_Especially_ considering how I watched _this_ one [ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-2i46s52JAUE.html] first. Uggh. Thank goodness I found the actual live audio.
This is one of the greatest songs ever written. That is not mere hyperbole. It is a fact. The lyrics are not only one of the greatest lyric poems ever written, but the music complements it perfectly. It is a song that transports you to another place and another time. Everything seems strange and beautiful at the same time. It is a place you don't want to leave, and a place your mind and spirit return to again and again for a restorative drink in its waters. Thank you so much, Al, for this timeless masterpiece. I hope it lives on until the end of time.
Agreed - the lyrics are just so dense with mood-evoking and visual imagery, every line so clever you just can't help smiling and appreciating the lyrical genius. A short-form compressed romantic story set to 4 1/2 minutes of unforgettable music. And as you said, just such a rolling, hook-filled melody, it's a perfect match for the incredible lyrics. (However, to be honest, for the life of me I could never figure out what was "The Year of the Cat"! 🤣)
@@bellazoe1 No arguments from me! I listened to their music heavily throughout the late 70s, all through the 80s ... and even now. Their music has stood the test of time.
The performance of this song is a perfect example of synergy. Each instrument, the vocals, and the lyrics all meld together into a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts. No need to go on, as many of the comments here nailed all the nuances and captivating aspects of this song. Simply mesmerizing.
This song along with Baker St and songs from Boz Scaggs, Pink Floyd, Stones and others was what made of that time period parallel to disco music, and flowed into the 80s, it sure was a spoil for choice back then. Makes me always think how we moved away from that kind of middle of the road music.
Such a piquantly stated effulgence of your heart! Slightly spoiled by your dictionary definition of synergy, but still an accurate capturing of your emotional experience.
This song came out a month after I married my soul mate in 1976 and became our anthem for our first year of love. It takes me back. We are still going strong -- 45 years together June 2021.
I hadn’t been married very long when I listened to this beautiful song one evening late in 1976 and sadly I realised that I had made a massive mistake marrying the woman that I had married and sadly this song will always remind me of that evening. My marriage only lasted two years and three days and I never married again due to a massive distrust of women.
An utter masterpiece. If there was an award for “Song of the decade” this would be it. Along with lyrics that transports you to an innocent time so precious, and beautiful instrumentation the generations living now will never know, this song defines the 70’s.
En una época donde el talentos brotaban de las calles garages pueblos..había miles de grupos talentosos..Algo les pasó a estas generaciones..que tuvieron la música en su ADN...Hoy ya no...Hay que contarles a nuestros generaciones posteriores a nosotros...Este fenómeno..un saludo..desde México
I was at his concert at Coachhouse in San Juan Capistrano 2 years ago, he was just as good, if not better because he was quite humorous. The sagacity came with age. :)
What you won’t believe is that i’m 13 years old and I listen to this song, I know amazing right? I don’t listen to the crappy music of this generation.
❤️ ❤️ Yess I'm with you👍 there are so many good songs written in the 70ties. And they still will be listening in the next 50 years. No one song of today is as good as the 70ties songs have been. 🎼💞🎸🎹🥁
Año del gato, este año es el año de la unión y de reflexión en el mundo, tal vez si se nos paso la mano con la naturaleza y estamos pagando las consecuencias, espero que la vida en adelante sea otra, cuídense hermanos humanos
My dad would play this song over and over when it came out. I was about 4 years old and it became my favorite song. Still to this day, I can’t get enough of it.
They don’t make songs like this anymore. I grew up in the best music era ever and this is a perfect example. Never gets old and this live version is awesome.
It starts with a haunting piano solo, moves into fascinating lyrics with a uniquely beautiful voice and ends with a stunning sax solo. I never stop loving this song. All these years.
ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-yYZtR_jfMws.html well said👍🏻👍🏻😎stumbled upon this very interesting character who dissects and reacts to great music 😊he has an eclectic taste you might enjoy!!
@@clairedelune2011 and That was the incredibly creative rhyming lyric to: "While she looks at you so cooly And her eyes shine like the moon in the sea" !
"you've thrown away your choice...you've lost your ticket....so you have to stay on"... I've thrown away my ticket many times just to see what would happen. I always survived and got better. I am grateful.
I' m sorry. I play this song in all side where i can. I like it. I play guitar and piano for this. I'm music. I' ts very good. Song of excelence forever. Congrat full.
This song is one of my favorites too. I wanted to hear the instrumental part in the middle of the song. I always thought there was a violin but actually is a keyboard! Oh well nevermind! Excellent song!
This and Gerry Rafferty’s Baker St are the sound track of growing up in the 1970’s for me. Such a lovely song. So good to see all the positive comments too. Thank you Al Stewart.
@@rigelmoon9030 You are ABSOLUTELY correct. Never again will we have good music like the 70's !!! I'm 72 and only listen to the GREAT musicians we had back in the 70's. ❤
@@christinemurphy5679 Don't ever stop listening. There are so many great memories on the OGWT. I love that 'Star Kicker' button. I have 2 long sleeve t-shirts, but gotta get me the button.😀
Al Stewart said after he finished The Year of the Cat, “If that’s not a hit, then I can’t make a hit.” And obviously it was. What a brilliant song and record.
All great songs, are out grief, a mans life and better because of that. I'm extremely glad that Al Struert is ok, his still haunts me, rgds Colin Runciman.
ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-yYZtR_jfMws.html Mark, incredible 👍🏻👍🏻stumbled upon this very interesting character who dissects and reacts to great music!!
Wow, a seven-piece band, actually playing their instruments and singing live, with their stuff together and making real music that well replicates their album sound. I feel blessed to be old enough to remember such.
Ladies and gentlemen ... I have been a guitarist for 57+ years and I can guarantee you will never hear a live vocal performance better than this one or more true to the original recording.
Some musicians actually like to perform and are smart enough not to make the recordings to difficult to replicate live with a normal size group on musicians. To many moving parts makes any thing more difficult.
Fantastic musicians , vocal Piano intro is hauntingly beautiful. Music takes me away to the wonderful creative 70's Greatest decade in modern music ! 👍♥️
Howdy from Texas....I’m 61 now and this music brings memories of good old times. If I ever get my time machine working, I’m going straight to the 70’s and this time I’m staying there and never going to leave
This song is a masterpiece. When I worked in radio and played songs like this, actual records on the radio I took some songs for granted, now I look back and think what an honor it was to play them for my listeners in a bygone era. No technology in those days just the music
@@jamesmaass8929 Wish I could sing. My neighbors hate me cause I crank up my sound bar and sing at the top of my lungs dancing around:) Hee Hee! Bet it was cool working at a radio station but to DJ!! Fun! I envy you.
ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-yYZtR_jfMws.html Rick, spot on👍🏻👍🏻stumbled upon this very interesting character who dissects and reacts to great music!
There are times at 65 that I really miss the 70's, 1976 in particular when I was 18 This album is a musical memory of a year that held so much promise There has never been a year since that held so much magic
When I was a teenager, I found this record in a 99 cent bin at a music store. I didn’t even have a record player, but I just saw it and had to buy it. It ended up getting accidentally destroyed, but I fell in love with the song after looking it up online. Over a decade later I went to the same music store, and found this record AGAIN in the 99 cent bin. Of course I had to buy it. I finally just acquired a record player. I’m going to see if the record is in good enough condition to finally hear it as I originally discovered it.
What's a record player?? Haha! Looong live vinyl records! I hear they may be making a come back? My 13 yr old daughter asked for one. He & her friend are always playing it with it!! ; )
Cuántos días y noches,no paraba de oír,el año del gato,y sigo a mis 63 años,hasta que vaya perdiendo mi memoria,que poco a poco se me olvidan cosas y me acuerdo de mi juventud y voy perdiendo memoria,pero aún sigo aquí,saludos para todos los seguidores desde Málaga,España
Nunca permitas que tu mente olvide (escribe tus recuerdos, tus vivencias), porque vida: no es la que vivimos, si no la que recordamos... saludos desde México...
@@arturorodriguez9522 Gracias,Arturo,sigo oyendo mi música,y deseo que mi mente siga,y sí escribo para no olvidar,cuando me desorientó siempre escucho música y leo,gracias,un fuerte saludo,gracias
La juventud..en el rock...era la esencia..de su genialidad..Está generación.de miles de musicos.talentosos.en el Rock...creanme .NO SE VOLVERA A REPETIR..Los escucharán por varias generaciones..futuras..sin duda..un saludo ..desde mexico
music doesn't have to be all choreography,explosions,smoke machine,blinking and blinding lights flashing in your eyes to be good music. Music is the language of as all
Driving up highway 81 in the middle of Kansas in my old MG in the spring of 1977, drinking a little beer, listening to this song will forever be in my memory.....
Driving on a 2 lane highway in North paravoor, Kerala, India, on 20th Aug 2020 , listening to 'the year of the cat from Toyota Etios's CD player, i can visualise of those good olden days yo are missing now.....
I had the privilege of growing through my teen years in the 1970's . Am I biased ? I feel like we had the best music then, and it makes me feel sorry for the young people today. Baker Street, Just The Way You Are, by Billy Joel. All the great Elton John, Billy Joel, Al Stewart, Gary Wright, Seals and Crofts, America, The Eagles. That music still makes me feel young. Still get the same gut feeling from it.
Your mention of Baker Street really caught my eye. I'm a few years older than you but I was raised by my very restrictive grandparents. Less sheltered, more like a captive so it took me a few years to fully get me feet under me after graduating HS in '72. So, to a degree we were in the same place in the 70s. A few of my favorites, of course the Beatles (truly a one of one), Billy Joel, Three Dog Night, Bad Company, Rod Stewart, Glen Campbell, Linda Ronstadt among the many. Conversely, I'm or at least was, more of an 80s guy as far as music and pop culture goes. However, this is about 2 songs that I closely associate. Year of the Cat and Baker Street. I've always associated those to songs very closely although there is no absolutely objective reason for doing so. Thus, you could say that it is my own visceral response which is correct. Superficially, they are similar in that they were both recorded by Scottish artists, both "one hit wonders" and both rose to No. 8 on Billboard. I won't delve into the artistry other than to say both songs are uniquely rich, original have meaningful lyrics that speak of love but neither are conventional love songs. They both convey a wistful melancholy that reaches into the soul. Two great, great songs that are probably underappreciated.
@@ob7483 Wow ! What an iconic group. There own sound, their own tunes that are just so easily recognized as theirs, if one knows them. To this day when I hear; Sister Golden Hair, one of my class mates that I had a crush on comes to mind, as if we're still sitting in English class.
excellent BBC taxpayer funded studio, and the musicians are excellent! "The Old Grey Whistle Test" is so funny of a name. If an old grey hair doorman whistles your tune, it's a hit! LOL
ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-yYZtR_jfMws.html piano was awesome 👍🏻👍🏻stumbled upon this very interesting character who dissects and reacts to great music!!
My god, does this bring back memories. I was a 22 year old in the US Air Force stationed in Spain. All we had was AFN, radio Luxembourg, and all the albums we could get our hands on. And in Europe, this song was on so much. Thank god for RU-vid. I’d never seen Al Stewart performing this until just now! Such a beautiful song, it never gets old.
The first song I learned to play on the piano. 45 years later and I'm still playing it. It is timeless, just like Time Passages. Al is a Magnificent musician!
But, did you know that the fellow playing the piano for Al in this performance was none other than the guitarist, Peter White? He handled keys and eventually guitar for Al, but here, I'm almost certain that was him at the piano. He is one of the most well known smooth jazz artists on classical or nylon string guitar in the world. Check him out.
@@dennylibertario2246 Hey Denny! I think Peter White is actually playing the electronic keyboards in this video/version - but you're right he's a fantastic musician. I think the piano player here is Peter Wood.
LYRICS 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 watercolor 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 While 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 your choice you've lost your ticket So you have to stay on But the drum-beat strains of the night remain In the rhythm of the newborn day You know sometime you're bound to leave her But for now you're going to stay In the year of the cat
Old Grey Whistle Test sorted the wheat from the chaff. This was totally live - and had to be done in ONE take. No opportunity to busk or cover for error. That's why music like this endures... These musicians knew what they were doing, and did it to perfection.
Just an absolute timeless classic. So many instruments all blending together in complete synchronization to produce such great music. Today's musical talent should all watch how real music is made. And way back from 1976 I might add. The music back then is so much better than today.
I was coming home from my third date with my high school girlfriend and things had worked out grand. On a long stretch of empty road I turned on the radio and this came on. That moment is frozen in memory till I die.
Así es, la estoy disfrutando viendo el atardecer y recordando cuando salió esta canción (era una jovencita), y a falta de vino una tisana. Saudações de México
@@MrErdner , this is not my first rodeo. That was a sarcastic comment. Lol. I grew up listening to this band too. I listen to live bands but some are not that great here on the beach in Florida. I travel for good music.
The intro of this song snaps me back to my sophmore year, walking a snowy back country road. I feel the same emotions now as then. Things I thought I forgot. Amazing what music can do.
Todos vivimos nuesrtros pequeños recuerdos al cavo de estos largos años aun tenemos nuestras canciones favoritas guardados temo que no alcazara el prezioso tiempo!?💕
Tengo la misma edad y mis recuerdos desde la primaria con esta maravillosa música hasta el día de hoy; recuerdos de Nvo Laredo y Laredo Tx ahora desde Houston Tx sigo con mi música que no me aburre sino me relaja y transporta a esos años que no volverán
saw him Santa Monica Civic 1976. 16yr. old. we snuck in ended up 4th row. bota bag tequila sunrise. thai stick. actually remember it like it was yesterday. we lived in extraordinary times
I thought that was Eddie Van Halen at the beginning there for a second wow! And this is one of the top 10 songs of the 70s, I can never escape playing it almost weekly for over 30 years now as an adult! The musicianship, story, variety, and mood it gives is so warm, like a fat loaf sitting on your lap, purring!
That is Peter White, now a world famous guitarist. Later he was asked by Al if he could play a Spanish guitar. He said he would try. Al gave him his, and they performed “on the border”. Now Peter is known for that. Not his piano playing which his parents encouraged him to play. Still touring.
Senhor que musica maravilhosa só pra quem tem um gosto afinadissimo....Grande cantor compositor voz explendorosa doce suave .Grande Al Stewart!!!!🎶🎶🌷🎶🎶🌷🎶🎶🌷🎶🎶🌷
Imagínense el sonido la pureza y calidad artísticas de estos genios como ellos ninguno tuve la suerte de haber vivido con estos genios tengo 55 años es como si fuera ayer recordar es vivir saludos desde lima perú
Mi estimado RODRIGO, igual es el sentimiento que me arropa, cada vez que escucho este tipo de melodias , me inyecta un sentimiento tan hermoso, es como si estuviera en el paraiso, asi de ese tamaño, tengo tu misma edad, un abrazo y saludos donde quiera que te encuentres, desde REYNOSA, TAMAULIPAS, MEXIO.
Recuerdo que los grupos locales se esforzaban por hacer una interpretacion de esta cancion pero obviamente los acordes los tiempos el ritmo tenia que estar casi perfectos por lo menos para que se pareciese a la original era todo un reto..gran recuerdo
...NOOOOO NOOOO... ENAMORADO POR SIEMPRE DE ESTA BELLA OBRA DE ARTE MUSICAL...excelente buen gusto y elegancia... gracias Al Stewart por tanto talento...
The music today doesn't even come close to what we all enjoyed back in the day! I'm so glad I was around when the Year of the Cat came out. So much talent! All the lyrics have a meaning! Something we can all relate to! Awsome!!!!🙂
