Tea for the Tillerman (1970)

Tea for the Tillerman is the fourth studio album by British-born singer-songwriter Cat Stevens, released on 23 November 1970 by Island Records in the United Kingdom and A&M in North America. Recorded between May and July of 1970 at three studios in London (Morgan, Island, and Olympic), it features some of Stevens's most iconic and best-known songs including the singles "Wild World" and "Father and Son". Numerous of its songs have been featured in films, including "But I Might Die Tonight" for the Jerzy Skolimowski film Deep End. It reached the top 10 in the US and the top 20 in the UK, and is now considered one of the greatest albums of all time by several publications.

Overview

Tea for the Tillerman includes many of Stevens's best-known songs such as "Where Do the Children Play?", "Hard Headed Woman", "Wild World", "Sad Lisa", "Into White", and "Father and Son". Stevens, a former art student, created the artwork featured on the record's cover.

In November 2008, a "Deluxe Edition" was released featuring a second disc of demos and live recordings. In January 2012, a hi-res 24/192 kHz version was remastered using an Ampex ATR100 and a MSB Technology Studio ADC and released on HDtracks.com.

Fifty years after the original album's release, in September 2020, Stevens remade the album as Tea for the Tillerman2, including new lyrics and new instrumentation, and he sings along with his 22-year-old self in "Father and Son". That same year, Tea for the Tillerman was re-released as a 50th Anniversary Super Deluxe Edition. Along with five discs, the Super Deluxe Edition also includes a Blu-ray containing music videos, live videos, and audio of the 2020 mixes of the original album, as well as a 12" vinyl record of live recordings by Stevens in 1970 at the Troubadour, Los Angeles.

Critical reception

In a contemporary review for The Village Voice, music critic Robert Christgau found the music monotonous and lacking the "dry delicacy" Stevens exhibited on Mona Bone Jakon (1970). Rolling Stone magazine's Ben Gerson said that Stevens's songs effortlessly resonate beyond their artfully simple lyrics and hooks, despite his occasional overuse of dynamics "for dramatic effect."

In a retrospective five-star review, AllMusic's William Ruhlmann praised Stevens's themes of spirituality and transcendence, and felt that he had continued to show his ability as a pop melodicist: "As a result, Tea for the Tillerman became a big seller and, for the second time in four years, its creator became a pop star." On 18 November 2003, Rolling Stone included this album in its 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list at number 206, number 208 in a 2012 revised list, and currently at number 205 on its latest list published in 2020. In 2006, the album was included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. In 2007, the album was included in the list of "The Definitive 200 Albums of All Time", released by The National Association of Recording Merchandisers and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. It was voted number 342 in Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums.

Personnel

Adapted from liner notes of 2020 CD reissue.

Cat Stevens – guitar (tracks 1 to 3, 5 to 10), keyboards (tracks 1, 3 to 7, 10, 11), vibraphone (track 1), Hammond organ (track 9), lead vocals (all tracks), backing vocals (1, 5 to 7, 9, 11)

Alun Davies – guitar (tracks 1 to 10), backing vocals (tracks 1, 5 to 7, 9)

Harvey Burns – drums and percussion (tracks 1 to 3, 5 to 7, 9, 10)

John Ryan – double bass (tracks 1 to 3, 5 to 10)

Del Newman – string arrangements (tracks 1, 2, 4, 8)

Jack Rothstein (as John Rostein) – solo violin (track 4)

Paul Samwell-Smith – backing vocals (tracks 1, 5 to 7, 9, 11)

• Technical
• Cat Stevens - front cover illustration
• Shepard "Shep" Sherbell - photography

In popular culture

"Tea for the Tillerman" was used as the closing title track of the British sitcom Extras.

The opening scene to a 2014 episode of The Simpsons titled "Super Franchise Me" parodied the artwork to this album, with the title track playing over it.

A previously unreleased version of "But I Might Die Tonight", was used in the 1970 film Deep End in the opening and closing scenes. The version of the song used in the film was eventually released in 2020.

Four of the songs from this album were used in the 1971 film Harold and Maude: "Tea for the Tillerman"; "Where Do the Children Play"; "Miles from Nowhere" and "On the Road to Find Out".

The song "Father and Son", was used in the closing scene of the 2017 film Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. The song is also featured in the 2009 film The Boat That Rocked.