Al Stewart

YEAR OF THE CAT PERSON

“I love Good 4 U by Olivia Rodrigo.” AL STEWART

What music are you currently grooving to?

I thought it would be nice to have one new one and one old one – so, Olivia Rodrigo and The Band. I love Good 4 U by Olivia Rodrigo, that’s my favourite song by her.

What, if push comes to shove, is your all-time favourite album?

I’m going to say Bringing It All Back Home by Bob Dylan. It’s just the most incredible record, and I love everything about it.

What was the first record you ever bought? And where did you buy it? I was staying with my grandfather in Goring, just outside of Worthing of all places, at the time and it was a 78, and so it’s got to be really early. Now I can’t guarantee that it was the absolute first record I ever bought, but I believe that it was Don’t You Rock Me Daddy-O by Lonnie Donegan & His Skiffle Group. That still sounds good and it has the most wonderful drum breaks.

Which musician, other than yourself, have you ever wanted to be? Either Hank B. Marvin, because I could play all his stuff when I was young, or Django Reinhardt. And I most certainly could not play all of Django’s songs!

What do you sing in the shower? The answer to this is, I don’t sing in the shower. I do sometimes compose song lyrics, however, so I’m usually thinking of words. What is your favourite Saturday night record?

Well, when I was a lot younger and more agile it would either have been something by Eddie Cochran or Buddy Holly.

And your Sunday morning record? I’ve got to get this in somewhere and so I’m going to say Liege & Lief by Fairport Convention. All of this is just off the top of my head and if you asked me tomorrow then probably all the questions would have different answers.

Al Stewart’s 50-disc super-deluxe box set The Admiralty Lights: Complete Studio, Live And Rare 1964-2009 is released by Madfish on June 3.