Yusuf / Cat Stevens - Father and Son
4/22/202619 min
The legendary singer/songwriter Yusuf / Cat Stevens released his first album in 1967. He’s a member of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, and his albums have sold millions. In 2020, he released Tea for the Tillerman², a re-imagining of his hit 1970 album Tea for the Tillerman. In the song “Father & Son,” he sings a duet between the two title characters, doing both voices. But in the 2020 version, he approached this song in a kind of astonishing way—he recorded the part of the father, but for the part of the son, he used a live recording of himself from 1970, taken from a show he played at The Troubadour in Los Angeles. So the two parts are still both sung in his voice, but 50 years apart. In this episode, the 200th episode of Song Exploder, Yusuf / Cat Stevens tells the story of how he created, and then re-created “Father & Son.”
For more, visit songexploder.net/yusuf-cat-stevens.
Clips
Transcript preview
First 90 secondsHrishikesh Hirway· Host0:00
You're listening to Song Exploder, where musicians take apart their songs and piece by piece tell the story of how they were made. I'm Hrishikesh Hirway. Thanks to Leesa for sponsoring Song Exploder. My annual spring cleaning always starts with good intentions, but this year I actually followed through with something really important. I finally replaced my old mattress. It was a much needed change, honestly. I'd become so used to waking up with aches and pains every morning, I kinda forgot what a good night's sleep was supposed to feel like. Leesa has a lineup of beautifully crafted mattresses that are tailored to how you sleep. So I found the right mattress for me by taking the Leesa sleep quiz on their website. Took less than two minutes to complete, and it'll tell you exactly the right mattress for you. So go to leesa.com for 20% off select mattresses, plus get an extra $50 off with promo code SongExploder. That's exclusive for Song Exploder listeners. Again, it's L-E-E-S-A.com and the promo code is SongExploder for 20% off select mattresses plus an extra $50 off. Support our show by letting them know that we sent you after your checkout. Leesa.com with the promo code SongExploder. This episode of Song Exploder is brought to you by Booking.com. My wife and I have been thinking about visiting some of our friends in Philadelphia this summer. And so while we've been daydreaming, I've been looking on Booking.com to check out places where we might stay in Philly. I put in our dates