Al Stewart joins me In the Studio in a rare interview on the 45th anniversary of his breakout 1976 album "Year of the Cat". Stewart might seem to be name-dropping big time, except it's all true: sneaking backstage during a 1963 Beatles concert and talking with John Lennon; rooming in London next to Paul Simon; befriended by an unknown Cat Stevens; mc'ing at a London nightclub when another unknown, an American named Jimi Hendrix, decided to play his guitar with his teeth. But being witness repeatedly to rock history apparently accounted for nothing when Al Stewart's seventh album, "Year of the Cat", was unceremoniously turned down  by every major UK record label.

Here is a rare recorded concert performance of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers doing the one-off "Mary Jane's Last Dance" which did not quite make the 1991 album Into the Great Wide Open  and instead was a surprise hit on their Greatest Hits…

For Van Halen " For Unlawful Carnal  Knowledge" , we present an ultra-rare "fly on the wall" listen to the biggest hard rock band in America in 1991. The late Eddie Van Halen, brother Alex, Michael Anthony, and Sammy Hagar had the #1-selling album on the Billboard  chart containing "Poundcake","Judgment Day, "Runaround", "Right Now", and "Top of the World" when we had this lively conversation. This complete interview with all four members has never been heard, & it is now quite historic with the leaving of Sammy Hagar about five years later, & the passing of Eddie Van Halen in 2020.