Cat Stevens: Classic Or Dud?

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I can't find any threads about this guy. Anyway, I've been listening to his hits courtesy of my college network, and the songwriting (at the very least) is damn fine. So many good tunes. What do y'all think?

Tim Stewart, Sunday, 4 August 2002 00:00 (twenty-two years ago)

Dud. Just because Boyzone covered Father & Son and then the Flips stole half the melody for Fight Test, thus ruining my enjoyment of Yoshimi, because all I can hear for the first track is Ronan The Date- Rape Nazi pining for his daddy and it puts me in a mood for the next 45 minutes.

Nick Southall, Sunday, 4 August 2002 00:00 (twenty-two years ago)

CLASSIC,60's Cat Stevens total genius[Matthew & Son,I love my dog,It's a Supa Dupa Life,Lovely City,I'm gonna get me a gun etc] DUD,70's Cat[Father & Son,Morning has Broken]

Paul R, Sunday, 4 August 2002 00:00 (twenty-two years ago)

Dud, despite Wes Anderson.

J Blount, Sunday, 4 August 2002 00:00 (twenty-two years ago)

Oh, and despite Hal Ashby also.

J Blount, Sunday, 4 August 2002 00:00 (twenty-two years ago)

Classic, despite being a fundamentalist muslim who supported the fatwa on Salman Rushdie.

Alex in NYC, Monday, 5 August 2002 00:00 (twenty-two years ago)

another awful hippie with overwraught lyrics. he was a religous prick long before he came out of the closet.

Andrew, Monday, 5 August 2002 00:00 (twenty-two years ago)

Oh, what's a fatwa here and there. (See Gallagher vs. Albarn, Wire vs. Stipe, various MCs)

dave q, Monday, 5 August 2002 00:00 (twenty-two years ago)

Classic melodies, obviously, or he wouldn't have been ripped off by the likes of the Pet Shop Boys, Echo & the Bunnymen and the Flaming Lips. I agree with Alex. The biggest hits were the biggest duds, though ("Moonshadow", "Morning Has Broken", "Peace Train", that awful cover of "Another Saturday Night"--YUCK) and I've HATED nearly all the covers, outside of P.P. Arnold and the Tremeloes. (10,000 Maniacs "Peace Train"-good lord.)

Arthur, Monday, 5 August 2002 00:00 (twenty-two years ago)

And then they yanked it post-fatwa!

J Blount, Monday, 5 August 2002 00:00 (twenty-two years ago)

10,000 Maniacs are poosies! Jingle Jangle Folk Rock poosies!

Arthur, Monday, 5 August 2002 00:00 (twenty-two years ago)

three years pass...
Matthew & Son is a classic. I was shocked to see people hating on it on rateyermusic. maybe it is a little overproducd, but fuckin great nonetheless. love the cello sounds he got on that album.

the eunuchs, Cassim and Mustafa, who guarded Abdur Ali's harem (orion), Sunday, 25 June 2006 00:25 (eighteen years ago)

"Portobello Road" = CLASSIC

neil tacus (tacit), Sunday, 25 June 2006 00:34 (eighteen years ago)

Classic, penis eater.

:):):):):):):):):):):) Smiling Friend (:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(: (Uri Frendimein), Sunday, 25 June 2006 00:35 (eighteen years ago)

The dud is hardly a "fundamentalist." He wrote fucking "Peace Train"!

max (maxreax), Sunday, 25 June 2006 00:48 (eighteen years ago)

Good acoustic guitar work though. Everybody wrote a Peace train in those days.

jim wentworth (wench), Sunday, 25 June 2006 02:46 (eighteen years ago)

CLASSIC for one song alone. "Was a Dog A Donut"

lookit, i'm about to put it on!
http://web.mac.com/jonesfish/iWeb/Receiver/June17_files/IMG_5906.jpg

jäxøñ (jaxon), Sunday, 25 June 2006 03:19 (eighteen years ago)

all I can hear for the first track is Ronan The Date- Rape Nazi pining for his daddy and it puts me in a mood for the next 45 minutes.

I'm really glad I don't know what the hell this means.

Which Pet Shop Boys song? I haven't made/can't make the connection. (And the F. Lips wasn't that egregious a theft, jeez!)

(I say "Classic" because "Where Do the Children Play" and "If You Want to Be Free, Be Free" and "Sitting" mean a lot to me personally [and melodically!], mildly countered by the fact that the "Another Saturday Night" cover is one of my least favorite singles ever; dodging all the religion stuff for now.)

Joseph McCombs (Joseph McCombs), Sunday, 25 June 2006 06:10 (eighteen years ago)

That Pete Yorn song "Crystal Village" sounds a lot like it, too.

Marmot 4-Tay: forth-coming, my child. forth-coming most righteous champion (mar, Sunday, 25 June 2006 06:21 (eighteen years ago)

(Father & Son, that is.)

Marmot 4-Tay: forth-coming, my child. forth-coming most righteous champion (mar, Sunday, 25 June 2006 06:22 (eighteen years ago)

yair i like portobello road

electric sound of jim (and why not) (electricsound), Sunday, 25 June 2006 06:41 (eighteen years ago)

nine months pass...
Panda Bear recently gave him a big endorsement so I gave a listen to Teaser, Tillerman, and Buddha. As much as I love Mr. Bear, I have to say the Cat Stevens just seemed weak. Like a cup of tea, dilute. He could come up with tunes, definitely, but nothing made me feel any bite, any pain. Not quite insipid, just meh.

Rich Smörgasbord, Wednesday, 18 April 2007 02:17 (eighteen years ago)

Cat Stevens' political/religious views (and the general lack of controversy thereof) makes you wonder what all the fuss Bryan Ferry is about.

novaheat, Wednesday, 18 April 2007 02:30 (eighteen years ago)

one year passes...

"Boy With A Moon & Star On His Head" = one of the subtler realizations of the singer-songwriter urge of the 70s

J0hn D., Monday, 23 June 2008 01:38 (sixteen years ago)

"Tea for the Tillerman" and "Here Comes My Baby" = CLASSIC

Tape Store, Monday, 23 June 2008 01:50 (sixteen years ago)

Ray >>>>> Cat

velko, Monday, 23 June 2008 01:56 (sixteen years ago)

Huge classic. He's got a few kooky moments, especially toward the end of his output, but overall he is total classic. I love the purity of his songs - the quest so many of his songs are about. I guess some might hear cheesiness but I think it's nearly all really beautiful.

pgwp, Monday, 23 June 2008 16:55 (sixteen years ago)

"The Streak" is surely dud. What's the point about a comedy song that isn't funny?

Geir Hongro, Monday, 23 June 2008 21:51 (sixteen years ago)

Hmmm.. I must have read the title as Ray Stevens.

Cat Stevens released one great and one almost great album in the early 70s. Don't know the rest of his output too well.

Geir Hongro, Monday, 23 June 2008 21:52 (sixteen years ago)

this guy was a singles artist and total pop to the bone until his conversion. albums are pretty patchy.

Shakey Mo Collier, Monday, 23 June 2008 21:57 (sixteen years ago)

agree, but boy, whoever was designing those album sleeves didn't get the memo, because those are some of the most Here Is A Proper Album sleeve presetnations of their day

J0hn D., Monday, 23 June 2008 22:12 (sixteen years ago)

seven months pass...

Woke up this morning with "Mona Bone Jakon" in my head & thought of starting this thread. Then heard some other song on the radio this afternoon and was, "Well, this is Cat Stevens C/D day, isn't it?"

TFD.

staggerlee, Thursday, 29 January 2009 01:51 (sixteen years ago)

KLASSIC. best song --> "gonna get myself a gun"

Pantheism F. Mohair (res), Thursday, 29 January 2009 02:34 (sixteen years ago)

Great singer, I think.

thirdalternative, Thursday, 29 January 2009 16:59 (sixteen years ago)

nine months pass...

he seems to exist independent of any particular scene (for ex. I don't recognize a single musician in any of his bands or anybody who worked on his records) and he doesn't quite fit any particular tag too well (he does stuff that's obviously too rock for folk, and is sorta too hippie-dippy to fit in with slicker singer-songwriters). He kinda fits in with Jim Croce I guess, except Croce is American and had quite a different approach, much more humorous... still can't make it through an entire album tho.

hoth as fuck (Shakey Mo Collier), Thursday, 12 November 2009 23:47 (fifteen years ago)

Hard for me to imagine someone hating this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AwdJUcMHRSs

Mark, Friday, 13 November 2009 01:18 (fifteen years ago)

five months pass...

love this guy so much. Teaser + the Firecat is all time classic.

Mordy, Wednesday, 5 May 2010 17:32 (fifteen years ago)

It varies. Early pop stuff: so-so
Teaser thru Buddah & the Chocolate Box: classic
Foreigner: OK-ish
The stuff after that: Dud
Izitso is among the most heinous Dudclumps I can think of.

ImprovSpirit, Wednesday, 5 May 2010 17:47 (fifteen years ago)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-WuDK8nU7g

Brio, Wednesday, 5 May 2010 19:00 (fifteen years ago)

wow that's a pretty shitty MoTown ripoff

the sound of a norwegian guy being wrong (Shakey Mo Collier), Wednesday, 5 May 2010 23:08 (fifteen years ago)

ha - that's pretty inarguable, but it has a certain craptacular charm I think. the Cat version on Matthew and Son is a bit more polished. "When I Speak To The Flowers" is the real gem off that.

Brio, Thursday, 6 May 2010 13:49 (fifteen years ago)

one month passes...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1TWd3skb-Rw&a=i28oI7Dj_Sk&playnext_from=ML

really feeling the keyboard player here

NUDE. MAYNE. (s1ocki), Monday, 7 June 2010 19:51 (fifteen years ago)

Surprised at the amount of duds here. I just assumed everyone was okay with Cat Stevens. I second the 'he seems to exist independent of any particular scene'. Is that the block? That parents generally like Cat Stevens and he doesn't really have a narrative? But hating the songs? Not sure I get that.

He gets a classic from me, because while I might not actively listen to the guy, I can recall at least half a dozen of his melodies. And if I were drunk, and someone put on a Cat Stevens record, I'd happily sing along.

Popture, Tuesday, 8 June 2010 00:37 (fourteen years ago)

i'd say neither c nor d. i'm "okay with him", but am real fine w/out

If you can believe your eyes and ears (outdoor_miner), Tuesday, 8 June 2010 01:42 (fourteen years ago)

two years pass...

classic. he makes me sad and nostalgic in a way that I don't think any other singer consistently does.

Poliopolice, Monday, 21 January 2013 00:32 (twelve years ago)

just turn up the cat stevens and long for the days before bill gates put so many good polio policemen out of work

Rihanna Tootysalsafroyo (Sufjan Grafton), Monday, 21 January 2013 01:05 (twelve years ago)

two weeks pass...

The first cut is the deepest is a great song, could've been a motown single.

Moka, Saturday, 9 February 2013 20:49 (twelve years ago)

one year passes...

A letter from him was published in the Toronto Star the other day. Didn't read the piece that prompted it.

http://www.thestar.com/opinion/letters_to_the_editors/2014/12/01/cats_message_is_still_peace.html

clemenza, Wednesday, 3 December 2014 00:44 (ten years ago)

one month passes...

'Matthew & Son' is one of the most unheralded influences on British new wave, I think. The piano lick/chorus (lyrics aside) is something that Gary Numan could have come up with in the late '70s/early '80s. The middle-eight recalls the pre-chorus in Tears For Fears' 'Mad World'!

You’re being too simplistic and you’re insulting my poor heart (Turrican), Thursday, 8 January 2015 04:12 (ten years ago)

six years pass...

BABY I KNOW

brimstead, Thursday, 9 September 2021 22:43 (three years ago)

“Sitting” is such an odd song, it almost reaches the intensity of those John Cale songs where he loses his shit a couple minutes in. And yet he ends a bunch of lines with this vague, half-hearted “or so”/“or something.” Weird songwriting choice!

JoeStork, Thursday, 9 September 2021 23:11 (three years ago)

one year passes...

sometimes my Mom goes to the record shop with me and she always picks stuff out of the dollar bin for me to check out, it's usually garbage I really don't like such as Joe Cocker and James Taylor but she also grabbed Tea for the Tillerman and holy cow this album is amazing. she's still got a hit rate of about 5% but still kudos for this one

frogbs, Tuesday, 11 April 2023 02:19 (two years ago)

my favorite album of his

werewolves of laudanum (VegemiteGrrl), Tuesday, 11 April 2023 02:58 (two years ago)

Believe it features prominently in a certain scene in La maman et la putain.

Beatles in My Passway (James Redd and the Blecchs), Tuesday, 11 April 2023 03:32 (two years ago)

I like it too and along with Teaser and the Firecat probably his most engaging albums, but it took a while for me to get into them.

I had a music teacher in elementary school who taught "Wild World" to us - I didn't know Cat Stevens at all, but IIRC she interpreted the song as something he wrote for his daughter. I kind of forgot about the song after that or at least didn't play it for myself until years later when I discovered it had been widely interpreted as sexist. Unfortunately it was something I could hear myself upon revisiting it, even though I thought the musical elements were undeniable, and after an extensive search I couldn't find anything to suggest that it was intended the way my old teacher interpreted it. I eventually tried the album, and I had similar experience with "Sad Lisa" - musically undeniable, but the more I processed the lyrics, the more they stuck out as a major flaw. I didn't really play any of his music for a while, but between Wes Anderson's films and the warm and charming interviews he gave when he did a rare tour not too long ago, I decided to give his music another chance. I guess now I just focus on what I like about those albums and what I don't like come off as too-common flaws you'd find with anyone who's very young with a ways to go in becoming a wiser and more sensible person in their romantic life.

Beyond those two albums, Mona Bone Jakon is pretty good (I think most of the Harold and Maude songs came from that one) and there are some great compilations covering the highlights of his earlier years - I may prefer those songs to the later ones that made him a household name in the U.S.

birdistheword, Tuesday, 11 April 2023 03:41 (two years ago)

rick wakeman tells a good story about "morning has broken," about how he got called into the session where they had a great tune that was only a minute and a half long and he had to come up with something on the spot to fill it out to single-length.

Thus Sang Freud, Tuesday, 11 April 2023 10:12 (two years ago)

maybe she picked out the wrong joe cocker album?

Thus Sang Freud, Tuesday, 11 April 2023 10:13 (two years ago)

There's a right Joe Cocker album?

hellboy falling through the bar (Matt #2), Tuesday, 11 April 2023 10:16 (two years ago)

either of the self-titled's, mad dogs, greatest hits...but that's a topic for a different thread.

Thus Sang Freud, Tuesday, 11 April 2023 10:23 (two years ago)

oh, and his first one, "with a little help..", duh.

Thus Sang Freud, Tuesday, 11 April 2023 10:25 (two years ago)

Yes

Beatles in My Passway (James Redd and the Blecchs), Tuesday, 11 April 2023 11:32 (two years ago)


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