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The First Cuts: Cat Stevens' Early Albums Remixed for Return to Vinyl

By 7 Comments

PRE-ORDER FROM AMAZON.COM

In 1967, Cat Stevens released his first albums:  Matthew & Son and New Masters.  On March 13 in the U.K. (March 27 in the U.S.), Decca and UMC will press up new issues of these classics, on vinyl for the first time since 1982.  Each features restored artwoek and newly "de-mixed" re-enhanced mixes prepared at Abbey Road Studios.  Using the studio's proprietary technology, remix engineers were able to "enhance the original vocals and [help] amplify the bass," thus breathing new life into such tried and true Stevens tracks as "I Love My Dog," "Portobello Road," "Here Comes My Baby" and the enduring "The First Cut is the Deepest."

Both new reissues are due March 13 in the U.K. and March 27 in the U.S.  You can pre-order your copies below!

Cat Stevens, Matthew & Son (originally released as Deram LP DES-18005, 1967 - "demixed" and reissued Decca/UMC, 2020) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Side 1:

  1. Matthew & Son
  2. I Love My Dog
  3. Here Comes My Baby
  4. Bring Another Bottle, Baby
  5. Portobello Road
  6. I've Found A Love
  7. I See A Road

Side 2:

  1. Baby, Get Your Head Screwed On
  2. Granny
  3. When I Speak To the Flowers
  4. The Tramp
  5. Come On and Dance
  6. Hummingbird
  7. Lady

Cat Stevens, New Masters (originally released as Deram LP DES-18010, 1967 -- "demixed" and reissued Decca/UMC, 2020) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Side 1:

  1. Kitty
  2. I'm So Sleepy
  3. Northern Wind
  4. The Laughing Apple
  5. Smash Your Heart
  6. Moonstone

Side 2:

  1. The First Cut is the Deepest
  2. I'm Gonna Be King
  3. Ceylon City
  4. Blackness of the Night
  5. Come On Baby (Shift That Log)
  6. I Love Them All

Sam Stone

Sam Stone has been obsessed with catalog music ever since his folks gave him a Contours best-of collection for his fourth birthday. He quickly began to learn all he could about rock and roll history and beyond, a passion that continues to this day. Sam followed his love for music to the classroom, earning a B.A. from Towson University in Electronic Media and Film, concentrating on radio and audio production, as well as an M.A. in Audio Arts from Syracuse University. He has put his knowledge and skills to work at prominent reissue labels and is excited to bring his perspectives on catalog music to a broader audience. When he’s not writing for The Second Disc, Sam can be found researching about music, talking about Joni Mitchell’s career, and adding another box set to his Amazon wish list.

Connect With Sam: Twitter

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Comments

  1. Hello Sam,
    I will be looking forward to these.
    Someone made a good solid decision
    in selecting CAT STEVEN'S first albums.
    A 38 year wait is a very long time.

    P.S. on a more horrific note,
    can you bring to us any more news
    regarding the devastating fire that
    destroyed the Banning,CA facility
    that housed the Apollo/Transco
    lacquer company?
    Regards,
    Dan

    Reply

  3. Vinyl-only? Why?. Someone at some unofficial download site will computer de-click these vinyl releases, then fans will "burn" the material to CD-R. Smart move Universal !

    Reply

    • It's the same with digital only releases. You'd think they really wanted to give away the music for free. It ends up on download sites and gets downloaded for free.

      Reply

  4. Agree with Phil. The target market for such archived material still buys cd's. Another wrong-headed move by a label. Sigh

    Reply

  5. This was released on CD in 2003 with 11 bonus tracks (23 total). It appears to be out of print now though. I wish they would re-issue it on CD for those who missed out. CDs have an 80-minute run-time with plenty of room for bonus tracks that are lost on vinyl, so that is one of numerous reasons I always prefer CDs.

    Reply

  6. Several people, and there are more I'm sure,
    have taken the time to express their
    disappointment in the decision (so far) of
    rereleasing these titles on vinyl only.
    And I get that.
    My thinking is,first off I'm glad that any
    format that you can see,hold,and read,
    has been made available to us.
    And also,not to sound negative,I believe that
    alot of times that the extra tracks are nothing
    to write home about You'd like to think that
    those bonus cuts are all unknown and
    unreleased,when in reality they may just be
    a song that is on that album already but was
    taped with a zither,or maracas added in the mix.
    I can usually live quite well thank you without that,
    or the unreleased extras might be less than stellar
    half-hearted live versions that sound like they may
    have become routine for the artist(s),and it shows.
    So,I'm guessing that if these two early CAT STEVENS
    entries had been issued on CD and not vinyl at all,
    there would have been others voicing their concerns.
    In the meantime I just try to be content with the fact
    that I have stereo components that can play them all.
    Best to all,
    Dan

    Reply

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