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Fan Project - Cat Stevens Guitar Tabs


Leonard McCoy

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Since Cat Stevens is the reason I picked up the guitar in the first place, I decided about two years ago to go through his entire repertoire again bit by bit to transcribe all the great songs the way he played them.

 

A few dozen guitar tabs later I now collect them all in one place with plenty more to come at:

 

https://catstevensguitar.wordpress.com.

 

Feel free to stop by.

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Since Cat Stevens is the reason I picked up the guitar in the first place, I decided about two years ago to go through his entire repertoire again bit by bit to transcribe all the great songs the way he played them.

 

A few dozen guitar tabs later I now collect them all in one place with plenty more to come at:

 

https://catstevensguitar.wordpress.com.

 

Feel free to stop by.

 

There is a site called Majicat which is good for Cat Stevens fans.

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Thanks! I have bookmarked the site and will try some later on.

 

Some of the Chordie.com versions are a stab in the dark at best, so this will be interesting.

 

The Hound prefers I call him Hound Dog Stevens.......the other name gets him riled up.....

 

 

 

BluesKing777.

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....I decided about two years ago to go through his entire repertoire again bit by bit to transcribe all the great songs the way he played them.....

 

Wow, major project! Thanks, Leo! I appreciate the lyrics and chord charts!

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There is a site called Majicat which is good for Cat Stevens fans.

That's where it all began and where some of my early tabs are available still until the scope of the venture blew out of proportion.

 

The newest addition is: Boy with a Moon and Star on His Head (1972)

 

"An acoustic magnum opus, “Boy” is one of the most fleshed-out philosophical stories Steve ever told in his songs. Given the scope of the work and in order to keep the tablature compact and readable, I had to forego some of the intricacies of how the song is played since it can vary slightly from verse to verse, motif to motif. In the latter half, for instance, the filler bits get much shorter each time the riff ends. Overall this tablature should give you a good idea, though, what Steve was aiming for acoustically, and it captures Steve’s fingerpicking style quite accurately. Unfortunately, the video reels of only this song are lost from the 1973 ABC Concert (aka Moon & Star Concert) for some reason (not so for the audio)."

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That's a lot of hard work. Thanks for doing it and sharing it. I've always loved Foreigner Suite best among Cat Stevens songs, but I doubt that it would adapt well to single acoustic guitar accompaniment. Maybe an excerpt could work, though. Of course I'm thinking of someone with mere mortal guitar skills. Lots of other Cat is wonderful too.

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That is a fabulous resource! Thank you so much from this Cat Stevens fan of 46 years.

 

Cat Stevens is the reason I play guitar. I was 15 in the summer of 1971 when "Tea For The Tillerman" was all the rage. I had just received my first REAL acoustic guitar for my 15th birthday in April 1971 and spent the summer listening to "Tillerman" and learning many of the songs on the album by ear. A guitar playing friend showed me how to play "Where Do The Children Play" using fingerstyle picking for the first time.

 

In 1971, the way to get girls was to play the guitar and play and sing Cat Stevens. If a 15 year old geek like me could attract chicks by playing Cat songs (badly), just imagine Cat's following '70 through '77!

 

My favourite Cat songs in my songlist today are:

 

If I Laugh

The Wind

Moonshadow

 

I did this video of "If I Laugh" six years ago. It features my J200 Standard, my Songwriter and my Rickenbacker 4003 bass, all of which I no longer own.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qOg_g0C160U&list=PLZ3Pir1J67YwtGbmrg0KTqf_x06Cu4cd1&index=3

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  • 4 weeks later...

Newest guitar tab: I've Got A Thing About Seeing My Grandson Grow Old (1970)

 

“Grandson” was written during Steve’s transitional phase from big-band arrangements—his first career—to a softer, more reflective type of song—his second career starting with the original album MONA BONE JAKON (1970)—that came closer in sound to his own demos. Ultimately, the song ended up on the cutting floor for that album and remained in the archives of Olympic Studios, London, for 30 years until in the 2000s it got released (in various mixes) on two compilation albums only. The song features Steve’s own, prominent licks, without relying on session men anymore, as was often the case during his first career. In the chorus Steve does an unusual Buddy Holly impression, singing “Grow old, oh_____. Oh___________.”

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  • 2 months later...

New guitar tab: You Can Do (Whatever)! (2017)

 

“You Can Do (Whatever)!” was originally written for the movie Jobs (2013), an American biographical drama film inspired by the life of Steve Jobs. The song's simplicity stems from the deployment of a capo, making the song rather easy to play on guitar, but in terms of composition the song is rather sophisticated and very delicate. One wouldn’t be wrong to conclude that the song consist of chorus line after chorus line trumping each other.

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  • 1 month later...

New guitar tab: Where Are You? (1969)

 

https://catstevensguitar.wordpress.com/other-songs/where-are-you/

 

“Where Are You” serves as a swan song marking the end of the cooperation with Decca producer Mike Hurst. While it failed to land in the charts, it stands as one of Steve’s favorite track from that time with its tamer overall arrangement uncharacteristic of Hurst’s prescribed big band sound of the time. Its classical character is reminiscent of song arrangements heard in musicals. The influences of the melancholy French genre are apparent, not only in the lyrics. Its simplified arrangement serves as a look into the things to come for Steve starting with Mona Bone Jakon.

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