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‘The Laughing Apple’ follows the common 60s template of combining newly-written songs with a number of covers \u2013 except that all the covers are from Yusuf’s 1967 catalogue. ‘The Laughing Apple’ celebrates some of his earliest material, presenting the songs as he has always wished they had been recorded.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cThere are some I always wanted to hear differently,\u201d he explains. \u201cMany of my earlier recordings were overcooked with big band arrangements. They crowded the song out a lot of times.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Yusuf produced ‘The Laughing Apple’ with Paul Samwell-Smith, the original producer behind Yusuf’s landmark recordings, including 1970s ‘Tea for the Tillerman’, which contained the classics \u2018Wild World\u2019 and \u2018Father and Son\u2019. That multi-platinum album became a benchmark of the singer-songwriter movement, and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has named it one of the definitive albums of all time.<\/p>\n
‘The Laughing Apple’ takes listeners to that little garden where the Tillerman sat under the tree, with a charming new illustration by Yusuf. That picture harks back to Tillerman\u2019s younger days when he worked as an apple-picker. Yusuf also has illustrated each of the 11 songs on ‘The Laughing Apple’ in his naive style, resembling a storybook \u2014 for those whose hearts have never really grown old.<\/p>\n
When all things were tall,
\nAnd\u00a0our friends were small,
\nAnd the world was new.<\/p>\nThose words of Cat Stevens\u2019 ‘Silent Sunlight’ now seem to reflect most accurately the sentiments of ‘The Laughing Apple’.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cAs you grow older, the sweetness of youth, as Wordsworth expressed in his poem \u2018Splendour in the Grass\u2019, get stronger,\u201d says Yusuf. \u201cLooking back and emotionally drawing on the themes of childhood possibilities and disappointments is what exemplifies this album, for me.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
The new album also marks the return of Yusuf’s longtime musical foil, Alun Davies. Davies, whose graceful acoustic guitar is an essential component of Yusuf’s classic sound, first appeared on 1970s Mona Bone Jakon and recorded and performed with Yusuf throughout the 70s. ‘The Laughing Apple”s newest songs \u2014 \u2018See What Love Did to Me\u2019, \u2018Olive Hill\u2019 and \u2018Don’t Blame Them\u2019 \u2014 possess the reflective insight of a spiritual seeker and the melodic charm that made Yusuf beloved by millions during the 60s and 70s and still speak to a younger, wide-eyed generation.<\/p>\n
\u2018Mighty Peace\u2019 is the first inspired song Yusuf wrote while still beating the folk-club path in London during the early \u201860s. The song laid fallow for more than 50 years, and, with a newly added verse, finally has made it onto an album. \u2018Mary and the Little Lamb\u2019 reflects a similar story: it is an unreleased song that existed only on an old demo, and it also has a new verse. \u2018Grandsons\u2019 updates \u2018I’ve Got a Thing About Seeing My Grandson Grow Old\u2019, which now has hung around long enough to fulfill its biographical destiny. (Yusuf is the beloved grandfather of eight little grandkids.) The original version appeared for the first time on the 2000 edition of ‘The Very Best of Cat Stevens’.<\/p>\n
Other highlights of ‘The Laughing Apple’ include new versions of \u2018Blackness of the Night\u2019, \u2018Northern Wind (Death of Billy the Kid)\u2019, \u2018I’m So Sleepy\u2019 and the title track, four songs that appeared in their original incarnations on ‘New Masters’, a 1967 album largely unknown in the US.<\/p>\n
The album also contains \u2018You Can Do (Whatever)\u2019, a song originally intended for the film \u2018Harold and Maude\u2019 that remained unfinished until now.<\/p>\n
2017 is a milestone marking 50 years of Yusuf \/ Cat Stevens\u2019 amazing musical history. In 1967, Decca released his debut album, Matthew and Son, on its Deram Records subsidiary.<\/p>\n
Yusuf returned to the stage at London\u2019s Shaftesbury Theatre, right across from his father\u2019s cafe, on November 20, 2016, with a reflective and deeply emotional delving into his \u2018Attic\u2019 of songs, anecdotes and memories. The unforgettable \u2018A Cat\u2019s Attic\u2019 show and subsequent tour included his musical classics and global hits like \u2018Wild World\u2019, \u2018Moonshadow\u2019, \u2018Peace Train\u2019, \u2018Morning Has Broken\u2019 and \u2018Oh Very Young\u2019, which made him a radio staple during the \u201870s. The music of Yusuf\/Cat Stevens will be the subject of a PBS Soundstage special in September.<\/p>\n
Yusuf\u2019s music has established him as a timeless voice for all generations. His songs are used regularly in films and television shows, with “\u2019Father and Son\u2019 playing during a crucial scene in the blockbuster movie ‘Guardians of the Galaxy 2’.<\/p>\n
A recipient of The World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates’ Man of Peace award and the World Social Award, Yusuf continues to support charities such as UNICEF, the International Rescue Committee (IRC) and Tree Aid through The Yusuf Islam Foundation in the UK.<\/p>\n
Full tracklisting of ‘The Laughing Apple’ below:<\/p>\n
\nBlackness of the Night
\nSee What Love Did to Me
\nThe Laughing Apple
\nOlive Hill
\nGrandsons
\nMighty Peace
\nMary and the Little Lamb
\nYou Can Do (Whatever)
\nNorthern Wind (Death of Billy the Kid)
\nDon\u2019t Blame Them
\nI\u2019m So Sleepy<\/p>\nHear the new song \u2018See What Love Did to Me\u2019:<\/p>\n
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![\"Yusuf](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/i.ytimg.com\/vi\/cGDJsEszZJ8\/maxresdefault.jpg?w=640&ssl=1\")