[Review] Cat Stevens: Tea for the Tillerman (1970)

An album that washes away the world’s ugliness, leaving a rainbow.

Kronomyth 4.0: Wise beyond his ears.

Today, I’m putting on the tinfoil hat and telling you that music is controlled by muses. Not muses in the classic Greco-Roman sense, which would require the full tinfoil accoutrement, but muses in the sense of supernatural inspiration. When the muse departs (flitting as it does between bands like a bee among flowers), what you’re left with is human beings trying to re-create that divine inspiration. Thus explained the difference between a Close to the Edge and Tales from Topographic Oceans or here, between the divinely inspired Tea for the Tillerman and Teaser and the Firecat and the flatly terrestrial Foreigner. That’s not to take anything away from the composers; it’s more a question of their being tuned to the muses. When they’re in tune, you get a Tea for the Tillerman. When they’re out of tune, Tales from Topographic Oceans (while noting that album does seem to go in and out of tune). Tea for the Tillerman is a tonic for the soul served with a slice of heaven. The message is almost Christ-like: wise yet innocent (Wild World), careful not to break a bruised reed (Sad Lisa), a lover of children (Where Do the Children Play?), seeking a spiritual communion in marriage (Hard Headed Woman), and wise in advice (Father to Son). The melodies, while gentle, are inventive, the vocals sung with the smoky warmth of experience and understanding. Though not traditionally associated with progressive rock, Cat Stevens here strikes upon a sound that is very similar to the acoustic side of both Traffic (Into White) and Jethro Tull. Some of this was evident on the earlier Mona Bone Jakon, but to say those ideas blossomed on Tea for the Tillerman would be an understatement. Definitely one for the bunker, since sand and sun aren’t very good for vinyl.

Original elpee version

A1. Where Do the Children Play? (3:48)
A2. Hard Headed Woman (3:42)
A3. Wild World (3:15)
A4. Sad Lisa (3:39)
A5. Miles from Nowhere (3:30)
B1. But I Might Die Tonight (1:51)
B2. Longer Boats (3:07)
B3. Into White (3:23)
B4. On the Road to Find Out (5:07)
B5. Father and Son (3:36)
B6. Tea for the Tillerman (1:00)

All songs by Cat Stevens.

Original 8-track version
A1. Miles from Nowhere
A2. On the Road to Find Out
A3. But I Might Die Tonight
B1. Longer Boats
B2. Sad Lisa
B3. Father and Son
C1. Hard Headed Woman
C2. Wild Wold
C3. Into White
D1. Where Do the Children Play
D2. But I Might Die Tonight
D3. Sad Lisa
D4. Tea for the Tillerman

The Players

Cat Stevens (vocals, guitar, keyboards), Harvey Burns (drums), Alun Davis (2^nd guitar), John Ryan (bass) with Del Newman (string arrangements), John Rostein (solo violin). Produced by Paul Samwell-Smith.

The Pictures

Front illustration by Cat Stevens. Photograph by Shep.

The Plastic

Released on elpee, cassette and 8-track on November 23, 1970 in the UK (Island, ILPS/ZCI/Y8I-9135), the US and Canada (A&M, SP/CS/8T-4280), Australia and New Zealand (Island, SIL934028), France (Island, 6405 008), Germany and the Netherlands (Island, 85678XOT/IT) and in 1971 in Brazil (Island, 410000) with gatefold cover. Reached #20 on the UK charts and #8 on the US charts (RIAA-certified 3x platinum record).

1. Re-released on elpee in Australia (Island, L34028).
2. Re-issued on elpee in 1977 in Mexico (Island, LA-013) with gatefold cover.
3. Re-released on elpee in January 1978 in the UK (Island, ILPM-9135).
4. Re-issued on elpee and quadraphonic elpee in 1984 in the US (Mobile Fidelity, MFSL/MFQR-1-035).
5. Re-issued on elpee and cassette in the US (A&M, SP/CS-4280).
6. Re-released on elpee in 1986 in Brazil (Island, 7647186).
7. Re-issued on compact disc in 1990 in the US (Mobile Fidelity, UDCD-519).
8. Re-issued on remastered 180g vinyl elpee in Germany and the Netherlands (Island, 842 352).
9. Re-issued on remastered compact disc in May 2000 in the US (Island, 546 884) and in 2000 in the UK (Island, IMCD 268).