Teaser and the Firecat

Teaser and the Firecat is the fifth studio album released by Cat Stevens in 1971. The album contains 10 songs including the hits "Morning Has Broken", "Moonshadow" and "Peace Train". It is also the title of a children's book written and illustrated by Stevens. The story features the title characters from the album cover, top-hatted young Teaser and his pet, Firecat, who attempt to put the moon back in its place after it falls from the sky. Published in 1972, the book has been out of print since the mid-1970s.

The album was a commercial success, surpassing the heights achieved by Stevens' previous album, Tea for the Tillerman, reaching both the UK and US Top 3 and also spending fifteen weeks at the top of the Australian charts, becoming the biggest-selling album of the country in 1972.

In 1977 an animated version, narrated by Spike Milligan, using the song "Moonshadow", was a segment in Fantastic Animation Festival. In November 2008, a "deluxe edition" was released featuring a second disc of demos and live recordings.

Critical reception

In a contemporary review for Rolling Stone magazine, music critic Timothy Crouse praised Stevens' distinctive musical style and introspective songs such as "Tuesday's Dead" and "The Wind", but felt that he lacks Van Morrison's evocative quality and James Taylor's refined lyrics: "Cat has become a dependable artist, a good artist, but he appears to be one of those composers who does not develop, who holds no surprises."^[2]

In a retrospective five-star review, AllMusic's William Ruhlmann found the album more simplistic lyrically and musically entertaining than Tea for the Tillerman (1970): "Teaser and the Firecat was the Cat Stevens album that gave more surface pleasures to more people, which in pop music is the name of the game."^[3]

Track listing

All songs written and composed by Cat Stevens except where noted.

No.	Title	Length
1.	"The Wind" (Recorded: March 1971 at Morgan Studios, Willesden, London, England)	1:42
2.	"Rubylove" (Recorded: 15 February 1971 at Paramount Studios, Los Angeles)	2:37
3.	"If I Laugh"	3:20
4.	"Changes IV"	3:32
5.	"How Can I Tell You"	4:24
6.	"Tuesday's Dead"	3:36
7.	"Morning Has Broken" (Traditional, arranged and adapted Cat Stevens with words by Eleanor Farjeon: Recorded: March 1971 at Morgan Studios, Willesden, London, England)	3:20
8.	"Bitterblue" (Recorded: March 1971 at Morgan Studios, Willesden, London, England)	3:12
9.	"Moonshadow" (Recorded: July 1970 at Morgan Studios, Willesden, London, England)	2:52
10.	"Peace Train" (Recorded: March 1971 at Morgan Studios, Willesden, London, England)	4:04

Deluxe edition

Disc two

All songs written and composed by Cat Stevens except where noted.

^[4] Deluxe Edition: Disc 2
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Moonshadow" (Recorded: 1 May 1971 at Troubadour Club, Los Angeles)	3:06
2.	"Rubylove" (Demo)	2:53
3.	"If I Laugh" (Demo)	4:04
4.	"Changes IV" (Demo)	3:36
5.	"How Can I Tell You" (Demo)	4:03
6.	"Morning Has Broken" (Traditional, arranged and adapted Cat Stevens with words by Eleanor Farjeon: Demo)	2:49
7.	"Bitterblue" (Recorded: 20 December 1975 at Royal Albert Hall, South Kensington, London, England)	3:38
8.	"Tuesday's Dead" (Recorded: 22 February 1976 at William & Mary College, Williamsburg, Virginia)	4:09
9.	"Peace Train" (Recorded: 1 January 2004 at Royal Albert Hall, South Kensington, London, England)	4:12
10.	"The Wind" (Demo)	1:59

Personnel

Cat Stevens – acoustic guitar, keyboards, vocals
Alun Davies – acoustic guitar, possible backing vocals
Larry Steele – bass guitar, congas
Gerry Conway – drums, percussion
Harvey Burns – drums, percussion
Jean Roussel – Hammond organ on "Peace Train"
Linda Lewis – backing vocals
Andy Roberts (uncredited) – Kriwaczek string organ (on 5)^[5]
Rick Wakeman – piano on "Morning Has Broken" (uncredited)^[6]
Andreas Toumazis – bouzouki
Angelos Harzipavli – bouzouki
Del Newman – string arrangements

Charts

Album

Year	Chart	Peak Position
1971	Billboard Pop Albums	2^[7]
1971	Australian Kent Music Report Albums Chart	1
1972	Australian Kent Music Report Albums Chart	1

Single

Year	Song	Chart	Peak Position
1971	"Moonshadow"	Billboard Adult Contemporary	10
1971	"Moonshadow"	Billboard Pop Singles	30
1971	"Peace Train"	Billboard Adult Contemporary	1
1971	"Peace Train"	Billboard Pop Singles	7
1972	"Morning Has Broken"	Billboard Adult Contemporary	1
1972	"Morning Has Broken"	Billboard Pop Singles	6

Certifications

Organization	Level	Date
RIAA – USA	Gold	18 October 1971
RIAA – USA	Platinum	22 February 2001
RIAA – USA	Double Platinum	22 February 2001
RIAA – USA	Triple Platinum	22 February 2001

References

↑ "Teaser and the Firecat". MTV Networks. 2010. Retrieved 12 July 2010.
↑ Crouse, Tim (9 December 1971). "Cat Stevens Teaser and the Firecat > Review". Rolling Stone (97). Archived from the original on 21 November 2007. Retrieved 30 May 2008.
↑ Ruhlmann, William. Teaser and the Firecat at AllMusic. Retrieved 13 September 2005.
↑ "Cat Stevens – Tour Dates at majicat". majicat.com. 16 November 2014. Retrieved 16 November 2014.
↑ http://www.andyrobertsmusic.com/music_collaborations.html
↑ Hogan, Ed. "Morning Has Broken – Cat Stevens : Listen, Appearances, Song Review". AllMusic. Retrieved 28 July 2012.
↑ Cat Stevens > Teaser and the Firecat > Charts & Awards > Billboard Albums at AllMusic

Preceded by Every Picture Tells a Story by Rod Stewart	Australian Kent Music Report number-one album 6 December 1971 – 9 January 1972 24 January – 2 April 1972	Succeeded by Imagine by John Lennon

Cat Stevens/Yusuf Islam/Yusuf

Studio pop albums	Matthew and Son New Masters Mona Bone Jakon Tea for the Tillerman Teaser and the Firecat Catch Bull at Four Foreigner Buddha and the Chocolate Box Numbers Izitso Back to Earth An Other Cup (as Yusuf) Roadsinger (as Yusuf) Tell 'Em I'm Gone (as Yusuf)

Live albums	Saturnight Majikat

Spiritual albums	The Life of the Last Prophet Prayers of the Last Prophet A Is for Allah I Look I See Footsteps in the Light

Compilations	Greatest Hits Footsteps in the Dark: Greatest Hits, Vol. 2 The Very Best of Cat Stevens Gold I Have No Cannons That Roar

Singles	"I Love My Dog" "Matthew and Son" "I'm Gonna Get Me a Gun" "A Bad Night" "Lady D'Arbanville" "Father and Son" "Wild World" "Moonshadow" "Peace Train" "Morning Has Broken" "Another Saturday Night" "Oh Very Young"

Other songs	"Blue Monday" "Boots and Sand" "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" "The First Cut Is the Deepest" "Here Comes My Baby" "(I Never Wanted) to Be a Star" "If You Want to Sing Out, Sing Out" "Into White" "Trouble" "Where Do the Children Play?"

Categories	Albums Compilation albums Live albums Songs Songs written by Cat Stevens

Related topics	Discography Harold and Maude (soundtrack)

Book Category

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