''Tea for the Tillerman'' is the fourth studio album by singer-songwriter

Cat Stevens Yusuf Islam (born Steven Demetre Georgiou; ), commonly known by his stage names Cat Stevens, Yusuf, and Yusuf / Cat Stevens, is a British singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. His musical style consists of folk, pop, rock, and, later in ...

, released in November 1970.

Overview

Stevens' second album released during the year 1970, ''Tea for the Tillerman'' includes many of his best-known songs such as "

Where Do the Children Play? "Where Do the Children Play?" is a song by British folk rock musician Cat Stevens, released as the opening track on his November 1970 album ''Tea for the Tillerman''. In 2017, Garbage recorded a cover of the song for United Nations The ...

", "Hard Headed Woman", " Wild World", "Sad Lisa", "Into White", and " Father and Son". Stevens, a former art student, created the artwork featured on the record's cover. With "Wild World" as an advance single, this was the album that brought Stevens worldwide fame. The album itself charted into the top 10 in the United States. In November 2008, a "Deluxe Edition" was released featuring a second disc of demos and live recordings. In January 2012, a hi-res 24/192 kHz version was remastered using an Ampex ATR100 and a MSB Technology Studio ADC and released on HDtracks.com. Fifty years after the original album's release, in September 2020, Stevens remade the album as '' Tea for the Tillerman²'', including new lyrics and new instrumentation, and he sings along with his 22-year-old self in "Father and Son". That same year, ''Tea for the Tillerman'' was re-released as a 50th Anniversary Super Deluxe Edition. Along with five discs, the Super Deluxe Edition also includes a

Blu-ray The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of sto ...

containing music videos, live videos, and audio of the 2020 mixes of the original album, as well as a

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record of live recordings by Stevens at the Troubadour.

Critical reception

In a contemporary review for ''

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'', music critic

Robert Christgau Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most well-known and influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and ...

found the music monotonous and lacking the "dry delicacy" Stevens exhibited on ''

Mona Bone Jakon ''Mona Bone Jakon'' is the third studio album by singer-songwriter Cat Stevens, released in April 1970 on the Island Records label in the United Kingdom and on A&M in the United States and Canada. Overview After a meteoric start to his career, ...

'' (1970). ''

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'' magazine's Ben Gerson said that Stevens' songs effortlessly resonate beyond their artfully simple lyrics and hooks, despite his occasional overuse of dynamics "for dramatic effect." In a retrospective five-star review,

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's William Ruhlmann praised Stevens' themes of spirituality and transcendence, and felt that he had continued to show his ability as a pop melodicist: "As a result, ''Tea for the Tillerman'' became a big seller and, for the second time in four years, its creator became a pop star." On 18 November 2003, ''

'' included this album in its 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list at number 206, number 208 in a 2012 revised list, and currently at number 205 on its latest list published in 2020. In 2006, the album was included in the book ''

1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die ''1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die'' is a musical reference book first published in 2005 by Universe Publishing. Part of the ''1001 Before You Die'' series, it compiles writings and information on albums chosen by a panel of music critics ...

''. In 2007, the album was included in the list of "The Definitive 200 Albums of All Time", released by The National Association of Recording Merchandisers and the

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. It was voted number 342 in

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's ''

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''.

Track listing

All songs were written by

Original release

Deluxe Edition

Disc one

Original album.

Disc two

Super Deluxe Edition

Discs one, two and three

The first disc on the Super Deluxe Edition contains 2020 remasters of the original album; the second disc contains 2020 mixes of the original album; and the third disc contains '' Tea for the Tillerman²''.

Disc four

Disc five

Re-recording

On 28 May 2020, Yusuf announced his new album, '' Tea for the Tillerman²'', which was released on 18 September 2020. ''Tea for the Tillerman²'' is a reimagining of "the same eleven songs for a new age with dramatic results", celebrating the 50th anniversary of ''Tea for the Tillerman''.

Personnel

* Cat Stevens – classical guitar, acoustic guitar, keyboards, lead vocals * Alun Davies – acoustic guitar, backing vocals * Harvey Burns – drums, congas, tambourine * John Ryan – double bass * Del Newman –

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arrangements * Jack Rothstein (as John Rostein) – solo violin ;Technical *Cat Stevens - front cover illustration *Shepard "Shep" Sherbell - photography

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

In popular culture

The closing title track of the British sitcom Extras is "Tea for the Tillerman", which is written and performed by

and is the title track of his album ''Tea for the Tillerman''. The opening scene to a 2014 episode of ''

The Simpsons ''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical depiction of American life, epitomized by the Simpson family, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, ...

'' titled "

Super Franchise Me "Super Franchise Me" is the third episode of the twenty-sixth season of the American animated television series ''The Simpsons'', and the 555th episode of the series overall. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on October ...

" parodied the artwork to this album, with the title track playing over it. A previously unreleased version of "But I Might Die Tonight", was used in the 1970 film '' Deep End'' in the opening and closing scenes. The version of the song used in the film was eventually released in 2020. Four of the songs from this album were used in the 1971 film ''

Harold and Maude ''Harold and Maude'' is a 1971 American romantic black comedy–drama film directed by Hal Ashby and released by Paramount Pictures. It incorporates elements of dark humor and existentialist drama. The plot follows the exploits of Harold Chasen ...

'': "Tea for the Tillerman"; "Where Do the Children Play"; "Miles from Nowhere" and "On the Road to Find Out". The song " Father and Son", was used in the closing scene of the 2017 film ''

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 ''Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2'' is a 2017 American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics superhero team Guardians of the Galaxy, produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. It is the sequel to ' ...

''. The song is also featured in the 2009 film '' The Boat That Rocked''.

References

{{Authority control Cat Stevens albums 1970 albums Albums produced by Paul Samwell-Smith Island Records albums A&M Records albums Albums recorded at Morgan Sound Studios Albums recorded at Olympic Sound Studios