Patience is a virtue, or so we are told. Well in this particular case it is true. I have waited more than 25 years to relive Cat Stevens playing his Tea For The Tillerman album. Released in 1971 we find Cat Stevens at the very apex of creativity. This DVD records a concert given in Los Angeles in 1971 in support of his album.
The first thing I noticed was the great sound quality, clearly a great deal of effort has been taken to create the best possible quality. Tea For The Tillerman reached a Triple Platinum status (3 million copies sold), and was one of the reasons for the sudden upsurge in electric folk music that occurred in the early 70’s.
Cat Stevens seemed destined to rule the music world, but in 1977 he surprised and maybe ostracized a large segment of his fan base when he announced his name change to Yusuf Islam, his conversion to Islam and his renouncement of music. To this day I, and I am sure I speak for many fans, do not understand his reasons.
I really enjoyed this DVD, don’t be put off by the fact that the show is over 27 years old. Great musicians are like great wine, they get better with time.
Moon Shadow may well be Cat Stevens calling card, it is one of the prettiest songs I think I have ever heard. Although it was not part of Tea For The Tillerman, it actually comes from Teaser And The Fire Cat, the original animated short film is included on the DVD.
I can give you many reasons to buy this DVD, but I will stick to just two, Moon Shadow, and Longer Boats. These two songs encapsulate Cat Stevens, and should be on everyone’s iPod!
My wife will attest to the fact that I did have a “huh†moment however. It was when it came to an end. I looked at her and said “thats it? I have to watch this againâ€. “Go for it honey†was her reply. So I did!
If you want to get this DVD (and I think you should) you can order online from MVD.
Simon Barrett
http://zzsimonb.blogspot.com
1 user commented in " DVD Review: Tea For The Tillerman Live by Cat Stevens "
Follow-up comment rss or Leave a TrackbackThere are many reasons why a person leaves the music industry.
As he tells it in a number of interviews, most notably the VH1 Behind the Music (on my myspace site or Youtube or the interviews on his other two DVD’s) he had a couple of frightening brushes with death.
He went swimming off the coast of Malibu and the rip current swept him out to sea and suddenly he did not have the strength to swim back.
At that moment he was aware that nothing and no one could save him. Not his fans, not his money, not his manager. He was about to drown.
He cried out to God, if You save me, I will work for You. Suddenly, as he tells it,a wave pushed him from behind and before he knew it he was back on shore.
But he was different. He had made a promise. Not long after that he was given a copy of the Koran as a birthday gift by his brother.
He began to reform his life, stopped drinking, etc and realized that he wanted a family, children, a normal life, and that the rock and roll lifestyle was not conducive (we’re talking the seventies here) to leading a “Godly” life.
He had been searching different spiritual paths – you can pretty much hear it in his music – since his first near death experience with Tuberculosis when he was 18. He had achieved fame, partied a lot, and wound up confined to bed with a collapsed lung and on IV antibiotics and bed rest in a TB hospital watching people die all around him.
He has been very happily married to his wife for 30 years and has five beautiful children and a grand-daughter.
He established several schools for Muslim children in England.
He has also despite the tabloids been the recipient of numerous humanitarian and peace awards for his philanthropic work.
His legacy is much more than just “pop star” now.
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