Cat Stevens - Teaser And The Firecat

It is easy to understand why a kid would be so drawn to Cat Stevens’ Teaser And The Firecat. It’s lyrically simplistic and memorably melodic, making it easy for young music fans to relate to and remember. But my past is littered with music that I thought was cool as a young’en only to disregard it when I was old enough to know better.
I should be old enough to know better with Cat Stevens, but there’s something inherently infectious about him and it’s hard to discount.
First, this is well-executed folk music, heavy on pop overtones and flavored with a dash of world music. When music is done this good and is this simple, you not only have material that’s suitable for children, it’s suitable for a lifetime of enjoyment.
Noted for its three hit singles (“Peace Train,” “Moonshadow,” and “Morning Has Broken”), Teaser And The Firecat’s other selections are just as noteworthy, allowing it to be one of those albums without a hint of filler.
At a mere 1:42, album opener “The Wind” ranks as one of Stevens’ finest, most simplistic songs that could easily be billed as one of folk’s most timeless treasures. I always ranked “How Can I Tell You” as one of his best love songs and, somewhat unfairly, it’s most recently gained notoriety as a Cat Power cover featured prominently as the musical backdrop for diamonds commercial.
To her credit, the song is not available for purchase, so fans of the song will have to settle with Cat Steven’s original that’s found here.
Teaser And The Firecat also marks the end of a three album run of great folk albums for Cat (Mona Bone Jakon and Tea For The Tillerman are the other two). He produced albums of lesser and lesser quality after this, perhaps as he grew more and more disenchanted with the music business in general. But during a two-year period in the early seventies, Stevens continued to seek his spiritual satisfaction with his music, and in the process, managed to satisfy a lot of us in the process.

Local Church Lady Performs Pipe Organ Version Of "Eruption"

Usually after communion, our priest will dismiss the congregation with some “go in peace” proclamation and everyone retires to the parking lot to go home or to chit-chat over coffee and cookies. But today, he advised us to remain briefly for a “prelude” featuring the organist, a grey-haired lady who looks to be well in her 70’s.
I wouldn’t suggest that she is a poor organist. I would assume that the church doesn’t just let anyone play at the pipe organ as it’s a substantial piece of equipment. I would instead suggest that she is pretty old and on many occasions, notes are missed.
The prelude that she chose was a complex little ditty that would test most musicians. It was a flury of notes in which she repeatedly bobbed her head while propelling the piece forward. None of the incorrect keys seemed to discourage her much, and at the end of it all she hammered the last note and walked away from the pipe organ, which continue to utter this killer low note. It was unintentional as the organ should have stopped at the end, and it reminded me of when a guitarist leaves their guitar against the amp, walking off the stage immersed in feedback. It was pretty rockin’.
Earlier, she played some hymn that was the exact same music as Cat Stevens’ “Morning Has Broken,” which made me check my version of Teaser And the Firecat to see if Yusuf had ripped it off himself.
He had.
When I was a kid, I thought Teaser And The Firecat was so awesome that I bought the book. That’s right, Cat Stevens wrote a children’s book based on a story he had written complete with his own artwork. It was part of the box of shit my parents had brought up, and I hadn’t seen it in years. I paid thirty-five cents for it from the school book fair and decided to read it to Ethan before bed. I had forgotten how stupid the story was. “Teaser” a top-hatted kid that, with the help of his red cat, tries to put the moon back up in the sky after it fell into the top of a barn.
Even Ethan wasn’t impressed.