CAT STEVENS - The Early Broadcasts

RARE RADIO & TV SESSIONS FROM CAT STEVENS FROM 1970 & 1971 Born Steven Georgiou on 21 July 1948 in London, the man who became world famous as Cat Stevens was the youngest child of a Greek Cypriot father and a Swedish mother. At age 15, inspired by the popularity of the Beatles, the young aspirant became interested in playing guitar. He soon discovered he had some talent as a songwriter, after listening to songs and albums by Bob Dylan, Nina Simone, blues artists Lead Belly and Muddy Waters, Biff Rose Leo Kottke and Paul Simon. He also sought to emulate composers of musicals, like Ira Gershwin and Leonard Bernstein. In 1965 he signed a publishing deal with Ardmore & Beechwood and recorded several demos, including The First Cut Is the Deepest . In 1966, at age 18, he was heard by manager/producer Mike Hurst, who arranged for him to record a demo and helped him get a record deal. Stevens' first few singles were hits: I Love My Dog reached number 28 on the UK Chart, and Matthew and Son , the title song from his debut album, and rose to number 2. His second LP, New Masters, failed to chart in the United Kingdom, but remains notable for his song The First Cut Is the Deepest , which he sold for £30 to P. P. Arnold. The song became a massive hit for her, and later for a number of others. Steven s third album Mona Bone Jakon, a folk rock based set for Island Records, with whom he signed in 1970, featured the hit single Lady D Arbanville , and a few months later he released his breakthrough record, Tea For The Tillerman, which featured classic like Wild World and Father And Son . Now hugely popular across Europe and in the USA, Stevens performed a number of sessions for TV and Radio at this time. Three such performances feature on this CD, with a 1970 show for French TV in 1970, one in the US in June 1970, and another in the UK in November 1971, shortly after the release of Stevens fourth record, Teaser & The Firecat.