JohnnyB Posted May 16, 2009 Posted May 16, 2009 Yusuf Islam, the artist formerly known as Cat Stevens, was the musical guest on Leno Wed. night. He sang the title song from his new album, Roadsongs. Man, I didn't realize how much I'd missed him as an artist all these years. There it was again--the voice, the energy, the engaging tunes, the reflective lyrics, and the delivery that puts him with the best of the lyrical storytellers, now tempered with age, experience, and introspection. It may have been a long, labyrinthine trip for him, but I'm glad he's back.
chap Posted May 16, 2009 Posted May 16, 2009 Of all places, the first time I heard a Cat Stevens song was while watching a Megadeth documentary.(Psyching myself up for the Megadeth concert)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FnwZ_7fAyDg 5:47Apparently Dave Mustaine is a fan too. They played Father and Son in the documentary, I was an instant fan. Cat Stevens reminds me of other songwriters like Robbie Robertson (The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down), Leonard Cohen (Hallujah). I became an instant fan.
atquinn Posted May 16, 2009 Posted May 16, 2009 I don't own any of his albums, but I like all of the songs of his I've heard. Definitely a guy with an interesting story.-Austin
crunchee Posted May 16, 2009 Posted May 16, 2009 Saw him on Leno, also on Colbert yesterday, he seems to be in fine form! Maybe I'm getting old, but I've noticed that I've become more appreciative of this kind of music, and much less so of the whiny emo music that seems to dominate now.P.S. He's on Jimmy Fallon tonight, too.
JohnnyB Posted May 16, 2009 Author Posted May 16, 2009 Saw him on Leno, also on Colbert yesterday, he seems to be in fine form! Maybe I'm getting old, but I've noticed that I've become more appreciative of this kind of music, and much less so of the whiny emo music that seems to dominate now.P.S. He's on Jimmy Fallon tonight, too.Thanks for the tip! I'll DVR it for my wife. Watching him perform on Leno was like meeting up with a long lost friend.
Pieman Posted May 16, 2009 Posted May 16, 2009 What do you mean by "he's back ... after a long trip"Has he returned to his pre-Moslem conversion style/roots/attitude/phiolophy?I heard him on Radio Tirol (Austria) a few days ago ('70s stuff) and I recalled how much I liked him.
JohnnyB Posted May 16, 2009 Author Posted May 16, 2009 What do you mean by "he's back ... after a long trip"Has he returned to his pre-Moslem conversion style/roots/attitude/philosophy?No, he's still Muslim. He's still Yusuf Islam. What's changed is that he has loosened up considerably and is once again accessible for performance of his old music and new--even secular--music as Yusuf, the artist formerly known as Cat Stevens. For a long time he bought into the fundamentalist premise that only voice and drum were acceptable instruments, but he has since come to realize that the 8th century Muslims brought the guitar to Spain, meaning that early Muslims had no problem with instrumental music, that the Koran has nothing in it to ban instruments, and that Mohammad himself encouraged celebration and rejoicing in music.So now he's OK with it. It was a nearly 30-year process, so I call that a long trip.
DavidE Posted May 16, 2009 Posted May 16, 2009 I watched his performance on Leno via www.hulu.comHe sounds incredible.
cordroad Posted May 17, 2009 Posted May 17, 2009 Hey JEB, I just found my vinyl version of Teaser and the Firecat from lo these many years ago. Gonna fire it up on my JohnnyB designed system and time travel.Yup.
JohnnyB Posted May 17, 2009 Author Posted May 17, 2009 Hey JEB, I just found my vinyl version of Teaser and the Firecat from lo these many years ago. Gonna fire it up on my JohnnyB designed system and time travel.Yup.You're in for a good time. I played my near mint fitty-cent thrift shop copy of Catch Bull at Four yesterday. Sounded wonderful. Cat's another one that greatly benefits from vinyl playback.Teaser and the Firecat and Tea for the Tillerman are on my music shopping short list. Also, I hope they bring out Roadsongs on LP.
Guest pirateflynn Posted May 17, 2009 Posted May 17, 2009 Mona Bone Jakon, Tea for the Tillerman and the whole soundtrack to Harold and Maude is enough for me to call him a genius! One of my favorites.
ac15 Posted May 17, 2009 Posted May 17, 2009 The guy really writes tunes that reflect how poignant life can be. I appreciate that quality in him now, more than ever, even though there was a time when I couldn't stand him because of his supposed support for the death threat against Salman Rushdie. I believe him though when he says that that wasn't his position and that he was misunderstood or taken out of context. I think he probably wouldn't wish harm on anyone.
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