Record basics

• Album name: Tea for the Tillerman
• Artist name: Cat Stevens
• Year: 1970
• Number of discs: one
• Label: A&M Records
• Collection: Brenner / Gessner
• Who owned it: my parents each owned a copy of this record (actually, they said that “everyone owned it”), and “Brenner” is written on the top right of my mother’s copy
• Buy it on Amazon: $28.50

My review

Level of familiarity before listening

I’ve never listened to this record, but understand it to be Cat Stevens’ / Yusuf Islam’s breakout record that made him famous and rich; my parents say it was very popular.

When I listened to Teaser and the Firecat a couple of weeks ago, I recognized more of it, and enjoyed it more of it, than I expected, so I’m somewhat prepared for the same in this case.

The only song I know by name is Wild World.

What I expected

Folk rock.

What it was actually like

This record was in a pretty consistent folk and folk rock style, and I was surprised at how little of it I recognized or enjoyed. It was actually a lot more like what I expected Teaser and the Firecat would have been like before I listened to it, or what I would have expected this to be like if I hadn’t listened to that one.

Most of the songs were rather on the boring side, with not a lot to say for them or about them.

I hadn’t heard Wild World in I-don’t-know-how-many years and thought that it was the classic case of a catchy chorus that really needed the rest of its song to pull it together, and if the verses had just been written better, it might have been world class.

Probably my favorite song was On the Road to Find Out, which was still folk but a bit more rhythmic than the others.

The most interesting and usual was Longer Boats, which had a sort of Caribbean sound.

Grade

3/5: interesting, but not for me

Record basics

• Album name: Teaser and the Firecat
• Artist name: Cat Stevens
• Year: 1971
• Number of discs: one
• Label: A&M Records
• Collection: Brenner / Gessner
• Distinguishing characteristics: “G” written on top left of album, indicating that my father owned it
• Buy it on Amazon: $22.99

My review

Level of familiarity before listening

I don’t have a lot of familiarity with Cat Stevens, or Yusuf Islam, except that he made singer-songwriter type music in the 1970s.

(I actually first heard about him on cable news as a teenager, in the context of what he said about Salman Rushdie, germane today because Rushdie was just very nearly assassinated a couple of months ago.)

This is the first Cat Stevens record that I’ll be reviewing, though there are several others in the collection, including one that will be up in a week or so.

What I expected

Singer-songwriter.

What it was actually like

I actually recognized a bunch of these songs, which wasn’t all that surprising, since my parents were both very enthusiastic when I mentioned that I’d be listening to it.

The Wind was quite a good song and, while listening to it, I recalled that I did know it as a Cat Stevens song! It was very folky with great guitar, a great voice and great lyrics! But why was it so short?

Another that I recognized was Morning Has Broken, a traditional song, but I don’t know if I remembered it because of Cat Stevens or not. Its very simple guitar made me think of it as a campfire song, but not in a good way. On the other hand, I recognized Moonshadow as well, and it also had that simple guitar and made me think of it as a campfire song, but in a good way!

Both Changes IV and Bitterblue had more of a rock sound, which I would generally appreciate, but they were only ok. They sounded sort of choppy and staccato-like, as if Stevens just didn’t get that rock is supposed to be rhythmic too.

Peace Train, that I recalled as one of Stevens’ hits, was another that I recognized, and had the staccato effect that I didn’t like, as well as some deeply inane lyrics.

If I Laugh and How Can I Tell You were boring, and the two worst songs on the record. They were actually more like what I expected all of them to sound like.

Rubylove, which had a verse in Greek, also had some outstanding Greek (or at least Mediterranean) style guitar, and that guitar really stood out on the record. I don’t know that I would have wanted to listen to a whole record of it, but I wouldn’t have minded one more song with it, either.

Tuesday’s Dead kind of reminded me of Jimmy Buffett, which was so weird.

Grade

4/5: would listen again