Songfacts®:

• This uptempo Al Stewart solo composition is track number 8 on the 2005 album A Beach Full of Shells wherein it runs to a shade over four minutes with rock 'n' roll piano and guitar. It was actually submitted to his record company as a 13-minute track, but the original was rejected although it was released later as a limited edition CD containing a booklet with the full lyrics.
  
  The full song, heavy on production, contains many additional verses which include references to the fortunes and fates of several unnamed individuals and bands, doubtless including the man himself.
• The live version, performed solo, has often likewise been extended. The first live performance appears to have been at the Tractor Tavern, Seattle on January 24, 2004. This version runs to over 14-and-a-half minutes; it wouldn't have been quite so long if he hadn't muffed the first verse twice!
• "Class Of '58" was originally intended to be a history of rock and roll in England from 1958 to the late 1960s. Al was born in Scotland but spent most of his early life in England; in 1958 he was 13 years old, and his fascination with the rock 'n' roll explosion was shared by many English youth. In 2008 he would release "A Child's View Of The Eisenhower Years," a song about the same era and American influence but from a different perspective. >>

  Suggestion credit:
  Alexander Baron - London, England, for above 3