CAT STEVENS / YUSUF ISLAM
FROM CAT TO YUSUF
(1967-2009)
No use presenting that singer. Everyone know at least one song (Lady D'Arbanville, Wild World, ...) and mostly anyone knows his convertion to islam belief. Some may find that switch from the buddhist religion hard to understand but that's what happened. Because of his deep devotion for is new religion, so many people accused him to be a fundamentalist and kept away from him. However, whatever he is, here is a place we only appreciate music, making abstraction of what happens beside. May he be called Cat Stevens or Yusuf Islam, Steven Demetre Georgiou remains one of the very greatest singers of all time.
So many best of compilations have been made about the man but have never been enough exhaustive. His golden years being from his very first Matthew & Son to 1971's Teaser and The Firecat, hadly any of them contains later songs. The best one shall be Remember Cat Stevens but also lack that default. So Baistophe had to correct that huge mistake and consider each and every albums of the artist, up until his very last Roadsinger...
I have not much considered his "spiritual recordings" as reel albums, but kept a few songs that soud great. Those recording are much more islamic pedagogic and narrative recordings or songs to the glory of Allah with no intense musical work.
My Cat/Yusuf TOP3 :
1. Tea For The Tillerman (1970)
2. Teaser And The Firecat (1971)
3. Mona Bone Jakon (1970)
My Cat/Yusuf BOTTOM3 :
1. Izitso (1977)
2. New Masters (1967)
3. Back To Earth (1978)
(this TOP/BOTTOM does not consider his spiritual recordings)
7 comments:
Thanks for this one...this is great...and at top mp3 quality (320) as well...keep it up..Johannes
Not everythng is at 320, but we make it as much as possible.
Greatto have all of Cats/Yusufs career captured on one set. Goo idea to to concentrate on the secular, no disrespect to the spiritual, its just a different thing.
TT
As I said, only music matters.
Even if his "spiritual era" songs are exclusively islam songs, they remain peaceful and full of love.
I remain doubtful of what people say about his life after his conversion. I've heard he followed fatwa against Salman Rushdie, but I can't believe he's a intollerent guy either.
Thanks for this collection. It's great. I agree most of the packaged "hits" don't cover the both sides of this great singer.
I would like to hear some of his islamic sounds, could you make a short collection of them some time? I own all his albums in vinyl and cd including the box set, but I am reluctent to spend a lot of money on stuff I only may play once.
Unfortunately, like you, I've listened to them once and only kept what is on this baistophe.
As I said in my post. Most of is "spiritual" CDs are spoken, very few songs indeed.
I've been looking for some links on the blogosphere but found nothing for you.
I now just can say that I found them on soulseek.
And maybe you'll find them on torrent sites too.
Any interviews I've seen with Yusuf show him not to be just a tolerant guy, but its seems that the extreme fundamentailsts on both sides wanted to hijack him and his views for their own ends and propeganda. not the first time someone has been misrepresented.
its always enlightning when you go direct to the scource.
rant over. great music.
tt
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