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Cat Stevens: Tea for the Tillerman

 A l b u m   D e t a i l s


Label: Island Records
Released: 1970.11.01
Time:
 36:40
Category: Pop/Rock
Producer(s): Paul Samwell-Smith
Rating: ********** (10/10)
Media type: CD
Web address: www.catstevens.com and www.yusufislam.com
Appears with:
Purchase date: 2002.01.26
Price in €: 6,99



 S o n g s ,   T r a c k s


[1] Where Do the Children Play? (C.Stevens) - 3:52
[2] Hard Headed Woman (C.Stevens) - 3:47
[3] Wild World (C.Stevens) - 3:20
[4] Sad Lisa (C.Stevens) - 3:45
[5] Miles from Nowhere (C.Stevens) - 3:37
[6] But I Might Die Tonight (C.Stevens) - 1:53
[7] Longer Boats (C.Stevens) - 3:12
[8] Into White (C.Stevens) - 3:24
[9] On the Road to Find Out (C.Stevens) - 5:08
[10] Father and Son (C.Stevens) - 3:41
[11] Tea for the Tillerman (C.Stevens) - 1:01

 A r t i s t s ,   P e r s o n n e l


CAT STEVENS - Guitar, Keyboards, Vocals, Illustrations

ALUN DAVIES - Guitar
HARVEY BURNS - Drums
JOHN RYAN - Bass
JOHN ROSTEIN - Violin

TED JENSEN - Mastering
BILL LEVENSON - Reissue Supervisor
DEL NEWMAN - Arranger, String Arrangements
JUNIE OSAKI - Reissue Design
BETH STEMPEL - Reissue Coordinator

 C o m m e n t s ,   N o t e s


1970 LP A&M 4280
1984 LP Mobile Fidelity MFQR-035
1984 CD Mobile Fidelity UDCD-519
1990 CD Mobile Fidelity 519
1990 LP A&M 4280
1990 CS A&M 75021-4280-4
2000 CD A&M 546884
2000 CD A&M 490673



Mona Bone Jakon only began Cat Stevens' comeback. Seven months later, he returned with Tea for the Tillerman, an album in the same chamber-group style, employing the same musicians and producer, but with a far more confident tone. Mona Bone Jakon had been full of references to death, but Tea for the Tillerman was not about dying; it was about living in the modern world while rejecting it in favor of spiritual fulfillment. It began with a statement of purpose, "Where Do the Children Play?," in which Stevens questioned the value of technology and progress. "Wild World" found the singer being dumped by a girl, but making the novel suggestion that she should stay with him because she was incapable of handling things without him. "Sad Lisa" might have been about the same girl after she tried and failed to make her way; now, she seemed depressed to the point of psychosis. The rest of the album veered between two themes: the conflict between the young and the old, and religion as an answer to life's questions. Tea for the Tillerman was the story of a young man's search for spiritual meaning in a soulless class society he found abhorrent. He hadn't yet reached his destination, but he was confident he was going in the right direction, traveling at his own, unhurried pace. The album's rejection of contemporary life and its yearning for something more struck a chord with listeners in an era in which traditional verities had been shaken. It didn't hurt, of course, that Stevens had lost none of his ability to craft a catchy pop melody; the album may have been full of angst, but it wasn't hard to sing along to. As a result, Tea for the Tillerman became a big seller and, for the second time in four years, its creator became a pop star.

William Ruhlmann - All Music Guide
© 1992 - 2001 AEC One Stop Group, Inc.



Cat Stevens tends to be lumped in with the early-'70s singer-songwriter school led by James Taylor and Carole King, but he actually fits in rather neatly with such wistful English contemporaries as Nick Drake, Syd Barrett, and Donovan. Tea for the Tillerman's "Wild World," "Into White," and "Longer Boats" indicate that he may have been a more gifted tunesmith than the lot of them. As with the best of the Brit folk-rockers, Stevens mixed melancholy with whimsy. Yes, he was prone to airy platitudes, but when he harnessed his eccentricities, as he did throughout this 1970 masterwork, you had something truly distinctive. A natural cult artist, à la Tim Buckley and Leonard Cohen, Stevens connected with record-buyers to the tune of 25 million units sold before he changed his name to Yusuf Islam, established an Islamic school, and raised a ruckus by supporting Ayatollah Khomeini's death decree against author Salman Rushdie. This remastered 2000 version of the 1970 recording, which was overseen by the artist, is a vast improvement over the earlier CD reissue.

Steve Stolder - Amazon.com essential recording



Is it on the roads of Provence or the tube to Portobello Road that I visualize Cat? He is both the next in a long line of troubadours and very much the London neighborhood musician, encompassing at once the allure of the exotic and the ability to domesticate it. He wanders, but he returns home.

"Miles From Nowhere," "Wild World," "On the Road to Find Out," "Father and Son" are songs of leaving—travel through time and space. Every song is an excursion into Cat's personal world; together they constitute an album affirming the simple life and the individual's search for values. All of this is a far cry, although only a causal link away, from Cat Stevens, "pop star" (listen to the song of the same title on his lovely Mona Bone Jakon), subsequently a refugee from the glittering life, and later still, the TB ward.

Cat's melodies and lyrics are disarmingly, deceptively simple. He seems to fasten without effort onto tunes with a life of their own, tunes of small beginnings and wide resonances. He applies to them a furry voice with a kind of glottal buzz—perfect for the calypso "Longer Boats," while adding the right touch of seasoning to an ageless folk song like "Into White": "I built my house from barley rice/Green pepper walls, and water ice/tables of paper wood, windows of light/And everything emptying into White." It really must be heard.

There is an equally childlike and nursery-rhymish "On the Road to Find Out," which moves imperceptibly from fable to parable. Mixing theme and melody, I'd describe it as Dick Whittington meeting three blind mice, setting out to find London, and instead finding God. "Father and Son" is a dialogue between just that. Father, in a plea for the boy to stay, manages to reduce a complex thought to a trickle of words, "For you will still be here tomorrow but your dreams may not." To the boy, "From the moment I could talk I was ordered to listen." Cat skillfully betrays a vested interest in neither role.

Sometimes Cat places an overreliance on dynamics for dramatic effect; also, his keyboard and guitar playing seem a bit amateurish, although that in itself has a certain charm—he's just a folk singer, you know. If you've been listening to Donovan, Joni Mitchell, et al., though not necessarily these people, there's no reason you shouldn't be listening to Cat Stevens.

BEN GERSON - RS 76
© Copyright 2001 RollingStone.com
 

 L y r i c s


WHERE DO THE CHILDREN PLAY?

Well I think it's fine, building jumbo planes.
Or taking a ride on a cosmic train.
Switch on summer from a slot machine.
yes, get what you want to if you want, 'cause you can get anything.
 
I know we've come a long way,
we're changing day to day,
but tell me, where do the children play ?
 
Well you roll on roads over fresh green grass.
For your lorry loads pumping petrol gas.
And you make them long, and you make them tough.
But they just go on and on, and it seems that you can't get off.
 
Oh, I know we've come a long way,
We're changing day to day,
but tell me, where do the children play ?
 
Well you've cracked the sky, scrapers fill the air.
But, will you keep on building higher
'til there's no more room up there ?
Will you make us laugh, will you make us cry ?
Will you tell us when to live, will you tell us when to die ?
 
I know we've come a long way,
we're changing day to day,
but tell me, where do the children play ?


HARD HEADED WOMAN

I'm looking for a hard headed woman,
One who will take me for myself,
And if I find my hard headed woman,
I will need nobody else, no, no,no.
 
I'm looking for a hard headed woman,
One who will make me do my best,
And if I find my hard headed woman
I know the rest of my life will be blessed -- yes, yes, yes.
 
I know a lot of fancy dancers,
people who can glide you on a floor,
They move so smooth but have no answers.
When you ask them "What d'you come here for?"
"I don't know" "Why?"
 
I know many fine feathered friends
but their friendliness depends on how you do.
They know many sure fired ways
to find out the one who pays
and how you do.
 
I'm looking for a hard headed woman,
One who will make me feel so good,
And if I find my hard headed woman,
I know my life will be as it should -- yes, yes, yes.
 
I'm looking for a hard headed woman,
One who will make me do my best,
And if I find my hard headed woman...


WILD WORLD

Now that I've lost everything to you
You say you wanna start something new
And it's breakin' my heart you're leavin'
Baby, I'm grievin'
But if you wanna leave, take good care
I hope you have a lot of nice things to wear
But then a lot of nice things turn bad out there
 
Oh, baby, baby, it's a wild world
It's hard to get by just upon a smile
Oh, baby, baby, it's a wild world
I'll always remember you like a child, girl
 
You know I've seen a lot of what the world can do
And it's breakin' my heart in two
Because I never wanna see you a sad girl
Don't be a bad girl
But if you wanna leave, take good care
I hope you make a lot of nice friends out there
But just remember there's a lot of bad and beware
 
Oh, baby, baby, it's a wild world
It's hard to get by just upon a smile
Oh, baby, baby, it's a wild world
I'll always remember you like a child, girl
 
Baby, I love you
But if you wanna leave, take good care
I hope you make a lot of nice friends out there
But just remember there's a lot of bad and beware
 
Oh, baby, baby, it's a wild world
It's hard to get by just upon a smile
Oh, baby, baby, it's a wild world
I'll always remember you like a child, girl


SAD LISA

She hangs her head and cries in my shirt.
She must be hurt very badly.
Tell me what's making you sadly?
Open your door, don't hide in the dark.
You're lost in the dark, you can trust me.
'Cause you know that's how it must be.
 
Lisa Lisa, sad Lisa Lisa.
 
Her eyes like windows, tricklin' rain
Upon her pain getting deeper.
Though my love wants to relieve her.
She walks alone from wall to wall.
Lost in a hall, she can't hear me.
Though I know she likes to be near me.
 
Lisa Lisa, sad Lisa Lisa.
 
She sits in a corner by the door.
There must be more I can tell her.
If she really wants me to help her.
I'll do what I can to show her the way.
And maybe one day I will free her.
Though I know no one can see her.
 
Lisa Lisa, sad Lisa Lisa.


MILES FROM NOWHERE

Miles from nowhere
I guess I'll take my time
Oh yeah, to reach there
 
Look up at the mountain
I have to climb
Oh yeah, to reach there.
 
Lord my body has been a good friend
But I won't need it when I reach the end
 
Miles from nowhere
Guess I'll take my time
Oh yeah, to reach there
 
I creep through the valleys
And I grope through the woods
'cause I know when I find it my honey
It's gonna make me feel good
 
I love everything
So don't it make you feel sad
'cause I'll drink to you, my baby
I'll think to that, I'll think to that.
 
Miles from nowhere
Not a soul in sight
Oh yeah, but it's alright
 
I have my freedom
I can make my own rules
Oh yeah, the ones that I choose
 
Lord my body has been a good friend
But I won't need it when I reach the end
 
Miles from nowhere
Guess I'll take my time
Oh yeah, to reach there.


BUT I MIGHT DIE TONIGHT

I don't want to work away
Doing just what they all say
"Work hard boy and you'll find
One day you'll have a job like mine"

'Cause I know for sure
Nobody should be that poor
To say yes or sink low
Because you happen to say so, say so, you say so

I don't want to work away
Doing just what they all say
"Work hard boy and you'll find
One day you'll have a job like mine, job like mine, a job like mine"

"Be wise, look ahead
Use your eyes" he said
"Be straight, think right
But I might die tonight!"


LONGER BOATS

Longer boats are coming to win us
They're coming to win us, they're coming to win us
Longer boats are coming to win us
Hold on to the shore, they'll be taking the key from the door.
 
I don't want no god on my lawn
Just a flower I can help along
'Cause the soul of no body knows
how a flower grows... Oh how a flower grows.
 
Longer boats are coming to win us
They're coming to win us, they're coming to win us
Longer boats are coming to win us
Hold on to the shore, they'll be taking the key from the door
 
Mary dropped her pants by the sand
And let a parson come and take her hand
But the soul of no body knows
Where the parson goes, where does the parson go ?
 
Longer boats are coming to win us
They're coming to win us, they're coming to win us
Longer boats are coming to win us
Hold on to the shore, they'll be taking the key from the door


INTO WHITE

I built my house from barley rice
Green pepper walls and water ice
Tables of paper wood, windows of light
And everything emptying into White.
 
A simple garden, with acres of sky
A brown-haired dogmouse
If one dropped by
Yellow Delanie would sleep well at night
With everything emptying into White.
 
A sad blue eyed drummer rehearses outside
A black spider dancing on top of his eye
Red legged chicken stands ready to strike
And everything emptying into White.
 
I built my house from barley rice
Green pepper walls and water ice...
And everything emptying into White


ON THE ROAD TO FIND OUT

Well I left my happy home to see what I could find out
I left my folk and friends with the aim to clear my mind out
Well I hit the rowdy road and many kinds I met there
Many stories told me of the way to get there
 
So on and on I go, the seconds tick the time out
There's so much left to know, and I'm on the road to find out
 
Well in the end I'll know, but on the way I wonder
Through descending snow, and through the frost and thunder
 
I listen to the wind come howl, telling me I have to hurry
I listen to the robin's song saying not to worry
 
So on and on I go, the seconds tick the time out
There's so much left to know, and I'm on the road to findout
 
Then I found myself alone, hopin' someone would miss me
Thinking about my home, and the last woman to kiss me, kiss me
 
But sometimes you have to moan when nothing seems to suit yer
But nevertheless you know you're locked towards the future
 
So on and on you go, the seconds tick the time out
There's so much left to know, and I'm on the road to findout
 
Then I found my head one day when I wasn't even trying
And here I have to say, 'cause there is no use in lying, lying
 
Yes the answer lies within, so why not take a look now?
Kick out the devil's sin, pick up, pick up a good book now


FATHER AND SON

Father
It's not time to make a change,
Just relax, take it easy.
You're still young, that's your fault,
There's so much you have to know.
Find a girl, settle down,
If you want you can marry.
Look at me, I am old, but I'm happy.
 
I was once like you are now, and I know that it's not easy,
To be calm when you've found something going on.
But take your time, think a lot,
Why, think of everything you've got.
For you will still be here tomorrow, but your dreams may not.
 
Son
How can I try to explain, when I do he turns away again.
It's always been the same, same old story.
From the moment I could talk I was ordered to listen.
Now there's a way and I know that I have to go away.
I know I have to go.
 
Father
It's not time to make a change,
Just sit down, take it slowly.
You're still young, that's your fault,
There's so much you have to go through.
Find a girl, settle down,
if you want you can marry.
Look at me, I am old, but I'm happy.
(Son-- Away Away Away, I know I have to
Make this decision alone - no)

Son
All the times that I cried, keeping all the things I knew inside,
It's hard, but it's harder to ignore it.
If they were right, I'd agree, but it's them you know not me.
Now there's a way and I know that I have to go away.
I know I have to go.
(Father-- Stay Stay Stay, Why must you go and
make this decision alone ?)


TEA FOR THE TILLERMAN

Bring tea for the Tillerman
Steak for the sun
Wine for the women who made the rain come
Seagulls sing your hearts away
'Cause while the sinners sin, the children play
 
Oh Lord how they play and play
For that happy day, for that happy day

 M P 3   S a m p l e s


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