This DVD, coinciding with Yusuf's 60th birthday, features a rare and classic performance from 1971 which captures the warmth of his studio recordings but with even more passion and depth. It also includes the delightfully animated short film by Cat Stevens entitled Teaser And the Firecat, with wacky narration by Spike Milligan. His recording career spanned 12 years from October 1966 to November 1978, and he recorded 11 albums in all, but his most creative and interesting period was probably whilst he was recording Tea for the Tillerman and Teaser And the Firecat during 1970 and 1971. With the hit single Wild World entering the US charts in 1971, Cat Stevens flew to America where this intimate concert, which features the best of his repertoire at the time, was recorded. After all these years, it is good to be reminded of Cat Stevens' original and creative talents and the huge contribution he made to the singer/songwriter genre.
On June 8, 1971, Cat Stevens played eight of his songs live at the studios of Los Angeles television station KCET, accompanied only by guitarist Alun Davies and bassist/conga player Larry Steele. This half-color program comprises the bulk of this disc, and there's very little to fault in this DVD release. The color footage, taken before a small and respectful in-studio audience, is excellent, and performance-wise Stevens has just reached his prime. Alongside the most popular early songs from his early career ("Moonshadow," "Wild World," and "Father and Son") are some lesser-known compositions from his 1970 album Tea for the Tillerman. About the only mild shortcomings you could point out are the short length and the credits that scroll over the screen as Stevens plays the final song (an incomplete performance of "Hard Headed Woman"), neither of which are the fault of the label issuing this DVD, as the original broadcast is all it had to work with. Also included is the early-'70s five-minute animated short "Teaser and the Firecat," a sort of cartoon complement to "Moonshadow" with narration by British comedian Spike Milligan. ~ Richie Unterberger, Rovi
