Tea for the Tillerman

Yusuf/Cat Stevens | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 25, 1990)
• Original Release Date: 1984
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: A&M
• ASIN: B000002GFU
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (29 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #79,983 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Where Do the Children Play?

2. Hard Headed Woman

3. Wild World

4. Sad Lisa

5. Miles From Nowhere

6. But I Might Die Tonight

7. Longer Boats

8. Into White

9. On the Road to Find Out

10. Father and Son

11. Tea for the Tillerman

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Cat Stevens tends to be lumped in with the early-'70s singer-songwriter school led by James Taylor and Carole King, but he actually fits in rather neatly with such wistful English contemporaries as Nick Drake, Syd Barrett, and Donovan. Tea for the Tillerman's "Wild World," "Into White," and "Longer Boats" indicate that he may have been a more gifted tunesmith than the lot of them. As with the best of the Brit folk-rockers, Stevens mixed melancholy with whimsy. Yes, he was prone to airy platitudes, but when he harnessed his eccentricities, as he did throughout this 1970 masterwork, you had something truly distinctive. Stevens's greatest drawback was that he was a natural cult artist, à la Tim Buckley and Leonard Cohen. But that's a tough role to play when you're selling 25 million records, as Stevens did before he changed his name to Yusef Islam, established an Islamic school, and raised a ruckus by supporting Ayatollah Khomeini's death decree against author Salman Rushdie. But that's another story. --Steven Stolder

Product Description

Vinyl pressing of the album, Tea For The Tillerman, is one of Cat Stevens's finest albums, and a gem in the crown of early 1970s singer/songwriterdom. Apart from the occasional string section, Stevens is accompanied only by a three-piece band as he sings his introspective lyrics with appreciable fervor. There are some relatively conventional love songs here, "Hard Headed Woman" and "Wild World". The song "Father and Son" is a poignant but realistic and unsentimental portrait of the generation gap, capable of reducing any given Dad or junior to tears. "On the Road to Find Out" and "But I Might Die Tonight" reflect Stevens's existential dilemmas, and the resulting spiritual quest that would later lead him to embrace the Islamic faith. The graceful beauty of arrangements, performances, and songs makes this album a folk-rock classic. --This text refers to the Vinyl edition.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Transcendent and Timeless, December 10, 2002

By 

loce_the_wizard "loce_the_wizard" (Lilburn, GA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Tea for the Tillerman (Audio CD)

"Tea for the Tillerman" still beckons to be heard, a rare feat for any popular recording that has aged beyond 30 years. Cat Stevens completely transcends the self-conscious trappings that plague many musicians and delivers a sparkling testimony about the life of a seeker.

Though undercurrents of melancholy run through many songs, Mr. Stevens does not give in to sadness and depression. Instead, the theme of love lost in the classic Wild World absolves his lost lover and warns her about the ways of the world. He confronts dying with an unflinching resolve in But I Might Die Tonight and appeals to the ideas of Zen in the muscular, celebratory Miles from Nowhere. Mr. Stevens raises the eco-flag in Where Do the Children Play, which still sounds relevant despite a few archaic (at least to current American sensibilities) words such as "lorry."

He visits the quest motif more than once---perhaps an indication of his own state of mind at that time---in the jaunty On the Road to Findout and the plaintive dialogue that captures the essence of the generation gap in Father and Son. In Sad Lisa, he confronts a quest of a different sort, chronicling the narrator's efforts to deal with some form of mental illness, though it's not entirely clear if Lisa is real or an apparition only the narrator can see.

Mr. Stevens also delves into the possibly related themes of contacts with UFOs in the metaphorical Longer Boats and experimentation with psychotropic drugs as he catalogs images and experiences that merge Into White.

The stellar band that supply the musical textures here are in fine form, especially second guitarist Alun Davies, long the unsung hero on the best of Cat Steven's recordings. Mr. Stevens and Mr. Davies interweave melodies and ideas so seamlessly that it's almost impossible to separate one from the other. The rhythm section here ranges, whether nearly muted or unleashing torrents of energy, never intrudes but always anchors the songs. The strings on "Tea for the Tillerman" sparkle like moonlight on the ocean, offering subtle relief and counterpoint without choking out the music as they do on some of Mr. Steven's later recordings.

Mr. Stevens made many excellent recordings, some good ones, and one transcendent one, "Tea for Tillerman." I hope that he has found the peace he sought and am thankful for this gift he left us before entering the life of contemplation and devotion that beckoned him.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Perfect Album?, March 8, 2000

By 

Phil Stephens (Suzhou, China) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Tea for the Tillerman (Audio CD)

This is one of the few albums I've ever owned that does not have at least one weak track- this is truly a collection of gems.

It's Stevens at his best, predating the self-consciousness that perhaps shaped some later offerings. Gentle but never sappy, easy to listen to but never the dreaded "Easy Listening." The intelligently constructed songs and eloquent, spiritually-tinged lyrics are the perfect vehicle for Stevens' soft-spoken delivery.

"Into White" has always been a favorite, but there is not a song on here that is not remarkable. If you only own one Cat Stevens album, take this over a "greatest hits" collection anyday.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I wish Yusuf all the best, he has given me much!, January 22, 2000

By 

Michael G McGauley - See all my reviews

This review is from: Tea for the Tillerman (Audio CD)

You've probably heard the songs "Hard Headed Woman," "Wild World" and "Father and Son" and if you like these songs, be prepared for even more inside this awesome CD. Cat Steven's music is best-defined as folk music, but Yusuf (that's his name now) has a gift for creating much deeper emotions from his music. I thought maybe it was just me, but I know a lot of other people who feel deeply moved by his works. Although it has been a while, I remember listening to Cat Stevens underwater onboard a dreary U.S. Navy submarine. It was the only thing that kept me sane. Although two other Cat Stevens CDs (Teaser and the Firecat and Footsteps in the Dark) are about as good as "Tea for the Tillerman," this CD stands out as my favorite. If you come to love Cat Stevens as much as I do, I highly recommend watching "Harold and Maude," a perfect blend of Cat Stevens music to a great movie.

To differentiate the truly great CDs, I have only given 15 CDs a 5-star rating. Click on my name above to see them. Maybe your musical taste is similar to mine and I can lead you to other awesome music.