The Very Best of... my second blog

To steal a line from Alan Partridge, and doctor it a bit “What’s your favourite Cat Stevens album?” “…The Very Best of Cat Stevens”. Now, this may be being slightly facetious (a trait that is likely to continue throughout many of these blogs I think) - but I sort of had to start with this album really. To have done anything else just wouldn’t have been right. Now, to those of you thinking that my title for the blog is a tribute and an indication of my ‘coming out’ as a closeted Ronan Keating fan, here’s a quick lesson for you… While Ronan may have been able to write many of his ‘greatest’ hits - he wasn’t actually responsible for “Father and Son”. Instead it was written back in the 70’s and originally (and best) performed by Cat Stevens. Knowing this (and being a bit of a smart-arse when it comes to music trivia, and life in general) and knowing that the song title fit into a convenient pun to base my blog title around everything just sort of fell into place.

In all honesty, there isn’t a huge link between this album and my Dad in my mind. It isn’t one of the ones that he would regularly play at family occasions, celebrations or weekends when he had had a little too long ‘wine-tasting’ at a local supermarket (Cold Storage in the basement of a shopping centre on Orchard Road in Singapore that doesn’t appear to be there any more - according to Google Maps anyway, but was between Lucky Plaza and Paragon…). I do know that he always really enjoyed the music of Cat Stevens though, and took a particular interest when it came to his (Cat Stevens’, not my Dad’s) conversion to Islam, name-change and the influences that had on his later music and his later life (probably mostly annoyance that his name-change impacted his ability to get through Airport Security in the USA - but feel free to Google the story behind that for yourselves)

So, on to the music it is then… What should anyone expect if they’re hearing this album for the first time? In many ways there will be some familiar songs, whether it be through a song from the album being covered by someone else in more recent times, to songs cropping up in school assemblies (that may just be me and an indication of some of my schooling though). But even if you’ve never heard any of the songs before, I’m confident that there’s something in this album for everyone really. One of the great things about Cat Stevens was his ability to tell a story through a song. Not just put words down on paper and fit some nice-sounding music around them - but to really get to the heart of a story behind a song and bring that through in the music.

If I were forced to categorise the music itself, I would say that it fell closest to being ‘Folk’ music - but don’t let that put you off (if it does) as there’s a broad spectrum of appeal to enjoy. Whether it be a heartfelt ballad like “Wild World” or “The First Cut is the Deepest”, a more upbeat and cheery song like “(Remember the Days of the) Old Schoolyard” or a couple of my personal favourites in “Peace Train” and “Father and Son” (had to be really, didn’t it??) it does make for really easy listening. She probably won’t thank me for saying this, but I’m currently sat in the library of our house (I know…) with my wife and she had dozed off not through boredom (I hope) but just through the calming and relaxing nature of the music itself. The album lends itself to both being gentle background music if you’re in the middle of doing something else, but also stands up well enough on its own to be the main focus of attention. 

While the concept of having a hidden gem on a ‘Very Best of’ album seems a bit of an odd one, there are a couple of songs on here that I don’t really remember hearing all that much in the past so, to me, they qualify. Second last track on there is “Sad Lisa” which for some reason reminds me of (and don’t judge me here) things like “Hazard” by Richard Marx, “Unforgiven” by Metallica or “Pretty Ballerina” by The Left Banke (now there are 3 songs that shouldn’t ever have been put alongside each other, but there we have it…). But really, every song on here is great, with no filler material in there. Yes, I did mostly pick this one out as a way of explaining the pun behind the blog title - but having sat and listened to the album again it really it a cracker. Under-rated and under-appreciated in the modern world I would say - and Cat Stevens probably is too.

And as a little teaser for the album that the next blog will be based around… “No one would have believed…” that I’d have picked out the next cd that I did. Hope you’ve enjoyed reading this one, and that you’re also looking forward to the next.