By late 1967, teen sensation Cat Stevens had become seriously disheartened by the state of his pop career. Only 19 years old, the fledging singer/songwriter had become an overnight success when the timeless ‘Matthew & Son’ hit number 2 spot in the UK singles’ chart.
However, when his latest 7” outing, the experimental ‘A Bad Night’ stalled at number 20 and his stage musical Mexican Flower was turned down by West End theatres, Stevens briefly turned his attention to record production.
Hiring Birmingham psych exponents The Yellow Rainbow, he produced two long lost recordings of his songs. Nick Warburton reports on this little known chapter of his career and the band that fell under his wing:
http://thestrangebrew.co.uk/articles/cat-stevens-and-zeus-part-1
http://thestrangebrew.co.uk/articles/cat-stevens-and-zeus-part-2
A podcast featuring tracks from this feature will also follow at the Strange Brew near the end of May.
Cat Stevens and Zeus can be seen in action performing ‘The First Cut Is The Deepest’ here:
[tubepress video=”cwZ1y5WxtOk”]
[GTranslate]
