Cat Stevens Reimagines ‘Tea For The Tillerman’ 50 Years On

Yusuf/Cat Stevens has revisited his classic ‘Tea For The Tillerman’ 50 years on to record a new version of the album to mark the title’s 50th anniversary.

“Though my songwriting adventures were never limited to Tillerman, the songs on that album certainly defined me and pointed the way for my mysterious life’s journey,” Yusuf said in a statement. “Since those originative sessions in Morgan Studios, Willesden, in 1970, Tillerman has grown and developed its own gravitas and influence on music history and as the soundtrack to so many people’s lives. Like it was destiny waiting to happen, T4TT² feels like the timing of its message has arrived again.

The new album was produced by the original album producer Paul Samwell-Smith and T4TT band member Alun Davies on guitar. They are joined by Bruce Lynch on bass, a member of Yusuf’s band from the mid-70s. Guitarist Eric Appapoulay and multi-instrumentalist Kwame Yeboah on percussion and keys represent Yusuf’s current live band and they are supported by Jim Cregan on guitar and Peter Vettese on keys. The session was engineered by David Hefti who has contributed to Yusuf’s sound live and in the studio for close to ten years.

Cat Stevens was 22 years old when he wrote the songs for ‘Tea For The Tillerman’ at the end of the 1960s. The album was released in November 1970.

‘Tea For The Tillerman’ contains now iconic songs that have been Cat Stevens classics including ‘Father and Son’, ‘Wild World’, ‘Sad Lisa’ and this one, ‘Where Do The Children Play?’.