Beware of the Beautiful Stranger is the first commercially released album by British musician Pete Atkin in collaboration with writer Clive James.

After two privately-pressed LPs and in the midst of a television series with a number of Footlights alumni, the songwriters came to the attention of David Platz, who signed them to a publishing deal at Essex Music.

Don Paul lent Atkin the velvet suit seen on the album cover, sourced from London fashion store Mr.

Fish[5] Numerous songs previously appeared on the privately-pressed The Party's Moving On album in 1969, sung by Julie Covington and Pete Atkin and corresponding to their television series of the same name: "Girl on the Train," "Sunrise," "Have You Got a Biro I Can Borrow?," "Luck of the Draw," "All I Ever Did," and "You Can't Expect to Be Remembered."

On "Luck of the Draw", Atkin and James pay homage to the short, concise songs of Rodgers and Hart, a structure they would continue to value over the years.

And "You Can't Expect to Be Remembered" echoes the conversational style of rarely-heard verses of American Songbook standards, those of which tended to transition to and from the scenic context of the musical theatre play, in which the songs were often embedded.