Cat Stevens/Yusuf Islam tours U.S.

after 36 years, and new album revisits Salman Rushdie controversy 

A singer whose embrace of religion led him to drop pop music is back, with a new sound using blues and R&B

Yusuf Islam (aka Cat Stevens) has a new album — his first in five years. And he has a new tour — the first U.S. jaunt in a jaw-dropping 36 years.

Yet, he still can’t help dredging up a very old, and very emotional, controversy. There’s a song on the new album, “Tell ’Em I’m Gone,” out Monday, that refers to a infamous incident in 1989 when the star made statements interpreted by the media to endorse a fatwa against Salman Rushdie. The edict had been issued for “blasphemy,” allegedly committed by Rushdie’s novel “The Satanic Verses.”

“One day the papers rang us up/t’check if I said this,” Islam sings of the incident and its aftermath, in the song “Editing Floor Blues.” “I’d never say that!/... but they never printed that.”

The 66-year-old star says he wrote the song because “as opposed to just talking to a journalist, this lets me speak from the heart. It helps me to explain.”

But does it?

In his own lyrics, he presents the controversy as having no resolution. He compares himself to the ancient Greek philosopher Socrates, who was put on trial, and finally died, for his beliefs.

Today, Islam says unequivocally, “I did not support the fatwa.”

At the same time, he admits that he did quote Islamic law to a journalist about blasphemy. In certain territories, a blasphemy charge can carry the death penalty. As well, making any connection between a work of art, like Rushdie’s book, and a court of law can be seen as a threat to free speech.

It doesn’t clear matters that the star now emphasizes that “I’m a supporter of law and order.”

At least all this does prove that the brouhaha hasn’t made the star afraid to speak his mind. Islam opens his album with a song called “I Was Raised in Babylon,” whose lyrics scold a variety of civilizations for various wrongs committed in religion’s name. He includes Islam, a faith he adopted back in 1977.

“The Prophet Muhammad, again, has become distorted,” he told The News. “That’s what we have today.”

The singer’s turn toward religion inspired him to ditch a pop music career that had made him one of the hottest stars of the ’70s. As Cat Stevens, his spare, but penetrating, folk-rock songs, on classic works like “Tea for the Tillerman” and “Teaser and the Firecat,” sold millions and helped define an era.

The rare intimacy Stevens established with his fans led some to take his career rejection personally. In truth, his hottest hits had always centered on searching.

“Maybe they were just listening to the music, not the lyrics,” Islam says. “The lyrics showed my serious spiritual ambitions. The fact that I landed at Islam’s door, that’s what surprised a lot of people.”

Due to his conversion, the star didn’t put out a pop album for 28 years, until 2006’s beautiful “An Other Cup.” In the meantime, Islam released albums of children's music. "Since I started having children that became important to me," he says. 

 Islam says he has been criticized by some strict Muslims for returning to pop. To explain himself, he recently published a book in the Middle East called "Why I Still Carry A Guitar."

The star's return to pop styles has been greeted openly by many.  He successfully toured Europe, starting in 2009, playing the old hits as well as strong new songs. He means the title of his current tour — “Peace Train — Late Again” — to work as a fun apology for taking so long to return to the States.

Even so, the tour only includes six dates. And he canceled his sole New York show because of rampant scalping here. "We were getting complaints from fans," he says.

Islam hopes to rectify the situation with a future date in the city, where they can sell the tickets in a more controllable way.

The singer did perform three songs in the city - with power and nuance - at his induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in April. “People didn’t expect me to sing,” he says. “But I did — to rapturous applause. It was very good to be welcomed.”

The new music returns the favor by stressing the influence of American blues and R&B. “It harks back to my teenage years, when I was bounding around the clubs of London,” he says. “That was the sound coming over. It influences the Stones, The Yardbirds, The Animals and me.”

The album also breaks with the musician's usual mode by featuring no fewer than five cover songs. "I hope it's not a mistake," he says. "But i love these songs. And it helps when you cover other people's songs to express something different. It allows me to change my style."

The covers include an ideally yearning take on Edgar Winter's '70s hit "Dying To Live," as well as a spirited run at the Procol Harum song "The Devil Came From Kansas." To boot, there's an innovative arrangement of the standard "You Are My Sunshine," this one involving the Saharan Group Tinariwen. That same group appears on a the original song "Tell 'Em I'm Gone."

The two cuts make a fascinating connection between American blues and the music of northwest Africa. "A lot of the bendy notes of blues are very similar to Arabic music," says Islam. "And a lot of the American slaves came from the west side of Africa. So there's that connection."

For a more straight-on American influence, the album boasts a roiling run at the Luther Dixon/Al Smith blues classic "Big Boss Man."

Just as the exciting new music reaches out to the U.S., so Islam says the country has opened to him. While ten years ago, he ended up on a no-fly list - by accident, he believes - he says an American ambassador recently invited him to tea. He credits the thaw to a change in presidents, from Bush to Obama.  Still, he’s not naive about the cultural suspicions that linger. “I’m between two opposing worlds,” he says. “I get caught in the middle — somewhere.”

[nydailynews.com, 27. Okt. 2014]

Yusuf/ Cat Stevens bridges gap between two identities

Four decades ago, folk legend Cat Stevens converted

to Islam, changed his name to Yusuf Islam and

all-but-vanished from the stage.

Now he is back, with a world tour hoping to bridge

the gap between his two identities.

The 66-year-old British singer has had his share of controversy but his return to the spotlight recently in his native London confirmed that his voice at least, soft yet powerful, can drown out all the noise.

On tour, he is performing songs from his new album - the bluesy Tell ‘Em I’m Gone - as well as classics from his 1960s and 1970s heyday such as Wild World, Moonshadow and Peace Train.

Despite scepticism from some fellow Muslims about his musical return, Yusuf said in an interview that he sees no contradiction between faith and performance.

Born in London, now living in Dubai, the singer sums up his dual identity: “I’m a mirror glass for the Muslims as well as the Western world (which) looks at me in a slightly different way, but they are looking in the same mirror.”

A balancing act pulled off, according to The Independent’s reviewer,

in a comeback performance described as “beatific waves washing over

a crowd ranging from young hijab-wearing women to older fans needing wheelchairs and walking sticks.”

“If the emanations from any stage could actually influence world peace, the man sometimes still known as Cat Stevens provides them tonight,” wrote the paper.

Yusuf’s return to the United States comes 10 years after he was banned from the country after his name appeared on a no-fly list —

a fact he blamed on mistaken identification.

“I feel very welcome now,” he said, describing his inauguration into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2014 as a “significant moment where they kind of remembered me”.

“I think it’s gonna be pretty good, I’m hoping,” he said.

He said he likes performing songs that will be “familiar” to his audience.

“One song I do is The First Cut is the Deepest. I try to remind people I wrote that song, not Rod Stewart!” he said.

Like most performers, Yusuf continues to pay close attention to his image, which mixes rock and roll with spirituality through a biker’s jacket, sunglasses and a white beard. Born Steven Demetre Georgiou, to a Greek father and a Swedish mother, he now prefers to use his two other names side-by-side.

His website, his album cover, the signs at his concert venues and the T-shirts sold inside all feature Yusuf and Cat Stevens.

“People who want to remember me as Cat Stevens - welcome. Those who want me as Yusuf, you’re here,” he said.

[khaleejtimes.com, 12. Nov. 2014]

 

Cat Stevens:

"Ich werde von Missverständnissen verfolgt"

Vor seinem Auftritt am Donnerstag in der Wiener Stadthalle trafen die OÖN Yusuf/Cat Stevens (66) zum Interview.

 

 

In den 70er-Jahren feierte man Cat Stevens

als introspektiven Folk-Popsänger, dann konvertierte er zum Islam

und änderte seinen Namen in Yusuf Islam.

Nun steht er als Yusuf/Cat Stevens wieder auf der Bühne –

und das ist gut so.

 

 

OÖNachrichten:

Ihr neues Album "Tell Em I’m Gone" huldigt den Großmeistern des Blues. Woher stammt Ihre tiefe emotionale Verbindung zum Blues?

 

Yusuf/Cat Stevens:

Als Teenager war der Blues jene Musik, die ich am meisten liebte. Erst der Blues hat mich inspiriert, selbst Musik zu machen und auf Tour zu gehen. Wir gingen in diese Clubs im Londoner West End, wo sie all diese fantastischen Platten aus den USA spielten: Howlin’ Wolf, Muddy Waters, dazu Motown und Jazz-Sachen. Heute kann man sich kaum vorstellen, dass diese wunderbaren Platten alle zur gleichen Zeit herauskamen. Es war eine verwirrende, aber aufregende Zeit. Diese Leidenschaft hat mich nie mehr losgelassen – und mit "Tell Em I’m Gone" kann ich sie jetzt ausleben.

 

Mit dem "Editing Floor Blues" findet sich eine beinharte Medien-Abrechnung auf dem neuen Album. Wie kommt’s?

 

Kennen Sie meinen Song "Moonshadow"? Seit ich Moslem geworden bin, werde ich nicht mehr vom Schatten des Mondes verfolgt, sondern von Missverständnissen. Ich sollte den Song echt umbenennen (lacht). Ein Großteil meiner Zeit geht dafür drauf, mich in Interviews zu erklären. Irgendwann dachte ich mir: "Zur Hölle damit! Ich schreibe lieber einen Song darüber." Ich wollte diese kontroversen Behauptungen aus meiner Sicht beleuchten.

 

Ihre Stimme klingt so kräftig, wie vor Jahrzehnten. Hat die lange Pause, die Sie einlegten, Ihre Stimme quasi "konserviert"?

 

Ich glaube schon. Es waren immerhin ja fast 20 Jahre, die ich aus dem Geschäft war. Das hat sicher nicht geschadet. Außerdem trinke und rauche ich nicht – darum ist meine Stimme wohl noch intakt.

 

Wie schwer ist es, im Konzert die Balance zwischen Klassikern und neuen Songs zu halten?

 

Es ist ein aberwitziges Ringelspiel, eine äußerst diffizile Angelegenheit, denn ich will die Leute nicht enttäuschen. Wenn ich zu einem Konzert von – sagen wir, Paul McCartney – gehe, dann will ich natürlich auch das gute, alte Zeug hören, "Let It Be" und so. Wenn er das nicht spielt, bin ich enttäuscht.

 

Gibt es Songs aus Ihrem Werkkatalog, die Sie heute einfach nicht mehr verstehen?

 

Nicht viele, abgesehen vielleicht von "Bring Another Bottle Baby" und "Ceylon City". Aber für die meisten Songs gibt es einen guten Entstehungsgrund. Insbesondere die Emotionen, die mich damals drängten, diese oder jene Nummer zu schreiben, sind heute noch nachvollziehbar und abrufbar.

 

Ihre Liedtexte verfügen über eine spezielle lyrische Qualität. Woher ziehen Sie Ihre Inspiration?

 

Es geht darum, etwas in Metaphern auszudrücken. Das lässt unsere Phantasie "fliegen", sie wird auf diese Weise nicht durch logische und rationelle Schranken eingesperrt. Ich versuche etwas mit Sinn und Haltung zu schaffen, das aber offen für Interpretationen bleibt.

 

Ist es diese Offenheit, die Ihre Songs so zeitlos macht?

 

Ja, das ist eine gute Erklärung. Meine Songs basieren in der Regel auf realen Erlebnissen, sind aber stets in bildhafte Vergleiche gekleidet. Das ist ein guter Weg, um verschiedene Dinge zu erforschen und zu beleuchten, ohne sich aber im Zeitgeist zu verfangen.

 

Welche Projekte stehen bei Ihnen als Nächstes an?

 

Kürzlich habe ich meine Memoiren "Why I Still Carry A Guitar" veröffentlicht. Es ist eine Rechtfertigung, die sich an die muslimische Community richtet, die mich dafür kritisiert hat, dass ich wieder eine Gitarre in die Hand genommen habe und auf Tour gegangen bin.

 

 

 

 

Konzertkritik:

Yusuf/Cat stevens, Stadthalle Wien 13.11.

 

Yusuf oder Cat?: „Yusuf/Cat Stevens“ stand sperrig auf dem Konzertplakat: zwei Namen, zwei Identitäten, die auf den ersten Blick nur schwer zusammengehen. Mit einem begeisternden Auftritt am Mittwoch vor 4500 Fans in der Wiener Stadthalle bewies der 66-jährige Songwriter, dass es irrelevant ist, wie er sich nennt, solange die Darbietung von solch exquisiter Qualität ist, wie es an diesem Abend der Fall war.

 

Das Bühnenbild: Mit einem schlichten, aber stimmigen Bühnenbild im Rücken, das einem heruntergekommen Bahnhof nachempfunden war, lud ein stimmlich in Hochform agierender („Wie ein Zeiserl“, so der Sitznachbar) Yusuf/Cat Stevens zu einer zweistündigen Fahrt im „Peace Train“. Eine ausgedehnte Reise, die geschickt den Bogen vom ‘67er-Debüt „Matthew & Son“ (als Cat Stevens) bis hin zum kürzlich erschienenen „Tell Em I’m Gone“ (als Yusuf) spannte.

 

Die Höhepunkte: Die Anzahl der Gänsehaut-Momente war gigantisch: die Hadern „Morning Has Broken“, „Wild World“ und „Father & Son“, dazu die am Klavier vorgetragenen „Last Love Song“ und „Sad Lisa“, oder ein arrangiertes „Bitterblue“. Ein Traum!

 

[nachrichten.at, 15. Nov. 2014]

 

Wenn man mich Cat nennt, gehe ich weg!

Mit seinem alten Namen hat sich Yusuf Islam

noch nicht richtig versöhnt.

B.Z. sprach mit dem Barden vor seinem Konzert

am Donnerstagabend im Tempodrom.

Acht Jahre nach seinem Comeback meldet sich der Mann, der Cat Stevens (66) war, mit einem kantigen R&B-Album namens „Tell Em I’m Gone“ zurück. Am Donnerstag präsentiert er es im Tempodrom. Die B.Z. sprach mit Yusuf Islam.

Yusuf, Sie sind oft in Berlin.

Das stimmt. Ich habe 2011 in den Hansa-Studios „My People“ aufgenommen. Außerdem habe ich hier Familie. Einer meiner Söhne hat eine Berlinerin geheiratet.

Im Ernst?

Ja, aus einer türkischen Familie. So oft ich kann und wie es sich für einen guten Vater gehört besuche ich sie. Außerdem mag ich die Stadt. Ich bin wirklich gerne hier und genieße die Cafés, die Restaurants und die Museen. Da hat Berlin einiges zu bieten.

Sie bezeichnen „Tell ´Em I´m Gone“ als ihr Blues-Album. Was assoziieren Sie mit dem Genre?

Mit Musik lassen sich viele verschiedene Absichten verfolgen. Manchmal wird sie eingesetzt, um zu entspannen, manchmal versetzt sie uns einen Kick, manchmal befreit sie unseren Geist. Blues stand immer für Emanzipation und Freiheit. Ein Ansatz, der sich bis in die Gegenwart fortsetzt. Etwa mit der Occupy-Wallstreet-Bewegung.

Und wie denken Sie über die Situation in Syrien und im Iran?

Jede Form von kriegerischer Auseinandersetzung ist einfach nur krank! Und irgendwie leben wir immer noch wie in der Steinzeit. Es hat sich nicht wirklich viel getan, noch immer gilt das Recht des Stärkeren, und wir versuchen weiterhin, anderen unseren Willen aufzuzwingen.

Was halten Sie davon, dass sich so viele Deutsche und Amerikaner der “ISIS” anschließen?

Das ergibt keinen Sinn. Und ich weiß auch nicht, worin ihre Motivation besteht. Aber da muss irgendetwas sein, was sie dazu bewegt. Vielleicht Groll oder Wut.

1977 konvertierten Sie zum Islam und machten 20 Jahre keine Musik. Bedauern Sie Ihr spätes Comeback? Zumal der Prophet Mohammed nichts gegen Musik hatte.

Das ist richtig, aber ich bedaure nichts. Die Dinge passieren so, wie sie passieren sollen. Aber ich war eine Zeitlang von sehr konservativen Leuten mit sehr strengen Auslegungen des Islams umgeben, was zu einer Menge Entscheidungen geführt hat, die nicht okay waren.

Und jetzt ist die Katze zurück?

Soweit würde ich nicht gehen…

Aber auf Postern und selbst auf dem Cover der neuen CD taucht der Name „Cat Stevens“ viel größer auf als in den letzten Jahren.

Eine Menge Leute kennen mich noch aus einer Zeit, in der ich als Cat Stevens eine wichtige Rolle in der Popmusik gespielt habe. Und es tut ja nicht weh, sich daran zu erinnern und das auch ein bisschen zu feiern. Aber: Wenn mich jemand Cat nennt, bin ich immer noch binnen weniger Sekunden aus der Tür. (lacht)

[bz-berlin.de, 20. Nov. 2014]

 

On the Road Again:

Yusuf returns to tour U.S.

 

Better late than never.

When Yusuf takes the stage Dec. 1 at Toronto's Massey Hall, the singer who found fame as Cat Stevens will be launching his first North American tour in 38 years. He'll play his biggest hits from the '70s — Father and Son, Morning Has Broken, Wild World — as well as earlier songs better known in the USA as hits for other acts. "I'm trying to reclaim The First Cut Is the Deepest, because everybody thinks Rod Stewart wrote it, and Here Comes My Baby — that's another one people forget about," says the singer. He'll also play material from his new Rick Rubin-produced album, Tell 'Em I'm Gone, released in October. "They're great to play live, because they're very up and very exciting. It involves me playing more electric guitar, which I enjoy a lot."ThePeace Train...Late Again tourhas its first U.S. date Dec. 4 at Philadelphia's Tower Theatre.

 

Long time gone.

After converting to Islam in 1979 and changing his name, Yusuf stayed away from public performing and didn't so much as play a guitar for 20 years. Peter Gabriel, who had played flute on his 1970 Mona Bone Jakon album, convinced him to sing Wild World at Nelson Mandela's 2003 46664 concert in Cape Town, South Africa, to raise awareness for HIV and AIDS issues. "Mandela was the great uniter, the great peacemaker," says the 2014 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee. "I wanted to express my support for him and the principles he stood for."

 

No New York.

Yusuf initially had planned to begin his U.S. shows in New York but backed out of that date due to concerns about tickets being scalped at what he called extortionate prices. "We started hearing about it on Facebook from our fans, and they were complaining," says the advocate of paperless ticketing. "I said, 'You know what? We'll skip New York this time. Maybe next time we'll find a better way of doing it.'"

 

A strange combination.

In what has to go down as one of the weirdest concert packages ever, Yusuf toured the U.K. in 1967 with Jimi Hendrix and Engelbert Humperdinck, all opening for the Walker Brothers, an American pop act best known for the 1966 hit The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Anymore. "Jimi, of course, started burning his guitars; that was one historic thing," Yusuf recalls. "The other was I learned to drink brandy and port — that was from Engelbert. At one point, I think Jimi and his band were squirting water pistols at me from behind the curtain. I should have been squirting water at his guitar, which was on fire."

 

TB Blues.

Yusuf drove himself so hard during that first flush of success that he contracted tuberculosis and wound up bedridden for several months. "It took me right out of the musical whirlpool and laid me flat on my back in the hospital trying to work out what had happened," he says. "I was quite close to death."

 

Working for the weekend.

Yusuf had considered leaving Another Saturday Night, a Sam Cooke song he took to No. 6 in 1974, out of this tour's set list. "In the middle of that song, I'm talking about going out on the town and trying to find myself some chicks," he says. "I thought, 'That's not appropriate these days,' and my wife certainly wouldn't like it. So I re-wrote those lyrics. Now I've turned it into a song about a guy who's out on the town looking for a job, and, actually, it works really well."

 

[satoday.com, 24. Nov. 2014]

 

Cat’s message is still peace

Yusuf Islam, Cat Stevens

are no longer strangers

Cat Stevens has turned into one of big comeback stories of the year, even though the man never went anywhere.

In 1978, the singer-songwriter born Steven Georgiou — who had sold millions of albums as Cat Stevens — changed his name to Yusuf Islam, sold his guitars for charity and left music to devote himself to philanthrophy and spiritual exploration — controversially so, in some cases.

It was clear that the artist who had given the world hits such as Wild World (1970), Peace Train (1971) and Morning Has Broken (1971) viewed that work as if it were from another lifetime.

Gradually, however, Islam and Cat Stevens have become one and the same again. He returned to making music in 2006 with his first new pop album in 28 years, Another Cup, which was followed by Roadsinger (2009).

When he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame this year, Islam showed no reservations about being referred to as Cat Stevens and being celebrated for his past.

His present includes a new album, Tell ’em I’m Gone, and a world tour with his first North American dates in more than 35 years.

“There’s no problem,” Islam, 66, said from his home in London.

“It’s me; it’s always been me. I’ve always used my music as a means for progressing my own life and finding out and learning about this universe. I used my art to progress myself, and I think that everything that’s happening now is kind of a progression in that way.

I certainly see the acceptance of me in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as kind of a rapprochement thing,” he added, “which is very welcome. It’s good because a lot of people may have, I don’t know, taken different views about my life choices. But it’s come back down to the music — which is good.”

The third child of a Greek Cypriot father and a Swedish mother, Steven Georgiou was raised above his family’s restaurant near Piccadilly Circus in London, where he began learning piano and, as a teenager, guitar. He was a Beatles fan but also drew inspiration from other pop, rock, folk and blues acts; and the musical West Side Story.

He began playing coffeehouses and clubs around the city in the mid-1960s, taking the name “Cat Stevens” because of a girlfriend who compared his eyes to those of a cat — although his first single was I Love My Dog (1966), which hit the top 30 on the British singles chart.

“My music came from a lot of different places,” said Islam, the father of five and grandfather of six. “There was always a seeking quality to the songs, a searching. I was asking a lot of big questions. I was after the meaning of life, I guess, but in my own way.”

Along that way, Cat Stevens logged six million-selling-or-better albums, including the back-to-back 3-million-selling smashes Tea for the Tillerman (1970) and Teaser and the Firecat (1971). His music appeared in the cult-favorite film comedy Harold & Maude (1971), and his song The First Cut Is the Deepest went on to be a hit for four other artists. His album Izitso (1977) foreshadowed the synth pop of the 1980s.

Then he walked away from it all.

Islam’s religious conversion began when, vacationing in Morocco, he heard the Aghan ritual call to prayer. Caught in a riptide off the California coast in 1976, he promised God that he would dedicate his life to him if he survived, and after that he studied various faiths, including the I Ching, Buddhism, Zen and astrology before formally converting to Islam in December 1977 and taking his new name the following year.

His final performance as a pop star was on Nov. 22, 1979, at a London benefit for UNICEF.

“I put down my guitar, and I knew I was done,” he recalled. “That, for me, was the real end of Cat Stevens.”

His life in Islam has been rich in achievement but awash in controversy.

He founded several Islamic and Muslim schools in Britain, started the Small Kindness charity to assist orphans and needy families in the Middle East, and was chairman of Muslim Aid from 1985 to 1993. He even re-embraced his pop past to sing an a cappella version of Peace Train during the pre-show for the Concert for New York City after the 9/11 terrorist attack and recorded an all-star fundraising version of the song in 2003.

But he was also criticized for reported comments — that he has denied making — supporting the death fatwa decreed against author Salman Rushdie by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, ruler of Iran, in 1989. The Israeli government deported him in 2000, saying he supported the terrorist organization Hamas.

He was denied entry into the United States in 2004 when his name appeared on the government’s no-fly list because of allegations of terrorist ties — an experience that inspired his song Boots and Sand (2008). He has also sued British newspapers for libel over similar allegations.

“There’s a lot of ignorance in the world about Islam, especially after (9/11),” the singer-songwriter said. “People are scared of what they don’t understand. It’s frustrating, but I try to teach rather than retaliate.

In a way, it’s like it was with music,” he continued. “I’ve always been trying to avoid being boxed into any particular place because I move. I’ve always been a universalist, and I move from place to place. I’ve traveled, I’ve grown, and I’m continuously growing.

But even today is not easy,” Islam said. “People today do want to box you in, even as being one kind of Muslim or another.

That’s why I picked up the guitar again, to say:

‘You know what? It’s still me.’  ”

[dispatch.com, 03. Dez. 2014]

Yusuf Islam, Formerly Known As

Cat Stevens, Embraces Dual Identity

With U.S. Tour

Legendary folk-rock star Yusuf Islam, formerly known as Cat Stevens, is bringing his peace train back to America.

Yusuf will kick off the United States leg of his world tour in Philadelphia on Dec. 4. From there, the rocker will move on to Boston, Chicago, and San Francisco before wrapping up in Los Angeles on Dec. 14.

According to IBTimes, this is the first time the singer-songwriter has toured in the United States since 1976, though he's given one-off performances at Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear in 2010 and during his induction to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame earlier this year.

In a letter to the Toronto Star, Yusuf confessed that he has been plagued by “dragon-sized myths” and “unsavoury controversies” since he stepped back from the music world and converted to Islam. He hopes the lyrics in his latest album, “Tell ‘Em I’m Gone” will tell his side of the story.

“Peace has always been my objective; sadly, that isn’t the case for everybody,” he writes. “That’s why I have called my tour ‘Peace Train … Late Again!’ Stigmas, the same as dirt and mud, are very hard to remove once they’ve been attached. However, for those who really listened to my lyrics — old and new — the message is still clearly there.”

Following a near-death experience in 1975, when he nearly drowned while swimming in Malibu, Yusuf turned his focus inward and began exploring his spirituality. He was brought up as a Catholic, which he says taught him right from wrong. After receiving a copy of the Quran, he converted in 1977 and changed his name in 1978.

“I feel very fortunate that I got to know Islam before it became a major headline,” he writes on his website. “That’s my luck. I just wish that more people had a chance to study Islam outside of the whirlwind of political torrents which rock our world.”

During his hiatus, Yusuf dedicated himself to philanthropic and educational work, AFP reports. He claims that much of his royalties from previous music is distributed to charitable causes.

His 2014 tour has already received positive reviews in London and Toronto.

His Toronto setlist reveals a mix of his old and new identities:

“I have received many emails and letters from people of all faiths, explaining how my songs and words have brought comfort and hope and the ability to see life in a positive light again, for that I am eternally grateful to the Power above,” Yusuf writes.

[huffingtonpost.com, 05. Dez. 2014]

 

Yusuf / Cat Stevens

boards the "Peace Train" once again

Cat Stevens released his version of the hymn "Morning Has Broken" back in 1972. Now, as Yusuf, he's touring the United States again

after a long absence. Anthony Mason talks with him now . . .

On Thursday at the Tower Theater outside Philadelphia, a name appeared on the marquee that had been missing from the concert circuit for decades.

Inside at the sound check, Yusuf, the singer who came to fame as Cat Stevens, was preparing to open his first U.S. tour since 1976.

Mason said, "You could fill theatres bigger than this."

"Well, yeah, sure. But It's the intimacy I'm looking for. It's not a matter making money or proving that I can play the big halls," Yusuf replied.

"I just wanted to get close to my audience. That's the buzz for me."

The stage set depicted a train station. "We've transported this station everywhere we go now," Yusuf laughed. "This is the Peace Train station! We've got these tracks along the stage. And we're just waiting for this train to arrive. It's all to do with the message."

The station door seemed like a portal to the 1970s, when he walked through it to a thunderous ovation Thursday night -- what he called "a sea of warmth."

Cat Stevens was back, under a different name, but sounding like he'd never left.

Mason asked if the relatively brief, two-month-long tour was just "testing the waters here."

"Yeah, in some way it is. In another way it's part of my ticking the little boxes. You know, I want to do certain things before I leave this planet. And one of them is, you know, to play the U.S.A. again.

It's like coming home," Yusuf said, "back to where my first heartbeat began on the musical journey."

Born Stephen Georgiou in London to a Greek father and Swedish mother, Cat Stevens (his stage name) was 18 when he released his first album. He broke through in the U.S. in the Seventies, scoring eight straight gold or platinum albums.

But the singer started looking for a higher purpose in his life.

During his last tour in the U.S. in 1976, he was already studying the Koran. A year later, he would convert to Islam . . . and in November 1979, he turned his back on his music career.

Mason asked, "Did you have any regrets?"

"I think the only regret I had was kind of in a way saying goodbye to a lot of the people that wanted me to hang around and keep singing," he replied. "But I had a life to get on with."

He changed his name to Yusuf Islam - and he would not pick up a guitar again until 2003, when his son brought one home.

How did it feel to play the guitar again? "You know, it hurt a little bit, 'cause you know your fingers get a bit sore at the top. But very soon that vanished and I was back creating songs and writing with another meaning."

"There were some people in the Muslim world who were uncomfortable with [you] picking up the guitar again," said Mason.

"That's true. There is an opinion -- although it's an isolated one perhaps -- which is very loud, that doesn't agree with music or frivolity and generally the entertainment world.

So I've now written a book called 'Why I Still Carry a Guitar.' And that's kind of to silence those people who perhaps think I'm doing something outside of the religious boundaries. And of course, [it's] nothing like that. The civilization of Islam was probably the first to introduce the guitar as a popular instrument."

At 66 Yusuf has a new album out, "Tell 'Em I'm Gone." His journey back to music has been gradual: First singing, then recording, now touring. And Cat, the name he pushed away, he has embraced again.

"I chose that name. So I'm quite happy now to see that name, you know, alongside Yusuf because, hey, it's me!"

"For a while that wasn't true, though," said Mason.

"For a while I was trying to get as far away from my past as possible," Yusuf said. "And that's a natural thing when a person, you know, converts or embraces religion. They don't want to know anything else.

So there's a point where you have to come to a balance, right? And thank God, I've come to that balance today. And so I'm able to be a reflection of my Western upbringing, my lifestyle, and also my faith as a Muslim."

"There need to be more bridges?"

"For sure."

"Do you want to be one of those bridges?"

"I'm naturally a bridge," he said. "Yeah, that's my job."

The road has changed since Cat Stevens first went on tour in 1967. A teenager when he had his first hit single, he toured with Jimi Hendrix, Englebert Humperdinck and the Walker Brothers. "All together in one fantastic show!" he laughed. "It was my induction, if you like, into the life on the road with all these other groups, and Jimi Hendrix being one of them, starting fires on the stage and me in the back room there drinking port and brandy with Englebert."

That's not his lifestyle any more, and the married father of five made light of it earlier this year, when he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, where he talked of the judges "voting for someone who doesn't drink, doesn't smoke, and only sleeps with his wife. I say that was a very brave decision -- and strangely, outrageously rock 'n' roll! Peace!"

Yusuf, who lives in London and Dubai, called his induction a kind of peacemaking. Only a decade earlier, he'd been denied entry to the U.S. when his name mysteriously appeared on a watch list.

"When something like that happens, do you feel like you personally get tarred by it?" Mason asked.

"Yeah, I reckon the media has played kind of a non-positive role in creating my image," Yusuf said. "And I think that it's time that people listen to my words and what comes from my heart, rather than what other people say about me. And that's kind of one of the other reasons why I'm here now to sing my songs."

[cbsnews.com, 07. Dez. 2014]