Cat Stevens to Release New Album Next Month, Unveils First Song
Cat Stevens is ready to build on his recent induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He has signed with Legacy Recordings, and will release his first album in five years, 'Tell 'Em I'm Gone,' on Oct. 27. European and rare North American tour dates will follow in November and December.
Stevens, who changed his name to Yusuf Islam after rising to fame in the early '70s, and now records as simply "Yusuf," is also offering an advance peek into the new album with a cover of Edgar Winter's 'Dying to Live,' which premiered at Rolling Stone. You can listen to above. The complete track listing for the album and tour dates, including his first U.S. shows in more than three decades, are below.
Stevens recorded the album in Los Angeles, Brussels, Dubai and London with a group of collaborators including Charlie Musselwhite and Richard Thompson, among others. Rick Rubin co-produced the project with Stevens; Paul Samwell-Smith of the Yardbirds mixed the record. Stevens composed five originals to go with the five cover songs -- including 'Dying to Live' and the blues standard 'Big Boss Man' -- on the R&B-inflected album.
“Although I was to venture through many lyrical terrains, melodious valleys and cadences during my 50-year musical and spiritual exploration, and though many would agree that I have covered a lot of ground, there was always one path I meant to take," Stevens said in a statement announcing the album. "Hidden in the background behind my renowned troubadour persona lurked an R&B alter-self waiting to be let free.”
Legacy has also announced a series of upcoming reissue projects involving Stevens, including existing catalog titles, previously unheard live material and other audio and video from the artist's personal archives.
Cat Stevens, 'Tell 'Em I'm Gone' Track Listing
'I Was Raised In Babylon'
'Big Boss Man'
'Dying To Live'
'You Are My Sunshine'
'Editing Floor Blues'
'Cat and the Dog Trap'
Gold Digger
'The Devil Came From Kansas'
'Tell ‘Em I’m Gone'
'Doors'
Cat Stevens Peace Train ... Late Again 2014 Tour
11/4 -- London
11/9 -- Brussels
11/11 -- Milan
11/13 -- Vienna
11/16 -- Paris
11/20 -- Berlin
11/23 -- Hamburg
11/25 -- Dusseldorf
12/1 -- Toronto
12/4 -- Boston
12/7 -- New York City
12/9 -- Chicago
12/12 -- San Francisco
12/14 -- Los Angeles