Editing Cat Stevens (section)

====Height of popularity====
[[File:Yusuf Islam (Cat Stevens).jpg|thumb|Stevens performing in Böblingen, West Germany, in 1976]]
Samwell-Smith paired Stevens with guitarist [[Alun Davies (guitarist)|Alun Davies]], who was at that time working as a [[session musician]]. Davies was the more-experienced veteran of two albums that had already begun to explore the emerging genres of [[skiffle]] and folk rock music. Davies was also thought to be a perfect fit with Stevens, particularly for his "fingerwork" on the guitar, harmonising, and backing vocals. They originally met just to record ''[[Mona Bone Jakon]]'' in 1970,<ref name="Brown">{{cite news|date=5 February 1972|access-date=24 October 2008|publisher=Disc and Music Echo|url=http://majicat.com/alun/catman2.htm |title=Cat's Man}}</ref> but soon developed a friendship. Davies, like Stevens, was a perfectionist,<ref name="Taff1">{{cite web|url=http://majicat.com/alun/taffattop.htm|title=Taff at the Top|last=Fox-Cumming |first=Ray |year=1972|publisher=Majicat.com|access-date=12 September 2009}}</ref> appearing at all sound checks to be sure that all the equipment and sound were prepared for each concert.<ref name="Majicat">{{cite web|url=http://majicat.com/alun.htm |title=Alun Davies' Main Page|access-date=24 October 2008}}</ref>

The first single released from ''Mona Bone Jakon'' was "[[Lady D'Arbanville]]", which Stevens wrote about his young American girlfriend [[Patti D'Arbanville]]. The record had a [[madrigal]] sound, unlike most music played on pop radio, with [[djembe]]s and bass in addition to Stevens' and Davies' guitars. It reached number eight in the UK<ref name="British"/> and was the first of his hits to get real airplay in the US.<ref name="Biography" /> The single sold over one million copies and earned him a [[music recording sales certification|gold record]] in 1971.<ref name="The Book of Golden Discs">{{cite book
| first= Joseph
| last= Murrells
| year= 1978
| title= The Book of Golden Discs
| edition= 2nd
| publisher= Barrie and Jenkins Ltd
| location= London
| page= [https://archive.org/details/bookofgoldendisc00murr/page/286 286]
| isbn= 0-214-20512-6
| url-access= registration
| url= https://archive.org/details/bookofgoldendisc00murr/page/286
}}</ref> Other songs written for D'Arbanville included "Maybe You're Right" and "Just Another Night".<ref name="PattiSongs">{{cite book|last1=DesBarres|first1=Pamela|last2=D'Arbanville|first2=Patti|title=Let's Spend the Night Together|editor=Helter Skelter Publishing|publisher=Chicago Review Press|date=1 September 2008|page=54|isbn=978-1-55652-789-0}}</ref> "Pop Star", a song about his experience as a teen star, and "Katmandu", with [[Genesis (band)|Genesis]] frontman [[Peter Gabriel]] playing flute, were also featured. ''Mona Bone Jakon'' was an early example of the solo singer-songwriter album format that was becoming popular for other artists as well. ''[[Rolling Stone]]'' magazine compared its popularity with that of [[Elton John]]'s ''[[Tumbleweed Connection]]'', saying it was played "across the board, across radio formats".<ref name="RS471">{{cite magazine|url=http://majicat.com/articles/RS471.htm|title=Cat Stevens Out of a Bag|last=Fong-Torres |first=Ben|date=1 April 1971|via=majicat.com|magazine=Rolling Stone|access-date=1 March 2010}}</ref>

[[File:Cat Stevens (1972).png|thumb|Stevens in 1971, as pictured in the cover artwork for his album ''Teaser and the Firecat'']]
''Mona Bone Jakon'' was the precursor of Stevens' international breakthrough album, ''[[Tea for the Tillerman]]'', which became a Top 10 ''Billboard'' hit. Within six months of its release, it had sold over 500,000 copies, attaining gold record status in the United Kingdom and the United States. The combination of Stevens' new folk rock style and accessible lyrics, which spoke of everyday situations and problems, mixed with the beginning of spiritual questions about life, remained in his music from then on. The album features the Top 20 single "[[Wild World (song)|Wild World]]"; a parting song after D'Arbanville moved on. "Wild World" has been credited as the song that gave ''Tea for the Tillerman'' 'enough kick' to get it played on FM radio. The head of Island Records, Chris Blackwell, was quoted as calling it "the best album we've ever released".<ref name="Scoppa"/> Other album tracks include "Hard-Headed Woman", and "[[Father and Son (song)|Father and Son]]" – sung by Stevens in baritone and tenor, portraying the struggle between fathers and sons who contrast their personal choices in life. In 2001, this album was certified by the RIAA as a Multi-Platinum record, having sold three million copies in the United States at that time.<ref name="riaa">{{cite web|url=https://www.riaa.com |title=RIAA Platinum Ranking|access-date=11 February 2009}}</ref> It is ranked at No. 206 in the 2003 list of "[[Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time]]".<ref name="RS500">{{cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/artists/catstevens/articles/story/6598898/206_tea_for_the_tillerman|magazine=Rolling Stone|title=500 Greatest Albums of All Time|date=3 November 2003|access-date=24 October 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120226144757/http://www.rollingstone.com/news|archive-date=26 February 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref>

After his relationship with D'Arbanville ended, Stevens noted the effect it had on his writing, saying, "Everything I wrote while I was away was in a transitional period and reflects that. Like Patti. A year ago we split; I had been with her for two years. What I write about Patti and my family... when I sing the songs now, I learn strange things. I learn the meanings of my songs late ..."<ref name="RS500" />

[[File:Cat Stevens 1974 Moon and Stars.jpg|thumb|Stevens performing in [[Waikiki Shell]], [[Oahu, Hawaii]], 1974. The stage decor reflects his song "Boy with a Moon & Star on His Head" from ''[[Catch Bull at Four]]''.]]
Having established a signature sound, Stevens enjoyed a string of successes in the following years. 1971's ''[[Teaser and the Firecat]]'' album reached number two and achieved gold record status within three weeks of its release in the United States. It yielded several hits, including "[[Peace Train]]", "[[Morning Has Broken#Cat Stevens recording|Morning Has Broken]]", and "[[Moonshadow (song)|Moonshadow]]". The album was also certified by the RIAA as a Multi-Platinum record in 2001, with over three million sold in the United States through that time. When interviewed on a Boston radio station, Stevens said about ''Teaser and the Firecat'':

<blockquote>I get the tune and then I just keep on singing the tune until the words come out from the tune. It's kind of a hypnotic state that you reach after a while when you keep on playing it where words just evolve from it. So you take those words and just let them go whichever way they want&nbsp;...'Moonshadow'? Funny, that was in Spain, I went there alone, completely alone, to get away from a few things. And I was dancin' on the rocks there&nbsp;... right on the rocks where the waves were, like, blowin' and splashin'. Really, it was so fantastic. And the moon was bright, ya know, and I started dancin' and singin' and I sang that song and it stayed. It's just the kind of moment that you want to find when you're writin' songs.<ref name="Crouse">{{cite magazine|author=Crouse, Timothy|magazine=Rolling Stone|date=9 December 1971|access-date=24 October 2008|url=http://www.superseventies.com/spstevenscat1.html|title=Cat Stevens on ''Teaser and the Firecat''}}</ref></blockquote>

For seven months, in 1971 and 1972, Stevens was romantically linked to popular singer [[Carly Simon]], while both were being produced by Samwell-Smith. During that time, they each wrote songs for, and about, one another. Simon wrote and recorded at least two Top 50 songs, "Legend in Your Own Time" and "[[Anticipation (song)|Anticipation]]" about Stevens. He reciprocated with a song to her, written after their romance, titled "Sweet Scarlet".<ref name="Carly">{{cite news|url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4771736|publisher=[[NPR]]| title=Carly Simon Sings American Classics, Again|author=Stamberg, Susan |date=28 July 2005|work=Morning Edition|access-date=11 February 2009}}</ref><ref name="Carly2">{{cite news|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/music/2009/10/18/2009-10-18_carly_simon_revisits_her_hits_on_new_album_never_been_gone_and_spills_about_a_pa.html|title=Carly Simon revisits her hits on new album 'Never Been Gone' and spills about a past love|last=Farber|first=Jim|date=18 October 2009|work=New York Daily News|access-date=6 January 2010|archive-date=22 October 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091022074528/http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/music/2009/10/18/2009-10-18_carly_simon_revisits_her_hits_on_new_album_never_been_gone_and_spills_about_a_pa.html|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="CatStevens songs">{{cite web |url=http://www.majicat.com/photos/Carly_Cat.htm |title=Cat Stevens & Carly Simon photo and lyrics|access-date=11 February 2009}}</ref>

His next album, ''[[Catch Bull at Four]]'', released in 1972, was his most rapidly successful album in the United States, reaching gold record status in 15 days and holding the number-one position for three weeks on the [[Billboard 200|''Billboard'' 200]] and [[List of number-one albums in Australia during the 1970s|fifteen weeks at number one]] in the Australian [[ARIA Charts]].<ref name="catchbillboard"/><ref name="catchaustralia"/>