Izitso is the tenth studio album by the British singer-songwriter Cat Stevens, released in April 1977. After the lacklustre Numbers, the album proved to be his comeback. The album updated the rhythmic folk rock and pop rock style of his earlier albums with the extensive use of synthesizers and other electronic music instruments, giving the album a more electronic rock and synthpop style, and anticipating elements of electro.

Overview

The album reached No. 7 on the American Pop Albums charts.

It also included his last US and UK top 40 chart hit for almost three decades, "(Remember the Days of the) Old Schoolyard", an early synthpop song that used the Polymoog, an early polyphonic synthesizer; it was a duet with fellow UK singer Elkie Brooks. Linda Lewis appears in the song's video, with Cat Stevens singing to her, as they portray former schoolmates, singing to each other on a schoolyard merry-go-round. (This is one of the few music videos that Stevens made, other than simple videos of concert performances.) In Canada, the additional singles "Sweet Jamaica" and "Was Dog A Doughnut" reached numbers 98 and 79 respectively.

The song "Child for a Day" was featured in the 1977 film First Love, starring Susan Dey and William Katt.

The song "Was Dog a Doughnut?" upon release was criticised for sounding "a bit too robotlike" with elements later associated with hip hop music. The track made early use of a music sequencer along with synthesizers. In an interview for Uncut in 2014, Yusuf (Stevens) explains his inspiration for the song:

The song "(I Never Wanted) To Be a Star" references the transition phase happening in his life, as he was growing more and more resentful of the more commercial aspects of the music industry. The lyrics make references to four of his early songs: "Matthew and Son", "I'm Gonna Get Me a Gun", "A Bad Night", and "I Think I See the Light". The song also features the line "izitso, izitso?", which inspired the album title.

Stevens, who had a strong interest in Islam prior to recording the album, formally converted to Islam later in the year and adopted the name Yusuf Islam in 1978, by which time the album Back to Earth would be released and Islam had essentially retired from the music business. It would be nearly 30 years before he would again perform Cat Stevens songs.

A piano/vocal sheet music book with every song from the album was published in 1977, approved by Stevens, with arrangements by Los Angeles musician Laddie Chapman.

Unreleased session with Ringo Starr

Some of the album's unreleased tracks featured Ringo Starr on the drums, during a recording session on 30 September 1976. According to The Beatles biographer Kristofer Engelhardt in 1998,

Reflecting on the jam session in his memoir nearly 50 years later, Yusuf said the following:

He added that some tracks were around nine minutes long, and none were included on Izitso.

Also recorded in the sessions were: "Hang On Sloopy","Working in the Coal Mine", "Baby I Have Some Love for You", and "If I Have to Work for You." Bootleg copies of the sessions exist, commonly referred to as "Sink in the Can".

Critical reception

Upon its release, Rolling Stone praised the album for blending together elements of folk rock and electronic music, "often in apparent opposition to each other", with "the diversity and the maturity to match this seeming incongruity."

Track listing

All tracks composed by Cat Stevens, except where indicated.

Side one

1. "(Remember the Days of the) Old Schoolyard" – 2:44

2. "Life" – 4:56

3. "Killin' Time" – 3:30

4. "Kypros" (instrumental) – 3:10

5. "Bonfire" – 4:10

Side two

1. "(I Never Wanted) To Be a Star" – 3:03

2. "Crazy" – 3:33

3. "Sweet Jamaica" – 3:31

4. "Was Dog a Doughnut?" (instrumental) (Stevens, Bruce Lynch, Jean Roussel) – 4:15

5. "Child for a Day" (Paul Travis, David Gordon) – 4:23

Personnel

• Cat Stevens – vocals, Epiphone Casino electric guitar, Ovation guitar, electric guitar, acoustic guitar, steel guitar, guitar synthesizer, bouzouki, piano, celesta, harpsichord, Wurlitzer electric piano, Fender Rhodes, Polymoog, Moog synthesizer, Minimoog, ARP String Synthesizer, ARP 2600, Yamaha CS-80, Yamaha GX-1, Yamaha EA5R electronic organ, music sequencer, drums, percussion, harmonica, brass arrangements

• Jean Roussel – Hammond organ, piano, organ, synthesizer, ARP String Synthesizer, Yamaha CS-80, glockenspiel, vibraphone, string and brass arrangements

• David Campbell – string and brass arrangements

• Chick Corea – electric piano on "Bonfire" and "Was Dog a Doughnut?"

• Barry Beckett – organ on "Killin' Time", piano and electric piano and "Child for a Day"

• Tim Henson – piano on "Killin' Time", organ on "Child for a Day"

• Broderick Smith – harmonica on "Sweet Jamaica"

• Marjorie Lagerwall – harp on "Sweet Jamaica"

• Ray Gomez – electric guitar on "Was Dog a Doughnut?"

• Pete Carr – electric guitar on "Killin' Time" and "Child for a Day"

• Jim Johnson – rhythm guitar on "Killin' Time"

• Weldon Myrick – steel guitar on "(I Never Wanted) to Be a Star"

• Reggie Young – electric guitar on "(I Never Wanted) to Be a Star"

• Bruce Lynch – bass guitar, music sequencer on "Was Dog a Doughnut?"

• David Hood – bass guitar on "Killin' Time" and "Child for a Day"

• Andy Newmark – drums and percussion on "(Remember the Days of the) Old Schoolyard" and "Kypros" and "Bonfire" and "Sweet Jamaica"

• Bill Berg – drums and percussion on "Life" and "(I Never Wanted) to Be a Star" and "Crazy"

• Barry Morgan – additional drums on "Life"

• Roger Hawkins – drums and percussion on "Killin' Time" and "Child for a Day"

• Elkie Brooks – vocals on "(Remember the Days of the) Old Schoolyard"

• Suzanne Lynch – backing vocals on "(Remember the Days of the) Old Schoolyard" and "Life" and "Sweet Jamaica"

• Carla Benson – backing vocals on "Sweet Jamaica"

• Evette Benton – backing vocals on "Sweet Jamaica"

• Barbara Ingram – backing vocals on "Sweet Jamaica"

• Gene Page – string and brass arrangements

Production

• Producers – Cat Stevens, Dave Kershenbaum

• Engineers – Harvey Goldberg, Mike Stavros, Ian Boughey, Nigel Walker, Flemming Rasmussen, Tom Jung, Paul Martinson, Nick Blagona, Mike Ross, Freddy Hansson, Steve Brandon, Jerry Masters, Gene Eichelberger, Dee Robb, John Kelly, Ken Frieson

• Mastering – Ted Jensen, Bernie Grundman

• Mixing – Claude Dupras

• Design – Mathieu Bitton

• Programming – Cat Stevens, Claude Dupras

• Supervisor – Bill Levenson

• Illustrations – Cat Stevens

• Cover Designs – Cat Stevens, Eckford Stimpson

• Photography – Moshe Brakha

• Coordinator – Beth Stempel

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications and sales

References