Yusuf / Cat Stevens - Teaser & The Firecat [2CD]

UMC/Island

£15.68

Format: 2 x CD
Catalogue No.: 3551312
Barcode: 06024 35513126
Release Date: 12 Nov 2021
Genre: Folk Rock

1971: a year that witnessed the release of some of the greatest albums of all time, including The Rolling Stones’ Sticky Fingers, Carole King’s Tapestry, Marvin Gaye’s What’s Going On, Led Zeppelin IV, and John Lennon’s Imagine, to name but a few. But there was one more classic to come in November of that year – Cat Stevens’ Teaser and the Firecat.

Stevens’ third LP on Island Records, and his third in 18 months, the album built on the extreme success of Tea for the Tillerman, and yielded some of his greatest songs including “The Wind”, “Moonshadow”, “Peace Train”, and “Morning Has Broken”.

To mark the 50th anniversary of this landmark record, on 12th November 2021 Universal Music Catalogue / Island Records will issue a multi-format release suite, including a very special 4CD/BD/2LP/7” Super Deluxe Edition in a clamshell box with a 108 page 12” essay book and a 44 page Teaser and the Firecat illustration book, a 4CD/BD Super Deluxe Edition in a rigid slipcase with a 108 page 12” essay book, as well as a 2CD Deluxe Edition, and 1CD and 1LP Remastered albums.

The Super Deluxe Edition 4CD/BD/2LP/7” set is the most in-depth and definitive version of Teaser and the Firecat possible. CD1 features the brand new 50th Anniversary Remaster of the album, with audio from the original Island UK stereo master tape prepared by Yusuf and his engineer David Hefti, and remastered at Abbey Road Studios and overseen by album producer Paul Samwell-Smith.

CD2, Demos, Alternate Versions, Bonus Tracks – with early demos; previously unreleased alternate mixes; a rehearsal recording for the 1975/76 Majikat tour; a rendition of “The Wind” recorded during global pandemic lockdown in the summer of 2020; and finally a brand new 2021 recording of “Bitterblue”.

CD3, Live On Air, UK, 1971 – features 20 live performances for two of the UK’s major radio and television broadcasters of the day: the BBC; and Yorkshire Television. With six BBC Radio sessions (8th November 1970, and 23rd March 1971), the entire “Out Front: Cat Stevens And Friends” television broadcast on Yorkshire Television (7th September 1971), and two additional BBC TV broadcasts (The Old Grey Whistle Test from 5th October 1971, and “Cat Stevens In Concert” from 27th November 1971).

CD4, Live In Montreux – features a full previously unreleased live show recorded in Montreux, Switzerland, on 2nd May 1971. With 12 live tracks in all, the performance show Cat and band at their electrifying best.

Blu-ray – features the brand new 50th Anniversary Remaster of Teaser and the Firecat in 24bit/48kHz HD audio, as well as over 80 minutes of video, including a 2020 performance of “The Wind”, the 1977 animated video for “Moonshadow”, and 21 live TV performances.

LP1, Teaser and the Firecat (Alternate Versions) – presents an alternative version of the complete album, made up of studio demos, alternate mixes, and 1975 tour rehearsals. This LP is completely exclusive to the Super Deluxe Edition.

LP2, Live 1971 – features five live performances from Montreux on Side 1, and six live BBC recordings on Side 2. This LP is completely exclusive to the Super Deluxe Edition.

7” Single, Moonshadow – featuring the 50th Anniversary Remaster of “Moonshadow” on Side A, and on Side B, the previously unreleased Spike Milligan “Moonshadow” narration of from the 1977 Teaser and the Firecat animated video. This single is completely exclusive to the Super Deluxe Edition.

2CD Deluxe Edition

Yusuf / Cat Stevens celebrates 1971’s landmark album with this expanded 2CD 50th anniversary set. Includes a 50th Anniversary Remaster of the original album on CD1 and rare and previously unreleased live, demos, TV / radio sessions and B-sides on CD2. The 50th Anniversary remaster was completed at Abbey Road Studios, and was overseen by original album producer, Paul Samwell-Smith. Also includes 32-page booklet with lyrics, illustrations and track annotations.

Tracklist:
Disc 1
The Wind
Rubylove
If I Laugh
Changes IV
How Can I Tell You
Tuesday's Dead
Morning Has Broken
Bitterblue
Moonshadow
Peace Train
Disc 2
The Wind (Dubville Sessions 2020)
Rubylove (Studio demo)
If I Laugh (The Old Grey Whistle Test, BBC TV, 5th October 1971)
Changes IV (Studio demo)
How Can I Tell You (Studio demo)
Tuesday's Dead (BBC Radio Session, 23rd March 1971)
Morning Has Broken (Basing Street Rehearsal, 1975)
Bitterblue² (Reimagined 2021)
Moonshadow (Olympic studio demo, 1970)
1Peace Train (Extended String Mix, 1971)
The Day They Make Me Tsar (Studio Demo)
I Want To Live In A Wigwam (Morning Has Broken B-side)