|
|
Post by SuzieQ on Jul 10, 2009 10:28:45 GMT -5
The Cat is out of the bag hehe!   Thursday, 9 July 2009 Cat at Croppers Yusuf Islam (formerly Cat Stevens) announced on BBC Radio 5 Live that he will guest at Fairport's Cropredy Convention 2009, a rare chance to see him perform in a festival setting. Speaking on the Simon Mayo show on Tuesday (7 July 2009), Yusuf said: "I'm going to do Fairport's Cropredy, I'm going to try to pop in." He expects to perform several of his songs backed by members of Fairport Convention. Fairport Convention founder-member Simon Nicol says: "As Cat Stevens, Yusuf has penned many classic songs and richly deserves his stature as one of popular music's greats. Nothing has been nailed down yet but it would be marvellous to share a stage with him." Gareth Williams, Fairport's Cropredy Convention festival director, said: "Yusuf and Fairport go back a long way - they were stablemates on Island Records, Fairport's drummer, Gerry Conway, played in Yusuf's band for many years, and Simon Nicol joined him in the studio for the 'Numbers' album. We usually keep our special guests under wraps because we love to surprise our Cropredy audience. But now that the 'Cat' is out of the bag we can confirm we've been talking to Yusuf about a guest appearance at Cropredy." After a long career break, Yusuf returned to the musical fold two years ago. "I've gone back to music because I love it," he says. His new work has been critically acclaimed and his most recent album, Roadsinger (released in May 2009), has been extremely well received. Rolling Stone lauded the album's "classic sound in tight, sweet ballads" and BBC Music found it "as mellow and meditative an experience as you would expect" citing "the album’s stand-out track, the ravishingly beautiful instrumental miniature Shamsia."
|
|
|
|
Post by flemmishfangent on Jul 10, 2009 15:05:17 GMT -5
WHEN WILL THIS BE?REGII
|
|
|
|
Post by SuzieQ on Jul 10, 2009 17:33:14 GMT -5
|
|
|
|
Post by Sir Lorry Load on Jul 11, 2009 11:25:13 GMT -5
Thanks for both the notification and for the neat article, SuzieQ.  It will be interesting to see if Gerry Conway sits in with Yusuf during the performance. I hope there is a chance that you attend the show, Suzie.  -Bud |
|
Chris
Oh Very Young
Posts: 0
|
Post by Chris on Jul 11, 2009 21:01:27 GMT -5
Wow, Yusuf really is doing the shows, isn't he? So are any one going to it? I see Steve Winwood is going to be there as well!!! It sounds like an awesome concert! ;D
|
|
|
|
Post by helen on Aug 9, 2009 7:57:48 GMT -5
Is anyone planning to go to Fairport Cropredy Convention?
I defiantly won't be going.
I went to festivals years ago that lasted for days I don't fancy sitting/sleeping on the wet grass.
I now prefer more comfortable seats than the wet grass.
I don't remember then Cat ever doing festivals,
please correct me if I am wrong.
|
|
|
|
Post by brandnewman on Aug 9, 2009 10:17:43 GMT -5
He played at the Plumpton Blues Festival in 1970. He debuted Father & Son there.
That's the only one I know of.
|
|
|
|
Post by helen on Aug 9, 2009 12:20:27 GMT -5
He played at the Plumpton Blues Festival in 1970. He debuted Father & Son there. That's the only one I know of. You are so right, can not remember why I was not there?   |
|
|
|
Post by juliette on Aug 9, 2009 16:53:48 GMT -5
I was there Helen.
I remembered it was 39 years ago yesterday.
It was a good weekend.
|
|
|
|
Post by crobarbie on Aug 15, 2009 18:03:21 GMT -5
Well... I have found first picture from Cropredy... tnx to Twitter Search twitpic.com/e16vi |
|
|
|
Post by helen on Aug 16, 2009 5:36:14 GMT -5
Thank you Crobarbie. |
|
|
|
Post by crobarbie on Aug 16, 2009 9:33:01 GMT -5
|
|
|
|
Post by richina on Aug 16, 2009 10:34:36 GMT -5
Thanks so much Crobarbie!! Seems Yusuf was having a little trouble with the sound guys  ...I'll bet he was knitting buttonholes! LOL  He did seem like he was having a good time though. I wonder if the audience was singing along as usual?? He was wearing the same shirt in L.A. so that brought back a few memories.....AAAAAH, to be able to go back! But I digress, it was a great post. Thanks again--loved it!!  |
|
|
|
Post by butterfly on Aug 16, 2009 11:08:55 GMT -5
Thank you so much Crobarbie, really enjoyed it, thanks.
|
|
|
|
Post by M. on Aug 16, 2009 11:16:27 GMT -5
...cute old man...  |
|
|
|
Post by crobarbie on Aug 16, 2009 15:12:58 GMT -5
|
|
|
|
Post by SuzieQ on Aug 16, 2009 15:29:33 GMT -5
Great job, Crobarbie, finding all these for us Thanks |
|
|
|
Post by Novim on Aug 16, 2009 21:08:40 GMT -5
Hi everyone,
Annie and I went to Cropredy on Saturday. We eventually left at midnight and it took me 3 hours to get home. I was pretty tired so didn't post anything yesterday.
It was a fantastic festival - ' couldn't guess exactly how many there were there but 20,000 might be a rough idea. The field was very full. I met Alun Davies before the show and knew that they were going to play 6 songs. I asked about the Shepherd's Bush video and asked whether 2 songs were all we were going to get. Alun reassured me that it wouldn't just disappear and that in time Yusuf might be able to get a dvd released. Wouldn't that be wonderful!
Yusuf came on with Alun at around 9.45pm. He came on to tumultuous applause. We had moved down to stand in the crowd and many more people joined once Yusuf came on. I left a friend in the crowd at a distance because it was too loud for him at the ront and he said he felt an enormous warmth from everyone around when Yusuf appeared and everyone seated stood up!
There was no one stopping anyone recording and lots of video recorders were in evidence so I had a go at filming the whole thing. This I hope to be able to share with you all once I understand You Tube. Helen, can you email me instructions please??? I apologise for occasional shakiness and bits of feet etc when I gave the camera to Annie to film because my arms gave out! It's not great but at least you'll be able to share the whole performance. Sometimes I just wanted a chance just to watch without filming and held the camera away from my eye hoping it was steady. It wasn't - sorry!
So what did he do? He was introduced affectionately by Gerry Conway, who remains an exceptionally talented drummer and he came on and performed Three Roses first followed by Roadsinger with Fairport accompanying him. A very drunk person nearby kept calling out 'Yusuf' - why, heaven alone knows! He also, as you will hear on the recording, kept demanding Father and Son which was not forthcoming as YUsuf explained that they hadn't rehearsed it! This was followed by Ruins and then Peace Train on which Yusuf was joined on electric guitar by Richard Thompson. Fantastic! Yusuf just pointed at him and said ' He's the man!'
He then said 'Salaam' and went! I was puzzled because I knew there were 2 more songs to come. He came back for an encore and did a shortened version of Lilywhite flowing into Don't Be Shy. Then he was gone. It was over much too quickly!
He clearly enjoyed himself and his family were in evidence sitting at the side of the stage. It's lovely to see the support they give him at every performance he gives.
My friend recorded the audio at a distance and, despite the talking, it doesn't distort as much as the video audio does when the drums play. It's not bad but it was just so loud close to the front that I'm amazed my little video did as well as it did. I'll try to get the audio up for you to listen to soon but I will need some guidance to get the video onto YouTube.
All the best,
Novim (Chris)
|
|
|
|
Post by angelsea15 on Aug 16, 2009 23:19:02 GMT -5
All you need is drummer Gerry Conway and Fairport Convention to make Yusuf's songs sound like the old CS days. I only saw Peace Train and it was really nice to hear it played like his core mid 70's band. Tonight was the best band he's played with since coming back. I love Gerry ! He is the sound of CS!
|
|
|
|
Post by helen on Aug 17, 2009 2:02:08 GMT -5
|
|
|
|
Post by M. on Aug 17, 2009 2:43:16 GMT -5
Great report, Chris - thank you |
|
|
|
Post by juliette on Aug 17, 2009 4:34:57 GMT -5
Sounds like it was a great night Chris and well done for managing to capture it on film.
That was cool, with Gerry Conway on stage after all this time. He was always a great drummer.
Thanks for the great report. We rely on you.
|
|
|
|
Post by SuzieQ on Aug 17, 2009 6:45:08 GMT -5
Oh Chris, you have done it again!!! God Bless You. Thank you so much for all you do for us, where would we be without you and Annie ;D A Great account of your experienece as always |
|
|
|
Post by SuzieQ on Aug 17, 2009 6:46:24 GMT -5
From Yusuf/Cat's blog at Myspace/Facebook Monday, August 17, 2009 Pictures From Cropredy    In the gallery section you can now see pictures taken at the Cropredy Festival this weekend. Yusuf joined festival founders Fairport Convention onstage before playing his own set. The weather was glorious and the 20,000 strong crowd gave Yusuf an ecstatic reception. Here're the songs that were played: 'All Kinds of Roses' 'Roadsinger' 'Peace Train' (featuring a guest appearance by Richard Thompson) 'Ruins' Encore: 'Lilywhite' 'Don't Be Shy' For more pictures and video from the festival, click here. |
|
|
|
Post by butterfly on Aug 17, 2009 7:43:20 GMT -5
Thank you very much, Chris, a wonderful report. Only four songs and two encore??  Please Chris, tell me, how long he was on stage?? A short performance, wasn't it??? How long played the other artists, did they play longer than Yusuf?? |
|
|
|
Post by richina on Aug 17, 2009 8:44:51 GMT -5
FANTASTIC EVERYONE! ;D Oh Chris I know you had the most wonderful time! Thanks for the post! Loved it! |
|
|
|
Post by Novim on Aug 17, 2009 8:47:18 GMT -5
Yusuf was onstage for about 25 minutes and was the shortest performer. But he was their 'surprise' guest He was originally only going to do 3 or 4 songs so the best part of 6 was a bonus. Fairport are FANTASTIC musicians. Gerry is one of the best drummers in the world, Rick Saunders is an amazingly talented violinist and a fantastic personality, always rushing around the stage with enormous energy and constantly joking with the audience. Chris Leslie writes fantastic songs, has a great voice and can play just about any instrument put in front of him. Hes also a lovely guy! Don't you just hate people like that! Dave Pegg plays a 5 stringed bas - how he deals with that, heaven knows, I have never seen one before and Simon Nichol, of Numbers fame, is a great guitarist and a great folksinger. They added significantly to Cat's, sorry Yusuf's, sound and it was like the old days. I never, ever thought I'd get to see Cat, Alun and Gerry onstage. I'll ry to get the video up soon. Best to all - Chris |
|
|
|
Post by Novim on Aug 17, 2009 15:07:48 GMT -5
Wow, that took a long time. I have done the first one (Roadsinger - the second song actually) - not sure when it'll be up - theey say there might be a delay before it's put on. Here is the link You Tube gave me: www.youtube.com/watch?v=auU1wWwDxNUI hope it works. If it does, enjoy and I'll get the next track uploaded! Cheers, Chris |
|
|
|
Post by Novim on Aug 17, 2009 15:55:29 GMT -5
|
|
|
|
Post by crobarbie on Aug 17, 2009 16:32:46 GMT -5
Chris, it seems that you have to make this video available to the others... I got the message "This video is private" ??
|
|
...I'll bet he was knitting buttonholes! LOL 
He did seem like he was having a good time though. 
