‘Please Please Me’: Yusuf/Cat Stevens’ favourite album by The Beatles
In the age of 1960s psychedelic rock, Yusuf/Cat Stevens was marching to the beat of his own drum—or, more accurately, his own folk guitar. His confidence in his musical direction was well-founded, though. By the time Stevens released his breakthrough record, Mona Bone Jakon, in 1970, he had already spent years honing and fine-tuning his sound, crafting a style as distinctive as possible. As a result, he became a runaway success from that point forward.
That said, although Stevens’ sonic position was much softer and more relaxed than the typical rock that was electrifying the airwaves at the time, it didn’t mean he wasn’t still reverent of it, as ultimately, its reach captured every corner of the musical imagination. Of course, no other band epitomised this more than The Beatles, and Stevens’ favourite album by the Fab Four stands as a testament to the power of that revolution.
Characteristic of the era when Stevens began making musical ventures, his favourite Beatles album has to be their debut, Please Please Me. Released in the UK in 1963, it marked the nascent humble beginnings of four Liverpool lads who would soon jet off on a supersonic scale, but their first offering was much more up Stevens’ traditional soft rock street.
It featured breakout hits like ‘Love Me Do’ but was also padded out by cover versions of songs, including ‘Chains’, originally by Gerry Goffin and Carole King. This spoke to the Beatles’ origins as a gigging band around the Liverpool circuit—obviously, namely the Cavern Club—and their roots in skiffle and blues. The shared love of this genre would resonate with a later artist like Stevens, who began his tenure in the industry exploring a similar genre standpoint.
For both artists, this traditional melodic route was the genesis of opening up a whole new world, but for the Beatles especially, new rock heavens were on the horizon. Where later, their legacy would be taken over by psychedelic skies and the height of cultural iconoclast, Please Please Me demonstrated their true genius in a way that no epic production or innovative technique could parallel. Instead, this was the purest work of Lennon and McCartney—here controversially credited McCartney-Lennon—laid bare, exhibiting a raw songwriting and sonic brilliance that would, in time, change the world.
This was the exact spirit that caught Stevens’ eye as he made his first foray into the musical universe. If his own back catalogue demonstrates nothing else, it’s that you do not need big electrical frills or mammoth instrumentation to make a hit – take his seminal ‘Father and Son’, complete with only an acoustic guitar and a basic drumbeat. Sometimes, simplicity speaks to the heart better.
Macca and co, at their heart, would probably agree with that. In fact, they definitely do because McCartney has cited Stevens as a sonic inspiration for his own work in terms of musical quality and spirit. Above all else, it proves just one thing – the epic stadiums and the bedlam of millions of screaming fans would mean nothing if underneath you didn’t have pure and simple talent. Clearly, Yusuf/Cat Stevens has it by the bucket load.
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