CAT STEVENS Debut Album

Original released on LP Deram DML 1004

(UK 1967, March 10)

Cat Stevens' "Matthew & Son" was among the handful of releases that introduced Decca Records' "offbeat"-oriented (but ultimately largely psychedelic/progressive) Deram label in England. Actually, Stevens' "I Love My Dog" launched the label in fine style by climbing to number 27 on the U.K. charts, and its follow-up, "Matthew & Son," hit number two, resulting in the release of the original album of the same name. The latter was not only a fine account of Stevens' early folk-influenced pop/rock sound, but was also a beautiful, candid audio "snapshot" of one side of Swinging London's musical ambience in late 1966 and early 1967. It melds tinkling harpsichords ("Matthew & Son") and moderately ambitious orchestrations (mostly horns and strings) on some songs ("I Love My Dog") with folky acoustic guitar on others ("Portabello Road"), a lot of it carrying highly expressive, weirdly personal lyrics. Though it was like pulling teeth to get some of those early records out from Decca, this album sounds today like the record that should have accompanied the American version of the Beatles' "Rubber Soul" onto millions of turntables. It's very distant from the sound that Stevens was ultimately known for, and in many ways, it's more dated than what he did for Island/A&M, but it's much more self-consciously accessible, arranged in different styles, ranging from vaudeville-style band accompaniment ("I See a Road") to trippy Donovan-esque ballads ("Baby Get Your Head Screwed On," "When I Speak to the Flowers," "Hummingbird"). Some of it, such as the sax-driven "Come on and Dance," is a little awkward as efforts at a soul sound, but all of it is fun, even the slightly too Engelbert Humperdinck-esque "Lady." (Bruce Eder in AllMusic)

DISCOGRAPHY
(Born July 21, 1948, London, United Kingdom)

1966-09-30 Sg (UK Deram DM 102): A. I Love My Dog; B. Portobello Road

1966-12 Sg (UK Deram DM 110): A. Mathew & Son; B. Granny

1967-03-10 LP MATTHEW & SON (UK Deram DML 1004): A1. Matthew & Son; A2. I Love My Dog; A3. Here Comes My Baby; A4. Bring Another Bottle Baby; A5. Portobello Road; A6. I’ve Found a Love; A7. I See a Road; B1. Baby Get Your Head Screwed On; B2. Granny; B3. When I Speak to the Flowers; B4. The Tramp; B5. Come on and Dance; B6. Hummingbird; B7. Lady

1967-03-24 Sg (UK Deram DM 118): A. I’m Gonna Get Me a Gun; B. School Is Out

1967-07-28 Sg (UK Deram DM 140): A. A Bad Night; B. The Laughing Apple

1967-12-01 Sg (UK Deram DM 156): A. Kitty; B. Blackness of the Night

1967-12 LP NEW MASTERS (UK Deram DML 1018): A1. Kitty; A2. I’m So Sleepy; A3. Northern Wind; A4. The Laughing Apple; A5. Smash Your Heart; A6. Moonstone; B1. The First Cut Is the Deepest; B2. I’m Gonna Be King; B3. Ceylon City; B4. Blackness of the Night; B5. Come On Baby (Shift That Log); B6. I Love Them All

1968-02-23 Sg (UK Deram DM 178): A. Lovely City (When Do You Laugh?); B. Image of Hell

1968-10-18 Sg (UK Deram DM 211): A. Here Comes My Wife; B. It’s a Super (Dupa) Life

1969-06-13 Sg (UK Deram DM 260): A. Where Are You; B. The View From the Top

1970-04-24 LP MONA BONE JAKON (UK Island ILPS 9118): A1. Lady D’Arbanville; A2. Maybe You’re Right; A3. Pop Star; A4. I Think I See the Light; A5. Trouble; B1. Mona Bone Jakon; B2. I Wish, I Wish; B3. Katmandu; B4. Time; B5. Fill My Eyes; B6. Lilywhite

1970-09 Sg (UK Island WIP 6092): A. Moon Shadow; B. Father and Son

1970-11-23 LP TEA FOR THE TILLERMAN (UK Island ILPS 9135): A1. Where Do the Children Play?; A2. Hard Headed Woman; A3. Wild World; A4. Sad Lisa; A5. Miles From Nowhere; B1. But I Might Die Tonight; B2. Longer Boats; B3. Into White; B4. On the Road to Find Out; B5. Father and Son; B6. Tea for the Tillerman

1971-09 LP TEASER AND THE FIRECAT (UK Island ILPS 9154): A1. The Wind; A2. Rubylove; A3. If I Laugh; A4. Changes IV; A5. How Can I Tell You; B1. Tuesday’s Dead; B2. Morning Has Broken; B3. Bitterblue; B4. Moonshadow; B5. Peace Train

1971-12 Sg (UK Island WIP 6121): A. Morning Has Broken; BI Want to Live in a Wigman

1972-09-27 LP CATCH BULL AT FOUR (UK Island ILPS 9206): A1. Sitting; A2. Boy With a Moon & Star on His Head; A3. Angelsea; A4. Silent Sunlight; A5. Can’t Keep It In; B1. 18^th Avenue; B2. Freezing Steel; B3. O Caritas; B4. Sweet Scarlet; B5. Ruins

1972-11-17 Sg (UK Island WIP 6152): A. Can’t Keep It In; B. Crab Dance

1973-06 Sg (UK Island WIP 6163): A. The Hurt; B. Silent Sunlight

1973-07 LP FOREIGNER (UK Island ILPS 9240): A. Foreigner Suite; B1. The Hurt; B2. How Many Times; B3. Later; B4. 100 I Dream

1974-03-19 LP BUDDHA AND THE CHOCOLATE BOX (UK Island ILPS 9274): A1. Music; A2. Oh Very Young; A3. Sun/C79; A4. Ghost Town; A5. Jesus; B1. Ready; B2. King of Trees; B3. A Bad Penny; B4. Home in the Sky

1974-11-08 LP SATURNIGHT (LIVE) (JAP A&M GP-228): A1. Wild World; A2. Oh Very Young; A3. Sitting; A4. Where Do the Children Play?; A5. Lady D’Arbanville; A6. Another Saturday Night; B1. Hard Headed Woman; B2. Peace Train; B3. Father and Son; B4. King of Trees; B5. A Bad Penny; B6. Bitterblue

1974-12 Sg A. Ready; B. I Think I See the Light

1975-05 Sg (UK Island WIP 6238): A. Two Fine People; B. A Bad Penny

1975-11 LP NUMBERS (UK Island ILPS 9370): A1. Whistlestar; A2. Novim’s Nightmare; A3. Majik of Majiks; A4. Drywood; B1. Banapple Gas; B2. Land o’ Free Love & Goodbye; B3. Jzero; B4. Home; B5. Monad’s Anthem

1976-01 Sg (UK Island WIP 6276): A. Banapple Gas; B. Ghost Town

1977-03 Sg (GER Island 17.920 AT): A. (I Never Wanted) To Be a Star; B. The Doves

1977-04 LP IZITSO (UK Island ILPS 9451): A1. (Remember the Days of the) Old Schoolyard; A2. Life; A3. Killin’ Time; A4. Kypros; A5. Bonfire; B1. (I Never Wanted) To Be a Star; B2. Crazy; B3. Sweet Jamaica; B4. Was Dog a Doughnut?; B5. Child for a Day

1978-12-03 LP BACK TO EARTH (US A&M SP-4735): A1. Just Another Night; A2. Daytime; A3. Bad Brakes; A4. Randy; A5. The Artist; B1. Last Love Song; B2. Nascimento; B3. Father; B4. New York Times; B5. Never

2005-03-22 CD MAJIKAT (EARTH TOUR 1976) (US Eagle ER 20041-2): 1. Wild World; 2. The Wind; 3. Moonshadow; 4. Where Do the Children Play? 5. Another Saturday Night; 6. Hard Headed Woman; 7. King of Trees; 8. C79; 9. Lady D’Arbanville; 10. Banapple Gas; 11. Majik of Majiks; 12. Tuesday’s Dead; 13. Oh Very Young; 14. How Can I Tell You; 15. The Hurt; 16. Sad Lisa; 17. Two Fine People; 18. Fill My Eyes; 19. Father & Son; 20. Peace Train

2007 LP HAROLD AND MAUDE (special collector’s edition) (Vinyl Films VFR-2007-3): A1. Don’t Be Shy; A2. On the Road to Find Out; A3. I Wish, I Wish; A4. Miles From Nowhere; A5. Tea for the Tillerman; A6. I Think I See the Light; B1. Where Do the Children Play?; B2. If You Want to Sing Out, Sing Out; B3. If You Want to Sing Out, Sing Out (banjo instrumental); B4. Trouble; B5. Don’t Be Shy (alternate version); B6. If You Want to Sing Out, Sing Out (instrumental version)