70th birthday of Cat Stevens

70 years ago, on July 21, 1948 was born a British musician, whose life could be divided into three distinct phases: born under the name of Steven Demetre Georgiou, he obtained the highest musical distinctions of Cat Stevens up to # 39, in 1977 Islam was converted and henceforth Yusuf (Islam) also went well.

Cat Stevens, son of a Greek father and a Swedish mother, understood his songs like no other, to create a new world in the world. mind of the listener. Spiritually, he was still there, a late hippie who sang pseudo-philosophical songs on the wind and swore to avoid mistakes made by fellow musicians. He says himself: "I have so many different influences, many sources, my father was a Greek Orthodox, my mother was a Swedish Baptist, and I went to the Roman Catholic School. but I have always felt something of life, I was able and always able to recognize where separations are needed and see a way. "

The magic of Stevens' songs is as much in ingenuously inflated lyrics as in intelligent arrangements: sometimes 7/8 rhythms and bouzukies give folk songs an exotic sound. On top of that, Stevens went vaguely with his curly hair and beard as the son of Jesus. At first, the vegetarian was interested in religions of the Far East. His songs were never kitsch – today, remotely and in the context of singer / songwriter, Americana and neo-folk, you can hear it even more clearly. In addition, his words were too committed and the voice of the bard too rough, too expressive.

Regarding his influences, Stevens notes, "When I was 15, the Beatles were coming, so it was every young man's dream to have a guitar." J & # 39; I was fortunate not to live far from London's Tin Pan Alley, so I had my first guitar for eight pounds after my father gave in. Bob Dylan then made his poetic thought possible and l & # 39; 39, prevented to write only songs of love.

A pop star flirts with the phrase, never wishing to become a star. Cat Stevens believes that when you follow his unusual career. He made himself known through a joint tour with Steve Winwood's Traffic group. The public celebrated the folk bard in the opening act of the super group more than the current main group Traffic. In 1971, Stevens also wrote music in an extraordinary film: "Harald & Maude" celebrated in a unique way two strangers, an unusual couple, youth and old age and the romantic love of Marxism.

What motivates such a talented person? What does it seem born to, one day throw overboard and completely change one's life? An imminent death experience in 1976 (Stevens swam too far ahead of Malibu, asking for God's help and being brought back to the beach by a wave) to change Stevens' life. He interrupted the last great tour, read the Quran become Muslim and separated from his records and gold instruments. With ongoing royalties from his records, he funded Islam-Aid an aid organization for refugees from Afghanistan, Palestine and Sudan.

When Yusuf Islam, as Stevens called himself, pronounced in 1989 for the death sentence of the writer Salman Rushdie, it frightened his fans. In 1997, he recorded a record of old Bosnian songs. In 2006, he came back with new songs, because his heart, as he says, ordered it. He has released five albums as Yusuf. The last, "The Laughing Apple," he released, returning to his former name, as Yusuf / Cat Stevens.