🎵 AotW AOTW: Cat Stevens - IZITSO (SP-4702)

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LPJim

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Cat Stevens
IZITSO

A&M SP-4702

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SIDE ONE

Remember the Days of the Old Schoolyard (duet with Elkie Brooks) 2:44 -- a # 33 single
Life 4:56
Killin' Time 3:30
Kypros 3:10
Bonfire 4:10

SIDE TWO

I Never Wanted to Be a Star 3:03 -- a # 44 single
Crazy 3:33
Sweet Jamaica 3:31 -- # 70
Was Dog a Doughnut 4:15*
Child For a Day 4:23**

All songs by Cat Stevens except:
* Stevens, Bruce Lynch, Jean Roussel
** Pat Travis & David Gordon

Produced by Cat Stevens & Dave Kershenbaum
# 7 on the Billboard Charts
Available on CD

Musicians: Andy Newmark, Barbara Ingram, Barry Beckett, Barry Morgan, Bill Berg, Broderick Smith, Bruce Lynch, Carla Benson, Chick Corea, David Campbell, David Hood, Elkie Brooks, Evette Benton, Jean Roussel, Jimmy Johnson, Marjorie Lagerwall, Pete Carr, Ray Gomez, Reggie Young, Roger Hawkins, Suzanne Lynch, Tim Henson, Weldon Myrick

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

Mastered By: Bernie Grundman


JB
 
Cat Stevens was clearly losing his musical mojo when this album came along. Even the cover artwork was pretty bad. For such a middling album, they gave it a pretty elaborate package -- mine even came with an "audiophile" innersleeve with plastic lining.

That said, it has a couple of good songs -- the singles -- and I liked "Sweet Jamaica" quite a bit. But, nothing like the glory days of his early A&M albums.

And, I always wondered what the title of "Was Dog A Doughnut" meant or how it came about.
 
Mod Note: In this post, Dave listed the musician credits for IZITSO which we've now inserted into the main LP post at the top of the thread. Thanks for the info, Dave!

--Your Friendly Moderator Team
 
Here is yet another case where after several classic albums, the artist puts out mainly filler with a few good tracks.

Again I'll say about Steven's last 4-6 albums, as I've said of other artists-they could have been condensed into one great album
instead of the frustrating mish mash of nothing....
 
Hmmmmm... Lack-Luster or Overproduced?

Fifteen engineers, about twice the musicians, & recorded in London, Muscle Shoals, AL & Nashville, Tenn.



Dave
 
The song "Sweet Jamaica" on 45 either ran 3:03 or 3:10 (flip side of "Was Dog A Doughnut") & also the edited version. Matt Clark Sanford, MI
 
"(I Never Wanted) To Be A Star" seems rather prophetic of Cat Stevens ending his pop career in his Islamic conversion & name change to Yusuf Islam... "Was Dog A Doughnut?" is a mindless disco concoction, and "Kypros" is self-absorbed Classical music indulgence, both delving into electronics & offset by the singer-songwriter compositions, much of it in the Matthew & Son, etc. -mode, which Cat Stevens still keeps...

(Wasn't this LP, his LAST?)

More thorough album details, I wanted to originally post & finally found time to:

Side 1:

1. (Remember The Days Of The) Old Schoolyard (2:44)

Cat Stevens - Polymoog, Piano, Celeste, Percussion, Vocals
Duet Vocals - Elkie Brooks
Bass - Bruce Lynch
Drums - Andy Newmark
Organ - Jean Roussel
Background Vocals - Suzanne Lynch
Strings arranged by Jean Roussel


2. Life (4:54)

Cat Stevens - Classical Guitar, Ovation Guitar, Bouzouki, Baldwin Electric Harpsichord, Percussion, Yamaha GX1, Polymoog, Vocals
Bass - Bruce Lynch
Drums - Bill Berg
Additional Drums - Barry Morgan
ARP Flutes, Yamaha E5AR Organ, Electric Piano, Glockenspiel - Jean Roussel
Background Vocals - Suzanne Lynch

3. Killin' Time (3:30)

Cat Stevens - Polymoog, Vocals
Brass arranged by David Campbell
Bass - David Hood
Drums - Roger Hawkins
Guitar - Pete Carr
Rhythm Guitar - Jimmy Johnson
Organ - Barry Beckett
Piano - Tim Henson

4. Kypros (3:07)

Cat Stevens - Grand Piano, Percussion Loop, Fender Rhodes Piano, ARP Synthesizer, Polymoog, Yamaha GX1, Yamaha EA5R Organ, Bouzouki

5. Bonfire (4:07)

Cat Stevens - Electric Guitar, Percussion, Yamaha GX1, Polymoog, Vocals
Bass - Bruce Lynch
Drums - Andy Newmark
Electric Piano - Chick Corea
Electric Piano, Hammond Organ - Jean Roussel
Brass arranged by Gene Page

Side 2:

1. (I Never Wanted) To Be a Star (3:01)

Cat Stevens - Wurlitzer Electric Piano, Electric Harpsichord, Grand Piano, Vocals
Bass - Bruce Lynch
Drums - Bill Berg
Electric Guitar - Reggie Young
Steel Guitar - Weldon Myrick
String Synthesizer, Vibraphone - Jean Roussel

2. Crazy (3:31)

Percussion Loop, Electric Guitar, ARP Synthesizer, Percussion, Polymoog, Harpsichord, Vocals
Bass - Bruce Lynch
Drums - Bill Berg
Organ, Piano, String Synthesizer - Jean Roussel

3. Sweet Jamaica (3:27)

Cat Stevens - Electric Piano, Percussion, Vocals
Bass - Bruce Lynch
Drums - Andy Newmark
Harmonica - Broderick Smith
Harp - Marjorie Lagerwall
Grand Piano - Jean Roussel
Background Vocals - Barbara Ingram, Carla Benson, Evette Benton
Strings arranged by Gene Page

4. Was Dog A Doughnut? (4:14)

Cat Stevens - ARP 2600 Synthesizer, ARP Odyssey, Drums
Electric Guitar - Ray Gomez
Electric Piano - Chick Corea
ARP 2600 Synthesizer, ARP Odyssey programmed by (Little Brother and Sequencer) - Bruce Lynch
ARP String Ensemble - Jean Roussel

5. Child For A Day (4:25)

Cat Stevens - Acoustic Guitar
Bass - David Hood
Drums - Roger Hawkins
Guitar - Pete Carr
Organ - Tim Henson
Piano, Electric Piano - Barry Beckett

Produced by Cat Stevens & Dave Kershenbaum

Engineers - Dee Robb, Freddy Hansson, Gene Eichelberger, Jerry Masters, John Kelly, Ken Friesen, Mike Ross, Mike Stavros, Nick Blagona, Paul Martinson, Tom Jung

Assistant Engineers - Flemmeng Rasmussen, Ian Broughey, Nigel Walker, Steve Brandon

Mastered By - Bernie Grundman

Recorded September 18, 1976 - March 31, 1977 at:

Muscle Shoals Sound Studio -- Sheffield, Alabama;
Sound 80 Studios -- Minneapolis, Minnesota;
Ardent Studios -- Memphis, Tennessee;
Le Studio -- Morin Heights, Quebec, Canada
Sweet Silence Studios -- Copenhagen, Denmark

Chick Corea appears courtesy of Polydor, Incorporated
Gene Page appears courtesy of Atlantic Records
Pete Carr appears courtesy of Big Tree Records



Dave
 
Maybe part of the "problem" with this album, along with Cat Stevens' decliining interest in pop stardom, was too many electronics cluttering up the mix. The same thing happened to Stevie Wonder IMHO -- his music took a huge drop in quality when computers and auto-drumming were given such a huge role in his sound.
 
Oh, you're right, Matt... Back To Earth was the official "decline" which ended Cat's career...

However, this was the hint which led to it, while Back To Earth was at least "more earthly"...

My mistake...



Dave
 
Oh & by the way, the song "Child For A Day" was used in the opening movie credits for "First Love" (1977) which starred William Katt ("The Greatest American Hero") & Susan Dey ("The Partridge Family", "L.A. Law"). Susan was about to reunite with the Partridges during the Partridge Family/My Three Sons reunion special on ABC (late 1977) but Susan was promoting her movie instead. Matt Clark Sanford, MI
 
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