AL STEWART : UPPSALA 1973

  1. Songs Out Of Clay
  2. In Brooklyn
  3. Clifton In The Rain
  4. Post World War Two Blues
  5. Room Of Roots
  6. Warren Harding
  7. Nostradamus
  8. Electric Los Angeles Sunset
  9. Amsterdam
  10. I'm Falling
  11. Black Hill
  12. A Small Fruit Song
  13. Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues
  14. My Enemies Have Sweet Voices
  15. Blessed
    Bonus Track :
  16. Old Compton Street Blues

Label : no label

Length : 89:16

Venue : Musikforum, Uppsala, Sweden

Date : April 1973

Review (Lagga's notes - the taper) : "I first went to London in 1966 and one of the first persons I stumbled into was Al at Dobells Folkrecordstore. Over the years I saw Al many times in Cousins, Bunjies & other places. In 1972 Al played at Stockholm Student Union - a catastrophe - with a drunk & noisy audience. I suggested to Al that the next time he toured Scandinavia he should come to Uppsala Musikforum, my club in Uppsala. Early in the spring 1973, Al's manager contacted me & said that Al wanted to come & play for just the travel expenses from Copenhagen. This, my best recording in the Shoebox, is a memory from a really inspired performance by Al in Uppsala! Enjoy!"

Review (Dime) : While I've never heard the Heath Folk Club 1973 recording which circulates & has a somewhat similar setlist to this one, this is an extraordinary performance (and recording). It include what may be only the 2nd version to surface of Al covering Bob Dylan's "Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues", and, I believe, the only version to ever surface of Al performing Simon & Garfunkel's "Blessed" from "Sounds Of Silence". Unfortunately "Blessed" ends early as Al breaks a string before the last verse, but he concludes it nicely nonetheless, reciting the rest of the lyrics. We get only 2 1960s songs, one from his debut (Bedsitter Images) "Clifton In The Rain" & another, "In Brooklyn", from the "Love Chronicles" album. The bulk of the show is a fine cross-section of early 1970s material, with 4 from "Zero She Flies" & 3 from "Orange". There are 3 songs from the then unissued "Past, Present, and Future" album - which was actually recorded at Trident Studios in London the same month as this performance, tho' it wouldn't be released in the UK until Oct 1973 & there was a far longer wait in the USA, where it didn't appear until May 1974 - some 14 months after being recorded. One can imagine that was a source of real frustration for Al. In those days imports were much scarcer & it would have hardly made the same kind of splash as releasing them in both countries at the same time. Two of the new songs, "Warren Harding" & "Post World War Two Blues" are, in my opinion, far superior here - free from all the production & arrangements that went into the album versions. "Nostradamus" is cool to hear solo acoustic - the same vintage as the album, tho' that song on the album really works well, just featuring bass & tablas along with the guitar which has some cool effects. Anyway, along with the recent 60s BBC material that surfaced, we are fortunate to get some more glimpses of the genius of a fine musician in his prime. Listen, enjoy, show appreciation, share, give, spread peace. Yrs truly, Knees

Note : The bonus track comes from a Swedish radio program "Opp-O-Poppa". Lagga the taper didn't record the original date, but says it was in the summer of 1969. Al played "Old Compton Street Blues" live before an audience in the studio in Gothenburg, Sweden. Lagga was actually the person who rang up with this request (as mentioned by Al in the intro). Lagga's comment : "I still wonder how I managed to reach Al on the phone through the radio switchboard...".