"Cat Stevens"

Frankly, I expect no one here to care that I saw Cat Stevens live 45 years ago tonight, or that I choose to remember that fact.  (Even my WIFE can't stand him, Lol!!) But as this is my blog, I've always written about what was important to ME....so here goes!!

The concert, on 7 / 17 / '74, was at Madison Square Garden in New York, and I was 19 at the time.  Lazy as I was in my pre-Christian days, I actually got myself a JOB to earn money for the TICKET!! (Lol) I was so "into" Cat Stevens and his music, you see, that the guys in my Newark, New Jersey neighborhood called me "CHET Stevens." I was fascinated by his compelling lyrics (which he wrote himself), his deep thinking about spiritual things, his masculine voice, his creativity (he did the art for most of his album covers) and his emotional INTENSITY when he sang. I'll come right out and say it....I idolized the man...he was a god (small "g") to me!!  (This was the year BEFORE I was saved and his album "Buddha and the Chocolate Box" had just come out.  I didn't mind Cat promoting BUDDHA, though because the album had a song "JESUS" on it and that anchored him in "religious reality" for me. Alas, I believed in the Christian God of the Bible at that point, I just was not SAVED.)

Above is the PROGRAM from the Tour he was on, to promote the "Buddha" album.  As you can see, the Tour was called "Bamboozle" and I kinda FELT bamboozled after seeing my idol live, for the first and only time.  You see, I never knew how SHORT he was, but seeing him live and in concert I realized how I'd built him up in my mind, thinking he was taller than ME, perhaps (I'm 6'2" now, but I was a little shorter THEN, at age 19.)  Also, weird as it sounds, when he talked between songs he shocked me with a British accent....and his music was FAR less appealing LIVE than it was on his albums, which were all engineered in the studio.

One highlight was that I called out for his song "Bitterblue" and he (with his too-loud band) PLAYED it for me!! Maybe I WAS a little bitter and a little blue that night, who knows. 

I sure was disappointed.

My image of him was definitely brought down several notches!!

So why do you remember the date fondly, you ask?? And, why will I go to my sister's and watch a Cat concert on DVD later with her and my brother-in-law (they ARE fans of "The Cat") if I was so disappointed 45 years ago tonight?? Because, in God's Providence, this HAD to happen for me...I had to get disillusioned with my IDOLS before I was ready to meet the TRUE God who exceeds EVERY expectation, beyond my wildest imaginings.  My turning to Christ happened, by the way, 8 months after I saw...and saw through...Cat Stevens.

As you may know, Cat Stevens became a MUSLIM in 1978 and now records under the name Yusuf Islam.  I still listen to his music occasionally, in MODERATION, and as long as he doesn't push ALLAH or knock my Christian beliefs, I do enjoy a lot of it.  HIS LIVE PERFORMANCES HAVE IMPROVED SINCE HE BECAME A MUSLIM AND STARTED RECORDING AGAIN (he took a 25 year hiatus from the music industry when he became a Muslim) BECAUSE HE'S DITCHED THE BIG BAND HE WAS WITH IN '74 AND HAS GONE BACK TO HIS SIMPLER, ACOUSTIC ROOTS.  I sometimes think what might have happened did I not get disillusioned with Cat 45 years ago and if I did NOT get saved in March of 1975.  Would I have followed my then-idol into ISLAM??   It's possible, you know.

I pray that Cat Stevens, or Yusuf, WHATEVER his name is now, will get saved one day.  Yes, he changed to ISLAM (bummer) but at least he didn't pull a Bruce Jenner and pretend to change his SEX!! He needs to truly find JESUS and not be content with that half-hearted song he wrote about Him.  And hey, I'll always have a certain LOVE for the man, but now it's a love for him with no illusions, a love for his MUSIC which yearns to see him know and love the TRUE God who gave him His many gifts!!  He'll be 71 on Sunday, and I pray he'll be BORN AGAIN before it's too late!!

Above: Cat Stevens (now Yusuf Islam) today.