Cat Stevens

In his prime, Cat Stevens was a very fine, subtle and sensitive songwriter and performer. I can separate that from his later religious infatuation, and I now understand that he's gone back to performing some of his music that he considers non-offensive to Islam. And I think he just calls himself Yusuf these days.

I'll judge the music itself, and the history of the person differently. Another example would be Richie Furay, one of the original Buffalo Springfield, and later Poco, who contributed some good stuff to both those early bands, and then went off the deep end for Jesus. He's still around, as a preacher and evangelical Christian musician, in which roles I have no interest, but I can still listen to his early stuff with admiration. Check out the haunting "In the Hour of Not Quite Rain", on the first or second Buffalo Springfield album. Likewise "Kind Woman".

caw

After Cat Stevens changed his name, he wasn't allowed in the country. My friend has his own lyrics, "I'm being followed by a federal agent..." Very funny in a poignant sort of way.

I used to hate him - my Dad was a fan, and when I was growing up he played Cat Stevens so often I was sick of hearing him. We were on holiday once, in a rental car, and I must have been about 7 or 8, and he played a Cat Stevens tape so damn often I stole the thing and disposed of it just to get some peace. Poor Dad was horribly disappointed to find it was missing... I didn't fess up for years.

Now, I love him, so I suppose Dad got the last word after all. All that early exposure paid off.

How did I miss this thread? Firstly, you're not a True Fan unless you have his early stuff on vinyl!

I greatly enjoyed almost all of his 70's music but I was disappointed with "Another Saturday Night," as it was a COVER, and IMHO not as good as his other stuff. Most if not all his previous hits were originals.

He also made one or two albums (I think there were two albums released elsewhere, then released as one double LP in the US) in the late 1960s that weren't as popular or well-known as his later ones, but of course they are "must haves" for a completist. A notable song from that early period was later a huge hit for Rod Stewart, "The First Cut Is The Deepest."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FYBHe0XFZmQ
(not a great quality recording, but the "best" of several copies on Youtube).

I have my original copies of "Tea for the Tillerman" and "Teaser on the Firecat."

I mentioned "Moonshadow" in an earlier post, last year, and just now I recalled how I'd play that song all the time and my mom HATED it. She thought it was giving the person an excuse to do nothing. I forget her exact objection, but it was a conflict between hippy thought and Old World work ethic.

Another fan here - I used to do a couple of covers in my set when I was doing pub / folk club gigs -many- years ago.

I surprised myself recently by finding I can still play, and remember all the words, to 'The Boy With the Moon and Stars on his head.'

I loved "Tea for the Tillerman" and "Teaser on the Firecat." I played those albums to death when I was young. Great memories.