There is an edited version of Year Of The Cat on YouTube, recorded on December 17. Although this is unarguably one of his finest compositions – co-written with keyboard player Peter Wood (1950-93) – it is rather sad that for many people of a certain generation it is about the only one of his tracks to which they can put a name.
Al actually started out playing in a beat group with Tony Blackburn of all people, something he catalogued in his epic song Love Chronicles along with his first kindergarten love Stephanie – who also appears in a song of her own – and much else besides. Epic it may be, but it was one word that caused his record company consternation.
Back in 1969-70, the dreaded F word was a lot more potent than it is today, having fallen into disrepute sometime after 1571 when it appeared in a poem satirising the clergy. There was no profanity on December 17 though, and a good time was had by all in what was a family event, literally, with Al’s daughter Daisy making her debut on the cello. His other daughter is called Violet, which says a lot about the man himself, an incurable romantic at heart as on record.
Since November 20, further dates next year have been confirmed for what is shaping up to be a mini US tour, though it is not clear if Daisy will be joining Dad on stage with his regular partner Dave Nachmanoff.
[When the above article was first published on December 23, 2011, Year Of The Cat was linked to a YouTube video. That video has since been deleted along with the associated account. I believe I also included a screengrab of Al’s daughter playing the cello. If I did, it was not saved either to my hard disk or by the Internet Archive. Today – September 5, 2022 (happy seventy-seventh birthday, Al) – I have searched in vain for any meaningful photographs of either of Al’s daughters. Daisy is his youngest daughter; in the original I wrote incorrectly that she is the oldest. The other associated photograph, of Al with Dave, is probably a screengrab and may or may not have been uploaded by me.]
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