CaTNiP
"You can take the man out of the music
but you can't take the music out of the man."
17. Sept. 2009
Guess I’ll Take My Time Tour
"After 33 years away from the stage, Yusuf will be returning later this year for an innovative four-date tour around the UK and Ireland.
The four city ‘Guess I’ll Take My Time…’ Tour will commence in Dublin, continue to Birmingham and Liverpool, before ending in spectacular fashion in London at the legendary Royal Albert Hall.
The show is set to incorporate all Yusuf’s classic tracks, old and new, as well as giving fans the first insight into Yusuf’s new creative venture, his first musical, ‘Moonshadow’."
Morning has broken once again for Yusuf
He was an icon of the hippy generation and then turned his back on music to become a man of God. Now Yusuf Islam, once known as Cat Stevens, has picked up his guitar again, as he tells Barry Egan in an exclusive interview
'I'm not normally a praying man, but if you're up there, please save me Superman.' -- Homer Simpson
HE is wearing petrol-coloured Chelsea boots. Trendier foot-wear, perhaps, than you expect from a Muslim mystic and holy man.
Yusuf Islam, who is also a pop star of lasting quality, remarks upon my jacket. He says that he had a similar Sergeant Pepper-style army jacket back in the Sixties. He bought it on Carnaby Street in London.
Steven Demetre Georgiou, for it is he, was born just across the road from there in the West End which he knew, he says, like the back of his hand. Indeed, he found the sheet music for Morning Has Broken, the old hymn he made into a global hit, in the religious section of a London bookstore once upon a time.
Today, we are padding around a giant TV studio complex in deepest Hertfordshire where he is rehearsing for his world tour (which comes to the 02 Arena in Dublin tonight. He's playing his greatest hits, which I saw in rehearsal, and loved ). Yusuf introduces me to his wife who is wearing a traditional Muslim scarf. Fawzia Ali is, above all, beautiful, and, as I found out, engaging and witty.
EastEnders has a permanent set in the other lot and Big Brother is filmed across the way. Yusuf laughs that Big Brother and its ilk is the end of civilisation as we know it. We go up to a plush dressing room. He asks his wife if there's any chance she could make him "a cuppa". He has a gentle London accent to go with his manner which is unassuming, almost humble.
She makes her husband the cuppa and sits on the opposite sofa in this immaculate, white room while I begin my interview with her husband. She is not known for speaking herself in interviews. So I was surprised when she didn't rebut my attempts to involve her in the conversation.
When I said I was mostly ignorant of Muslim traditions but that Islam does get something of a bad rap when it comes to women, she nodded as if asking me to go on. I said that I had read an article in the New Yorker a few years ago that said that the veil women wear means that women aren't objectified but more importantly, it keeps them sacred. "The veil is a shield for women, a protection," Fawzia Ali says.
"The Koran says women are your garment and you are their garment. It is a protection in the modern world," Yusuf says, adding that "you never see a statue of Mary without a scarf. The issue of motherhood is sacred. When The Prophet was asked by somebody, 'Who shall I give my respect to and consider the most in my life?' he said, 'Your mother.' 'Who next?' 'Your mother.' 'And who next?' 'Your mother.' Three times. The respect for family and the relationship between husband and wife has to be protected. If you don't believe in God in the first place, wear what you want."
Lest we forget, her husband sued and won unspecified libel damages and an apology from a news agency in 2008 which published an article that claimed he would speak only to veiled women at an awards ceremony. The lie was further compounded by the fact that 10 minutes before our interview Yusuf was speaking to tour manager Juliette who was in a relatively revealing top and jeans.
Fawzia Ali asks me: "What's the best time to see Ireland?"
In two years, when the recession ends, I joke.
Yusuf practically falls on the floor with laughter. "I went there in my early days," he said. "I did open The Islamic Centre in Dublin in the Eighties or the early Nineties as one of the chief guests."
Asked how he envisages Ireland, he says he thinks of "family, incredible passion, the colour green and lovely, beautiful music".
"Oh, we love Irish music," Fawzia Ali says.
It is impossible not to like Yusuf Islam. He is gentle as a breeze. You can see why he is responsible for such beautiful works of music as Peace Train, The First Cut Is The Deepest, Father And Son (murdered in a cover version form by Boyzone), Moonshadow and Hard Headed Woman. Yusuf takes the philosophical view now that getting refused entry to United States in 2004 because his name was on a no-fly list created to fight terrorism "happened for a reason". (US Homeland Security placed Yusuf Islam on the no-fly list in response to information received from the intelligence community.)
Yusuf says of that highly controversial incident: "I returned to my place of innocence. I said to God, 'You got me here! I'll leave it to you!'" Yusuf laughs. "I had that trust. In fact, what happened was a giant turnaround and it worked in my favour in the end. It was only a few months later that Gorbachev was giving me a peace award in Rome. That shows you the reward of those who trust. I decided to write a song about what happened, Boots & Sand, which Paul McCartney and Dolly Parton joined in on which was great fun. There are a lot of serious things going on in the world but sometimes you have to lighten up."
"All things will pass," he says of the war in Iraq.
Asked what he would say to people who are downcast because of the economic recession appearing never to pass, Yusuf smiles and says that "it is good that the bankers are getting identified. We can see the antagonists a bit more clearly now."
The Bible says it is easier for a camel to go through the head of a needle than a rich man to enter heaven.
"In the Koran," he says, "it says it is more difficult for a rich man to enter heaven than a thick rope to pass through the eye of a needle. One is incredibly more logical."
Most of the world knows the man I am talking to today as Cat Stevens. He wrote and released many timeless classics. He became a pop star at 18 with I Love My Dog. (Looking back at him then it is difficult to discern any promise of what was to come.) Then in December of 1977, he converted to the Islamic faith and thereafter became Yusuf Islam. His involvement with the music business ended entirely for almost three decades as he devoted himself to religion and family.
Back in the late Sixties he had a physical breakdown and contracted TB.
"Life hits you and you get hurt and you get broken and then you try to mend yourself," he says, looking back on that time. "TB was a big lesson. But it was to do with a psychological state of mind where people are controlling you. The biggest thing I got out of tuberculosis was I realised I was being controlled by the music business. There were so many people who were hanging on to me and driving me like a slave to enrich themselves. I had to take control. I had to become the master of my own art because art was my way of travelling and learning."
The young Cat Stevens wanted to be a pop star but when he became one, it almost destroyed him. "And I wanted more until I realised I wasn't going to get it if I wasn't alive," he laughs. "And therefore I had to start thinking more comprehensively about my life in my body and spirit, and in some ways the transcendental path helps you fix the body issue as well because you get quite healthy: vegetarian food, looking at what you are intaking and eating and consciousness."
One of the problems for Yusuf was, he says, to find the point of gravitation between his father's Greek Cypriot side and his mother's Swedish side, which was Baptist. "And then being born in the middle of the West End. And then they sent me to the best school around the corner which was Roman Catholic." It did build in to him a certain religious tolerance, he says, because he wasn't "dogmatically anything".
His conversion to Islam was hastened by an incident on the coast of California in 1976. At first he doesn't seem keen to acknowledge that almost drowning was the trigger. "When you are faced with death you don't know, you don't know whether it is or not [a trigger to convert to Islam]," he says. "It doesn't matter. At that point came the help. The wave took me back. Then I forgot. But God doesn't forget!" he laughs.
"There were many times I tried to walk away from the business. I was at a party in LA when this foolish fella bought me, as a joke, a straitjacket. That was a breaking point. I ran away from my own party. I walked out into the wilderness of LA. That was before the epiphany in the ocean. It is an epiphany because God speaks in whatever form through phenomena like a wave."
When he walked away from the music industry, he says he had thought about maybe existing as a singer on a different level, that is outside of the music business.
"But you need inspiration for that. And that wasn't in my hands any more. I was more concerned with more rudimentary issues like having to reform my life and just generally changing my life."
He hadn't become a father at this stage. "That was part of it," he says. "I had to go and get married." He didn't want to be a pop-star dad. He now has five children with Fawzia Ali. "It was one of our children who prompted Yusuf to go back into music," says Fawzia Ali, no hard-headed woman by any stretch of the imagination.
"He was the key to my return to music in 2000 in Dubai," Yusuf says.
"But you can't be a good Muslim and at the same time be in the middle of all this dirge," he says. "The music business has many corruptive elements." He says he keeps the balance in his life with "charity" and God. Religious faith is such an intimate thing that it is difficult to bring it out into the open. There is no doubt that Yusuf is defined primarily by his relationship with God (followed by the relationship with his wife and children, and then his music).
"The deeper and the higher you go," he says, "the closer you get, because in no way can you reach the perfection of God and in no way can you ever be removed from reality which is right here. God is all pervasive."
In 2006, Yusuf stepped back into the music business albeit under his terms. "I was the old me again -- but without the tinkle dust of stardom, of the music business."
William Butler Yeats has a poem with the line, "I'm looking for the face I had. Before the world was made."
"Absolutely," Yusuf concurs. "And when you rediscover your face you realise you have been scarred, you have been affected, but ultimately, the inner self is still the same as the one you were born with. You just have to get back to that place of trust. Kids have an immense trust."
If anything, Yusuf has that childish quality too. When I ask him about his favourite singers, he sings me some Tom Waits and his wife smiles, clearly in love.
I ask him about favourite films. He turns to Fawzia Ali. The conversation that ensues is beautiful in its unintentional comical simplicity. It also says something very simple about how much they love each other.
Him: "What are the movies I watch again and again?"
Her: "The one with the guy who's on the desert island? Tom Hanks?"
Him: "No, no, that's not it! My wife is slipping!" he laughs. "No, I like that too, but I'm talking about the sea movie with Russell Crowe ... "
Me: "Do you mean Master and Commander?"
Him: "Yes, that's it!"
Me: "Isn't it a bit macho?"
Him: "Yes, I suppose, but I love the music and the violins! It's incredible."
So is Yusuf Islam.
Yusuf Islam plays his first ever Irish date in The O2 tonight. A limited number of tickets are still available.
[independent.ie, 15. 11. 2009]
Yusuf Islam: coming out of the Moonshadows
The artist formerly known as Cat Stevens is embarking on his first tour in 33 years. Bryony Gordon spoke to him about spiritual journeys, broken Britain and how Islam could have averted the financial crisis.
Where to find Yusuf Islam? As it turns out, just to the right of the Big Brother house and then through the doors of a vast, ugly building emblazoned with the words 'GEORGE LUCAS STAGE'. It is here, at a film studio lot in the depths of north London, that the director filmed Star Wars, and it is also here, in this most unlikely of settings, that I meet the artist formerly known as Cat Stevens.
He is a small, unassuming man, a serene man, and so at first it is difficult to pick him out amongst all the hubble-bubble going on. There are PRs, sound men, lighting people, roadies. But where is Yusuf (he has dropped the Islam, just as he dropped the Cat Stevens, just as before that, confusingly, he dropped the Steven Demetre Georgiou on his birth ceritifcate)? He is not in his VW Camper van, parked outside and scattered with all sorts of cushions and candles. He is certainly not in the Big Brother house next door. And then a guitar strums up, we hear the opening lines of 'Lilywhite', and suddenly Yusuf becomes clear.
His is a soft, thoughtful voice, far more affecting than any light sabre battle that may have been filmed here before (I think that even men of a certain age would agree on this point). It is a surprise, frankly, to be hearing it live and in person, because it is 33 years since he last performed. Yet here he is, at the grand old age of 61, rehearsing for a new tour.
In the late Seventies his albums, including Tea for the Tillerman and Teaser and the Firecat, sold millions and millions of copies. He had written songs that would resonate decades later - 'Father and Son', 'The First Cut is the Deepest', 'Peace Train'. He had taken acid with Jimi Hendrix's bass player, Noel Redding, and allegedly had a fling with Carly Simon. Then he nearly drowned, found God and converted to Islam.
Pop stardom not being compatible with his faith, Yusuf quit the music world and devoted himself to charitable causes in the Muslim world. He had an arranged marriage to Fauzia Mubarak Ali, who will later sit in on our interview, and with whom he has five children.
Over the years we did not really hear from Yusuf, unless in matters controversial. He was deported from Israel in 2000 and then, in 2004, from America after his name was found on a no-fly list. Yusuf has since been let in to America; it is thought that he was confused with someone else. You would imagine that all of that furore would have deterred him from returning to the musical fray, but he has since released two well-received folk albums, the latest being Roadsinger, and at the weekend he went back out on tour.
We sit in his dressing room. It is quite flashy and he is not, though his attire does show the coolness of his Seventies heyday - he wears a shawl around his beard, some smart trousers, a grey shirt over a T-shirt, and he has a habit of using the word 'innit?". When I mention this he laughs. "That's the Greek London boy in me coming out, innit?".
So what has changed? He says that he stopped making music "because I was questioning the validity of what I was doing. And then my son bought a guitar into the house in 2001 and suddenly I felt all the creative juices return. The reason I stopped was because I had become dislodged from reality and in a way I had to get back to the place I was when I first picked up the guitar."
He talks about going on spiritual journeys a lot. In his new tour he previews a musical he has written, named after his hit, 'Moonshadow'. His new tour contains a preview of it which received a standing ovation when it premiered in Dublin on Sunday, and he hopes to take it to a West End audience soon (interestingly, he originally wanted to be a composer; he thinks that comes from having grown up on Shaftesbury Avenue, where his parents ran a restaurant).
Anyway, it is about a boy who lives in a world that is permanently dark; said boy goes out on to find a lost world where there is light. Yusuf says that "it is about reflecting as a metaphor my journey of finding myself, which we all have to do". He then launches into an odyssey which is less sprititual, more wearing of the spirit, involving as it does a lot of talk of mirrors, and covering mirrors, and enlightenment, and how knowledge is another form of light, and so on and so on.
All this talk of light leads onto talk of what a dark place the world has become. "Spiritually I would say it's incredibly dark, which is affected by the politics of the day and the economics of the day." He spends a lot of time in Dubai now, partly because it is where his grandchildren live but partly because he feels that Britain has become a negative place. "We call this a developed world. It's developed economically, materially, but there are other places that are far more morally developed, culturally developed..."
I ask him if he despairs of the way that his adopted religion is portrayed in the Western world; does he feel a small minority of extremists have misrepresented his religion? "Generalising is incredibly dangerous," he says, "especially when it comes down to religion and race. When I started studying Islam it was very clear that it's one God, one humanity, one world..."
When he discovered Islam he took its "pure message in the most beautiful kind of unifying way and saw that this was an incredible solution to many of our problems. If people were following an Islamic economic system, we would not be in this situation. Interest is forbidden." He goes on to quote George Bernard Shaw: "If any religion had the chance of ruling over England, nay Europe, within the next hundred years, it could be Islam."
"Now, I'm not saying we are going to Islamicise Britain but I am saying that Britain has a unique chance to adopt all sorts of cultures for the benefit of the islanders who live there."
What, like Sharia law?
"Sharia means road. It means a pathway to the water well..." He goes on to explain its tenets. I ask him if he thinks we could improve as a country through adopting such a system. "You'd have to make your own mind up about that," he says. "Everyone's got a choice to make every time they get up."
We talk a bit about 'broken Britain'. "You've got kids who haven't got parents, or parents who are not there, and so many kids are born out of wedlock, and there's no mother cooking for them because she is maybe at work." Whoa, I say, are women in the workplace not a good thing? "Businesswomen are fine. But they shouldn't be forced to pay for the raising of the family. It's the husband's job. That's the way I see it."
But what if a woman wants a career? "That's alright, yeah, that's fine. But if it starts to damage..." he trails off. "Now you're asking me what's wrong with Britain. I think it's that we lost the balance. Womanhood, manhood... Anyway, I'm here to make music, not to solve the problems of the world."
So we talk about music, and how it has changed since he was last on the scene. "It's much more corporate. They have the marketing plans six months beforehand." And yet he continues to attract new audiences - his singing voice, at least, crosses generations and he recently won new fans when a track of his was used in the television show Skins. "I think kids relate to me because I have some ability to remain a little bit naive. Even during interviews." He stops and lets out a little chuckle. "Mostly during interviews."
[The Telegraph, 16.11.2009]
Cat Stevens fans await their hero's return
London, England (CNN) -- The artist once called Cat Stevens is warming up his vocal cords ahead of his comeback tour following a 33-year break in which he retired from the music scene to embrace Islam and support charitable causes.
The singer, now known as Yusuf, is playing four dates in Britain and the Republic of Ireland from Sunday, but said he hoped to take his unusual concerts to other countries if it's "within my energetic abilities."
"I'm glad to say my voice is still there, for the majority of songs," Yusuf tells CNN. "Certain songs I can't hit that note up there again, but the majority of them I find very easy to sing."
The 61-year-old certainly seems spry and excited as his band rehearses at a cavernous movie studio in north London in advance of the first date in Dublin on Sunday. He even catches one-handed a television light that falls towards him while he conducts a series of media interviews, threatening to call time on the tour before it even starts.
The gigs feature Yusuf playing acoustic guitar accompanied by a band in the first half, followed by a preview of the new musical, "Moonshadow," that the London-born singer has written loosely based on his own early life.
The singer described how he was looking forward to playing the old Cat Stevens hits, such as "Wild World," "Father & Son" and "First Cut is the Deepest," and still related to those he wrote before his conversion to Islam at the height of his fame in 1977. Born Steven Demetre Georgiou, he later adopted the Muslim name Yusuf Islam before auctioning off all his guitars for charity and sensationally abandoning his pop career.
In recent years, Yusuf has appeared more comfortable with life in the spotlight, and released two albums, but there was an air of expectation among fans as they counted off the days until the first concerts. "I had my first twinge of real emotion yesterday when I realized I was going to be seeing you perform for the second time this year after waiting 33 years," one devotee, Jane, told the singer's official Web site. "I can't wait to see you and everyone else next month in London! I just know it will be majik!"
The following is an edited version of Yusuf's interview with CNN:
Why are you going on tour again after all these years?
It's not a matter of needing the money because I'm gonna give most of the money away to charity, that's an important project that I'm trying to support. It's more to do with connecting again with my audience. Having come back and made two records after having been away for many years there's still a disconnection. The best way to get close to them and for them to get close to me a live gig. It's a valuable experience.
Will you be touring in other countries?
We'll see how well this goes. If it goes well and it's within my energetic ability ... we do want to travel it.
Can you tell us about the musical?
It's not quite a mirror of my life. I've taken the liberty of extending it into a fable-like, spiritual story about a boy, who like many boys -- like me -- had a dream of wanting to find something he didn't have. In this world that we've created, it's permanent night time, there's only a moon and there's no days. This boy has dreamed of finding a world where there's sunshine, light and heat. It's kind of like paradise. I've integrated that kind of story in with my songs. A lot of songs are about seeking that place ... an intangible place, which usually are about finding, not the outer world, but the inner world.
What's it like playing the older songs again?
I'm glad to say my voice is still there. Certain songs I can't hit that note up there again, but the majority of them I find very easy to sing.
Are your early songs still relevant to your current thinking?
I still relate to them: a lot of them talk of about experiences that I still feel and I believe. A lot of songs are directly related. Today we're talking about ecology. "Where do the children play?" is an iconic song about we build our cities and how we maintain the balance of nature to allow our children to play, to enjoy life. I grew up the city so I never enjoyed that particular aspect. We had parks but we had to walk a long way to get there on concrete. And "Wild World" ... it's even wilder now than when I wrote it. So I still relate ..."
Does the persona of Cat Stevens feel like a different person to you now?
No, you go through phases. As a child you remember being in shorts but you don't wear those things any more. But you're still you ... you've developed and evolved. I happen to have done a lot of it in public view. I've also taken some gigantic steps which a lot of people haven't also done. So that makes me a little bit of a focus for someone who's lived and who's changed, has adapted and has learnt a lot.
Why did you abandon your pop career in the 1970s?
I tried any times to get out of it. I was hit by a bout of tuberculosis which took me away from the music world that I'd just entered and then things got bigger and more successful. I tried to find out where I really wanted to go at certain points in my life: I studied different spiritual paths; I was a vegetarian and I studied meditation. At certain points I tried to get out of the machine but I didn't really know where I wanted to go. But when I got finally to learn a few things about Islam, to me it was a missing piece of the puzzle. A lot of people overlook it. Perhaps they're looking at the wrong kind of picture of Islam, but they don't see what I see, which is an amazing conversion of what I believed as a Christian, what I read in the Bible, and what I understood about Transcendental Meditation. It all came together in a religion which wasn't really a religion as such, more a spiritual path -- so that made a big impact on me.
How do you keep fresh as a performer?
I keep on doing something different and don't stay in the same place. Right now we're introducing a musical in the middle of my concert and that hasn't been done before. It's exciting and it's great to see.
[CNN, 16.11.2009]
Dublin:
Lilywhite
The Wind
Thinking 'Bout You
Where Do The Children Play
Boots & Sand
Fill My Eyes
Roadsinger
Midday (Avoid City After Dark)
Sitting
I Think I See The Light
[Interval]
"Moonshadow" the Musical - Exclusive Preview
Miles from Nowhere
Don't Be Shy
Glass World
Bad Brakes
Moonshadow
Peace Train
All Kinds of Roses
Lilywhite (2009)
Tuesday's Dead
Father and Son (with Ronan Keating)
Yusuf Islam at the O2 Dublin, review
Islam revived his Cat Stevens' hits and previewed a new musical to mixed reactions.
By Brian Boyd
16 Nov 2009
Gosh, what a show. There was a standing ovation, disgruntled walk outs, some unfeasibly beautiful music, some "we are bored" slow handclapping plus a surprise appearance by Ronan Keating. Yusuf Islam, formerly known as Cat Stevens, must be feeling very confused this morning.
On stage at Dublin's 02 for his first proper series of shows since 1976, Yusuf had to put up with some very churlish and mean-spirited booing from sections of the audience. The huge posters outside read "Yusuf Islam" as did the name on the expensively-priced tickets but about one third of the way through the show, Yusuf decided to present a preview of the forthcoming musical based on his songs. Called "Moonshadow" and due to open in the West End next summer, you would have thought this would have been accepted gratefully as a nice "bonus feature" but the restive audience weren't best pleased.
Featuring a ten strong cast, the actors worked their socks off trying to impress the crowd and while the majority of the audience enjoyed this unexpected offering, loud booing from some sections of the crowd sullied the moment. To be fair, these people had paid to hear Yusuf Islam sing these songs, not a bunch of actors and there were a few angry walk outs. From what we saw of "Moonshadow" though – it looks to be an excellent show in the making.
Picking up in the dissatisfaction in the audience, Yusuf – who is perhaps the most serene frontman around these days – explained that he was merely trying to offer "a show and a half". He then brought his more-than-proficient six piece band back out on to the stage and normal service was resumed. Sounding for all the world like an Essex Willie Nelson, he wrapped that still remarkable vocal around a series of his greatest hits and some newer material. "Moonshadow" and a stomping version of "Peace Train" were real highlights and there was a particular treat for the Dublin audience when Ronan Keating joined him for a duet on "Father and Son" – Boyzone enjoyed a huge hit with an anaemic cover of the song in 1995. It was Keating's first public performance since the death of band mate, Stephen Gatley, who grew up on a street just around the corner from the O2 venue.
As this show goes on to tour the UK, one can only hope that Yusuf retains the "Moonshadow" excerpt as it is a very well-worked (and free) sneak preview of a promising musical. At the end of the show, Yusuf – in a mock melodramatic nod to how another great songwriter once famously upset his audience by offering up something different – wryly said "now I know how Bob Dylan must have felt".
[Telegraph.co.uk]
Don’t expect me to go back to being Cat Stevens
The booing taught me a lesson but at least I’m back
Strange how God’s nature has a way of telling you how things are going to go. Perhaps, if I had understood the message hidden in the
stormy weather forecast on Saturday evening, I might have been better prepared for what happened the next night at the O2 arena in Dublin, when a small section of the audience booed after I left
the stage and presented a section of Moonshadow, the new musical based on my songs.
It was uncanny in more ways than one — not least that the leading figure in Moonshadow is also called Stormy.
It was something I’d never experienced in most of my musical career — apart from Greece in 1976 perhaps, when I stormed off because
of the half-empty halls.
But this time, the hall wasn’t half full — it was brimming with excited fans and music lovers. For me that was the most positive
aspect of the whole event; the real message I gained from the booing was that they missed me being on stage! That’s much easier to take than not buying tickets or booing me off.
So I took the complaints as a compliment, albeit an unnerving one especially for the cast and team who had put their bodies and
souls into Moonshadow. I can only feel sorry for them. They did a great job and 90 per cent of the audience (and some top reviews) recognised that.
Philosophically and educationally I have gained from the experience, as have the public and we can move on to the next gig a bit
more prepared. Clearly, many fans didn’t know much about the Moonshadow section — and some thought that I wasn’t coming back on. That can easily be fixed with a free programme and me telling the
audience what’s going to happen. Perhaps a shorter segment of the musical will help to tighten things up, and we’re already working on that.
Nevertheless, for those who believe that 33 years out of the spotlight doesn’t change anything, it must be a wake-up call. I didn’t
go through my life, altering my pattern of behaviour, building my faith and getting close to Divine consciousness without making serious changes to how I do things.
My voice doesn’t seem to have altered, which, for many fans, is a godsend. But not to expect me to sing my favourite new songs from
two carefully and thoughtfully created albums, but to demand a “Beam me up, Scotty” return to the Cat Stevens persona of yesterday is more than any amount of imagination can hope
for.
If the advertising was in any way sending out a different message, I can only apologise — but my name, “YUSUF”, can’t practically be
printed any bigger. Hey, I’m back. And as I said in Dublin: “I didn’t leave you ... so don’t leave me.”
[Timesonline.co.uk/ 19.11.09]
Birmingham:
Lilywhite
The Wind
Where Do The Children Play
Thinkin’ ‘Bout You
Boots And Sand
Welcome Home
Oh Very Young
Bad Brakes
Wild World
Roadsinger
Morning Has Broken
I Think I See The Light
(Crate Moment / Story About Tillerman)
Miles From Nowhere
Don’t Be Shy
Glass World
Moonshadow
Peace Train
(Encore)
Sitting
All Kinds Of Roses
Tuesday’s Dead
(Encore 2)
Father And Son
Star’s glorious return as Cat is back
Yusuf Islam (Cat Stevens)
NIA, Birmingham
Concert review by Phil Gillam
There had been a little unpleasantness at the Dublin gig last week when a silly and rowdy minority had fleetingly threatened to derail Yusuf Islam’s big comeback tour by shouting obscenities and showing their childish impatience with anything other than the classic hits.
It’s thought that the individuals concerned might have been hitting the Guinness prior to the show.
But Yusuf Islam (Cat Stevens) was back on track in glorious fashion last night with a magical performance which served to remind us just what a wonderful artist we have been missing for the last 33 years – because that’s how long it is since the man turned his back on the music business and decided instead to devote himself to teaching and spreading the word of Islam.
Well, with no disrespect to the man’s other great passions, it is great to have him back on stage, singing and playing once more.
The evening began with Yusuf introducing a 25-minute showcase of his new musical, Moonshadow – destined to become a West End hit if this talented cast’s presentation is anything to go by.
Then we had the concert proper and saw a re-energised Yusuf run through a thrilling and heart-warming mix of much-loved vintage tracks alongside the new stuff – and it was good to see that the recent compositions often shone just as brightly as the old gems. From the tenderness of Morning Has Broken and Where Do The Children Play? to the irresistible rhythms of Tuesday’s Dead and Peace Train, this was an inspiring performance.
As the evening drew to a close, I looked around and saw that many in the audience were smiling with genuine affection for this man, and I realised also that I too had been smiling to myself throughout the entire concert – and if that is not a recommendation for a show, I don’t know what is.
Make no mistake. Cat is back.
[expressandstar.com/ 24.11.09]
Liverpool:
Review: Yusuf Islam, Liverpool Echo Arena
by Jade Wright
WHAT is it they say about all good things to those who wait?
Well, in Yusuf's case, that was certainly true.
The show was billed as the I Guess I'll Take My Time tour, and it certainly lived up to its name.
The artist formerly known as Cat Stevens hadn't toured in 33 years.
But, as he proved in spectacular style, he's lost none of his stage presence.
The support slot was given over to a 30-minute preview of his forthcoming West End musical, Moonshadow.
It sees his famous songs slotted into the story of a boy achieving his dreams.
As musicals go, it was all perfectly pleasant, but to see those fantastic songs sung in Broadway style actors while Yusuf sat on the side of the stage was clearly torture for the fans who were desperate to see the man himself play those famous tunes.
Thankfully, after an interval, he obliged.
In a greatest hits set, he mixed the old with the new. “Bear with me, I want to play some of the new songs I've written, but I'll also do the ones you all want to hear,” he explained, brokering a deal with the crowd.
After the beautiful Thinking 'Bout You and Welcome Home, both from new album Roadsinger, he powered through Lilywhite, Oh Very Young, Sitting, Fill My Eyes, Midday (Avoid City After Dark) and Don't Be Shy.
A definite highlight came in the shape of Boots and Sand, the he and Paul McCartney worked on with Dolly Parton.
In between songs he stopped to chat with the crowd, bringing in everything from the climate change talks in Copenhagen to ordering poached eggs on toast in a Liverpool cafe.
At one point he stopped for a break at the side of the stage, chatting while he made and drank a cup of tea.
For a man who has been away from the stage for three decades, he seems remarkably at home on it, making the 10,000 seat Arena feel as intimate and relaxed as a community centre.
And, ever true to his word, he kept his part of the deal, bringing out the big guns Where Do the Children Play?
And Wild World from 1970's Tea for the Tillerman – and from the fantastic Teaser and the Firecat album - Morning Has Broken, Moonshadow and Peace Train.
The 61-year-old was in fine voice as he played two encores – The Long and Winding Road in tribute to The Beatles and then Father and Son - prompting an enthusiastic audience member to shout “Go on there, Cat la”.
Cat, or Yusuf as he is now known, lapped up every word, laughing with the crowd like he was with old friends. “I love you,” he shouted.
Liverpool loved him too.
Just don't leave it so long next time...
[Liverpool Daily Post.co.uk/ 07.12.09]
London:
Lillywhite
The Wind
Where Do The Children Play
Thinkin' Bout You
Boots And Sand
Maybe There's A World
Oh Very Young
Sitting
In This Glass World
Bad Brakes
Miles From Nowhere
Fill My Eyes
Roadsinger
Morning Has Broken
Midday
I Think I See The Light
Dont Be Shy
Wild World
Peace Train Blues followed by Peace Train
(1st Encore)
All Kinds Of Roses
Moon Shadow
I Love My Dog
Here Comes My Baby
First Cut Is The Deepest
Tuesday's Dead
(2nd Encore)
Father And Son
Yusuf, Royal Albert Hall, London
Back on stage and still top Cat
Towards the end of his performance, Yusuf smiles and turns round to his right-hand man, guitarist Alun Davies, recalling an earlier visit to the Royal Albert Hall. "When was it – 1974? – with all the fog, when we last played here?" he asks, and learning it was '72, explains to us that on that night, the fog had been so thick he worried that nobody would be able to make it to the show. But when the Cat stepped out on stage, the place was packed. "That was a great night," he muses. "But this one might be better."
Tonight, it's not the fog but London's tortuous, knotted traffic that poses problems for punters, and I'm not the only one to miss the "bonus 25 minute showcase" of Yusuf's new musical Moonshadow. But by the time the man himself strolls out, strumming the intro to "Lilywhite", the place is once again packed with fans who, this time, have each paid up to £100 to see him play. The revenues, he tells us, will go towards setting up one of his MAQAM centres, designed to promote the recognition that ultimately, "we all believe the same things". And certainly, everyone in the Albert Hall could agree on one tenet at least, which is that Yusuf seems like a thoroughly nice bloke, the kind of Muslim you could take home to meet your mum and the Pope.
For a while, I wasn't so sure – there was a touch of smugness about his introduction to "Where Do the Children Play?", which he links to the Copenhagen Conference, hoping that the politicians "get the message – they should have by now, I sang about it 30 years ago." And the bit when Yusuf takes a break to have a cup of tea, sitting on a packing crate to tell a Tillerman tale, the moral of which seems to be that we should empty our minds of opinions in order that someone else can fill them up with other opinions, does rather resemble the teapot calling the kettle opinionated. But despite these misgivings, and despite his career-long leaning towards tweeness, it's ultimately impossible to dislike a performer as genial and engaging as Yusuf.
Most pop stars, particularly in this age of computer-slick stage presentation, would regard his frequent fumblings with his guitars – forgetting where the capo goes for a certain song, struggling to get back in tune, etc – as shamefully unprofessional, but for Yusuf they have become an endearing aspect of his character, an implicit acknowledgement of the many years his fingers spent estranged from strings and frets. But the minutes spent tuning are well worth the wait, as the rich, resonant interplay between the guitars of Yusuf, Alun Davies and Eric Appapoulay rolls back the years in songs such as "The Wind" and "Where Do the Children Play?".
Eight songs into the set, the backdrop rolls up to reveal a further trio of keyboard and percussion players, who bring an extra punch to the show, adding garage-rock organ on "I Think I See the Light" and harmonica parts played through a sampling keyboard on "Bad Brakes". But it's ultimately the songs themselves that are the key to Stevens/Cat/Yusuf's enduring appeal, songs which at their best – notably "Wild World" and "Peace Train" – ingeniously profess liberal political sentiments with such subtle power that they can get respectable, middle-aged matrons up on their feet, punching their fists in the air.
Tonight, these cornerstones of Yusuf's canon are prefaced respectively with a new Zulu verse and a brief blues variation, perhaps his way of coming to terms with the past on which he turned his back for so long; though that didn't seem a pressing concern when, buoyed by the acclaim for the climactic "Moonshadow", he responded to a fan's hopeful request by singing a joyous medley of "I Love My Dog", "Here Comes My Baby" and "The First Cut is the Deepest", songs which have probably lain dormant for upwards of three decades. Yusuf may well have pondered, as he sipped his post-gig cuppa, the lines he wrote back in 1972: "You're gonna wind up where you started from".
[Independent.co.uk/ 14.12.09]
For one of music's most extraordinary artists,
the journey continues.
