Track Listing DISC 1: 1. Matthew & Son 2. Here Comes My Baby 3. First Cut Is the Deepest, The 4. Lady D'Arbanville 5. Trouble 6. Where Do the Children Play? 7. Hard Headed Woman 8. Wild World 9. Sad Lisa 10. Father & Son 11. Don't Be Shy 12. If You Wanna Sing Out Sing Out 13. Wind, The 14. Moonshadow 15. Morning Has Broken 16. Bitter Blue 17. Peace Train
DISC 2: 1. Sitting 2. Silent Sunlight 3. Angelsea 4. Can't Keep It In 5. 18th Avenue 6. Hurt, The 7. Foreigner Suite 8. Oh Very Young 9. King of Trees 10. Another Saturday Night 11. Drywood 12. Old Schoolyard, (Remember the Days of the) 13. To Be a Star, (I Never Wanted to Be) 14. Last Love Song 15. Indian Ocean
| Details | | Distributor: | Universal Distribution | | Recording Type: | Studio | | Recording Mode: | Stereo | | SPAR Code: | n/a |
Album Notes Personnel include: Cat Stevens (vocals, guitar, keyboards, synthesizer, percussion); Alun Davies (guitar); Peter Gabriel (flute); Rick Wakeman (piano); Herbie Flowers (bass guitar); Bernard "Pretty" Purdie (drums); Harvey Burns (percussion); Art Garfunkel (background vocals). The man who was born Steven Demetre Georgiou and would become Yusuf Islam, Cat Stevens enjoyed success with numerous singles in the late 1960s and early '70s, before converting to Islam and turning his back on secular pop in the late '70s. Though Stevens's music often gets overshadowed by his religious beliefs, the British singer/songwriter penned an impressive string of highly melodic folk-rock tunes, a point driven home by this excellent 2005 retrospective. Arranged in chronological order, the collection moves from Stevens's early work that marked him as an icon of London's Swinging '60s (the deceptively jubilant "Here Comes My Baby" and the oft-covered rock number "The First Cut Is the Deepest") to his early-'70s heyday (the effortlessly catchy "Wild World" and the lilting "Moonshadow"). Of particular note are "Don't Be Shy" and "If You Want to Sing Out Sing Out," two wonderfully uplifting songs featured prominently in the quirky, much-loved dark comedy HAROLD & MAUDE. Although Stevens's post-'71 output isn't quite up to par with earlier efforts, GOLD gathers the standout tunes from this era, and even adds "Indian Ocean," a thoughtful pop-tinged track, featuring admirer Ed Harcourt on Wurlitzer, that was recorded to benefit the survivors of the 2004 Asian tsunami.
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