From: billkawalec@yahoo.com   
      
   why is it necessasry to re-quote the whole damn thing to add two words???   
   AND, if it is, top=posting would be in order   
      
      
   --   
   I never read email at the Yahoo address!   
      
      
      
      
    wrote in message   
   news:1164606224.551559.179750@h54g2000cwb.googlegroups.com...   
   >   
   > Grover C. McCoury III wrote:   
   >> By Nigel Williamson   
   >> Nov 17, 2006   
   >> Reuters/Billboard   
   >>   
   >> It's the comeback no one ever expected. More than a quarter-century after   
   >> his last commercial recording, Yusuf Islam, the artist known   
   >> internationally   
   >> as Cat Stevens, returns to the musical spotlight.   
   >>   
   >> The global release of his album "An Other Cup" marks the latest stage in   
   >> the   
   >> musical and spiritual journey of the British singer-songwriter, born   
   >> Steven   
   >> Georgiou 59 years ago.   
   >>   
   >> As Cat Stevens, he enjoyed his first success in the 1960s with such   
   >> self-penned UK chart hits as "I Love My Dog" (1966) and "Matthew & Son"   
   >> (1967). Stevens hung out with the Beatles and toured with Jimi Hendrix.   
   >> But   
   >> in early 1968, at the height of his success, he was struck with   
   >> tuberculosis.   
   >>   
   >> After hospitalization and convalescence, Stevens re-emerged in 1970 a   
   >> changed man. Gone was the brash young pop star and in his place emerged a   
   >> sensitive, introspective singer-songwriter whose albums "Tea for the   
   >> Tillerman" (1970), "Teaser and the Firecat" (1971), "Catch Bull at Four"   
   >> (1972) and "Foreigner" (1973) went on to sell millions internationally.   
   >>   
   >> But an even bigger change came in 1978, when he became a Muslim. He   
   >> changed   
   >> his name to Yusuf Islam, sold his guitars and turned away from his fans   
   >> to   
   >> become a pillar of the British Muslim community, donating the royalties   
   >> from   
   >> his old records to fund Muslim schools and Islamic charities.   
   >>   
   >> Now comes "An Other Cup," the artist's first album since 1978's "Back to   
   >> Earth." The name may have changed, but the singer's gentle voice remains   
   >> reassuringly familiar, his melodic gifts are intact, and his lyrical   
   >> insight   
   >> seems undimmed.   
   >>   
   >> In a rare interview, Yusuf talked to Billboard in London to explain what   
   >> brought about the return of the Cat.   
   >>   
   >> Q: How does it feel to be talking about a new album for the first time in   
   >> 28   
   >> years?   
   >> A: Going into the studio was like going back to a second home for me.   
   >> What I   
   >> wasn't quite prepared for was the commercial and business side, which has   
   >> grown incredibly corporate and made it more difficult to maintain your   
   >> balance as an artist. But I've been through it before and I can cope.   
   >>   
   >> Q: Were you nervous about returning?   
   >> A: The last place I wanted to return to was the music business. But it's   
   >> the   
   >> people and the cause that matter, and right now there's an important   
   >> need,   
   >> which is bridge-building. I wanted to support the cause of humanity,   
   >> because   
   >> that's what I always sang about.   
   >>    Music can be healing, and with my history and my knowledge of both   
   >> sides   
   >> of what looks like a gigantic divide in the world, I feel I can point a   
   >> way   
   >> forward to our common humanity again. It's a big step for me, but it's a   
   >> natural step. I don't feel at all irked by the responsibility -- I feel   
   >> inspired.   
   >>   
   >> Q: Why is the record being released under the name Yusuf rather than   
   >> Yusuf   
   >> Islam?   
   >> A: Because "Islam" doesn't have to be sloganized. The second name is like   
   >> the official tag, but you call a friend by their first name. It's more   
   >> intimate, and to me that's the message of this record.   
   >>   
   >> Q: Why also put "the artist formerly known as Cat Stevens" on the sleeve?   
   >> A: That's the tag with which most people are familiar; for recognition   
   >> purposes I'm not averse to that. For a lot of people, it reminds them of   
   >> something they want to hold on to. That name is part of my history, and a   
   >> lot of the things I dreamt about as Cat Stevens have come true as Yusuf   
   >> Islam.   
   >>   
   >> Q: How long was it since you had played a guitar?   
   >> A: Many years. I was never convinced that the Koran prohibited music, but   
   >> I   
   >> abstained from musical instruments to keep my balance and avoid any   
   >> conflict. I'd got rid of them all.   
   >>    But there's a nice irony, because I wrote a song called "Father & Son"   
   >> (in 1970) about the son running off to do his own thing. Now the story is   
   >> about my son coming back and bringing a guitar into the house. A couple   
   >> of   
   >> years ago, one morning after prayers, his guitar was lying around. I   
   >> picked   
   >> it up and my fingers knew exactly where to go. I'd written some words and   
   >> when I put them to music, it moved me and I realized I could have another   
   >> job to do. Things just grew from there.   
   >>   
   >> Q: What's the significance of the album title?   
   >> A: It has obvious connotations with "Tea for the Tillerman." But it's   
   >> also a   
   >> symbol. There's all this talk of the clash of civilizations. But if you   
   >> do   
   >> your research you find, for example, that coffeehouses came from Muslim   
   >> civilization in Turkey and the guitar was developed from Muslims taking   
   >> the   
   >> oud to Spain. So culture and civilization is something we share, not   
   >> something we should fight about. That's the symbol of the cup. It's there   
   >> for everybody to drink from.   
   >>   
   >> Q: When were the songs written?   
   >> A: A couple are quite old. "Greenfields, Golden Sands" was written in   
   >> 1968   
   >> for a musical that was never realized and has now found a context almost   
   >> 40   
   >> years later. The first part of the single "Heaven/Where True Love Goes"   
   >> was   
   >> written for "Foreigner," but the main section is a new song.   
   >>   
   >> Q: How strongly did your faith affect the new songs?   
   >> A: I think purposefulness and a feeling that we have a direction is   
   >> probably   
   >> the message of the album. One song, "Whispers From a Spiritual Garden,"   
   >> sets   
   >> to music a poem called "Universal Love" by the 13th century Islamic Sufi   
   >> poet Rumi. I read him even before I read the Koran -- at one point I   
   >> never   
   >> went anywhere without my book of Rumi's poems.   
   >>    When we come to the message of Islam, the root of the word itself   
   >> comes   
   >> from peace. Many people on all sides -- and some Muslims particularly --   
   >> have gone extremely far from that basic understanding, and I have a role   
   >> to   
   >> play in helping to remind people of the gift of this wonderful religion,   
   >> which has been politicized and used for other purposes.   
   >>   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
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