 88.97.38.12 (talk) 20:48, 23 April 2013 (UTC)

The Elf jumble

It seems that the inclusion of the extra info on The Elf alongside the first album release might be better expressed with the mention of the single itself in the "Career" section. Also in the "Early..." section, third paragraph, the sentence on the first albums being re-released implies The Elf is an album, not a single release. I think these need an edit. I'll do it, but wanted to see if anyone objects. Thoughts?THX1136 (talk) 18:40, 31 March 2014 (UTC)

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Dark Side (album)

I realized that is missing an album, released in 2004 (?): Dark Side (Unreleased songs that never made it onto albums between 1980 - 1993) [1] 77.244.180.180 (talk) 09:03, 3 April 2021 (UTC)

References

  1. ^ https://www.discogs.com/Al-Stewart-Dark-Side/master/1631479
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