LOS ANGELES, CA. (Top40 Charts/ Universal
Music Enterprises) - Thirty years after his final album as Cat Stevens, the acclaimed singer-songwriter's two most beloved albums will be reissued in two-CD, newly remastered
Deluxe Editions supervised by the artist himself. TEA FOR THE TILLERMAN and TEASER AND THE FIRECAT, each released by A&M/UMe on November 4, 2008, contain the original album - each certified triple platinum - and a second disc of rarities personally chosen by
Cat Stevens (aka Yusuf). Each
Deluxe Edition also features a booklet with the complete original artwork and new liner notes by producer Paul Samwell-Smith, longtime guitarist Alun Davies, and Yusuf.
At 18, Stevens was a pop star in the U.K. Then doctors discovered he had tuberculosis and a collapsed lung. He spent three months in a hospital, another year recuperating. When he again began to write songs, they were different from his teen idol days. Beautiful and poetic, filled with deep emotion and deeper wisdom, they first emerged on MONA BONE JAKON in 1970, with "Lady D'Arbanville," "Trouble" and "Katmandu" earning him underground status in America and defining the sound that would become his signature. But it was TEA FOR THE TILLERMAN later that same year that broke into the Pop Top 10 and elevated him to superstar status. Its best-known tracks, "Wild World" (No 11 Pop), "Hard Headed Woman," "Where Do The Children Play?" and "Father And Son" were matched by the lesser-known but magical "Into White," "Sad Lisa," "Miles From Nowhere" and "On The Road To Find Out" to create a stunningly original album.
TEA FOR THE TILLERMAN - DELUXE EDITION adds demos for "Wild World" and "Miles From Nowhere"; several previously unreleased live performances, including "Longer Boats" and "Into White" from his debut American concert at the Troubadour in Los Angeles, "Where Do The Children Play?" and "Sad Lisa" from the 1976 Majikat Earth Tour, and "Tea For The Tillerman" at the BBC, and more.
His next album, 1972's TEASER AND THE FIRECAT, charted even higher, at No 2, with "Morning Has Broken" (No 6), "Peace Train" (No 7), "Moonshadow" (No 30) and "The Wind." TEASER AND THE FIRECAT - DELUXE EDITION's second disc adds demos of "Rubylove," "If I Laugh," "Changes IV" and "Morning Has Broken" plus a previously unreleased South African mix of "Peace Train," previously unreleased performances of "Moonshadow" (at the Troubadour) and "Tuesday's Dead" (from the Majikat tour), and more.
In the late '70s, Cat Stevens converted to Islam, and changed his name to Yusuf Islam. A devoted family man, he has continuously been working for charitable causes especially in the field of children and education. Most of his royalties have been donated to various children's causes. Today, Yusuf is arguably one of the world's most famous converts to Islam. He has been awarded the 'World Social Award' for his humanitarian relief work. Previous recipients of this award include Pope John Paul II, Steven Spielberg, and Sir Paul McCartney. More recently, in November 2004, he was honored with the 'Man for Peace' award by a committee of Nobel peace laureates. He currently records and releases material under the name YUSUF.
