Cat Stevens - Tea for the Tillerman

It’s kind of tough for me to describe Cat Stevens to someone; he kind of has his own aura of quiet happiness. The sort of guy who’s not really in a rush and never says a word unless he really has something to say. This is something of a short record, clocking in at just under thirty seven minutes, but little of it is wasted and nearly every second has a defined role in the scope of the album.

The album is essentially the kind of folk rock that was very common throughout the early sixties, but compared with say The Times They Are A-Changin’ the themes are a lot more personal than political. I prefer the sparser tracks as opposed to the more populated ones, Longer Boats is kind of goofy, and Sad Lisa would have been more effective without the violins. 

As far as CD versions go, the remaster I have is the one before the deluxe edition. The original release is the best one around, and shouldn’t be too hard to come across.