CCMusic.com

• Track Listing

Yusuf/Cat Stevens’ U.S. breakthrough reached #8 here in early ’71, thanks to a striking mix of introspective songs and irresistible melodies. All editions here include the Paul Samwell-Smith-overseen new master of "Tea for the Tillerman," and the 2-CD deluxe edition adds live and demo versions of the hit "Wild World," demos of "Miles from Nowhere," "Don’t Be Shy," "If You Want to Sing Out, Sing Out," live 1970–71 versions of "Father and Son," "Tea for the Tillerman," "Hard Headed Woman," "Where Do the Children Play," the song "Honey Man" (a duet with Elton John) and more. That brings us to the super deluxe edition, which contains all the deluxe tracks plus the new 2020 David Hefti mix of the album (on CD and vinyl), live 1970 Troubadour performances on vinyl ("Wild World," "Longer Boats," "Father and Son," "On the Road to Find Out" and more) and a wealth of additional live tracks, demos, outtakes and alternate versions (including 21 previously unreleased tracks). The super deluxe box also includes the CD "Tea for the Tillerman 2" (his recent re-recording of the album) and a Blu-Ray: the "Father and Son" music video, live 1970–71 performances of "Wild World," "Hard Headed Woman," "Where Do the Children Play," "Longer Boats," "On the Road to Find Out" and more plus hi-res audio of the album’s 2020 mix. And there’s some particularly fine memorabilia in that super deluxe box: a "Pick Up a Good Book" bookmark, a Yusuf/Cat Stevens-designed "Miles from Nowhere" print, a "Live from the Troubadour 1970" poster, a "Tea for the Tillerman" sticker…"super deluxe" is right! A masterpiece of melody and melancholy returns. A&M.