Back in 1970 and following a period of illness and recuperation, singer-songwriting troubadour Cat Stevens re-emerged with a new record deal with Island Records and a spiritual and artistic rebirth. Journalist Robert Chalmers reiterated this point for a 2003 interview with Yusuf Islam for The Independent on Sunday when he wrote: "When [Stevens] re-emerged in 1969, he had more than 40 new songs and released three triumphant albums in 15 months on Chris Blackwell's Island label: Mona Bone Jakon (his pet word for penis), Tea for the Tillerman and Teaser and the Firecat. P. of a rare audience recording of Live At Plumpton Jazz and Blues Festival from August 1970, and with a BluRay disc featuring the original promo video of Lady D’Arbanville, plus eight live TV performances, and the HD audio of the new Mona Bone Jakon 2020 Mix. Lady D'Arbanville was the 'hit', from those days when you had to have a 'hit' to sell the album and is the only track that really harks back to his first success.

In a contemporary review for The Village Voice, music critic Robert Christgau gave the album a B+, noting that "this one has a nice post-creative trauma feel, intimate and sensitive. There were also lighter songs: "Pop Star" showcased Stevens' dramatic change in voice by satirising the triviality of celebrity.After a meteoric start to his career, surprising even his original producer at Deram Records with the hit singles " I Love My Dog", " Matthew and Son", and " I'm Gonna Get Me a Gun", Stevens' debut album, Matthew and Son, began charting. I think much like another song “Anti-Matter” (that's also on the same album as this song), this one is also is inspired by a horrifying van crash the band experienced on Nov 3, 2022. In the second verse, Ed sings about the role of grief in his friend’s plight and his dwindling faith in prayer.

To commemorate the album’s 50th anniversary comes this new 180-gram vinyl version containing a stunning new 2020 remaster of ‘Mona Bone Jakon’ by Geoff Pesche at Abbey Road, overseen by original producer Paul Samwell-Smith. The songs themselves were darker in tone: the madrigal-inspired ballad " Lady D'Arbanville" elevated the tragedy of a lost lover (in this case, Stevens' former girlfriend Patti D'Arbanville) to that of a deceased one and " Trouble" was a plea to stave off death. The song, written by Eddie Miller and Jimmy Campbell, explores the delicate nuances of love and showcases Arnold’s emotive vocals. It delves into the universal theme of love and how even the smallest gesture of affection can have a profound impact on our lives. Presented here in a brand new 2020 Remastered version on CD, as well as in a new 2020 Mix (by David Hefti) on CD and LP, the Super Deluxe Edition also includes an exclusive third CD of previously unreleased demos, and a fourth CD featuring 18 live performances from 1970/71.To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. They were played on acoustic guitars and keyboards and accompanied by a smaller backing band, consisting of three other performers: second guitarist Alun Davies, bassist John Ryan, and drummer Harvey Burns—and on one song, "Katmandu", Peter Gabriel on the flute. You can change your choices at any time by visiting Cookie preferences, as described in the Cookie notice.

After his recovery, he negotiated out of his contract with Deram Records and worked with former Yardbirds bassist Paul Samwell-Smith on a stripped-down sound. The album attracted attention, however, in the wake of the commercial breakthrough of its follow-up, Tea for the Tillerman, and with the inclusion of three of its songs (" Trouble", "I Wish, I Wish", and "I Think I See the Light") in Hal Ashby and Colin Higgins's 1971 black comedy, Harold and Maude. But they are all good songs and good arrangements, given the standards of the time, which was to put violins on anything that resembled a ballad.Unable to find any solutions, this friend seeks a last resort in a party and the vanity that comes with it. However, after the pressure for a repeat album of the same calibre, Stevens, considered a young teen sensation, was overwhelmed by a new lifestyle as well as the demands of writing, recording, performing, publicity appearances, and touring. During his hospital-dictated year of bedrest, Stevens began writing a catalogue of songs to fill far more than his next album. His second album was a commercial failure and in the autumn of 1968, he was hospitalized, with a diagnosis of tuberculosis and a collapsed lung.

This, much like the other track, sounds like it's an extension what they shared while huddled in the wreckage, as they helped frontman Garrett Russell stem the bleeding from his head wound while he was under the temporary effects of a concussion. Finally there’s also a selection of memorabilia including Island Records press kit, two Island press photos, a replica 1970 Plumpton Jaxx and Blues flyer, a Cat Stevens tour sticker and ‘dustbin’ greetings card and pop art print in a card envelope. Samwell-Smith also produced the album and brought Stevens a high-fidelity sound that was not as present on his previous releases. As if, for some crime in the past all my favourite albums have been minced up, tarted up or otherwise messed up by some embryo producer with a kilo up his nose who happens to have had a gold disc with Beyonce.There needs to be honesty and there should be a declaration on the album cover and advert that the original analogue has been mastered digitally.