Posts Tagged ‘Yusef’

CAT STEVENS – ” Tea For The Tillerman ” 50th Anniversary Edition Super Deluxe Box Set

Posted: October 22, 2020 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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Buy Online Cat Stevens - Tea For The Tillerman

Following his spiritual and artistic rebirth, and hot on the heels of his incredibly well received release, ‘Mona Bone Jakon’, Cat Stevens unveiled his second album of the year in November 1970 … and it was to become one of the defining musical statements of the new decade. ‘Tea For The Tillerman’, not only consolidated Cat’s success in the UK and forged him a glittering new career in the USA, it also set him on the road to global superstardom and gave the world songs like ‘Wild World’, ‘Father & Son’, ‘Where Do The Children Play?’ and many more.

To commemorate the album’s 50th anniversary comes this definitive super deluxe box set of Tea For The Tillerman’. With the songs’ messages as powerfully relevant today as they were in 1970, the original album is represented here on CD by a brand new 2020 remaster at Abbey Road Studios by Geoff Pesche, overseen by original producer Paul Samwell-Smith, as well as a new 2020 Mix on CD by David Hefti. It also includes, in full, Yusuf’s September 2020 reimagined ‘Tea For The Tillerman 2’ album featuring new interpretations of the classic originals. The box also includes an exclusive fourth CD of outtakes, alternate versions and demos, and a fifth featuring 25 live performances from 1971 including some recorded at the legendary LA music venue The Troubadour.

Alongside the 5CDs and gatefold vinyl LP the box also comes with a live 12” vinyl E.P. of the Troubadour recordings and, on BluRay, the original promo video of ‘Father & Son’, plus live performances, and the HD audio of the new ‘Tea For The Tillerman’ 2020 Mix. Also included is a 98-page beautifully illustrated hardcover book with extensive new sleeve notes. Finally housed in a card envelope within the box is a ‘Pick Up A Good Book’ bookmark, a Yusuf / Cat Stevens designed ‘Miles From Nowhere’ print, a reproduction handwritten lyric sheet for ‘Miles From Nowhere’, a fold-out ‘Live From The Troubadour 1970’ poster, and a ‘Tea For The Tillerman’ sticker.

Seven months after Mona Bone Jakon, Stevens released Tea For The Tillerman.  The multiplatinum album cemented the artist’s reputation and included some of his best-known hits, including “Wild World,” “Father and Son,” and timeless classics like “Where Do the Children Play” and “On the Road To Find Out.”  The deluxe 50th anniversary box packs in 5 CDs, a Blu-ray, an LP, and an etched 12″.  CD 1 includes the 2020 remaster of the original album mix, while CD 2 houses the 2020 remix (also on LP).  The recent album “Tea For The Tillerman 2″ is reprised on CD 3, while CD 4 contains demos, alternate versions, and unreleased tracks.  Among them are “Can This Be Love?” “It’s So Good,” “Love Lives in the Sky,” “The Joke,” and “Honey Man,” a duet with Elton John.  Also featured are “If You Want To Sing Out, Sing Out” and “Don’t Be Shy” from the still-absent-from-CD soundtrack to Harold and Maude.  CD 5 is filled with 25 live recordings from The Troubadour in L.A. (also on an etched 12″),  KCET also in L.A., the BBC In Concert performance, Beat Club, various French TV appearances, and four songs recorded at New York’s Fillmore East.  The BluRay includes the promo video for “Father and Son,” TV appearances on KCET, a trio of songs from the BBC, and performances on Beat Club and French television.  If that weren’t enough, there’s also high-res audio of the 2020 remix of Tea For The Tillerman.

Slimmer editions include a 1-CD standard edition book set with the 2020 remaster of the original album mix and a 2-CD deluxe edition with the remaster and a selection of demos and live recordings.

In all it’s a fitting celebration for these landmark albums that not only brought Cat Stevens/Yusuf newfound attention worldwide, but also cemented a sound that would take hold in the ’70s and continue to influence musicians to this day.  The 50th anniversary editions of Mona Bone Jakon and Tea For The Tillerman are available for pre-order now, due to ship close to the December 4th release date.  You can peruse the track listings and place your orders below!  And check out the new singles, “I Want Some Sun” and “Can This Be Love,” to whet your appetite. 

CAT STEVENS (YUSEF) – ” Where Do the Children Play “

Posted: May 29, 2020 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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Yusuf Islam, known formally simply as “Yusuf” and formerly as Cat Stevens, has announced the forthcoming release of a re-imagined take on his 1970 super-hit studio album, “Tea for the Tillerman”.

To be appropriately titled, Tea for the Tillerman 2, the forthcoming project due out on September 18th via UMe will hear the British singer-songwriter explore the 11 songs featured on the original album in a new light, with 50 years added of life experience. Tea for the Tillerman 2 “Upends many of the familiar arrangements, while staying blessedly true to the mission of the album,” according to the original announcement.

“Paul [Samwell-Smith] has got into the mode now where he knows he can criticize me, but he has been very careful about how he does it,” Yusuf said when discussing revisiting his old material. “I’ve trained Paul a little bit and he trained me because I know the kind of thing he likes so I won’t waste my time there, I’ll get straight onto it. We get on so well together. Hand in glove. It’s a perfect relationship and I love the man.”

Yusuf continued in discussing the album’s 50th anniversary arriving at such a turbulent time in the world, “When some people have lost the spiritual link to their lives, music can play an important part. So from that point of view, I think that the sentiments from the album are incredibly important to us today. It shows that there are human beings still around. That’s important.”

Yusuf has been living in Dubai since the start of the pandemic earlier this year. The British-born singer-songwriter also tells readers he’s kept busy finalizing his autobiography, which he’s also illustrating, and likely due out sometime later this year. To recapture the spirit and energy as heard in the Tea for the Tillerman sessions, Yusuf reconnected with the album’s original producer Paul Samwell-Smith for the new album, which was recorded last summer. UMe shared the first track to appear on Tea for the Tillerman 2to go with Thursday’s announcement with the updated take on “Where Do the Children Play”. Listen to the new recording on the old tune below.

50 years after the release of the original era-defining album, T4TT2 sees Yusuf reimagine the same eleven songs for a new age with dramatic results. Enjoy the brand new version of ‘Where Do The Children Play?’.

CAT STEVENS ( YUSEF ) – ” See What Love Did To Me “

Posted: July 24, 2017 in MUSIC
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cat stevens the laughing apple

The Laughing Apple brings Yusuf’s career full circle, coming 50 years after his first album the song sounds like vintage Cat Stevens; not surprisingly, he co-produced the song . It reunites him with producer Paul Samwell-Smith and guitarist Alun Davies, prominent collaborators on landmark recordings including 1970’s multi-platinum “Tea for the Tillerman”.

The Laughing Apple follows the common ’60s template of combining newly written songs with covers from Yusuf’s catalog, presenting some of his earliest material as he has always wished it had been recorded.

The most recent songs  “See What Love Did to Me,” “Olive Hill” and “Don’t Blame Them” possess the reflective insight of a spiritual seeker. Four others, including one initially intended for the 1971 film ‘Harold and Maude,’ have been updated with new sections. Additional highlights include contemporary versions of “Blackness of the Night,” “Northern Wind (Death of Billy the Kid),” “I’m So Sleepy” and the title track, songs that appeared in their original incarnations on 1967’s New Masters.

The Laughing Apple takes listeners to that little garden where the Tillerman sat under the tree, with a new illustration by Yusuf. Yusuf also has illustrated each of the album’s 11 songs in his naïve style, resembling a storybook — for those whose hearts have never grown old.