Cat Stevens - The Metamorphoses of a Minstrel

The way Cat Stevens wrote his songs was hugely inspiring to me, because it influenced the way I do it to an immeasurable degree. His songs are among the most rewarding to study, play and interpret

(John Frusciante)

To be what you want, you must stop being what you are

(Cat Stevens)

Intro

It's October 28, 1966. The celebrated magazine Time publishes a brief, single-page feature titled “Rock ‘n’ Roll: The New Troubadours”. It's almost a celebration of the new songwriting emerging in popular music, reflecting a growing sensibility and literary aesthetic, thanks to groups like The Mamas and the Papas or to two musicians barely in their twenties named Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel. Just five years later, the acid pen of the equally celebrated Lester Bangs forges a roughly 24-page essay titled “Who Put the Bomp”, the usual adrenaline-fueled, irreverent tirade in which singer-songwriters like James Taylor are “branded for death”. Because the world needs a lot less Jesus, and a lot more Troggs. Between two seemingly such extreme points of view, there lies in the middle a varied array of stories and musicians, who in just five years managed to emerge with their acoustic guitars, their voice of protest, and rivers of poetry set to music.

The beginning of 1973. After six albums that sold in the millions, Cat Stevens has a kind of revulsion: he's grown tired of following his own audience's tastes and wants something different. More than a block, it's a genuine revolution in his sound, which has by now spun out of control despite seven-figure sales. When Cat flies to Jamaica to record Foreigner, it's like the last nail dropping from the sky onto the coffin of the singer-songwriter cult, born out of the American folk scene in the very early '60s and then transplanted to the UK, like an invasion. These are strange songs, the ones recorded by singer-songwriters: they can't be filed under rock'n'roll, but they're not pop or country either. They're simply songs, terse, sad, or rather melancholy. Life lessons and stories made up of characters fit for psychoanalysis, letting listeners psychoanalyze themselves through music. When Cat Stevens flies to Jamaica to record Foreigner, he's by now sick of being labeled the sad musician who moves a crowd of college students with his ballads. It's time to shake everyone up, for real. A moment foreshadowed during the US leg of his 1972 world tour, when he announces to the world that he will be introducing "an element of shock".

“What's wrong with me? This isn't why I started”. Between late 1972 and early 1973, Cat Stevens's mind veers toward paranoia, because he's sick of always playing the same songs in front of the same kind of audience. He practically comes to resent the fact that so many music magazines rank him alongside James Taylor and Neil Diamond among the world's best singer-songwriters. The next LP will have to be genuinely new, taking him far away from those labels. The album's very title, Foreigner, sounds emblematic, since it's recorded in a faraway, sun-kissed land, in a relaxed studio far removed from the English hustle and bustle. His trusted producer Paul Samwell-Smith is even sensationally cut loose, before Stevens flies to Kingston to work alone at Dynamic Sound Studios. There's no room either for virtuoso guitarist Alun Davies, in a rotation of musicians that brings in the best session players from London and Los Angeles. When the premiere of Foreigner airs live on NBC, the audience seems to be struck by a strange daze: what happened to Cat Stevens? The answer, beyond the less-than-kind reviews from music critics of the time, is crystal clear: Cat Stevens too wants to brand James Taylor for death.

West End Boy

Spring 1967. Two tours are generating massive hype among the British public: the farewell from the stage of the Walker Brothers, after two years at the heart of Albion's teenage fandom, and a trio fronted by an American guitarist named Jimi. Hendrix has already electrified British audiences with his incendiary version of "Hey Joe" during his appearance on Top of The Pops in January, and he's about to literally set things ablaze at Finsbury Park in London. Someone shouts over to Cat Stevens, who's in the backstage area waiting to go on, telling him to come and see what's happening. Not even twenty yet, the young singer-songwriter born and raised in the West End rushes to change his shoes, so he'll have better grip once the fire extinguishers are deployed to tame Hendrix's electric fury. When he takes the Astoria stage, dressed in Edwardian clothes, he plays only four songs, including his first hits "I Love My Dog" and "Matthew And Son". Praised by Hendrix himself for his calm, quiet tones, Cat is transformed live, channeling to the audience an energy almost at odds with his love of secluded spaces and reading.

Steven Demetre Georgiou is born on 21 July 1948 in the wards of Middlesex Hospital in London, the son of Stavros, the owner of a café of Greek origin, and his wife Ingrid, who hails from chilly Sweden. He grows up in the heart of London's theatre district, the West End, attending the Catholic school St Joseph in Drury Lane, close to the family business. Theatres, nightclubs, fashionable restaurants, houses and record promoters: Steven's teenage years couldn't ask for richer stimuli, in the late 1950s. While the Greek branch of the family is distant and devoted to work, the Swedish side is more intellectual, allowing the young man to mix with directors and aspiring writers during frequent holidays up north. At Catholic school, Steven has an unbridled passion for drawing and painting, amusing himself with caricatures that are much loved within the family. He frequently sends drawings to Gerald Scarfe, editor of the comic magazine Private Eye, though they're never published because they're deemed "good, but too grotesque". Those drawings are in fact the product of a personality prone to solitude, which makes young Steven mature very quickly, even as he still refuses to give up contact with the street in such a stimulating neighbourhood.

His very first contact with music comes thanks to his half-brother David Gordon, whose suggestions push him to buy his first 45, "Peggy Sue" by Buddy Holly. It's the first British hit by one of the pioneers of American rock'n'roll, who between 1956 and 1958 shakes up British teenagers stuck in a fog of Victorian moralism, with socially acceptable bands like Benny Goodman's dominating the scene. After a first, self-taught approach on the family's small piano, Steven convinces his father to buy him an acoustic guitar for the sum of 8 pounds, and begins practising not just chords but even his first original songs, like "Darling Mary", dedicated to the sister of one of his classmates, an unrequited love and thus worthy of a first original composition. By the age of 12 he's already a huge musicals fan, given the neighbourhood he lives in, above all "West Side Story", which opens in the West End in 1960. Steven's musical culture is therefore more sophisticated than that of many of his peers: Bacharach, Lieber & Stoller, Gershwin. And then, starting in 1962, the arrival of a young man armed with guitar and harmonica, one Robert Allen Zimmerman who has just legally changed his name, the Freewheelin' Bob Dylan. Dylan leads the folk invasion of the UK, especially in London, where nights spring up featuring hundreds of aspiring songwriters performing. Steven is drawn like a moth to Dylan's seemingly off-key delivery, just as he is to the out-of-tune sounds of more seasoned musicians like Leadbelly. He's now enrolled at Hammersmith Art School, convinced he's about to launch a brilliant career as an illustrator and cartoonist, but the lessons he most values and absorbs are those of Paul Simon spinning on a turntable.

In 1963 he performs for the first time in front of a tiny audience alongside his friend Peter James, then tries his luck solo at the Black Horse pub on Rathbone Street.

Steven is just one of many aspiring songwriters trying their luck, and he's not particularly noticed or appreciated in his very first cries as a musician. He tries his hand with a trio called JAS Time, from the initials of his name and those of two friends, Andrew and Jimmy. The songs performed live are judged too commercial for the elitist taste of the English folk scene, but the criticism doesn't discourage him: why should playing commercial music necessarily be a bad thing? And what if this were the path to success, abandoning art school? His parents, separated for some time now, don't agree, but the more Steven is held back, the more his ambitions grow. In the spring of 1966, under his new name Steve Adams, he walks through the door of producer Mike Hurst's office. Hurst is looking for a new project to finally move on from his split with Dusty Springfield: after trying with the Methods, he's come into contact with a peculiar Californian sound engineer named Jim Economides. From Capitol in Los Angeles to London, where Economides settles to start working with a boy who goes by the name Marc Bolan. Jim doesn't have enough experience as a producer, so he invites Hurst to record a Tolkien-esque Bolan song called "The Wizard" at Decca Studios. One day he gets a visit from Steve Adams who, with no warning, during his lunch break, asks him to listen to something of his. "Why not, go ahead." He plays "I Love My Dog". "That's brilliant, what's your name?" His first name is his real one, Steven Georgiou, but it's been changed to Steven Adams. But instinctively, there's another change right after that performance. "That's a stupid name, Cat Stevens." "But it's a fantastic name," Hurst tells him, "keep it."

Best New Act

Mike Hurst's enthusiasm is swept away by Jim Economides: "The kid sucks." Hurst insists, asking Jim to listen to him again. Cat's manager, Bert Shalit, a wealthy businessman in the wallpaper manufacturing industry, steps in and asks Mike to produce his client. A session is organised at Pye Studios in Marble Arch, where "I Love My Dog" is of course recorded, along with a new song called "Here Comes My Baby", which Hurst is convinced will be a sure-fire hit. The problem now is finding a record label willing to bet on the kid, no easy task at all. But there's a glimmer of light, because in the meantime Stevens himself has secured a publishing deal with Dick James Music, known in London for giving opportunities to a great many people before picking the best of the bunch. Obviously, under this business model, Cat isn't the only one; also in DJM's roster is a young talent named Reginald Dwight. Hurst's interest in Stevens doesn't last long, though, because the producer decides to take a new job at Vanguard Records, who are on the hunt for experienced folk-music professionals. While he's packing his bags to move to California with his family, Cat knocks on his door and tells him frankly: "I've been to practically every record label in London and none of them want me. Are you still interested?" Hurst is equally frank, explaining to Cat that his "I Love My Dog" could be a hit, but it needs a bridge section with a chorus. Once that detail is added, he's convinced enough to take it to Decca Studios, which are however well beyond his budget. Hurst goes to see A&R boss Dick Rowe and asks him for a favour before leaving for the States: three free hours at Studio 2 to record a Mike D'Abo song. The money is instead invested in the musicians who will back Cat Stevens on "I Love My Dog". With the fresh acetate in hand, Hurst goes back to Rowe to confront him and tell him the truth, playing him the track before things can get serious. Rowe says nothing, picks up the phone to call Sir Edward Lewis himself. The supreme boss of Decca comes down a floor to find out what's new, and when he finishes listening to "I Love My Dog", he tells Mike: "My boy, you're a genius." A contract for Cat Stevens to record on the Deram label is now ready.

When Matthew And Son, his debut album, comes out in spring 1967, Mike Hurst speaks of a "divine act", referring to the over two minutes of "I Love My Dog" in which Cat Stevens's melancholy voice joins the acoustic guitar beneath the orchestral downpour unleashed by Alan Tew. As suggested by Hurst himself, the addition of the na-na-na bridge provides that "commercial" touch that takes the single — released at the end of September the previous year — to number 28 on the UK singles chart. Cat trusts Hurst given his past with the Springfields, even though the single stays on the chart for only a few weeks, helped along by heavy airplay on Radio London. But there seems to be something magical in the air: everyone expects Cream to win the title of Best New Act as voted by readers of the prestigious Disc and Music Echo, who are surprisingly beaten by none other than Cat with "I Love My Dog". On 26 December 1966 he's invited by the Beatles' manager, Brian Epstein, to Georgie Fame's show at the London Saville Theatre, but his performance doesn't convince Hurst, who notices an excessive stiffness on stage, a dangerous trait for a performer who's supposed to climb the English charts. "You need to be outrageous, you need to be strange," Mike tells him.

From the debut album, the second single "Matthew And Son" is released ahead of the record at the end of the year, showing off a more beat-rock approach with John Paul Jones on bass and Nicky Hopkins on keyboards. Unlike "I Love My Dog", "Matthew And Son" — whose title is taken from a furniture shop near South Kensington tube station — reaches number one on Radio London's rotation by the end of the year, and is also pushed up the BBC chart, where it reaches number two in February 1967. A third single is added to the two, the baroque-pop take on "Here Comes My Baby", already a hit for the Tremeloes. Buoyed by these early results, Deram presses on, releasing another single at the end of March, "I'm Gonna Get Me A Gun", dominated by an orchestral arrangement that ranges from western to baroque in a kind of brief film score. The song doesn't quite convince, but Cat Stevens seems to be a magic name, since it still reaches number six.

"I'm Gonna Get Me A Gun" ends up at the centre of controversy on the famous TV programme Juke Box Jury, where host David Jacobs discusses the most interesting new releases alongside various celebrities from television and music. The criticism isn't aimed at the song's questionable arrangement, but at its lyrics, which tell the story of a young man who gets hold of a gun to avenge the wrongs he's suffered at work, lyrics that could supposedly push teenagers towards extreme violence. Cat is mortified, and tells the New Musical Express he admits he made a misjudgement in the rush of the recording sessions for the release of the eclectic Matthew And Son, which packs Stevens's earliest musical experiences into something like a crash course, its potential still raw. On "Bring Another Bottle Baby" the contrast between Cat's sad voice and the calypso-style arrangement is jarring, while the carefree whistling of "Portobello Road" is set over a more traditional folk sound, in the vein of Paul Simon.

Arrangements still in a pop-western style dominate on "I've Found A Love", while the record perhaps slides a bit too easily into vaudeville ("I See A Road") and Donovan-esque rhythms on "Baby Get Your Head Screwed On" and "When I Speak To The Flowers". When the sax kicks in on the soul number "Come On And Dance", you can sense the talent of a budding composer, still caught between imitating other people's sound ("Hummingbird" and the honeyed "Lady") and the search for a genuine identity as a songwriter.

Cat vs Mike

Summer 1967. After the release of his debut record, Cat Stevens has by now abandoned his passion for western epics, focused instead on the idea of writing songs for a musical about Mexico and the figure of the gaucho. So he decides to set off for Central America, bound ultimately for Australia. Far from music's centres of gravity, from hippie California to Swinging London, lit up by the band of lonely hearts led by Sergeant Pepper. And yet the popular pirate station Wonderful Radio London keeps Cat's songs in heavy rotation, winning him an ever-wider audience. Mike Hurst believes in him, in just how eclectic he is, going so far as to describe Matthew And Son as a potential James Bond film soundtrack.

But Cat is moody, often complaining about the weather, his clothes, even his earliest songs, which will now have to shift in a new sonic direction. He proposes a new single to Deram, "A Bad Night", which opens with graceful acoustic folk before veering into orchestral arrangements and beat rhythms. The label listens to the track and suggests he reconsider: too muddled and not commercial enough. Stevens completely disagrees, defends the single and threatens to change everything on the next record. Cat's frustration runs deep, not only because he will later publicly admit the song is a failed experiment, but also because not a single West End theatre has been willing to stake a penny on his Mexican musical.

While working on the debut single of his friend, folksinger Peter James Hogan, Stevens can't stop thinking about his next artistic direction, so constrained by the often conflicting ideas of Hurst and Deram. His relationship with his first producer collapses toward the autumn of 1967, when Cat's brother David is threatened by Hurst himself after a rather heated argument over the management of accounts. Resentful, Mike points out to Cat that he can afford a brand new Mercedes without even having a driving licence, while Stevens hasn't gotten over the threats made to his brother, whom he'd like to put in charge as his manager.

When New Masters comes out in December, the battle between artist and producer ends up in the hands of lawyers, right from the opening baroque barrel-organ notes of “Kitty”. Cat's legal defence provokes Hurst, who has been strongly advised not to say a word, while the pop lullaby “I'm So Sleepy” drifts by. The producer sees red and points out that his artist has managed to earn over six thousand pounds a week thanks to him, building his huge success on a romantic, energetic beat-pop sound like the new “The First Cut Is The Deepest”, a version of one of his own originals previously sold for about 30 pounds to soul singer P.P. Arnold. Cat's lawyer has the last laugh in court, pointing out to Hurst that his client was a minor at the time of signing the contract, which required the signatures of two parents who barely understood English. When the court rules in Stevens's favour, Hurst is furious, thinking back to the recording sessions with a musician who wants to change everything, not just on the management side but above all in terms of sound.

From the western-styled gallop of “Northern Wind” to the elaborate baroque pop of “The Laughing Apple”, New Masters is the product of a complicated, doubt-ridden period. The direction to take for the future isn't clear, caught between the pressure to churn out more songs like “I Love My Dog” and new symphonic architectures like “Smash Your Heart”. The intimate folk single “Blackness Of The Night” languishes at number 47 on the British charts, a slap in the face for an artist who less than a year earlier had landed several hits on the UK market. The public doesn't warm to New Masters, packed as it is with American-musical-style scenarios (“Moonstone”) and ornate baroque-pop flourishes (“I'm Gonna Be King”).

Having won in court against Hurst, Cat and David celebrate by setting up Doric Management, which also takes on the members of a band known as Yellow Rainbow. Renamed Zeus, the group is discovered in a pub in Quinton, approached backstage with the offer to follow Stevens and become his backing band. The new line-up starts rehearsing at the Marquee Club, before making its live debut at the Palais de Sports in Paris in mid-November, for a sort of European Love-In festival alongside Soft Machine and Spencer Davis Group. Cat asks the members of his new group to provide him with demo tapes to work on new material, but the wait suddenly feels endless, as if something had jammed. Quite simply, Cat Stevens has no idea what his next move will be. The commercial flop of New Masters weighs like a millstone, and not even an appearance on the popular TV show Twice A Fortnight manages to turn his fortunes around. In December, the single “Kitty” simply refuses to climb the charts, as if it were cursed by Mike Hurst against the continuation of his career. As if hitting a panic button, promoter Harold Davidson summons Stevens to his offices and tells him point blank that his magic aura has vanished: the only solution (not even a sure one) is to try to take part in one of the Christmas specials so beloved by audiences in English theatres. But Cat is proud, and together with his brother David he decides to turn it down, choosing instead to keep frequenting the emerging English folk scene, going back to basics: guitar and voice.

The Giant Cloud

February 1968. A persistent cough has plagued Cat Stevens for months, and his body is visibly worn down. He quits smoking and, pressed by friends, sees a doctor. Several X-rays diagnose a nasty case of pneumonia, but his body doesn't respond well to the specific treatment at the clinic on Harley Street. New tests are carried out, and the second diagnosis is far worse: it's a form of tuberculosis, which, left untreated, kills 50% of those affected. Stevens stays optimistic, confident he'll pull through in time to go and see rock'n'roll pioneer Bill Haley live, but his stay at King Edward VII Hospital in Midhurst, Sussex, ends up lasting three months. Optimism gives way to the fear of death, not just physical but musical too. “A giant cloud over my head”, he will later recall. During his convalescence he reads tons of books, listening to Bach constantly, reflecting on his own music and how it had shifted from pop success to his latest musical ambitions. He meditates a great deal, listening to his inner self, and arrives at a defining epiphany: his career as a pop star is over, it's time to start again as an artist.

By a strange twist of fate, the sudden illness that could have cut his life short at twenty turns instead into his first spiritual journey, leading him to an unexpected awareness after a mediocre record. He grows a thick beard, changes his look, and above all starts behaving like a poet, a distant relative of the man who wrote “I Love My Dog”. He studies artistic movements and mathematics, learns to read music so as to be better prepared in the recording studio. Having recovered by the summer of 1968, he treats himself to a short holiday in Venice, Italy, before heading straight back to London to make up for lost time.

Waiting for him is Deram, who wants to pair him up with producer Mike Vickers (former member of Manfred Mann) after the traumatic split with Hurst. Cat turns up with dozens upon dozens of new songs, the fruit of his forced downtime at Midhurst hospital. His return to the live stage comes on 23 February 1969, opening for The Who at the Chalk Farm Roundhouse for a charity night organised by the London School of Economics. Stevens is alone, with just his guitar, trembling at the thought of performing in front of an audience that loves rock at its hardest and loudest. But his performance is listened to attentively, and applause rains down at the end. It's proof that his new direction is the right one: going back to his folk roots and reinterpreting them far removed from the formulas Deram had imposed to turn him into a pop star. While working on the single “Where Are You”, a melancholy ballad set to a marching rhythm, Cat insists on bringing in a full orchestra, almost deliberately pushing Deram's patience to the limit. The arrangements are handled, of all people, by Mike Hurst, practically obliged to by contractual obligations.

Encouraged by his new manager Barry Krost, Stevens is still thinking about writing a musical based on the Russian Romanov dynasty before the 1917 revolution. He already has three songs ready, “The Day They Make Me Tzar”, “Maybe You're Right, Maybe You're Wrong” and above all “Father And Son”, which tells the story of the relationship between Tsar Nicholas and his youngest son. Another source of inspiration is his recent break-up, after two years together, with American actress Patti D'Arbanville, who had always embodied for him the American dream.

Island Records is launched on the English market in the summer of 1962, born out of the entrepreneurial spirit of Anglo-Jamaican producer Chris Blackwell, a great lover of ska, reggae and bluebeat. London has a growing Caribbean community, sorely missing the sun, the food, and above all the music of their homeland. Island's challenge in the UK doesn't worry the majors, who initially see it as a niche label that won't last. But Blackwell is a man of great ambitions, already manager of the Spencer Davis Group, from which singer and keyboardist Steve Winwood had just departed, ready to form Traffic. It's the perfect opportunity to place Island Records within the English underground rock scene, driven by an ever-growing and increasingly innovative roster of bands: Mott The Hoople, King Crimson, Fairport Convention. Aware of the imminent split with Deram, Blackwell doesn't want to let the new Cat Stevens slip away, with his new idea of being a “man with a guitar”. Stevens has more than a few doubts: what would he be doing among bands so electric and visionary? But Blackwell's offer is too good to pass up, since there will be no creative control at all, the only limit being one record a year. No pressure to replicate past commercial successes, Cat will be free to follow his instinct, which is now leading him to focus on songs, like a storyteller for children. Stevens's position towards Blackwell is nonetheless clear: there will be no attempt to please old fans, he will seek out a completely new audience.

To create this magic of simplicity, he needs to work with a new producer who fully understands the direction to take. That producer is Paul Samwell-Smith, a former member of Yardbirds who had moved to the other side of the studio console. Samwell-Smith had already gained experience with Renaissance – featuring Keith Relf and Jim McCarty – working in particular within the English folk circuit. For Cat, it's like betting on the horses, he has no proof that Paul will be right for him. But the gamble pays off, starting with the musicians the producer himself suggests to Stevens: Alun Davies (guitar), John Ryan (bass), Harvey Burns (drums). On top of that, a young flautist named Peter Gabriel, from an equally young band called Genesis, who were trying to record demo tapes to break into the progressive scene. Over the minimal folk arpeggio of “Katmandu”, a visibly nervous Gabriel gently lays down breathy whispers, while the acoustic guitar shifts key with precise bursts of acceleration.

Mona Bone Jakon is the unusual title of the first record Stevens released with his new line-up on Island, an almost esoteric name used to describe his penis. Thanks to the renewed flexibility offered by Blackwell's label and producer Samwell-Smith, Cat is finally free to express himself after years in the dark. From the very first acoustic chords of the Mediterranean-flavoured “Lady D'Arbanville” – one of the songs written during his hospital stay and in the aftermath of his break-up – the new direction completely overturns the baroque-pop stylistic traits he had produced up to that point. A bleak, desolate flamenco, as if musically depicting a man lost in the Andalusian desert, accompanied only by choral voices worthy of a ghostly western. Central to the album is the contribution of Welsh-born guitarist Alun Davies, who began his career on the ukulele, playing Lonnie Donegan covers and skiffle marches. Having switched to guitar, Davies had worked with Jon Mark on the Decca label, before moving on to performances on cruise ships and later taking on session work for Marianne Faithfull and other artists on Fontana Records.

Alun Davies's work in the recording studio helps Stevens enrich and refine the sound of his new songs. Tracks like “I Think I See The Light”, for instance, are the product of a perfectly tight band, with dark, pounding keyboards and a predatory vocal delivery reminiscent of Ian Anderson. The two guitars chasing each other through stomp, folk and blues on “Pop Star” musically spell out Stevens's new manifesto, abandoning big stages for a more directly intellectual approach. From the skeletal vaudeville of “Maybe You're Right” to the acoustic intimacy of “Trouble”, his songbook matures, recounting his troubled personal experience with a penetrating voice. The record thus reveals a new, intimate and tragic dimension, with swampy blues tones (“Mona Bone Jakon”), Beatles-esque pop atmospheres (“I Wish, I Wish”) and melodic-folk echoes à la Paul Simon (“Fill My Eyes”).

Teatime

The single chosen by Island to launch Mona Bone Jakon is “Lady D'Arbanville”, which reaches number 8 on the British singles chart and becomes the first track to get decent airplay on US radio. The song sells over a million copies, boosting the album's sales and confirming Cat Stevens's return to the music that matters, backed up by an article in Rolling Stone that describes him as the only singer-songwriter capable of rivalling Elton John at the peak of his masterpiece “Tumbleweed Connection”. While everyone awaits a full-fledged return to the live stage, Stevens once again goes against the grain: he wants to play just the Plumpton Festival in August 1970, and only as a duo with Alun Davies. “This is the song that made me a pop star again”, he'll tell the audience before launching into his new single. The show sends both crowd and critics into raptures, so much so that he considers a second appearance at the Bilzen Jazz Festival in Belgium. His refusal to commit to a fuller tour is justified by his wish to get straight back into London studios to produce a second album with Samwell-Smith, despite Island placing absolutely no obligations on him. But Cat has a huge stock of songs, tried and tested during his convalescence, and he wants to prove to the world that this time, his new success will last.

Tea For The Tillerman came out just five months after Mona Bone Jakon, recorded with the same group of musicians following the hesitation of Alun Davies, who had been offered a guitar slot by his old bandmate Jon Mark, then about to team up with John Almond.

If Mona Bone Jakon is a powerful musical meditation on death, Tea For The Tillerman is a search for deeper spirituality within an ever-changing world. In the gentle acoustic brushstrokes of the opening “Where Do The Children Play?” lies the album's first manifesto, questioning the true value of human progress. The record redefines the boundaries of British folk-pop with the gentlest, most melodic approach imaginable, as in the shifting moods of the bittersweet “Hard Headed Woman”. With the irresistible Latin lilt of “Wild World”, Stevens plays his first ace, dwelling once again on the end of his relationship with Patti D’Arbanville, from a perspective that would later be accused of misogyny by some music magazines.

The album is like a gallery of sonic artworks, from the tender piano ballad “Sad Lisa”, which narrates the fate of a woman on the brink of psychosis, amplified by a chamber-string finale. In contrast to the more aggressive rock so fashionable at the start of the Seventies, Tea For The Tillerman is like a crystal flower that could never break, tackling themes that are in some ways “violent” toward contemporary society with an almost disarming candour. Even when the tempos pick up (“Miles From Nowhere” and “On The Road To Find Out”), Stevens and his band's interpretation remains firmly set on the path of new English folk, able to draw on other geographical sources such as the Middle East. If the contemporary metropolis seems chaotic, polluted and full of conflict, the album sounds like a warm refuge balancing ethics and environmentalism, offering the listener plenty of food for inner reflection over the deep-African choruses of “Longer Boats”, guided by crystalline acoustic guitar chords.

Cat Stevens becomes something like an ancient minstrel of the soul, as he muses musically on the aching air of “Into White” or paints brief sonic watercolours on “But I Might Die Tonight” and the gospel-tinged piano finale of the title track. Then comes the album's climax, “Father And Son”, where Cat's voice even splits in two to tell of the countless difficulties of communication between a father and his son. Originally written for the musical “Revolussia” – casting Tsar Nicholas in the role of the father – “Father And Son” struck the world with its universal melody, driving Tea For The Tillerman to the top of both the British and American charts, and selling over three million copies in the United States alone.

The release of Tea For The Tillerman paves the way for success in the United States, where Cat Stevens hires lawyer Nat Weiss and new manager Peter Asher to coordinate and oversee his upcoming tours. The English artist lands in the US for the first time in November 1970, performing at the Fillmore East ahead of Hammer and Traffic. An intimate, minimal half-hour set just like his latest album, with no electricity, just two acoustic guitars alongside Alun Davies. They play while the crowd is still finding their seats, closing the set to a standing ovation. The real American baptism, though, comes at a solo show at New York's Gaslight, where Cat meets an entrepreneur and record manager named David Geffen. It's A&M, the label handling Island's US releases, that ends up launching him on the market, putting in place an effective marketing strategy: giving every new Rolling Stone subscriber a free copy of Tea For The Tillerman.

In spring 1971 Cat Stevens has no fewer than three albums on the Billboard charts, making up for weaker commercial performances back in the UK. While Chris Blackwell publicly admits that the new album is by far “the best we've ever produced”, Cat Stevens rides a wave of growing popularity on both American coasts, with an unusually long tour that captivates audiences and critics alike.

The daughter of the president of publishing house Simon & Schuster, Carly Simon has recently released her debut album on Elektra. It's the latest chapter in a long musical journey that began in the Sixties alongside her sister Lucy – as the Simon Sisters – on the tiny Massachusetts coffeehouse circuit. Having moved to the buzzing Greenwich Village, Carly tried to make it on her own before meeting entrepreneur and manager Jerry Brandt, owner of the Electric Circus, where Andy Warhol performed several times. After the release of her self-titled debut, Carly Simon is working on a song titled “These Are The Good Old Days” – later “Anticipation” – to be recorded with Paul Samwell-Smith, the man responsible for her meeting with the man the song is dedicated to.

This time, the new love story in Cat Stevens' life isn't just a personal one, as he and Carly go on to perform together on the American scene for much of 1971. It's at Paramount Studios in Los Angeles that his next album, Teaser And The Firecat, is recorded, marking the return of the winning team behind the last two records. But once again, Stevens' approach to his music shifts: while Mona Bone Jakon and Tea For The Tillerman are albums of inner reflection, Teaser And The Firecat sets to music a mindset turned outward, since Cat wants to “help others by sharing my experience”.

New faces also take part in the sessions for the new album, lending Stevens' sound an even richer choral quality. Del Newman, an orchestra conductor already well versed in the pop and rock world, leads the strings on the exotic “Peace Train”, one of the album's highest points in its call for a deeper spiritual search. Andreas Toumazis and Angelos Hatzipavli bring their bouzouki mastery to the sirtaki dance of “Rubylove”. Keyboard prodigy Rick Wakeman, then a member of folk-and-progressive band The Strawbs, appears on the pastoral watercolour “If I Laugh” and on the lyrical piano of the glorious “Morning Has Broken”, graced with an exquisite melody and lyrics by English writer Eleanor Farjeon.

Following in Farjeon's artistic footsteps – she specialised in children's literature – Teaser And The Firecat is also the title of a book written and illustrated by Stevens himself, starring little Teaser and Firecat the cat, as they try to put the moon back in its place after it suddenly falls to earth. The children's fable is the storytelling trick used to bring back the gentlest, most melodic sides of his sound, from the brief acoustic wonder “The Wind” to the folk nursery-rhyme “Moonshadow”. Halfway between Tim Hardin and Peruvian tradition, “Moonshadow” is one of the hits on an album that's more rhythmic and cross-pollinated than its predecessors, spanning Caribbean influences (“Tuesday’s Dead”), carefree percussion (“Bitterblue”) and roaring choral anthems (“Changes IV”).

Stranger

A more outward-looking, cosmopolitan record, Teaser And The Firecat doesn't repeat the resounding success of Tea For The Tillerman, but it does land Stevens more hits on the charts, both in the States and especially in the UK, where he'd fallen behind since “Lady D’Arbanville”. Buoyed by the strong showing of “Moonshadow”, “Peace Train” and “Morning Has Broken”, Cat performs at year's end on the famous TV programme Old Grey Whistle Test, and is featured on the soundtrack of Polish director Jerzy Skolimowski's film “Deep End”. Several of his songs are picked by American director Hal Ashby for the black comedy “Harold and Maude”, included in the soundtrack in demo form, while Cat insists on finishing and polishing them ad hoc. In December he performs at the Theatre Royal in Drury Lane for a charity event organised by the Cure association to raise funds for hard-drug rehabilitation. This kicks off a new season of live shows, first in the United States and then in Australia and New Zealand in the summer of 1972.

Cat avoids interviews and public statements, preferring to focus on his music, which is about to undergo a new revolution on the following Catch Bull At Four, where he continues exploring more universal themes with a tougher, more experimental approach, having decided to share the reins with his musicians. The uptempo tones spread throughout the album – starting with the powerful “Sitting”, with its impressive production work on the syncopated piano echo – win over critics, who speak of “wonderful melodies”. The crystalline chords of “Boy With A Moon & Star On His Head” return to the path of hypnotic folk, twisted on “Angelsea” by the fusion of Spanish guitar and synthesizer textures over which savannah-style choruses soar. The sound picks up pace into multicultural exoticism, with the new Mediterranean dance “O Caritas”, caught between Spanish flamenco and sirtaki. “Can’t Keep It In” shows a new expressive fervour from Cat, who blends stop-and-go acoustic rhythms to build experimental keyboard architectures. These are less sweet, less melodic songs, bordering on neurotic anxiety as in the harsh “18th Avenue (Kansas City Nightmare)”, veering into near hard-rock territory on the following “Freezing Steel”.

Catch Bull At Four is thus, surprisingly, an album that doesn't land a single song on the charts, since it was never really built with hits in mind. Stevens is tired of being pigeonholed into one genre, and starts experimenting with and reshaping his more classic ballads (“Ruins” and “Sweet Scarlet”), sometimes with effects that unsettle his usual audience, but with the kind of courage typical of great artists.

Interviewed by the British music press, Cat Stevens describes Catch Bull At Four as the last of four albums in which he set out to explore various inner and outer themes rooted in folk and pop. Some critics have already written that his songs now sound very much alike, and this kind of criticism (though promptly batted away) is starting to make him feel like a puppet of his own making. Has his music truly become predictable? Has he perhaps put his songwriting on autopilot? Has he really turned into one of those long-bearded bards who entertain audiences perched on a stool with a sweet acoustic guitar in their arms? Something has to change, then. He needs to renew himself, to evolve. To do so, Cat has a very precise plan: loosen his professional partnership with Paul Samwell-Smith by producing himself. Choose new musicians better suited to the radical change of style he has in mind, and return to one of his earliest musical influences, the rhythm'n'blues of the African-American tradition. After relocating to Brazil for tax reasons, Stevens travels to Jamaica to make use of the sweltering Dynamic Studios in Kingston, bringing along a brand-new band, with musicians carefully selected for a full immersion into the new sound: Jean Roussel on keyboards, Phil Upchurch on electric guitar, Paul Martinez and Herbie Flowers on bass. And then Bernard Lee “Pretty” Purdie on drums, one of the most highly regarded musicians in soul and funk, famous back home for his own distinctive rhythmic technique known as the Purdie Shuffle.

From its very title, Foreigner is the record that places Cat Stevens at the center of his own ambitions, a foreign artist who rejects what brought him success in search of fresh sonic lifeblood. Running nearly twenty minutes, "Foreigner Suite" is an extreme attempt to immerse himself in black sound, applying a progressive-rock attitude to genres like soul, funk and rhythm'n'blues. The work throws off both listeners and critics, who are quick to point out that the suite is all too self-indulgent. Following in the footsteps of groups like Jethro Tull, Yes and The Who, Stevens wants to give free rein to his new desire to tackle something completely foreign to him. On a purely technical level there's nothing to object to – the work of the female backing-vocal trio led by Patti Austin is excellent – but the use of instruments and arrangements is perhaps excessive, ultimately burying the suite's evident quality under tons of notes.

The second side of the record instead consists of more standard, less ambitious songs, from the gospel-soul of "The Hurt" to the country shadings of "100 I Dream". The feeling is that even in the roughly four-minute song format, Stevens' approach is too layered in its arrangements, ending up flattening out on the ballad "How Many Times" or becoming excessive in the otherwise intriguing mix of funk and orchestral folk on "Later".

Despite a decent sales pace – Foreigner reaches the top three on both the UK and US charts – the new album draws more than a little criticism from industry insiders. Cat decides not to tour the record in the summer of 1973, focusing instead at the start of the following year on studio work, which sees the return of Samwell-Smith behind the mixing desk and of his friend Alun Davies on guitar. Buddha And The Chocolate Box comes out in spring 1974, torn from its very title between an ever-growing need for spirituality and a never-dormant passion for material goods. From the keyboard overture "Music", Cat Stevens abandons the sophisticated layering of "Foreigner Suite" for a renewed declaration of love to lady music, as if gripped by an inner need to return to more (and better) trodden paths. The exquisite pop melody "Oh Very Young" marks a decisive turn toward easy-listening, and fittingly climbs to second place on the relevant Billboard chart in the States. The more acoustic approach of the exotic folk of "Sun / C79" or the carefree country of "Ghost Town" is balanced by more spiritual numbers such as the brief gospel piece "Jesus", with a gradual rise toward religious lyricism on "King Of Trees".

The album is nonetheless a clear attempt to recover a certain compositional simplicity after the ambitions of Foreigner, as on the choral "Ready" and with the return of certain pop flourishes ("A Bad Penny"). On the closing "Home In The Sky", Cat blends church organs, liturgical keyboards and gospel-pop choirs for a spiritual update of his old music, though it falls short of the peaks of immediacy and sonic universality he had previously reached.

I never wanted to be a star

A few months after the release of his latest album, Cat Stevens returns to touring, and in June 1974 performs with his band at the Sunplaza Hall in Tokyo, recording a first live album direct to tape. In November, Saturnight is released by A&M exclusively in the Japanese market, with a setlist including the big classics – "Wild World", "Lady D'Arbanville", "Father And Son" – and a cover of Sam Cooke's hit "Another Saturday Night". As doubts and anxieties grow about his role as a music star in an increasingly materialistic and superficial world, Cat Stevens begins work on a project even more ambitious than Foreigner. It's a concept album that will set to music a spiritual odyssey on a fictional planet called Polygor, dominated by a dystopian castle and its number machine, built to scatter numbers to the four corners of a distant galaxy. The placid, monotonous life of Polygor's nine inhabitants is suddenly upended by the arrival of a slave, Jzero, representing the number (zero, indeed) of the void, which never existed in the machine's numbering system running from 1 to 9.

The truth revealed in Numbers, also known by the subtitle "A Pythagorean Theory Tale", is the same truth Cat is seeking within himself, as in the eyes of the world he increasingly comes to resemble Diogenes of Sinope rather than an international rock star. The fantastical journey through the stars opens on the delicate organ-and-synthesizer-led atmospheres of "Whistlestar", followed by the classical lyricism of "Novim's Nightmare" and the jazz-funk tones of "Majik Of Majiks". The ascent toward divine truth suffers from a Broadway-style musical flourish, with rhythm changes as sudden as they are confusing, moving from the soul choruses of "Drywood" to baffling yet more catchy cadences like the Caribbean country of "Banapple Gas". While the album may make sense in terms of concept and storytelling, musically it's a patchwork of styles and genres, from the madrigal of "Land o' Freelove & Goodbye" to the gypsy folk of "Jzero". The search for the divine on the angelic voices of "Monad's Anthem" thus mirrors the existential doubts of its author, caught between modernity and new inner truths.

As expected, Numbers throws critics and audiences for a loop due to the total absence of the usual melodies, hurting its sales figures. In the United States, there's genuine concern at A&M Records, whose executives weigh the possibility of terminating Cat's contract before the two remaining albums are due. Stevens disagrees with the criticism and rejects the idea of having to make records purely for the market, distancing himself from the label and from conventional promotional logic. What is it important to make music for today? Up to now, for money, for success and global fame. But music is spirituality, a search for truth: making music is for the divine. It's that kind of sound which, in the Arab and Muslim world, triggers the call to prayer, something Cat personally internalized during a trip to Morocco. Stevens' thoughts are already turning toward the divine when one of those classic turning points, or epiphanies, enters his life. It's an almost biblical episode dated 1976, when he nearly drowns too far out off the coast of Malibu, California. Cat himself will later say he called out to God, promising to become His humble servant in exchange for an unlikely rescue. Out of nowhere, miraculously, a powerful wave rises up from the sea to carry him safely to shore. Already a devotee of Buddhism, astrology and tarot, Cat deepens his religious studies, delving into the texts of the Quran thanks to a copy given to him by his brother David after a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. This sets off a gradual but powerful shift, from the orthodox religious principles he learned through his Greek roots toward the figure of the Islamic prophet Yusuf, saved by divine intervention after being bought and sold in the slave market. It's easy to understand why Cat identifies so strongly with such a figure, after the commercial success and recent friction with A&M following the cryptic Numbers.

With his soul in turmoil, he takes up A&M's challenge, demanding a substantial financial investment to record Izitso between September 1976 and March 1977, involving dozens of musicians including Chick Corea and Ringo Starr. The new album marks a return to the sound the label was asking for, with the intention of experimenting without restraint while at the same time denouncing from within a situation that had become unsustainable. "(Remember The Days Of The) Old Schoolyard" becomes a hit, synth-pop ante-litteram with the pounding rhythm of the Polymoog and, above all, a vocal duet with English singer Elkie Brooks, then riding high on the charts with the hits "Pearl's A Singer" and "Sunshine After The Rain". Stevens revisits the ballad format somewhere between acoustic and progressive on "Life", unleashes a funky groove on "Killin' Time", before dipping back into Mediterranean tradition filtered through synths on "Kypros".

On the melodic "Bonfire", Chick Corea's fiery piano makes an appearance, while the autobiographical "(I Never Wanted) To Be A Star" calls out the music business with quick references to his early successes. While tracks like "Crazy" and "Sweet Jamaica" continue along the Broadway-style line, the robotic "Was Dog A Doughnut?" anticipates elements of dance music, between synthesized electronic sequences and the earliest stirrings of hip-hop. An album born as a challenge to the business at a moment of transformation thus becomes the most avant-garde of Cat's later works, one that may have found a clearer sonic direction for the future.

A few months after the release of Izitso, in December 1977, Cat Stevens completes his long journey of conversion to his new faith. To radically change his life, he needs a new identity, so he decides to adopt the name Yusuf – Joseph, in Arabic, after the prophet who guided him spiritually – after crossing the threshold of the great mosque at Regent's Park in London to formally embrace Islam. It's the day before Christmas Eve of 1977; Stevens has recently received the Sun Peace Award at the United Nations headquarters in New York, for his evident contribution to spreading messages of peace through universal songs. The former Steven Georgiou officially takes the name Yusuf Islam in the summer of 1978, after talks with the Imam of London to define his future in the delicate relationship between being a believer and, at the same time, an international star. The religious leaders at the London mosque are divided, however: some agree with the continuation of a prestigious career with "morally acceptable songs", while others see music as incompatible with Islamic principles. Already weary of the music business, no longer properly inspired, Yusuf decides to take the bull by the horns and be done with the world of the seven notes.

But there's one last album the former Cat Stevens owes Island / A&M to fulfill his contract, so he decides to reunite old bandmates Paul Samwell-Smith, Del Newman and Alun Davies to mark his farewell to the stage. The recording sessions for the final Back To Earth are scheduled for the end of 1978 between London, New York and Denmark, in a surreal atmosphere marked by frequent breaks for prayer and a subdued mood overall. Released in December – the same day his father Stavros died – the album strips away the experimentation undertaken on Izitso and offers a melancholy return to the tones of Tea For The Tillerman, starting with the classic ballad format of the opening "Just Another Night", in which he once again calls out the music industry for the treatment he received, despite the millions of records sold. On "Daytime", written with Alun Davies, familiar themes return too, such as childhood, while the heavier rock-blues of "Bad Brakes" fails to climb the Anglo-American charts. The tender orchestral ballad "Randy" also fails commercially, interspersed with instrumental moments between folk and exotic funk ("The Artist" and "Nascimento").

As if closing a circle, "Father" returns to the relationship with his father figure over a soul rhythm, while the acoustic "Never" brings back that delicate, intimate and direct sound that made him famous across the globe. The album fails to satisfy fans' tastes, while Yusuf announces there will be no more tours, aside from his final live appearance during a massive charity event at Wembley Stadium in London on November 22, 1979. It marks the occasion of the International Year of the Child, organized and promoted by UNICEF. With a long dark beard, Yusuf takes the stage to revisit the main highlights of his career, in what is effectively a farewell concert. The last song is the melancholy "Child For A Day", featuring David Essex on vocals.

Yusuf

After releasing eleven albums, by the end of 1979 Yusuf Islam disappears into his faith, devoted to prayer and the study of Islamic principles. He has by now reached a definitive breaking point with the star system; he has nothing left to sing or play after recording albums that didn't measure up to the golden period between 1970 and 1972. His thoughts are now turned solely to God and to his wife, Fauzia Mubarak Ali, whom he married at the Regent's Park mosque on September 7. The flow of money that keeps coming in – helped also by several successful compilations released by Island and A&M over the following decade – is partly funneled into philanthropic projects aimed at education within the Muslim community. In 1983 he founds the Islamia Primary School in the Queen's Park area, followed almost ten years later by the Association of Muslim Schools and by Small Kindness, in support of famine victims in Africa and orphans across the Balkans and the Middle East.

Away from the public eye for years, Yusuf returns to the centre of public attention in late February 1989, following the fatwa issued by Ayatollah Khomeini against the Anglo-Indian writer Salman Rushdie, who had recently published "The Satanic Verses" worldwide. On 21 February, invited to speak about his conversion to students at Kingston Polytechnic, Yusuf publicly states that "Salman Rushdie must be killed" for having defamed the Prophet. The Western press erupts, pushing him to declare the following day that no one should become "a vigilante", and that the Qur'an simply calls for such a response. Two months later, during an interview with Geoffrey Robertson on Australia's ABC, Islam speaks hypothetically, pointing out that Rushdie's killing might be possible "under the orders of a judge or an authority". Seeing the writer's effigy burned, he admits: "I would have hoped for the real thing". Yusuf's statements make headlines around the world, sparking outrage. 10,000 Maniacs pull their cover of "Peace Train" from the album "In My Tribe", while in the United States countless radio stations decide to stop playing Cat Stevens songs altogether. Tom Leykis, a host at Los Angeles station KFI-AM, even proposes a mass burning of his records, later softened into a more civil boycott. Years later, Yusuf will revise his statements in several interviews, claiming a major misunderstanding of his words, which he says were simply tied to a faithful interpretation of the Qur'anic verses. This continues up to a tweet in August 2022, following the attack on Rushdie in New York, in which he declares himself "saddened and shocked" and wishes him a speedy recovery.

His first return to the recording studio comes in the mid-1990s, when The Life Of The Last Prophet is released on the label he himself founded, Mountain of Light/Jamal. The first record credited to Yusuf Islam, it's a collection of 34 spoken word recordings recounting the origins of the Prophet and teaching children the Arabic alphabet, and of course the sacred principles of the Qur'an. Yusuf thus begins his proselytising work aimed at younger listeners, using his new name to generate at least some initial curiosity. In 1997 he returns to the stage for a charity event in Sarajevo following the death of his Muslim friend Irfan Ljubijankic, Foreign Minister of Bosnia and Herzegovina, killed by a rocket fired by the Serbian army. Before dying, Ljubijankic had given Yusuf a cassette with an early version of one of his songs, titled "Have No Cannons That Roar", intending for it to reach a wider audience in support of the Bosnian cause. Islam sets to work after the Sarajevo concert in memory of his friend Irfan, to whom the record, titled precisely I Have No Cannons That Roar, is dedicated. It effectively marks his return to proper music in 1998, ranging from the ethereal minimalism of "Mother, Father, Sister Brother" to the extended reworking of traditional Bosnian themes, as in "When Adhans Are Called", featuring the vocals of Senad Podojak. The only original track written by Yusuf is the spoken-word prayer "The Little Ones".

In September 1999, a new collection of du'as (supplications) of the Prophet Muhammad is released, Prayers Of The Last Prophet. His educational drive continues in the summer of 2000 with the release of A Is For Allah, a dense double album dedicated to his first daughter Hasanah, built around a composition dating back to her birth in 1980. Accompanied by a colour booklet meant to teach children everywhere the 28-letter Arabic alphabet, the album is akin to nasheed hymns, typically sung a cappella or with a few percussion instruments across the Islamic world. On the record, Yusuf relies on the vocals of South African singer Zain Bhikha.

As the compilation The Very Best Of Cat Stevens goes gold in the States more than twenty years after his last album of original material, Yusuf gets the green light from the Islamic community to break a very long silence. The goal is to reconnect, even if only through words, with his old fans, in order to better explain the deeper reasons behind such a break. Islam even takes part in a two-part documentary produced by VH1 for the "Behind the Music" series, further explaining to the press the inner journey that led him to what seemed like such a sudden decision. In October 2001 he takes part in a VH1 pre-show recorded ahead of the Concert for New York City, condemning the attacks on the World Trade Center with an a cappella version of "Peace Train".

Part of his earnings from royalties on the numerous compilations released by Island over the years is donated to the Forum Against Islamophobia and Racism, which fights against the fear of Islam in the Western world that grew enormously after 11 September 2001. Yusuf's tentative rapprochement with the Western star system includes a 2003 reinterpretation of the single "Peace Train", by then turned into a universal anthem of peace. Islam performs at London's Royal Albert Hall and later at one of the 46664 concerts in support of Nelson Mandela, where he dusts off another great classic, "Wild World", alongside his friend Peter Gabriel.

These fleeting public appearances lead to the release of Majikat, a live album credited to Cat Stevens drawn from the eponymous 1976 world tour. Recorded during the 22 February stop at William & Mary College in Williamsburg, Virginia, the concert features Alun Davies on guitar and Jean Roussel on keyboards, with Stevens' crystalline acoustic guitar naturally leading the way through some of the key hits of his career. From "The Wind" to the anthem "Peace Train" — Cat himself tells the audience that the song was literally written on a train, thinking of the master of suspense Alfred Hitchcock — the American show is a fine snapshot of a man still tied to the many shades of Western music. From the gorgeous piano elegy "Sad Lisa" to the folk nursery rhyme "Moonshadow", part of Cat Stevens' dazzling career is laid out in the tender, elegant live versions on the Majikat Earth Tour 1976.

Return to the West

September 2004. Yusuf Islam is travelling on a United Airlines flight to Washington, having arranged a meeting with country legend Dolly Parton. Parton has already recorded her version of "Peace Train" and now wants to include another Cat Stevens song on her upcoming album. The flight proceeds smoothly, until it is diverted to Bangor, Maine, on the orders of the United States Transportation Security Administration. Yusuf discovers that his name has ended up on the infamous No Fly List, and he is immediately detained by Homeland Security officials upon landing. The reason behind his swift deportation is easy to guess: national security has serious concerns about his alleged ties to Islamic terrorism — accusations already levelled four years earlier by the Israeli government, which claimed Islam had funded the Palestinian organisation Hamas. The incident triggers a sharp exchange of statements between the British and American foreign offices, with Secretary of State Colin Powell wanting to take a closer look at the "watch list" Islam had ended up on. Yusuf himself will later claim he was the victim of a case of mistaken identity, confused with a certain Youssef Islam, and indeed he is let through US customs without issue two years later. The episode prompts him to write a new single, the country-pop dance number "Boots And Sand", which will only be recorded and released four years later, featuring the extraordinary participation of Paul McCartney and Dolly Parton herself.

While caught up in a defamation lawsuit against the publishers of The Sun and The Sunday Times — guilty of running articles supporting his recent expulsion from the States over alleged real ties to Islamic terrorism — Yusuf receives the "Man of Peace" award from the World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates. It's yet another controversy sparked by his new faith, which he addresses even more openly during an interview ahead of a concert scheduled in Abu Dhabi to celebrate the Prophet's birthday. Yusuf defends his new musical direction as a way to fight ignorance and stereotypes in the Western world, while the Islamic community debates the use of instruments like the guitar, which are not "regulated" within Qur'anic texts. Imams conclude that, used in the right way and in the right settings, the guitar can be an extremely powerful tool for spreading the faith, especially in the hands of a musician famous the world over. Yusuf's brief performance during the Emirati celebrations introduces the new track "The Wind East And West", in which he embraces his instrument once again with renewed conviction, for an R&B sound complete with African choral backing. It effectively marks the beginning of a return to more Western sonic standards, which Yusuf himself publicly describes as "a circle closing" after years of hesitation caused by simply settling into his new faith.

In early 2005, the single "Indian Ocean" is released, a hypnotic raga-tinged ballad featuring Indian composer A.R. Rahman, a-ha keyboardist Magne Furuholmen and Travis drummer Neil Primrose. Proceeds from the track go to the orphans of Banda Aceh, Indonesia, one of the areas hit hardest by the devastating tsunami the previous year. The song impresses for its elegance and structure, while Yusuf is happy to announce to the world that he has finally found "a little space in the universe of music" again.

After playing guitar on Dolly Parton's version of his "Where Do The Children Play?", Yusuf sets to work on the record that will mark a long-awaited return to secular music, in the spring of 2006. The cover of An Other Cup bears only the name Yusuf, with the specific credit formerly known as Cat Stevens, as if offering listeners a third identity that links back to his last "commercial" work, which had stopped in 1978. The coffee cup depicted in the artwork is meant to be filled by listeners themselves with their own musical tastes — whether they want to rediscover the old Cat or follow Yusuf's new direction. Atlantic Records, which distributes the album in the United States, is enthusiastic, praising the work of producer Rick Nowels (who had previously worked with Celine Dion and Dido) and the return of old friends and collaborators such as guitarist Alun Davies and keyboardist Jean Roussel.

If the previous Back To Earth left behind the portrait of a tormented, disillusioned artist, Another Cup brings back to life a man profoundly changed by religious faith. With a warm, mature voice, Yusuf opens with the soul horns of "Midday (Avoid City After Dark)" for a pleasant return to the simplicity of Catch Bull At Four. It's no coincidence that the pop ballad "Heaven/Where True Love Goes" was chosen as the single, as if to make clear to everyone that "the artist formerly known as Cat Stevens" has truly returned. And indeed the following "Maybe There's A World" is exactly the kind of pure, classic melody that satisfies longtime fans, who are once again moved by the ethereal arpeggio of "One Day At A Time". Cat's spiritual pilgrimage now leads to more mature songs ("In The End"), while also rediscovering a certain joy in tackling covers of classic tracks, as in the orchestral version of "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood". Or even in the rewriting of standards like the jazzy "I Think I See The Light", before the accordion-driven dance of "The Beloved" and the cinematic "Greenfields, Golden Sands".

Reinvigorated by his comeback, Yusuf actively promotes his new album, enthusiastic in various interviews about the choice he's made. He explains why he decided to drop his middle name Islam, which should not become a slogan, going back to referring to the late Cat Stevens for obvious reasons of name recognition. Yusuf returns more insistently to live performance, in spring 2007 for the BBC Sessions series at London's Porchester Hall; in summer, in Bochum, Germany, for a charity event supporting the Peace Center and Carlos Santana's Milagro Foundation. His public appearances thus become mainly tied to noble causes, from environmental ones ("Live Earth") to the more universal cause of peace ("Peace One Day"). New controversies are not lacking, however: in the summer of 2008, the World Entertainment News Network publishes an article accusing him of refusing to speak to unveiled women, with the exception of his wife. Yusuf fights back through legal channels and secures a public apology from the network, donating all proceeds from the settlement to his charity, Small Kindness.

In early 2009, a new single is released, "The Day The World Gets Round", with proceeds going to help children in Gaza. The electro-acoustic folk-ballad is a version credited to Yusuf and German bassist Klaus Voormann, drawn from the repertoire of George Harrison. For the occasion, Voormann — who had previously worked with the Beatles — designs the single's cover in the style of "Revolver", drawing even more public attention that can then be channelled into supporting organisations such as UNRWA and Save the Children. Criticism is not lacking either, with the Israeli government accusing Yusuf of only considering one side of the conflict over the Strip. The single paves the way for the launch of a second album, titled Roadsinger, marking his return to Island Records with new producer Martin Terefe, who had previously worked with James Morrison and KT Tunstall.

The album continues firmly along the path already traced by the previous An Other Cup, thanks to an even more elegant production that plants new sonic seeds, always keeping one eye on the past, as in the intro of "Sitting" that opens the Beatles-esque "Be What You Must". On the title track, a tender country-folk watercolour, Yusuf invites the listener to ask where to take refuge when the light of truth has faded and every road is blocked.

It seems old age has restored intense tones, as on the nocturnal saxophone of “Dream On (Until…)” or the acoustic guitar of “All Kinds Of Roses”, launching a hymn to tolerance. When the hypnotic chords of “Welcome Home” kick in, the listener is swept away by an almost absurd feeling, as if we were talking about the successor to Catch Bull At Four or Teaser And The Firecat. From the aching piano of “Shamsia” to the Celtic atmospheres of “World o’ Darkness”, Roadsinger is like a balm for the soul, short and direct songs proving that the return of Yusuf the pilgrim is no bluff.

On the road again

Preceded by the pop-ballad “Thinking ‘Bout You”, the latest album Roadsinger is previewed on the Bbc, before a series of appearances and interviews on both sides of the Atlantic. Yusuf appears on The Chris Isaak Hour and the Tonight Show with Jay Leno, then with other giants of television entertainment such as Stephen Colbert and Jimmy Fallon. In August 2009 he performs some tracks from the album as a guest at the annual Cropredy Convention organized by Fairport Convention, with Alun Davies returning on guitar. His website even announces a world tour, the first since the late 70s, set to kick off at the Highline Ballroom in New York. The date is postponed due to a bureaucratic snag with his US visa, but it doesn't stop the machine of the “Guess I’ll Take My Time Tour”, which hits various dates across the United States, Europe and Australia. On March 2, 2011, the single “My People” is released for free download on the official website, another pop-folk anthem for peace following the protest movements known as the Arab Spring. A year later, at the Princess Theatre in Melbourne, his musical “Moonshadow” debuts, built around the great classics of his past. The Australian shows receive very mixed reviews from critics and audiences alike, closing after just a month. At the end of 2013, he receives a nomination for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, inducted by Art Garfunkel at the Barclays Center in New York the following spring.

The third album under the name Yusuf is released in October 2014, produced by Rick Rubin and featuring several outstanding guests, from bluesman Charlie Musselwhite to the Tuareg group Tinariwen. Tell ‘Em I’m Gone is an album split between a revival of blues and R&B, paying tribute to two hugely influential genres, and the classic Cat Stevens blend of pop and folk. More baritone and warmer than usual, Yusuf's voice casts a spell on the acoustic blues prayer “I Was Raised In Babylon”, paired with the weeping guitar of Richard Thompson. The album pays homage to Luther Dixon with a jazzy version of “Big Boss Man” and to American multi-instrumentalist Edgar Winter on the piano ballad “Dying To Live”. Yusuf now seems to be playing purely for fun, as he leads the country-western version of “You Are My Sunshine” and brings in Matt Sweeney's electric guitar on the syncopated “Editing Floor Blues”. “Cat & The Dog Trap” returns to more familiar fairy-tale atmospheres, while the swinging “Gold Digger” protests against the exploitation of African mines, and the title track reworks the traditional “Take This Hammer” with a breath of desert-blues.

With three new albums behind him, Yusuf resumes live activity: first a brief European tour, followed by a few North American dates at the end of 2014. In June 2016 the single “He Was Alone” is released, a melancholy pop ballad written after a visit to Syrian refugee camps in southern Turkey. The proceeds go to his #YouAreNotAlone campaign, as do the takings from his subsequent performance at Westminster Central Hall in London. A few months later the “A Cat’s Attic Tour” begins, a new run of shows across Canada and the United States celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of the release of the single “I Love My Dog”. Yusuf returns to perform in New York after several decades, with intimate, acoustic versions of his biggest hits, in support of refugees from the war in Syria.

A new album is released in mid-September 2017, after yet another change of identity – now going by the artistic name Yusuf / Cat Stevens, returning to the original name he used back in the days of Back To Earth – titled The Laughing Apple. At the helm is the returning longtime producer Paul Samwell-Smith, with whom some tracks are revived from the period of his second album, New Masters. From the minimal folk of “Blackness Of The Night” to the Celtic-tinged lullaby of the title track, the new album is an ambivalent return of the former Cat Stevens. It's split between simple western-style reworkings of previously heard songs (“Northern Wind”) and fresh folk-pop brilliance on the original tracks “See What Love Did To Me” and “Olive Hill”. But the album is mostly a simple divertissement, far from the strength and conviction shown on the last three albums released as Yusuf. It settles for guitar ballads (“Mighty Peace”) and children's rhymes (“Mary And The Little Lamb”). The album is nonetheless a success and earns a Grammy Award nomination for Best Folk Album of the year.

After a few charity shows in New Zealand and the United Kingdom, in September 2020 Yusuf celebrates the fiftieth anniversary of the release of the masterpiece Tea For The Tillerman, reinterpreting and rearranging the tracks from the classic album. With a title worthy of a film franchise, Tea For The Tillerman 2 keeps the original tracklist, aiming to offer new audiences a more modern way into the songs. As often happens in cinema – where the sequel rarely improves on the original concept – the sonic overhaul of Tea For The Tillerman doesn't work, starting with a defanged version of the powerful “Where Do The Children Play?”. With the exception of “Longer Boats”, which includes a rap from Brother Ali for a genuine modernization, the rest of the album is a rehash drenched in stale soft-rock. There was really no need to hear cornerstones like “Wild World” given a jazz-tango makeover, just as the nocturnal version of “Sad Lisa” is left suspended in limbo between the old splendid inevitability and new touches of synthesized piano.

In June 2023 he performs for the first time at Glastonbury Festival, following a few European dates between Berlin and Rome. Having moved to Bmg Rights Management, Yusuf had already released two new singles between March and April, the acoustic nursery rhymes “Take The World Apart” and “King Of A Land”, followed shortly after by a video for the country-pop ditty “All Nights, All Days”.

The album King Of A Land is described by Yusuf himself as a closing of the circle, following a gestation that lasted almost ten years. Opened by the orchestral melody of “Train On A Hill”, the album includes music conceived for children, interspersed with religious themes and ever-relevant messages of universal peace. Music critics praise the album, highlighting a renewed verve after a few recent missteps, as heard for example in the elegant harmony of horns and electric guitars on “Pagan Run”. Yusuf returns to experimenting with synthesizer on the opening of the hypnotic “Another Night In The Rain”, while tracks like “Things” retrace old paths between minimal folk and pop openings. On “Son Of Mary” the religious message is amplified amid baroque organ textures, while the gospel choir of “Highness” conjures a musical-theatre atmosphere, something that has always been among Stevens' ambitions. This is why King Of A Land is effectively the summa of a lifetime of styles: from acoustic brushstrokes to universal messages, between pop melodies and orchestral flourishes. When Yusuf's mature voice sings the lopsided melody of “The Boy Who Knew How To Climb Walls”, it almost feels like no time at all has passed since the young Steven Demetre Georgiou won over British folk with such direct, melancholy charm.

Ride the wave of great music

Add OndaRock to your favorite sources on Google Discover. Don't miss our reviews, milestones and latest news straight in your feed.

Follow on Google