Lifeline
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May : May.
Cat Stevens music figures prominently in Hollywood director Hal Ashby’s dark comedy “Harold and Maude.” Their winsome melancholy is perfect for Ashby’s story of two lonely people at each end of life’s journey. Two new songs: “Don’t Be Shy” and “If You Want to Sing Out, Sing Out” are recorded in San Francisco, specifically for the film. Steve plays piano (off-screen) for the scene in which actress Ruth Gordon performs “If You Want to Sing Out.”August : August.
Australian tour.September : September.
LP: Catch Bull at Four. An ambitious and musically diverse project, “Catch Bull at Four” is recorded at the Chateau d’Herouville in France, at Manor Studios, Oxfordshire, and at Morgan Studios in London, where “Tea” and “Teaser” had been created. The title refers to the Zen Buddhists’ 10 stages of enlightenment (No. 4, catch the bull, No. 5, ride the bull.) It also happens to be Cat Stevens’ fourth Island/A&M album. Jean Roussel joins the band on keyboards and synthesizer, and drummer Gerry Conway’s role – predictably, after months of touring – becomes more essential to the sound. Steve expands his musical vocabulary, too, playing drums on the album’s “O Caritas.”In the States, the album spends three weeks on top of the chart, while in Steve’s home country it stays at #2. Released at the same time is “Daydo,” a solo album by Alun Davies, co–produced by Cat Stevens and Paul Samwell–Smith.
September : September.
Single: Sitting/Crab Dance (U.S., #16) and Can’t Keep it In/Crab Dance (U.K., #13) Both “Catch Bull” tracks are paired with a non–LP instrumental.September : September 29:
31–date North American tour, featuring an 11–piece orchestra conducted by Del Newman, begins in Los Angeles. Most of the shows – which open with a screening of the “Teaser” cartoon film – sell out.December : December 4.
The “Catch Bull at Four” tour comes to a successful close with a sold–out concert at the Royal Albert Hall in London; fans brave the thickest London fog in recent memory to get to the show. -
