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From album
Year of the Cat
Al Stewart · 1976 · Track 9
Details
Duración6:40
ÁlbumYear of the Cat
Año1976
ISRCUSRH10650441
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The story behind
When you dive into *Year of the Cat*, you encounter a piece distinguished by its extensive instrumental sections. On the album version, which is around six and a half minutes long, over four minutes are dedicated to exploring soundscapes with solos from piano, acoustic guitar, a distorted electric guitar, and the saxophone of Phil Kenzie. The lyrics, meanwhile, weave a narrative that evokes the atmosphere of the film *Casablanca*, placing the listener in a North African setting. The story follows a traveler who is seduced by an enigmatic woman in a marketplace, who speaks to him of Vietnamese astrology.
This song, which gives its title to the self-titled album by Al Stewart, was written in collaboration with Peter Wood, who also contributed to the string arrangements alongside Andrew Powell. The recording took place at London's Abbey Road studios in January 1975, under the production and sound engineering of Alan Parsons. The album *Year of the Cat* was released in July 1975, but the single *Year of the Cat* became a resounding success, reaching the top five in the United States and helping the record go platinum. Stewart himself has commented that the title is inspired by the Vietnamese zodiac, differentiating it from the Chinese one, and also mentioned Bob Dylan as an influence on his way of titling songs, citing examples like *Visions of Johanna*. The artist used to compose the music and orchestrations before defining the song titles, and often wrote up to four different versions of lyrics for each musical piece.