A&M, 1970
Acquired: Love Garden Shotgun Room, Used, 2008
Price: $1
How can someone rail against Bruce Springsteen in one post and praise Cat Stevens in the next, you might wonder. I don't know either. I wondered why I had this lame looking record in my collection and when I put it on I found out that I really liked it. A lot, actually. All of the songs are really engaging and on par with my favorite Cat Steven's song (i.e. the two from Harold and Maude). Yes, some of it is corny. “Father and Son,” lyrically, is pretty corny, and so is the title “Where Do the Children Play?” That title is also kind of creepy if you think about it. Actually, it's mostly just the lyrics that are corny, and that's only sometimes. Cat Stevens has a gift for lulling me. For drawing me in and making me feel really, really comfortable. I feel like I have a hangover right now, because I got about two hours of sleep because our dog and the stray dog we were taking care of for the night were going crazy and I couldn't get back to sleep. And this is really chilling me out. Actually, oh my fucking god, you know what “Father and Son” is? It's “Fight Test” by the Flaming Lips! Totally jacked that! And you know what, according to Wikipedia this is totally true and Stevens is receiving royalties as Wayne Coyne admits that he jacked the melody, although under the guise of a reference to “the cadence, the melody and the chord progression.” Neat. Oh yeah, and “Wild World” is on here and that song never really gets old and I don't know why. Ultimately, this record seems like something I would hate because I am a cynical bastard and I would probably call Cat Stevens a wuss. But no, this is pretty fucking good. And, if I were to make a movie of Cat Stevens' life, I would no doubt cast his doppelganger: Jeremy Sisto.
And for comparison:
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