Track Listing

1. Where Do The Children Play?
2. Hard Headed Woman
3. Wild World
4. Sad Lisa
5. Miles From Nowhere
6. But I Might Die Tonight
7. Longer Boats
8. Into White - Cat Stevens, Del Newman, Paul Samwell-Smith
9. On The Road To Find Out
10. Father And Son
11. Tea For The Tillerman

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1032 in Music
• Released on: 2000-05-29
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: Original recording reissued, Original recording remastered
• Dimensions: .22 pounds
• Running time: 36 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
Cat Stevens tends to be lumped in with the early-1970s singer/songwriter school led by James Taylor and Carole King but he actually fits in rather neatly with such wistful 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's masterwork, you had something truly distinctive. Stevens' greatest drawback was that he was a natural cult artist, à la Tim Buckley and Leonard Cohen. But that's a tough role to play when you're selling 25 million records, as Stevens did before he changed his name to Yusef Islam, established an Islamic school, and raised a ruckus by supporting Ayatollah Khomeini's death decree against author Salman Rushdie. --Steven Stolder

CD Description
TEA FOR THE TILLERMAN is one of Cat Stevens's finest albums, and a gem in the crown of early 1970s singer/songwriterdom. Stevens manages to have his cake and eat it too, simultaneously achieving pop accessibility and artistic relevance. While inviting rhythms (buoyed by Stevens's dynamic acoustic strumming) and pop hooks abound, the feel is decidedly gentleand spare. Apart from the occasional string section, Stevens is accompanied only by a three-piece band as he sings his introspective lyrics with appreciable fervour.
While there are some relatively conventional love songs here ("Hard Headed Woman", "Wild World"), the most memorable moments come when Stevens's lyrics venture further afield. "Father and Son" is a poignant but realistic and unsentimental portrait ofthe generation gap, capable of reducing any given dad or junior to tears. "On the Road to Find Out" and "But I Might Die Tonight" reflect Stevens's existential dilemmas, and the resulting spiritual quest that would later lead him to embrace the Islamic faith. The graceful beauty of arrangements, performances, and songs makes TEA FOR THE TILLERMAN a folk-rock classic.

Customer Reviews

Classic singer/songwriter fare
This album is a high watermark for early 1970s singer/songwriters. Always a popular one with the cheesecloth wearing fraternity - and not just the ladies - Cat Stevens seemed to hold many of us in his spell for a few years. This is technically better than "Mona Bone Jakon" but the songs on that previous album, for me, are superior. It must have been the (first) near-death experience. However, having bought this recently on CD has allowed me to drive along singing along happily. There are not that many albums from 1970 that I can more-or-less remember all the words to! Maybe that shows how strong the songs are. I don't actually think that the songs are too airy-fairy or hippy. Some of the songs such as the opener "Where Do The children Play?" stand up well today with its anti-pollution lyrics. I was also struck by the amount of mentions of the "Good Book" (sic) and the lyrics to "Miles From Nowhere" mention, "Lord my body has been a good friend, but I won't need it when I reach the end", I guess he wasn't quite so convinced as the seventh wave approached.

It's great to have an absolute classic on CD all sparky bright and sounding great (lending vinyl out in the early 70s was a dangerous hobby)and songs like "Father and Son" and "Wild World" are worth a lot in these days of trite Beatles rehashes. However, I think that if you enjoy this you should explore "Moan Bone Jakon" too.

tea for the tillerman
I was introduced to cat stevens in the 70's by my Father. As a young child i jollied away to them while he listened. Later I became embroiled in the new romantic scene in the eighties while i was a teenager, Cat stevens seemed so uncool. About ten years ago i rediscovered him and introduced him to my young family. They have all fallen in love with him including my wife who had never heard of him. This album in particular is a masterpiece to anyone who hasn'nt listened to Cat try this first. It is a sublime collection of beautiful songs that will stay in your heart for your entire life.

Father and Son
I bought the album in vinyl when it was first released and I thought it was wonderful. That was around 30 years ago. Now I have bought it on REMASTERED CD and it sounds fresher now than when he first baked it.
This song (Father and Son) is so evocative for anyone who loved their father and realises now that he knew you better than you imagined back then. It also comes home when you are a father yourself and realise that generation gaps exist, but mean very little if the real foundations of the relationship are solid.
Yes, this is very deep. But Cat Stevens was a deep thinker and he wrote some of the best lyrics ever.
He was good enough to have cover versions of his songs (from this album) to be sung by todays artists this century! And the originals are still better.
This song moves me as surely as it ever did.