Izitso is the tenth studio album released by the British singer-songwriter Cat Stevens (now Yusuf Islam) in April 1977. After the lackluster Numbers, the album proved to be his comeback. The album updated the rhythmic folk rock and pop rock style of his earlier albums with the extensive use of synthesizers and other electronic music instruments, giving the album a more electronic rock and synthpop style, and anticipating elements of electro.
Overview
Upon its release, the music magazine Rolling Stone praised the album for blending together elements of folk rock and electronic music, "often in apparent opposition to each other", with "the diversity and the maturity to match this seeming incongruity." The album reached No. 7 on the American Pop Albums charts.
It also included his last US and UK top 40 chart hit for almost three decades, "(Remember the Days of the) Old Schoolyard", an early synthpop song that used a polyphonic synthesizer; it was a duet with fellow UK singer Elkie Brooks. Linda Lewis appears in the song's video, with Cat Stevens singing to her, as they portray former schoolmates, singing to each other on a schoolyard merry-go-round. (This is one of the few music videos that Stevens made, other than simple videos of concert performances.)
The song "Child for a Day" was featured in the 1977 film First Love, starring Susan Dey and William Katt.
The song "Was Dog a Doughnut?" upon release was criticised for sounding "a bit too robotlike" but has since been considered one of the first electro, or techno-pop, songs ever recorded, with elements later associated with hip hop music. The track made early use of a music sequencer along with synthesizers.
The song "(I Never Wanted) To Be a Star" references the transition phase happening in his life, as he was growing more and more resentful of the more commercial aspects of the music industry. The lyrics make references to four of his early songs: "Matthew and Son", "I'm Gonna Get Me a Gun", "A Bad Night", and "I Think I See the Light".
Additional information
Some of the album's unreleased tracks featured Ringo Starr on the drums, during a recording session on 30 September 1976. According to The Beatles biographer Kristofer Engelhardt in 1998, "Yusuf said that he met Ringo at a hotel in Copenhagen, Denmark, and invited him down to a recording session for his album Izitso at Sweet Silence Studios in Copenhagen. He recalled that the party atmosphere of the sessions led to a jam of him singing 'Blue Monday' and 'I Just Want to Make Love to You,' with Ringo joining in on drums." Bootleg copies of the sessions exist, and are highly prized among collectors.
Stevens, who had a strong interest in Islam prior to recording the album, formally converted to Islam later in the year and adopted the name Yusuf Islam in 1978, by which time the album Back to Earth would be released and Islam had essentially retired from the music business, vowing to never perform any of his music from before 1977 for nearly 30 years.
Track listing
(All tracks composed by Cat Stevens, except where indicated)
Side one
- "(Remember the Days of the) Old Schoolyard" â€" 2:44 (duet with Elkie Brooks)
- "Life" â€" 4:56
- "Killin' Time" â€" 3:30
- "Kypros" â€" 3:10
- "Bonfire" â€" 4:10
Side two
- "(I Never Wanted) To Be a Star" â€" 3:03
- "Crazy" â€" 3:33
- "Sweet Jamaica" â€" 3:31
- "Was Dog a Doughnut?" (Stevens, Bruce Lynch, Jean Roussel) â€" 4:15
- "Child for a Day" (Paul Travis, David Gordon) â€" 4:23
Personnel
- Cat Stevens â€" Epiphone Casino electric guitar, Ovation guitar, electric guitar, acoustic guitar, steel guitar, guitar synthesizer, bouzouki, keyboards, piano, celesta, harpsichord, Wurlitzer electric piano, Fender Rhodes, Polymoog, Moog synthesizer, Minimoog, ARP String Synthesizer, ARP 2600, Yamaha CS-80, Yamaha GX-1, Yamaha EA5R electronic organ, music sequencer, drums, percussion, harmonica, brass, arrangements, vocals
- Jean Roussel â€" Hammond organ, piano, organ, synthesizer, ARP String Synthesizer, Yamaha CS-80, keyboards, flute, glockenspiel, vibraphone, string instruments, brass instruments, arrangements
- David Campbell â€" string and brass arrangements
- Chick Corea â€" electric piano, keyboards on "Bonfire" and "Was Dog a Doughnut?"
- Barry Beckett â€" piano, electric piano, organ, keyboards on "Killin' Time" and "Child for a Day"
- Tim Henson â€" acoustic piano, piano, organ, keyboards on "Killin' Time" and "Child for a Day"
- Little Brother Montgomery â€" ARP 2600 on "Was Dog a Doughnut?"
- Broderick Smith â€" harmonica on "Sweet Jamaica"
- Marjorie Lagerwall â€" harp on "Sweet Jamaica"
- Ray Gomez â€" guitar on "Was Dog A Doughnut?"
- Pete Carr â€" electric guitar, acoustic guitar, steel guitar, ovation guitar, Epiphone Casino, guitar synthesizer, bouzouki
- Jim Johnson â€" rhythm guitar on "Killin' Time"
- Weldon Myrick â€" steel guitar on "(I Never Wanted) to Be a Star"
- Reggie Young â€" electric guitar on "(I Never Wanted) to Be a Star"
- Bruce Lynch â€" double bass, electbass, bass synthesizer
- David Hood â€" double bass, bass, bass synthesizer on "Killin' Time" and "Child for a Day"
- Andy Newmark â€" drums, percussion on "(Remember the Days of the) Old Schoolyard" and "Kypros" and "Bonfire" and "Sweet Jamaica"
- Bill Berg â€" drums, percussion on "Life" and "(I Never Wanted) to Be a Star" and "Crazy"
- Barry Morgan â€" drums, percussion "Life" and "Was Dog a Doughnut?"
- Roger Hawkins â€" drums, percussion on "Killin' Time" and "Child for a Day"
- Elkie Brooks â€" Vocals on "(Remember the Days of the) Old Schoolyard"
- Suzanne Lynch â€" backing vocals on "(Remember the Days of the) Old Schoolyard" and "Life" and "Sweet Jamaica"
- Carla Benson â€" backing vocals on "Sweet Jamaica"
- Evette Benton â€" backing vocals on "Sweet Jamaica"
- Barbara Ingram â€" backing vocals on "Sweet Jamaica"
- Gene Page â€" string instruments, brass instruments, arrangements
Production
- Producers â€" Cat Stevens, Dave Kershenbaum
- Engineers â€" Harvey Goldberg, Mike Stavros, Ian Boughey, Nigel Walker, Flemming Rasmussen, Tom Jung, Paul Martinson, Nick Blagona, Mike Ross, Freddy Hansson, Steve Brandon, Jerry Masters, Gene Eichelberger, Dee Robb, John Kelly, Ken Frieson
- Mastering â€" Ted Jensen, Bernie Grundman
- Mixing â€" Claude Dupras
- Design â€" Mathieu Bitton
- Programming â€" Cat Stevens, Claude Dupras
- Supervisor â€" Bill Levenson
- Illustrations â€" Cat Stevens
- Cover Designs â€" Cat Stevens, Eckford Stimpson
- Photography â€" Moshe Brakha
- Coordinator â€" Beth Stempel
Charts
Album
Singles