The cat purrs and his devout fans rejoice
Saturday November 14 2009
It was reportedly when he was on a transatlantic flight that the artist formerly known as Cat Stevens fell back in love with Western pop music. Scanning the music options on the in-flight entertainment channels, the singer found himself bewitched by a playlist featuring many of the great West Coast singer/songwriters of the 1970s: Joni Mitchell, Carole King, Jackson Browne, Neil Young. . .
Yusuf -- as he has called himself since his conversion to Islam in 1977 -- began to feel the pull of his old muse again, and longed to reconcile his current role as a devout Muslim, devoted family man and community activist with his former rock-star self. For decades, he had found them incompatible, firmly believing in the old adage that a man cannot serve two masters.
That his hardline stance mellowed over the years is not really surprising, and the man who was born Steven Demetre Georgiou has stated that he felt he acted rashly in ditching his pop career so abruptly.
But why did Cat Stevens decide to become Yusuf Islam all those years ago? The catalyst was reportedly a bout of serious ill-health that made him question the ephemeral nature of his fame. After contracting TB, he suffered a collapsed lung and spent a protracted period in hospital.
"To go from the show business environment and find you are in hospital, getting injections day in and day out, and people around you are dying, it certainly changes your perspective," he told one interviewer. "I got down to thinking about myself. It seemed almost as if I had my eyes shut."
When on holiday in Marrakech in Morocco, he observed the sacred place of Islam in the everyday lives of the people as they answered the call to prayer from the mosque. Also, his brother David Gordon gave him an English translation of the Koran, and he began to study it intensely. His mind was made up when he found himself in danger of drowning while out swimming in the sea. Promising to reform his hedonistic ways if God spared him, he experienced an epiphany when a large wave took him back to shore safe and sound.
As Yusuf Islam, he auctioned off his guitars and helped set up Muslim schools in his native London. He concentrated on raising a family, fathering five children with his wife.
This abrupt change of direction came as a shock to his legions of adoring fans for whom he had been a bona fide pin-up, with his dark black curls and piercing brown eyes.
Multi-platinum-selling albums such as Tea For The Tillerman and Teaser And The Firecat put him right up there as one of the most popular and successful singer/songwriters of the 1970s. Classic songs seemed to flow out of him: 'The First Cut Is The Deepest', 'Father And Son', 'Moonshadow', 'Wild World', 'Peace Train'. . .
And everyone from Rod Stewart to Boyzone tasted success by covering his songs.
But the sight of him in traditional Muslim garb sent out a clear signal that he would not be painting the town red with Keith Richards any time soon.
Though he still recorded music in praise of Islam, Yusuf only popped up on the media radar when he won various libel actions because he felt unfairly portrayed as a fundamentalist. Having dropped his adopted surname -- he now just calls himself Yusuf -- the 61-year-old finally returned to the acoustic folk-pop of old. His comeback in 2006, An Other Cup, has been followed by this year's acclaimed Roadsinger, a set of mellow, questing songs arranged with strings, cellos and horns. The spiritual slant of the music is broad enough so as not to alienate diehard Cat Stevens fans. Indeed, the cover features him posing as a busker beside a VW camper van, whose number plate reads "CAT 60s".
When he takes to the stage of the O2 tomorrow, no doubt his fans will just be glad to see him back performing. It seems appropriate that he should choose the year of Island Records' 50th anniversary to go back on the road -- it was on Chris Blackwell's label that he had his biggest hits, and he duly performed at the Island celebration concert in London's Shepherd's Bush in May.
Completing his re-integration into Western pop culture, Yusuf has given his blessing to a West End musical featuring the Cat Stevens songbook, titled Moonshadow.
There's a pleasing symmetry at work here -- Yusuf grew up in London's West End and as a child could hear the show tunes from the great Rodgers & Hammerstein and Gershwin musicals from his roof. It seems the wheel has come full circle.
Yusuf plays the O2, Dublin, tomorrow. Roadsinger is out on Island/Universal
nkelly@independent.ie
Irish Independent
