2018 Grammy Award Nominee!
Best Folk Album: The Laughing Apple
Celebrate 50th Anniversary of Cat Stevens' 1967 Debut With New Album On Vinyl LP!
Yusuf (or Cat Stevens if you prefer), celebrates the 50th anniversary of his 1967 debut "Matthew and Son", with The Laughing Apple which 'bridges the artist's present and past'.
Produced with Paul Samwell-Smith, The Laughing Apple follows the common '60s template of combining original songs with covers, though the covers on this album are Yusuf's own. The album's cover art features Yusuf's own illustration, the first time since 1972. Yusuf has drawn additional works of art for each of the 11 songs on The Laughing Apple.
"...The Laughing Apple bridges the artist's present and past, combining newly written songs with covers of tracks from his early repertoire...
"The song offers a charming update on the breezy, singalong-friendly sound that Yusuf / Cat Stevens helped to pioneer on classic albums such as Tea for the Tillerman. Over a simple acoustic-guitar-driven arrangement, he praises love's transformative powers, comparing it to forces of nature. "Just like the wind, my heart's rushing fast/A piece of dust too high to catch," he sings. The song's lyric video features animations of Yusuf / Cat Stevens' own drawings, made especially for the album. The artist himself turns up for a cameo near the end of the clip, as the song takes a religious turn: "And now I see what God did for me."
"'See What Love Did to Me' is a a song which extolls the virtue of Love and its destructive properties," Yusuf / Cat Stevens tells Rolling Stone in a statement. "Based on a poem written by Yunus Emre, a Thirteenth Century Turkish poet. I fell upon the guitar riff back in 2006, while recording An Other Cup. It took eight years to find the right words and sentiments to marry with the joyous tune. It has musical ripples of Africa as well as India flowing through."" - rollingstone.com, July 20, 2017
"...Among the old songs that Yusuf / Cat Stevens revived and revamped for The Laughing Apple are "Mighty Peace" and "Mary and the Little Lamb," neither of which ever made it onto an album..." - rollingstone.com, July 20, 2017
Features:
Vinyl LP
Gatefold jacket
Includes Yusuf's own illustrations for each of the 11 songs on the album
Made in Germany
Selections:
Side A:
1. Blackness Of The Night
2. See What Love Did To Me
3. The Laughing Apple
4. Olive Hill
5. Grandsons
Side B:
1. Mighty Peace
2. Mary And The Little Lamb
3. You Can Do (Whatever)!
4. Northern Wind
5. Don't Blame Them
6. I'm So Sleepy
Best Folk Album: The Laughing Apple
Celebrate 50th Anniversary of Cat Stevens' 1967 Debut With New Album On Vinyl LP!
Yusuf (or Cat Stevens if you prefer), celebrates the 50th anniversary of his 1967 debut "Matthew and Son", with The Laughing Apple which 'bridges the artist's present and past'.
Produced with Paul Samwell-Smith, The Laughing Apple follows the common '60s template of combining original songs with covers, though the covers on this album are Yusuf's own. The album's cover art features Yusuf's own illustration, the first time since 1972. Yusuf has drawn additional works of art for each of the 11 songs on The Laughing Apple.
"...The Laughing Apple bridges the artist's present and past, combining newly written songs with covers of tracks from his early repertoire...
"The song offers a charming update on the breezy, singalong-friendly sound that Yusuf / Cat Stevens helped to pioneer on classic albums such as Tea for the Tillerman. Over a simple acoustic-guitar-driven arrangement, he praises love's transformative powers, comparing it to forces of nature. "Just like the wind, my heart's rushing fast/A piece of dust too high to catch," he sings. The song's lyric video features animations of Yusuf / Cat Stevens' own drawings, made especially for the album. The artist himself turns up for a cameo near the end of the clip, as the song takes a religious turn: "And now I see what God did for me."
"'See What Love Did to Me' is a a song which extolls the virtue of Love and its destructive properties," Yusuf / Cat Stevens tells Rolling Stone in a statement. "Based on a poem written by Yunus Emre, a Thirteenth Century Turkish poet. I fell upon the guitar riff back in 2006, while recording An Other Cup. It took eight years to find the right words and sentiments to marry with the joyous tune. It has musical ripples of Africa as well as India flowing through."" - rollingstone.com, July 20, 2017
"...Among the old songs that Yusuf / Cat Stevens revived and revamped for The Laughing Apple are "Mighty Peace" and "Mary and the Little Lamb," neither of which ever made it onto an album..." - rollingstone.com, July 20, 2017
Features:
Vinyl LP
Gatefold jacket
Includes Yusuf's own illustrations for each of the 11 songs on the album
Made in Germany
Selections:
Side A:
1. Blackness Of The Night
2. See What Love Did To Me
3. The Laughing Apple
4. Olive Hill
5. Grandsons
Side B:
1. Mighty Peace
2. Mary And The Little Lamb
3. You Can Do (Whatever)!
4. Northern Wind
5. Don't Blame Them
6. I'm So Sleepy
