I’ve been enjoying a bit of a Cat Stevens jag of late and can confirm that his best song is Matthew & Son.
But some of the Youtube clips of him performing it are…odd.
Here we have Cat giving it his all in a full-on, wigged out TV appearance in which the producer decided the best setting was a fake restaurant with a group of bored diners.
Full marks for capturing how I suspect most people react when their tasty treats in a restaurant are interrupted by some naff musical interlude – a blank look covering up thoughts of ‘Please get on with it so we can continue discussing the relative merits of Steven Wilson’s Jethro Tull remixes.’
The woman on Cat’s left in the opening section gets extra points for her ability to show not even a tiny bit of interest in what’s going on.
I also like Cat’s reaction in the first 20 seconds…his girding of the loins as he prepares to deliver a powerhouse performance in front of studio extras who clearly don’t give two hoots about what he’s doing.
And does he say ‘Shit’ at 9 seconds?
And here’s another weird one where he suddenly jumps out of the audience, with everyone around him singularly failing to get into the groove and generally looking bored/bemused.
Extra points for the couple at 40 seconds who are more concerned about untangling Cat’s cable than enjoying his stunning performance.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HG7woCQkGUw
This brought back memories of a guy I once worked with who was on holiday in the Greek Islands, don`t remember specifically which one. My workmate and his wife were in a taverna which was hosting a Greek wedding when who should show up with his guitar – Steven Demetre Georgiou! This was the late 60`s/early 70`s. I should inagine he got a better reception than in that video clip.
Might it be filmed in the restaurant his parents ran?
Today is shaping up to be a great one.
Can you feel it?
His embarrassed look in the OP video kind of reminds me of Martin Freeman.
Mathew and Son the best? Really?