Ahhh, the Great Al Stewart! He was good friends w/ Jimmy Page who was putting together what became L.Z. He told Al he needed a bass player (BEFORE he came across John Paul Jones) and Al said in an interview once, “ I can play bass, but my heart is a guitarist, and I declined”. I can’t imagine how history would be different if he had agreed.
That’s like Macca with The Beatles.
Paul was probably the best of the guitarists in The Beatles, but he was the only one who was willing to play bass.