Cat Stevens/Yusuf’s five favourite singers of all time
To become a successful session or backing singer, one must display an impressive octave range, total control of vibrato and dynamic pitch. Whereas to become a successful singer-songwriter, one only has to hit the notes they write for themselves with a unique timbre and impactful lyrics. For instance, Bob Dylan is one of the most popular singers of all time but is rarely considered among the greatest. When it comes to Cat Stevens, the singer-songwriter seems to have it all.
After rising to fame in the late 1960s against the odds of a debilitating bout of tuberculosis, Stevens captured the world’s imagination with a run of three masterpiece records: Mona Bone Jakon, Tea for the Tillerman and Teaser and the Firecat. Not only did these essential releases display the best of Stevens’ songwriting command in poignant classics like ‘Father and Son’ and ‘Wild World’, but they also exhibited his knack for resonant and soulful vocal command.
As a leading proponent of the singer-songwriter movement, Stevens became associated with contemporary artists like James Taylor and Joni Mitchell. As an acoustic-wielding troubadour, Stevens holds several folk and folk-rock musicians in high regard, including Bob Dylan and The Band. However, perhaps an even greater influence on his craft was the work of soul artists.
In a past interview, Stevens discussed some of his most important influences while selecting some of his all-time favourite albums. His selections ranged from Bob Dylan’s debut album to Gustav Holst’s The Planets, but the list lent itself mostly to soul-adjacent selections. Stevens values a smooth, affecting vocal and the delivery of emotionally resonant lyrics, something his catalogue and those of most soul artists have in common.
On several occasions, Stevens has noted that Stevie Wonder is one of his favourite artists and that the American singer’s best album overall was 1972’s Talking Book. “Talking Book blew me away when I was going through a dry period in my writing,” Stevens said. “I heard Stevie Wonder and thought that I couldn’t improve on what he’s done, he’s such a genius! I just fell in love with it, it was black soul music from that era, but sounds totally, totally now.”
Before Stevens fell in love with Wonder, pianist and soul innovator Ray Charles drew him to the genre. Again, Charles was an allrounder, but for Stevesn, his voice stood out in particular. “He was the great innovator and the forerunner to make black music ‘acceptable’ to the general white population of America and the world,” Stevens said. “When he came out, you just couldn’t ignore the impact of his voice and delivery of music with piano and arrangements.”
Concluding his comments, Stevens noted that, alongside Little Richard, Charles revolutionised piano-driven pop music. “I can’t ignore the contribution that Ray Charles has made to soul and music at large,” he said. Adding, “If there’s one person that I could emulate with my voice, it would be Ray Charles, perhaps with a little bit of Nina Simone thrown in. I never saw myself as a white boy singer.”
In 2008, Rolling Stone reached out to some of the world’s most esteemed musical artists, asking each to fill out a ballot paper with 20 slots. Each was asked to rank who they deemed to be the greatest singers of all time. Stevens filled out only five slots, placing Stevie Wonder in first place, closely followed by the King of Soul, Sam Cooke.
