Glasgow native Al Stewart began his career playing guitar in Tony Blackburn's band the Sabres, and moved from there to the London folk club scene. After an unsuccessful single on Decca, "The Elf" (which featured Jimmy Page on guitar), Stewart signed with CBS and, beginning in 1967, released a series of albums largely consisting of introspective, confessional love songs. Love Chronicles was the only one to be released in the U.S., and the autobiographical title track, which detailed Stewart's romantic involvements, attracted a bit of attention for the singer's use of the word "f*cking" in a song with supposed artistic credibility. On 1974's Past, Present and Future, Stewart switched gears, exploring his fascination with historical tales, and was rewarded with his first U.S. chart album. Modern Times was even more successful, and Year of the Cat was an unqualified hit, selling over a million copies and spawning the Top Ten title single. Time Passages duplicated both feats, but Stewart's creativity dried up soon afterward, and difficulties over his contract and change of labels prevented him from releasing any new material until 1984. Russians and Americans was highly political, but sales were disappointing. Even so, Stewart recorded and toured sporadically in the late '80s and '90s while devoting time to his hobby of wine collecting.