Cat Stevens Feature: 1972

Cat's Rhythmic Revolution Talk

Published in the UK on January 22, 1972, Melody Maker’s one-page feature on Cat Stevens saw the singer-songwriter discussing his views on sex, the universe, rhythm, and creativity. He described the universe as “making love to itself, it's one big climax all the time,” and emphasized that true peace and religion come from within and a happy family. Stevens explained his unconventional rhythms as natural, influenced by his Greek heritage and a desire to shock listeners with silence and complexity, comparing it to George Harrison’s “rightly wrong” guitar playing. He also shared how owning his own home studio would preserve spontaneous ideas (like a sound from two broken strings) and avoid the drag of booking external time.

Exact Text Excerpts from the Article

about sex and the universe. The universe is making love to itself, it's one big climax all the time. We talk of world peace, but we are being used all the time at the moment. The thing is have a happy family and the world is happy. It's within, your religion is you.

Your songs have an unusual quality, in that the rhythms are not as simple as those usually used by writers in the rock idiom. Is this something you realised and played on?

"It was natural from the beginning. I kind of realised it myself, and then when people started bringing it to my attention I thought to myself: What am I doing here? When I became aware of rhythmic changes, I started to use them a lot more. As far as timing is concerned, I get bored very easily. I like to be shocked. I like to hear a phrase of, say, silence. You might not agree with the way it is used, but that is the idea to get people thinking about what you are doing. I like to think about why he did that it makes you think about the music.

"I think that because my father is Greek. I think it came from that too. A 7/8 rhythm is so hypnotic. Once these rhythms are universally used I suppose they will not much more than a 4/4, but at the moment it's so totally fresh. It's a new insight into rhythm instead of this bang, bang, bang, bank. I think actually that I am more tied up with rhythm than anything. If I wasn't a guitarist I'd probably be a percussionist.

"It's like guitarists. If you listen to George Harrison he has knack of playing rightly wrong which is tremendously exciting. Singers too. If you hear someone who sings perfectly all the time, with exact timing, it is terribly boring. Every singer has a way of singing out of time."

How will having your own studio in the house help you?

"It'll save a lot of ideas. Only the other night I got this incredible sound on the guitar from two broken strings. Obviously I couldn't keep the guitar like that until I could book studio time. If I'd had the studio, then I could have nipped down and recorded a variation on two broken guitar strings.

"The only drag is getting too involved. The business tends to get too involved in things around it. When I was trying to get round to making music I was going round to these people. It was so difficult to get them involved in what I wanted to do. It's like touring, there are so many places to see, and you never do get round to actually seeing them."

Legacy

This early 1972 feature captures Cat Stevens at a creative turning point — philosophical, rhythmic, and ready to build his own studio.

Do you have this Melody Maker feature in your archive? Ready for the universe’s climax? Share in the comments!