Al Stewart - Helen And Cassandra (1998)

In 1992 Al Stewart followed up his 'Last Days Of The Century' album with his second live release, the acoustic 'Rhymes In Rooms', which featured only Stewart and Peter White, and the same year he self-released a companion album titled 'Live In Rooms', which again featured Peter White, and included an extra CD of live music to 'Rhymes...'. 1993 saw the release of 'Famous Last Words', which was dedicated to the memory of the late Peter Wood, who co-wrote 'Year Of The Cat', and who had died in 1993. After parting ways with Peter White, his longtime collaborator of almost 20 years, Stewart joined up with former Wings guitarist Laurence Juber to record the concept album 'Between The Wars', which was released in 1995, and which covered major historical and cultural events from 1918 to 1939, such as the Treaty of Versailles, Prohibition, the Spanish Civil War, and the Great Depression. In 2000 another concept album appeared, and this time 'Down In The Cellar' was themed around wine, following Stewart's love affair with wine that started in the 70's, when he'd admitted that he had more money than he knew how to spend, and so started investing in fine wines. In 2005 he released 'A Beach Full of Shells', which was another of his 'history' albums, set in places varying from First World War England to the 1950's rock 'n' roll scene that influenced him. This third collection of rarities covers the years from 1977 to 1998, and includes a demo of the 'Last Days Of The Century' instrumental 'Ghostly Horses Of The Plain' but this time including lyrics, a live version of Elvis Costello's 'London's Brilliant Parade/Caroline, Goodbye', his take on the Greek myth of Helen and Cassandra, a live recording of 'John Barleycorn' with Jim Capaldi, and another of his 'history' songs, with 'The Coldest Winter In Memory', referencing the fall of Charles XII of Sweden and the loss of the East Anglian city of Dunwich to the North Sea.  

Track listing

01 Life In A Bottle (previously unreleased 1977)

02 The Hollywood Sign On St. Stephen's Day (previously unreleased 1977)

03 Helen And Cassandra (previously unreleased 1988)
04 Ghostly Horses Of The Plain (with vocal) (previously unreleased 1988)      
05 London's Brilliant Parade / Caroline, Goodbye (previously unreleased live recording 1992)
06 The Coldest Winter In Memory (previously unreleased 1993) 
07 Blow Your Mansion Down (previously unreleased 1993)
08 In The Dark (previously unreleased 1993)
09 Mixed Blessings (previously unreleased 1993)
10 The Bear Farmers Of Birnam (previously unreleased live recording 1995)
11 Curtains (previously unreleased 1997)

12 John Barleycorn (previously unreleased live recording with Jim Capaldi 1998)

Thanks again to Private Beach for the suggestion of more volumes of Stewart rarities.