Year of the Cat - Al Stewart

[Mouse]

Welcome to Casablanca (from that Bogart movie) where my trip ends. I arrived just in time to see the city go bat sh!t crazy over their win in the World Cup.

This was the first song that was my ear worm when planning this trip as the lyrics paint such a vivid image of Morocco. While in Fes I tried hard in the huge souk to find that hidden door by the blue tiled walls near the market stalls but with no luck.

When I’m back I may start a thread to discuss the perfect chord tone solos. It’s a technique I’d like to employ more in my own solos.



Year of the Cat - Al Stewart

 

[Rene Asologuitar]

What a perfect time to travel.
I am so jealous, but so happy for you!!!
Hope you are staying safe, and keeping healthy out there!!!
Lovely song choice!
Warm regards and happy travels!!!
Rene

 

[crawdaddy]

Great song and fantastic album.....I've seen Al Stewart a few times through out the years and truly feel that his song writing is sadly underrated.....such depth to his tunes....

Have a great and safe trip....

 

[nickmsmith]

Love that song. And Time Passages from him.

 

[rolandson]

When I’m back I may start a thread to discuss the perfect chord tone solos. It’s a technique I’d like to employ more in my own solos.

That was what kept me desirable as a side guy. I didn't shred so the front, whoever the front might have been, was never threatened as "The Lead Guitarist"...

And they were...I just often followed them, but with short chords.

Short chords are magic ... !

And Year Of The Cat...
I recall 1973...? 1974?
I was studying Chemistry...
That song, and something about being a soldier for General Guderian...was a constant of the fellow I shared a house with.

I had to pull the fuse out of my receiver during finals week.

 

[Stone]

Wow once again totally awesome playing Ralph
love this song brings back some great early memories
Kudos Ralph

 

[CigBurn]

Oh now thats just beautiful.... Great job Ralph!

 

[rolandson]

Welcome to Casablanca (from that Bogart movie) where my trip ends. I arrived just in time to see the city go bat sh!t crazy over their win in the World Cup.

This was the first song that was my ear worm when planning this trip as the lyrics paint such a vivid image of Morocco. While in Fes I tried hard in the huge souk to find that hidden door by the blue tiled walls near the market stalls but with no luck.

When I’m back I may start a thread to discuss the perfect chord tone solos. It’s a technique I’d like to employ more in my own solos.

View attachment 608731 View attachment 608732

Year of the Cat - Al Stewart

Huh...!
Using Brave as a browser (my default l) the video doesn't show up without a specific prompt but still doesn't play...
But in Firefox all is there...
Terribly strange...

And a very nice accompaniment is revealed... Excellent @Mouse ...!

 

[Mouse]

What a perfect time to travel.
I am so jealous, but so happy for you!!!
Hope you are staying safe, and keeping healthy out there!!!
Lovely song choice!
Warm regards and happy travels!!!
Rene

Thanks Rene. Heading back this afternoon and it’ll be nice to hold a guitar again.

Great song and fantastic album.....I've seen Al Stewart a few times through out the years and truly feel that his song writing is sadly underrated.....such depth to his tunes....

Have a great and safe trip....

Thanks Crawdaddy. Very cool that you got to see him. I’ve only scratched the surface of his work beyond the hits and he is indeed a good songwriter.

Love that song. And Time Passages from him.

Same here. Thanks for having a listen.

Wow once again totally awesome playing Ralph
love this song brings back some great early memories
Kudos Ralph

Thanks Mike. Yeah this one is definitely a childhood throwback.

Oh now thats just beautiful.... Great job Ralph!

Thank you Ron. I wish I had an acoustic guitar worthy. The pickup on this cheapo is pretty bad.

Huh...!
Using Brave as a browser (my default l) the video doesn't show up without a specific prompt but still doesn't play...
But in Firefox all is there...
Terribly strange...

And a very nice accompaniment is revealed... Excellent @Mouse ...!

Sorry about the video trouble but happy you got it working. Appreciate the nice comment.

 

[Mouse]

That was what kept me desirable as a side guy. I didn't shred so the front, whoever the front might have been, was never threatened as "The Lead Guitarist"...

And they were...I just often followed them, but with short chords.

Short chords are magic ... !

And Year Of The Cat...
I recall 1973...? 1974?
I was studying Chemistry...
That song, and something about being a soldier for General Guderian...was a constant of the fellow I shared a house with.

I had to pull the fuse out of my receiver during finals week.

I’m hardly a lead guy myself and definitely no shredder, as much as I want to be. I can ape intermediate level solos and I can reasonably improv without falling over myself too badly but I need a ton of work with my melodic ideas. These types of solos are what I’d like to study further as this is something that may be within my reach. It sounds so intuitively simple to play the notes of the underlying chords but I still have trouble doing that on the fly.

 

[floydrose]

Yeah, great stuff Mouse.

 

[Miotch]

This great song came on last year while I was doing taxes. So, of course, I had to take a break and try to play it. While it was a whole-ass attempt, the result is predictably half assed. Although the solo turned out better than I expected, anyway.

I started to put it on YouTube and share the link, but then I listened to Mouse's version and was so floored, I deleted it.

I'm not worthy !!!

 

[StratMike10]

He's looking at you kid
Like everyone else that lived in the 70's, impossible to turn on the radio and not hear that song. Its the kind of solo you hear in your head note for note, and note for note you delivered. Never paid attention to the electric guitar nuances or the chord progression before, you know, I just heard the song like a non-guitar player hears a song, so your cover made me pay attention... well done man, and thank you for the photos!

 

[Mouse]

Yeah, great stuff Mouse.

Thanks Decker.

This great song came on last year while I was doing taxes. So, of course, I had to take a break and try to play it. While it was a whole-ass attempt, the result is predictably half assed. Although the solo turned out better than I expected, anyway.

I started to put it on YouTube and share the link, but then I listened to Mouse's version and was so floored, I deleted it.

I'm not worthy !!!

Thanks but you’re definitely worthy. You should have kept it up. Before my flight I had a chance to listen to yours and that was really nice…especially for an impromptu take during tax season.

(CPA here but working in corporate finance).

He's looking at you kid
Like everyone else that lived in the 70's, impossible to turn on the radio and not hear that song. Its the kind of solo you hear in your head note for note, and note for note you delivered. Never paid attention to the electric guitar nuances or the chord progression before, you know, I just heard the song like a non-guitar player hears a song, so your cover made me pay attention... well done man, and thank you for the photos!

Thanks Mike. There are some songs that are overplayed that I can’t listen to anymore. For some reason I always enjoy this one.

I’ll definitely fill you in on Morocco when I settle back in.

 

[monte merrick]

this was among my favorite stuff back in the day - loved this album.... great job Ralph!!!

 

[Mouse]

this was among my favorite stuff back in the day - loved this album.... great job Ralph!!!

Thanks Monte. On the Border was another great one from that album that I covered.

I love how Stewart described this song in an interview I saw. He called it a rich uncle who pays the bills.

 

[nickmsmith]

I picked this album up last year for like 50 cents, along with the Christopher Cross album with Sailing and Ride like the wind. Can’t beat those deals.

 

[Martin Mim]

Fantastic! Really nailed those two different guitar solos.

 

[Dik Ellis]

Got to see Al Stewart with Peter White on guitar. Great show. I am also a big history buff.

 

[Mouse]

I picked this album up last year for like 50 cents, along with the Christopher Cross album with Sailing and Ride like the wind. Can’t beat those deals.

A great deal indeed! Thanks.

Fantastic! Really nailed those two different guitar solos.

Much appreciated Martin!

Got to see Al Stewart with Peter White on guitar. Great show. I am also a big history buff.

That's pretty cool. I had to look him up and looks like he did the Spanish guitar on On the Border. Love that song.