Cat Stevens

So my favorite musician of ALL time is undoubtedly Cat Stevens. His music will always be a part of my life and a BIG part of my memories.

I was fortunate enough to attend a Majikat Tour concert in Stuttgart in May of 1976. To think back and know that I almost didn't make the concert haunts me to this day.

Tammi Williams, Willie and Bobby Cato were going with me and we were going to meet up with Rob Monteith in Stuttgart, then drive to the stadium. My dad was gracious enough to let me drive our car, the infamous Plymouth Fury III, formerly owned by Tammi's dad. (The Fury III can be another post in itself!)

The first reason why we almost didn't make the concert was because Tammi was on the tennis team and she didn't want to miss practice. Looking back, I'm sorry to say we should have just left without her. We had to wait around until after 5pm when practice was done. Stuttgart wasn't around the corner, it took a while to drive there.

We finally got on the road and met up with Rob at his home. Now with Rob in the car, the next issue was finding the stadium. None of us had a clue where it was. It wasn't in the city limits of Stuttgart, but in a surrounding city. After finding the city, we started to drive around looking for a stadium. I noticed a huge soccer stadium with all of its lights on and figured that had to be the venue. Hey, we're talking about Cat Steven's here! He was hot back in the day, especially in Germany.

That stadium was not the right location, there was actually a soccer game going on in the soccer stadium. Go figure!

After driving around some more, we started noticing cars parked everywhere and then saw a big building with lots of people going in. This must be it! We parked, finally got inside to find out that the concert had already started. We actually got there about a half hour late. I was bummed about that but so happy to be there. When we walked into the Sporthalle, Cat was sitting on the edge of the stage with the microphone on the floor. He was so close to the people in the first row. I just thought that was the coolest thing, that he brought himself down to the level where his fans were. We found our seats and I was mesmerized the rest of the show. He came back for a couple of encores and then the lights came on. Everyone was leaving and all of a sudden, he comes back out and starts playing another song. This was totally unexpected by everyone, probably also by his crew! It was so cool. We were lucky to have stuck around.

I remember sitting in my assigned seat the whole time, since this was my first concert and I didn't know the rules! But I do know that Bobby Cato walked up close to the stage and watched him play for a short while.

Up until that concert, I had only pretty much heard his Greatest Hits album. After the concert, I think I bought about 11 albums! I've been a huge fan ever since.

The drive home was a trip as well. After dropping Rob off, I ended up getting on the wrong highway and didn't realize it for quite a while. I think we were headed towards Zweibrucken! Needless to say, we were very late getting home and everyone's parents were waiting up for us. Especially Tammi's! :)

I think I learned a lesson from that experience. My whole life, since then, I've always tried to get to concerts and movies well before they started. I guess it's the thought of missing the concert, which we were close to doing, that makes me arrive early.

So everyone in the world knows that Cat Stevens is no longer Cat Stevens. His name is now Yusuf Islam.

But, I don't consider Cat Stevens to be Yusuf Islam and I don't consider Yusuf to be Cat.

To me, Cat is the musician that gave us all of those beautiful songs back in the 70's. Cat is no longer a living, breathing person to me. He's an artist that is no longer. He lives in my heart and in my memories. My memories of Tammi, Willie, Bobby and Rob. My memories of the Plymouth Fury III driving down the wrong highway in the wrong direction.

When I hear a Cat Stevens song on the radio, that's what pops in my mind. Those good times, back in the day. His music especially reminds me of Rob.

I'm thankful for many things in my life. Cat Stevens and Rob are two of those many.