''Zero She Flies'' is the third studio album by folk artist

Al Stewart Alastair Ian Stewart (born 5 September 1945) is a Scottish born singer-songwriter and folk-rock musician who rose to prominence as part of the British folk revival in the 1960s and 1970s. He developed a unique style of combining folk-rock so ...

, released in 1970. It is the first of his albums to include a song with historical references, namely "Manuscript", which refers to the events which led to the outbreak of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, including the

assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir presumptive to the Austro-Hungarian throne, and his wife, Sophie, Duchess of Hohenberg, were assassinated on 28 June 1914 by Bosnian Serb student Gavrilo Princip. They were shot at close range whil ...

. The expression "zero she flies" comes from early aviation and refers to the flight of a plane (typically a biplane) flying blind but exactly on course through darkness or dense fog.

Album information

The album is commercially available as part of a CD

boxset A box set or (its original name) boxed set is a set of items (for example, a compilation of books, musical recordings, films or television programs) traditionally packaged in a box and offered for sale as a single unit. Music Artists and bands ...

''To Whom It May Concern'', which contains his first three albums as well as a single and its

B side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record company ...

and a couple of tracks added to the rerelease of ''

Bed-Sitter Images ''Bed Sitter Images'' is the debut studio album of folk artist Al Stewart, released in 1967, and again in a revised edition with a new cover picture in 1970. The songs were orchestrated by Alexander Faris. The cover of the first 1967 edition sp ...

'' in 1970. The 2007 re-release includes bonus tracks.

Track listing

All tracks composed by Al Stewart; except where indicated.

Original LP release

#"My Enemies Have Sweet Voices" (Stewart,

Peter Morgan Peter Julian Robin Morgan, (10 April 1963) is a British screenwriter and playwright. He is the playwright behind '' The Audience'' and '' Frost/Nixon'' and the screenwriter of ''The Queen'' (2006), '' Frost/Nixon'' (2008), ''The Damned United ...

) #"A Small Fruit Song" #"Gethsemane, Again" #"Burbling" #"Electric Los Angeles Sunset" #"Manuscript" #"Black Hill" #"Anna" #"Room of Roots" #"Zero She Flies"

2007
Collectors' Choice Music Collectors' Choice Music (CCM) is an Itasca, Illinois, company originally primarily in two businesses, but since 2010 only in the second. CCM was best known for reissuing albums originally recorded in LP record form as compact discs. , its catalog ...
edition

#"My Enemies Have Sweet Voices" (Stewart, Peter Morgan) – 5:14 #"A Small Fruit Song" – 2:02 #"Gethsemane, Again" – 5:28 #"Burbling" – 3:19 #"Electric Los Angeles Sunset" – 3:47 #"Manuscript" – 4:45 #"Black Hill" – 1:22 #"Anna" – 1:47 #"Room of Roots" – 3:52 #"Zero She Flies" – 5:35 #"Stormy Night" – 3:29 #"News from Spain" – 6:05 #"

Lyke-Wake Dirge The "Lyke-Wake Dirge" is a traditional English folk song and dirge listed as number List of folk songs by Roud number, 8194 in the Roud Folk Song Index. The song tells of the soul's travel, and the hazards it faces, on its way from earth to pur ...

" (Traditional) – 4:22 vocals by

Mimi Fariña Margarita Mimi Baez Fariña (April 30, 1945 – July 18, 2001) was an American singer-songwriter and activist, the youngest of three daughters to a Scottish mother and Mexican-American physicist Albert Baez. She was the younger sister of t ...

Personnel

*Al Stewart - guitar, vocals *Performers:

Duffy Power Duffy Power (born Raymond Leslie Howard; 9 September 1941 – 19 February 2014) was an English blues and rock and roll singer, who achieved some success in the 1960s and continued to perform and record intermittently later. Career Ray Howard w ...

, Georg Hultgreen,

Gerry Conway Gerard Francis Conway Thomas, Roy. "Roy's Rostrum" ("Bullpen Bulletins") in '' Marvel Super-Heroes'' #43 and other Marvel Comics cover-dated May 1974. (born September 10, 1952) is an American comic book writer, comic book editor, screenwriter, t ...

, Larry Steele,

Louis Cennamo Louis David Cennamo is an English bass guitarist, whose lengthy career has included extensive recording and touring with a number of important British rock/blues/progressive bands. Career Cennamo left school at 16 and undertook his earliest imp ...

, Michael Woods, Peter Gavin,

Tim Hinkley Timothy Alan Hinkley (born 25 May 1946) is an English singer-songwriter, keyboard player and record producer. Born in London, Hinkley started playing in youth club bands in the early 1960s, with bands including the Copains, Boys and the Freeman ...

Trevor Lucas Trevor George Lucas (25 December 1943 – 4 February 1989) was an Australian folk singer, a member of Fairport Convention and one of the founders of Fotheringay. He mainly worked as a singer-songwriter and guitarist but also produced many albums ...

;Technical *Jerry Boys - engineer *Sophie Litchfield - photography

Sources

External links

Al Stewart discography
{{Authority control Al Stewart albums 1970 albums CBS Records albums RCA Records albums Collectors' Choice Music albums