Year Of The Cat - Al Stewart (1976) HD FLAC Audio Remaster Lyrics

Year Of The Cat was the title track from Al Stewart's seventh studio album which was released in the summer of 1976. The album was recorded at Abbey Road Studios in London and engineered by Alan Parsons.

***This is an update of my original video from 2013 which I completed for Phil Kenzie (the guy who played the saxophone solo on this track (and "Time Passages")....and who worked with everyone from The Beatles, Al Stewart, David Bowie, The Eagles, Rod Stewart, Black Sabbath, Alan Parsons....and on and on and on!) Phil has a new tour S.O.S.S. (Save Our Sax Solo) where he and his crack band are going out and playing some of the great rock and roll songs featuring great sax solos! The premiere show was last night (January 15th) in Boca Raton....anyone attending let us know how awesome it was. Hopefully we'll see more dates announced soon!

For this version of the video I wanted to edit in more bits of the band/video, reduce the repetitiveness (some!), clean up the effects so they show less noise/artifacts (and look even better in HD 1080p), and give it a bit more of the watercolor/paintbrush style I couldn't quite pull of with the first one.

This song is very special to me....in my top 5 of all time. The songwriting, Al's vocals, the guitar work is outstanding (Peter White plays the acoustic solo and Tim Renwick follows with the electric solo), Peter Wood's piano was so important that he received a co-writing credit.....yeah it's all top-notch work, but I think the thing that really made the song shine and made it such a stand-out classic was that gorgeous, melodic Phil Kenzie sax solo.

The cover design, by Hipgnosis and illustrator Colin Elgie, depicts a woman who has an apparent obsession with cats. She can be seen in the mirror dressing up as a cat for a costume party, and all of the items on her dresser have feline motifs. It's always a treat to work on videos that feature some of that iconic Hipgnosis artwork.....I couldn't begin to count the hours I spent scrutinizing some of the incredible Hipgnosis artwork as the record was spinning away on my turntable. I have some very interesting things in the pipe for you other Hipgnosis aficionados out there! Stay tuned. FLAC

Special thanks to:
Annika Ritter Photography for her amazing watercolor that was the basis of my concept for the video

[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 watercolour 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 thru

The year of the cat

Well, 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 the choice
and lost your ticket
So you have to stay on

But the drum-beat strains of the night remain
In the rhythm of the new-born day
You know sometime you're bound to leave her
But for now you're going to stay
In the year of the cat remaster flac audio soft rock soft rock best songs pop rock

[Steve-dwdi]

If I only had one song to listen to the rest of my life, this would be the one.

[IBCrazyR]

Absolutely 100% is the best recording! Very will done!
Listen on any Sony platform. Just WOW!

[robertjohnson]

Like a pair of blue jeans and black or white T -Shirt I come back to this unforgettable song from 1976/1977. Again, MGM you do justice with wonderful visuals to this never to repeated masterpiece from Al Stewart.

[barisailla]

There will never be another song like this.

[benjaminbriscoe]

One of the finest compositions in my opinion, the story and track that just keeps coming.

[alexanderjames]

Very tidy... and what a superb track of music this really is. Thank you for the upload! 😍😍

[ozaman]

Absolutely gorgeous...FLAC audio is ridiculous. Phenomenal remastering...HQ fanatics wet dream.

[Leftatalbuquerque]

What makes the song build, and most people overlook, is the great string arrangement. It's the cello that starts the instrumental solos, and then the wonderful synth bell/chime before the sax reprise. I miss the 70's, when EVERY great song had a great sax solo!

[richiec.]

"She comes out of the sun in a silk dress running like a watercolor, in the rain". This has to be one of the greatest lyrics of all times.

[frankdebuck]

An oldie and Goldie in all musical means.Fantastic performance!

[januszfilipiak]

I fell in love with this beautiful song again. One of the most beautiful songs ever❤an absolute work of art.

[improperbostonian]

Timeless Tune And Best Album Cover Ever. Full Rich Sound Over 200 Watt THX Speakers Thanx!

[Cool_Change]

This is a romantic great song. The video depict scenes of the Bosphorus, a city of 1 million cats, in Istanbul Turkey. In my opinion its one of the great songs written of all time. A timeless classic 💜

[danieljakubik]

Excellent, artistic, creative video suits the song lyrics well. One of the best songs of the 1970's!

[veho]

A brand new civic honda hatch back car driving by my boss heading west in the new Tuen Mun highway. Sunset shining toward our face .This song came out from the car radio . What a great memory.The year was 1977.

[crooner]

Thank you so much. The sound and video quality of these clips is absolutely breathtaking. Brilliant.

[hollypotthoff]

I haven't heard this song in ages.  Forgot just how beautiful it was.  The video is beyond amazing.  Love watching all the MetalGuruMessiah pieces.  You've really outdone yourself with this one.  What a pleasure to watch and listen to!

[piakiddo]

I love the Video. The Song anyway. The Sax Solo always gives me goose bumps to the max.

[CelsoSantos]

Really very beautiful video. Congratulations!!!! The music became a movie... Amazing!!!!

[Musicman]

The olden days were just peaceful songs, fun. 👍🎼🎶🎅