Cat Stevens

[JIF]

Just so you know, the term is "brother in-law," not "brother and law."

Maybe it was a typo?

[Banquo]

Maybe it was a typo?

Twice?

[JIF]

Twice?

Hey, nobody's perfect.

[luvyesmusic]

I was very groggy after not sleeping much, walking my daughter to school and having some time constraints to try and type that post just like Fred Flintstone does. Yes, I knew there were some issues with brother-in-law but I believe you all could figure it out and it was the least important part of my post.

Where can I get a female to correct me here? ;-)

[Oreb]

I love Tea for the Tillerman and Mona Bone Jakon, but I think he lost something after those two - his music got a bit more self-conscious and, other than a few songs like the beautiful 'Oh Very Young', seemed less inspired.

Still, those two albums are timeless. 'Lilywhite', which closes Mona Bone Jakon, is a song I find incredibly moving.

Personally I don't see why he needed to comment about 9/11 at all. Do people expect Richard Thompson to do so, for example?

[Czyszy]

I'm listening to Foreigner Suite for the first time ever. It's an incredible piece of music. It's not a textbook example of prog but it has some prog overtones and some parts of it remind me El Profeta by Armando Tirelli.

[soundsweird]

I just listened to that album (and all of his later A&M albums) last week for the first time in years, and I enjoyed the Foreigner Suite more than I ever did in the past. All of those later albums have a few great tracks, just not as many as the earlier classic albums. I also have the first two 60's pop albums, but the enjoyment level seems to decrease with every listen. Not a fan of the more recent Yusuf albums.

[pb2015]

The album after Foreigner, Buddah and the Chocolate Box is my favorite from him and has a bit of prog to it as well. (I seem to remember reading that the keyboardist Jean Roussel was a candidate to replace Rick Wakeman in Yes.)

[the winter tree]

I love Tea for the Tillerman and Mona Bone Jakon, but I think he lost something after those two - his music got a bit more self-conscious and, other than a few songs like the beautiful 'Oh Very Young', seemed less inspired.

Still, those two albums are timeless. 'Lilywhite', which closes Mona Bone Jakon, is a song I find incredibly moving.

Personally I don't see why he needed to comment about 9/11 at all. Do people expect Richard Thompson to do so, for example?

I don't think Richard Thompson wanted to see Salmin Rushdie dead.

[Mister Triscuits]

I don't think Richard Thompson wanted to see Salmin Rushdie dead.

Actually, I seem to remember a journalist asking Richard Thompson if he agreed with the fatwa against Rushdie and he gave an evasive non-answer.

[pb2015]

The Patrick Humphries bio of Thompson from the mid 90's had a section about Rushdie where as I recall Thompson said that he "couldn't pull the trigger" if he had the chance to shoot him.

FWIW, I think Thompson recorded with Yusuf on one of the comeback albums.

[Garyhead]

I too have a problem since The Satanic Verses issue. (Rushdie's book) Then, the other day I heard Oh Very Young and I started The debate in my head (gotta do it there, if not, folks start surrounding you carrying White Jackets with lotsa bling) Do you deprive yourself of Art because you disagree with the Artists belief's, political views, religion? I love Wagner but strongly disagree with his world view. A friend of mine boycotts Madonna because he thinks it conflicts with his view of Catholicism. Cat Stevens wrote some timeless pieces ...and still hold up today. Croce & Chapin were contemporaries and I love all their output. As mentioned in another thread....Seals & Croft were there too but some mentioned their work hasn't held up over the years.

In the end? Cat Stevens was there in my early teens and played a central force....until I found Prog.....I ordered the 4-Disc Box of his early stuff. I am not familiar with his Post Cat Stevens stuff...or Harold & Maude soundtrack.

R-2779649-1456501001-8373.jpg

I just reread this Post and I'm in no way advocating a discussion of Politics or Religion.....My main point above was in bold. I was just commenting about a change to a decades-held belief that deprived me of Art.

Mods.....feel free to delete this post at the slightest sign of derailment! IMHO YMMV FFS

[clivey]

I just had to post the link after I learnt that PG was the Flautist. I grew up listening to CS . A master songsmith.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=pHOTPmrxSpc

[Digital_Man]

The album after Foreigner, Buddah and the Chocolate Box is my favorite from him and has a bit of prog to it as well. (I seem to remember reading that the keyboardist Jean Roussel was a candidate to replace Rick Wakeman in Yes.)

I have Buddah but never thought much of it beyond "Music,""Oh Very Young," and "Ready," although I suppose "Sun/C97" was ok too. Compared to the other ones (not counting greatest hits albums) I have or have heard (TFTM, T&FC and CBAF) I think it's the weakest. Maybe I should re-listen to it again anyway.

I never heard that about Jean Roussel but I don't doubt it. There are other prog connections to Cat Stevens music also such as Gerry Conway playing with Jethro Tull for a bit and I suppose most on here know who played flute on one of the songs on Mona Bone Jakon.

[Garyhead]

I see Wikipedia seems scrubbed on the "Personal Life" of Cat Stevens & actress Barbara Parkins. In the bonus section of the anniversary edition of Valley Of The Dolls, Barbara Parkins mentions she was living with Cat Stevens when she moved to London.

ca-times.brightspotcdn.jpg

Here she is on the Left: (ranked right up there with Herb Alpert's Whip Cream Lady in my preteens)

[the winter tree]

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=mYnWtPytvhI

I still love Cat Stevens music and always will. This is just a bit disappointing. He seems to have chilled a bit since his comeback to music.

[Garyhead]

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=mYnWtPytvhI

I still love Cat Stevens music and always will. This is just a bit disappointing. He seems to have chilled a bit since his comeback to music.

Kinda like the old adage... "Bad Press is still Press"

[SunRunner2]

Yeah, once he strays into the radical Islam territory, he loses me and my interest.

He wrote some outstanding tunes in the 1970's and among them were:

Sitting
Wild World
Father To Son
Morning Has Broken (actually traditional)
Where Do The Children Play
Oh Very Young

[Sturgeon's Lawyer]

Ummm, no; "Morning Has Broken" is not a traditional song. It was written -- or at least first performed and published -- in 1931 and was written by a woman named Eleanor Farjeon. The tune, admittedly, is based on a traditional Scots tune called "Bunessan."