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Teaser and the Firecat

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected from How Can I Tell You)

Teaser and the Firecat
Studio album by
Cat Stevens
Released1 October 1971[1]
RecordedJuly 1970 – March 1971
Studios
  • Paramount, Los Angeles
  • Morgan, London
GenreFolk-pop[2]
Length32:39
LabelsIsland (UK/Europe)
A&M (US/Canada)
ProducerPaul Samwell-Smith
Cat Stevens chronology
Tea for the Tillerman
(1970)		 Teaser and the Firecat
(1971)		 Catch Bull at Four
(1972)
Singles from Teaser and the Firecat
  1. "Moonshadow"
    Released: September 1970 (UK); June 1971 (US)
  2. "Peace Train"
    Released: 1971 (worldwide); September 1971 (US)
  3. "Rubylove"
    Released: 1971 (France, Greece, Benelux)
  4. "Morning Has Broken"
    Released: 1972

Teaser and the Firecat is the fifth studio album by Cat Stevens, released in October 1971. It was recorded between July of 1970 and March of 1971, and features 10 songs, including the hits "Morning Has Broken", "Moonshadow" and "Peace Train". 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 and winning Biggest Selling LP at the 1972 King of Pop Awards.[3] It also shares a title with a children's book written and illustrated by Stevens, which focuses on the characters from the album cover.

Overview

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Stevens wrote and illustrated a 1972 children's book which features the titular 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.[4] The book has been out of print and rare since the mid-1970s.

"Rubylove", the second song on the album, was initially titled "Who'll Be My Love", but was later renamed to "Rubylove" after the daughter of Stevens's guitarist mispronounced it.[5] "Rubylove" was also released as a single in France, Greece, and Benelux, but did not chart. The song incorporates a verse sung in Greek and utilizes bouzoukis in the instrumentation to give the song a Mediterranean feel.[6][7][8]

In 1977 an animated short narrated by comedian Spike Milligan featuring Teaser and his Firecat, as well as the hit "Moonshadow", was released as a segment in Fantastic Animation Festival.

In November 2008, a deluxe edition was released featuring a second disc of demos and live recordings.

English keyboardist Rick Wakeman played piano on "Morning Has Broken" and English musician Linda Lewis contributed vocals on "How Can I Tell You".

Critical reception

[edit]
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusicStarStarStarStarStar[9]

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."[8] Croiuse described the singles "Rubylove" and "Peace Train" as being "infectious but basically dreck" and attributed their success to their production values, although he acknowledged that "Rubylove" "as a pleasant enough tune" and that "Peace Train" "delivers its simple-minded message in an appropriately childish tone."[8] On the other hand, he wrote of the single "Moonshadow" that it's "a simple, unadorned song whose beauty lies in its mystery" and said that "Morning Is Broken" is "the only lyric on the album that makes a really sophisticated, coherent statement about the world", describing that song as "a gorgeous hymn."[8]

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."[7] It was voted number 539 in the third edition of Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums (2000).[10]

Musicologist Franco Fabbri described "Rubylove" as "the first notable English pop song with 'Mediterranean' flavor that doesn't sound Arabic" and also as "the first 'exotic' song related to a nation, a culture, that wasn't part of the British Empire.[6]

Track listing

[edit]

All tracks are written by Cat Stevens, except "Morning Has Broken" (traditional; arranged and adapted by Stevens with additional lyrics by Eleanor Farjeon).

Side one
No.TitleLength
1."The Wind"1:42
2."Rubylove"2:37
3."If I Laugh"3:20
4."Changes IV"3:32
5."How Can I Tell You"4:24
Side two
No.TitleLength
6."Tuesday's Dead"3:36
7."Morning Has Broken"3:20
8."Bitterblue"3:12
9."Moonshadow"2:52
10."Peace Train"4:04

Personnel

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Charts

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Weekly charts

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Chart (1971/72) Peak
position
Australia (Kent Music Report)[12] 1
United Kingdom (Official Charts Company) 2
United States (Billboard 200)[13] 2
Chart (2021) Peak
position
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[14]67

Year-end charts

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Chart (1972) Position
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[15] 33

Certifications

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Region CertificationCertified units/sales
France (SNEP)[16] Gold 100,000*
Germany (BVMI)[17] Platinum 500,000^
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland)[18] Platinum 50,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[19] Gold 100,000^
United States (RIAA)[20] 3× Platinum 3,000,000^

* Sales figures based on certification alone.
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

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  1. ↑ "Teaser and the Firecat". MTV Networks. 2010. Archived from the original on 1 August 2004. Retrieved 12 July 2010.
  2. ↑ Molanphy, Chris (12 February 2021). "The AC/DC Rule Edition". Hit Parade | Music History and Music Trivia (Podcast). Slate. Retrieved 3 February 2024.
  3. ↑ "Australian Music Awards". Ron Jeff. Retrieved 16 December 2010.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  4. ↑ "Teaser And The Firecat". Yusuf / Cat Stevens. Retrieved 7 August 2026.
  5. ↑ Leviton, Mark (1 October 2024). "Cat Stevens' 'Teaser And the Firecat': A Singer-Songwriter Classic". Best Classic Bands. Retrieved 9 August 2026.
  6. 1 2 Fabbri, Franco (2013). "Paint It Black, Cat: Rock, Pop and the Mediterranean". In Plastino, Goffredo (ed.). Mediterranean Mosaic. Taylor & Francis. pp. 44–46. ISBN 9781136707766.
  7. 1 2 Ruhlmann, William. Teaser and the Firecat at AllMusic. Retrieved 13 September 2005.
  8. 1 2 3 4 Crouse, Tim (9 December 1971). "Cat Stevens Teaser and the Firecat > Review". Rolling Stone. No. 97. Archived from the original on 21 November 2007. Retrieved 30 May 2008.
  9. ↑ Teaser and the Firecat at AllMusic
  10. ↑ Colin Larkin, ed. (2006). All Time Top 1000 Albums (3rd ed.). Virgin Books. p. 185. ISBN 0-7535-0493-6.
  11. ↑ "Cat Stevens - Teaser and the Firecat". Discogs. 19 August 2023.
  12. ↑ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 293. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  13. ↑ Cat Stevens > Teaser and the Firecat > Charts & Awards > Billboard Albums at AllMusic
  14. ↑ "Swisscharts.com – Cat Stevens – Teaser and the Firecat". Hung Medien. Retrieved 28 November 2021.
  15. ↑ "Top 100 Album-Jahrescharts" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. 1972. Archived from the original on 9 May 2015. Retrieved 2 April 2022.
  16. ↑ "Les Certifications depuis 1973: Albums". Infodisc.fr. Retrieved 11 June 2019. (select "Cat Stevens" from drop-down list)
  17. ↑ "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Cat Stevens; 'Teaser and the Firecat')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie. Retrieved 11 June 2019.
  18. ↑ "The Official Swiss Charts and Music Community: Awards ('Teaser')". IFPI Switzerland. Hung Medien. Retrieved 11 June 2019.
  19. ↑ "British album certifications – Cat Stevens – Teaser and the Firecat". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 11 June 2019. Select albums in the Formats field. Type Teaser and the Firecat Cat Stevens in the "Search:" field.
  20. ↑ "American album certifications – Cat Stevens – Teaser". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved 11 June 2019.
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