Cat Stevens

Cat Stevens: “Teaser And The Firecat”

(4cd+1Blu-ray Island Records/Universal Music Company, 2021)

A year after the release of the sumptuous Super Deluxe editions of "Mona Bone Jakon" and "Tea For The Tillerman", Cat Stevens (who in '77, after surviving a near-drowning off the coast of Malibu, converted to Islam and changed his name to Yusuf) has chosen to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the release of "Teaser And The Firecat", his bestseller, with no fewer than five versions of the album: the Super Deluxe with 4xcd, 1xBlu-ray, 2xLp and 1x7"; the "slimmed down" Super Deluxe with 4xcd and 1xBlu-ray; the Deluxe with 2xcd; the standard 1xLp and, finally, the standard 1xcd.

At the time of writing this review, the Super Deluxe box set is on sale on Amazon for €184.76; the "slimmed down" version, which differs from the Super Deluxe in that it lacks the vinyl records and has a softcover book instead of a hardcover one, sells for €73.89. Two vinyl records that reprise a selection of the extra content from the cds and a 7" featuring a remastered version of "Moonshadow" and a narration of the same track by Spike Milligan, taken from the 1977 animated video "Teaser And The Firecat", don't justify a price difference of €110.00, and although it's a shame not to be able to place a box set of the same size alongside last year's two Super Deluxe editions, our preference goes to the "slimmed down version".

The box consists of a rigid case thin enough to hold the folder containing four cds and a Blu-ray, each in its own protective sleeve, plus a densely packed 110-page book. The first cd contains the album, originally released on 10 September 1971, freshly remastered under the supervision of original producer Paul Samwell-Smith; the second cd features demos, alternate versions and bonus tracks; the third cd, titled "Live On Air, UK, 1970/1", collects twenty live performances by Cat Stevens and his band, then made up of Alun Davies on guitar, Larry Steele on bass and Gerry Conway on drums, recorded for the two British broadcasters Bbc and Yorkshire Television; the fourth cd offers his performance (again with the band) in Montreux, Switzerland, on 2 May 1971, captured by the Swiss broadcaster RTS.

The Blu-ray, besides containing a high-definition version of the remastered album, includes the definitive collection of all the videos related to "Teaser And The Firecat". We thus get a live rendition of "The Wind – Dubville Sessions 2020", recorded in the summer of 2020, the 1977 animated video of "Moonshadow" and a selection of footage from the four live performances from 1971 that we can hear on the third and fourth cds. The 41 previously unreleased tracks and the 21 never-before-seen videos make this box set an unmissable purchase for every fan of the great English singer-songwriter of Greek-Cypriot and Swedish descent.

The book is packed with in-depth contributions from Yusuf himself, from Paul Samwell-Smith, and from musicians Gerry Conway and Alun Davies about the making of the album and the historical period in which it was created, as well as fascinating testimonies from Carly Simon, Cameron Crowe, Rick Wakeman, Paul Rodgers, Bonnie "Prince" Billy, Dale Crover (!!!) and James Morrison on the impact Cat Stevens' music has had on their lives. It includes the annotated lyrics of every track on the original album, including the demos of "The Day They Make Me Tsar" and "I Want To Live In A Wigwam", and precisely notes which musicians were involved in each recording. It all wraps up with a comprehensive index of contents.

We surely have in our hands the most thorough and definitive version of "Teaser And The Firecat" ever produced, and listeners will get to appreciate the strength, beauty and freshness of this work by immersing themselves in the three and a half hours of music and eighty minutes of video packed into the box set.

Unlike the Super Deluxe editions of "Mona Bone Jakon" and "Tea For The Tillerman", the "Teaser And The Firecat" edition doesn't include new mixes of the album – the book explains this wasn't possible because the multitrack masters were never found. As far as this writer is concerned, it's a sign from above. Inshallah.

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02/05/2026