# Teaser and the Firecat
**Teaser and the Firecat** is a 1971 studio album by the British singer-songwriter [Cat Stevens](https://www.edgepedia.org/cat-stevens) (later known as Yusuf Islam), produced by Paul Samwell-Smith and released on [Island Records](https://www.edgepedia.org/island-records) in the United Kingdom and [A&M Records](https://www.edgepedia.org/a-and-m-records) in the United States. It followed *Tea for the Tillerman* (1970), commercially outperformed it, and yielded some of Stevens's most enduring songs, including "Moonshadow", "Peace Train", "Morning Has Broken", and "The Wind".[1](https://catstevens.com/media/albums/teaser-and-the-firecat-1971/) • [2](https://shopus.catstevens.com/products/teaser-and-the-firecat-cd)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Release | September 1971 (UK), October 1971 (US); Island ILPS 9154 (UK), A&M SP 4313 (US)[3](https://www.onamrecords.com/artists/cat-stevens/discography/united-states/a-m-records/sp-4313/teaser-and-the-firecat) • [4](https://www.officialcharts.com/albums/cat-stevens-teaser-and-the-firecat/) |
| Producer | Paul Samwell-Smith, former bassist of the Yardbirds[5](https://www.hifinews.com/content/cat-stevens-teaser-firecat) |
| Length and tracks | 10 songs, about 33 minutes, from "The Wind" (1:40) to "Peace Train" (4:10)[3](https://www.onamrecords.com/artists/cat-stevens/discography/united-states/a-m-records/sp-4313/teaser-and-the-firecat) |
| Chart peaks | No. 2 on the Billboard Top 200 Albums; No. 2 in Britain; No. 1 in Australia for fifteen weeks[3](https://www.onamrecords.com/artists/cat-stevens/discography/united-states/a-m-records/sp-4313/teaser-and-the-firecat) • [4](https://www.officialcharts.com/albums/cat-stevens-teaser-and-the-firecat/) • [1](https://catstevens.com/media/albums/teaser-and-the-firecat-1971/) |
| Sales | Certified gold in the US three weeks after release; eventually triple platinum, over 3,000,000 copies[6](https://www.onamrecords.com/artists/cat-stevens) • [7](https://www.rocklists.com/albums/cat-stevens/teaser-and-the-firecat/) |
| Singles | "Peace Train" reached No. 7 on the US Billboard Hot 100; "Morning Has Broken" also reached the US top 10[6](https://www.onamrecords.com/artists/cat-stevens) • [1](https://catstevens.com/media/albums/teaser-and-the-firecat-1971/) |
| Companion book | A children's book of the same title, written and illustrated by Stevens, featuring the characters from the album cover[1](https://catstevens.com/media/albums/teaser-and-the-firecat-1971/) |
| 50th anniversary | Super Deluxe Edition released 19 November 2021, remaster overseen by Paul Samwell-Smith at Abbey Road Studios[8](https://catstevens.com/teaser-and-the-firecat-50th-anniversary-2/) |
## Recording and production
The album was recorded over a fairly long period, from the summer of 1970 until March 1971, with Paul Samwell-Smith, the former Yardbirds bassist who had become a successful and in-demand producer.[9](https://www.udiscovermusic.com/stories/cat-gives-us-a-teaser/) • [7](https://www.rocklists.com/albums/cat-stevens/teaser-and-the-firecat/) [MusicBrainz](https://www.edgepedia.org/musicbrainz) dates the March 1971 sessions to Morgan Studios in Willesden, London.[10](https://musicbrainz.org/release/eb1525e7-84d7-3015-a37e-5c09478407e3) Samwell-Smith had produced Stevens's two previous albums, *Mona Bone Jakon* and *Tea for the Tillerman*, both released in 1970, and would go on to produce *Catch Bull at Four* (1972); the three records form the core of Stevens's early-1970s run.[5](https://www.hifinews.com/content/cat-stevens-teaser-firecat) • [11](https://apnews.com/article/38ea9f80a80803d0d214a39c0d95728e)
**Personnel.** Stevens sang lead, played guitar and keyboards, and arranged; Alun Davies played second guitar, Larry Steele bass and congas, and Gerry Conway and Harvey Burns drums.[12](https://albumlinernotes.com/Teaser_and_The_Firecat.html) Del Newman arranged strings, and [Rick Wakeman](https://www.edgepedia.org/rick-wakeman) played piano, most audibly on "Morning Has Broken".[3](https://www.onamrecords.com/artists/cat-stevens/discography/united-states/a-m-records/sp-4313/teaser-and-the-firecat) The Greek-styled "Rubylove" features two bouzoukis, played by Andreas Toumazis and Angelos Hatzipavli, with a verse sung in Greek.[12](https://albumlinernotes.com/Teaser_and_The_Firecat.html) • [13](https://www.allmusic.com/album/release/teaser-and-the-firecat-mr0003696426)
## Songs
All ten songs were written by Stevens except "Morning Has Broken", a setting of a Christian hymn whose words were written by Eleanor Farjeon in 1931.[12](https://albumlinernotes.com/Teaser_and_The_Firecat.html) • [5](https://www.hifinews.com/content/cat-stevens-teaser-firecat) The album opens with the 1:40 "The Wind" and closes with "Peace Train", a call to harmonious living that became one of Stevens's signature songs.[3](https://www.onamrecords.com/artists/cat-stevens/discography/united-states/a-m-records/sp-4313/teaser-and-the-firecat) • [5](https://www.hifinews.com/content/cat-stevens-teaser-firecat) "Moonshadow", according to Hi-Fi News, was a philosophical piece inspired by Stevens's hospitalisation with a series of ailments, which he met with what the magazine calls a mystical optimism.[5](https://www.hifinews.com/content/cat-stevens-teaser-firecat)
AllMusic's review by William Ruhlmann describes the songs as coming in two modes: gentle ballads on which Stevens and Davies played delicate lines over sensitive love lyrics, and up-tempo numbers with strummed guitars and drums in stop-start rhythms, alongside more exotic styles such as the Greek-styled "Rubylove" and the Caribbean-feeling "Tuesday's Dead".[13](https://www.allmusic.com/album/release/teaser-and-the-firecat-mr0003696426) Billboard's 1971 review highlighted "Ruby Love" in 7/4 time with its [Greek chorus](https://www.edgepedia.org/greek-chorus).[14](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Billboard/70s/1971/Billboard%201971-10-09.pdf)
## Commercial performance
The album entered the UK chart on 2 October 1971 and peaked at No. 2, spending 93 weeks in the UK Top 100.[4](https://www.officialcharts.com/albums/cat-stevens-teaser-and-the-firecat/) In the United States it reached No. 2 on the Billboard Top 200 Albums.[3](https://www.onamrecords.com/artists/cat-stevens/discography/united-states/a-m-records/sp-4313/teaser-and-the-firecat) It was certified gold in the US three weeks after release and went on to sell more than three million copies there.[6](https://www.onamrecords.com/artists/cat-stevens) In Australia it spent fifteen weeks at No. 1.[1](https://catstevens.com/media/albums/teaser-and-the-firecat-1971/)
**Singles.** "Peace Train" was released as a single only in the US and peaked at No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100; it was one of BMI's most performed songs of 1971.[6](https://www.onamrecords.com/artists/cat-stevens) "Morning Has Broken" also reached the US top 10, and in 1972 it peaked at No. 5 on the Australian singles chart.[1](https://catstevens.com/media/albums/teaser-and-the-firecat-1971/) • [6](https://www.onamrecords.com/artists/cat-stevens) "Moonshadow" had entered the US Top 40 earlier in the year.[15](https://ultimateclassicrock.com/cat-stevens-teaser-and-the-firecat/)
The album's success made Stevens a global star; his official site states that it commercially outperformed *Tea for the Tillerman* and that its worldwide sales made him "a global sensation".[1](https://catstevens.com/media/albums/teaser-and-the-firecat-1971/) It later placed at No. 87 on Rolling Stone's list of the top 100 selling albums of the 1970s.[16](https://www.sputnikmusic.com/review/6295/Cat-Stevens-Teaser-and-the-Firecat/)
## The children's book
*Teaser and the Firecat* was also the title of a children's book, written and illustrated by Stevens, featuring the characters from his album cover design.[1](https://catstevens.com/media/albums/teaser-and-the-firecat-1971/) In the story, the boy Teaser and his clumsy pet Firecat try to put the moon back into the sky after it falls onto a barn.[16](https://www.sputnikmusic.com/review/6295/Cat-Stevens-Teaser-and-the-Firecat/) The album itself is not a concept album about the story; the connection is the title and the cover art.[16](https://www.sputnikmusic.com/review/6295/Cat-Stevens-Teaser-and-the-Firecat/) A 50th anniversary reprint of the book was included in the 2021 Super Deluxe Edition.[8](https://catstevens.com/teaser-and-the-firecat-50th-anniversary-2/)
## 50th anniversary reissue
On 19 November 2021, the album was reissued in a suite of 50th anniversary editions, including a 4CD/Blu-ray/2LP/7-inch Super Deluxe box set.[8](https://catstevens.com/teaser-and-the-firecat-50th-anniversary-2/) • [17](https://superdeluxeedition.com/news/cat-stevens-teaser-and-the-firecat-50th-anniversary-reissue/) The 50th anniversary remaster was completed at [Abbey Road Studios](https://www.edgepedia.org/abbey-road-studios) and overseen by the original producer, Paul Samwell-Smith.[8](https://catstevens.com/teaser-and-the-firecat-50th-anniversary-2/) The Super Deluxe set includes a CD of previously unreleased studio material and bonus tracks, an alternate version of the album on LP, two CDs with 23 live performances from 1971, a remastered 7-inch of "Moonshadow" backed with a previously unreleased [Spike Milligan](https://www.edgepedia.org/spike-milligan) narration from the 1977 music video, a Blu-ray with the 1997 animated "Moonshadow" video and 21 live TV performances, and a 44-page replica of the original children's book.[8](https://catstevens.com/teaser-and-the-firecat-50th-anniversary-2/)
## Position in Stevens's catalog
Sources describe the album's place in Stevens's run of early-1970s records in two ways: his US store calls it his third LP in eighteen months, counting from *Mona Bone Jakon*, while RockLists calls it his fifth studio album overall, counting from his 1967 debut.[2](https://shopus.catstevens.com/products/teaser-and-the-firecat-cd) • [7](https://www.rocklists.com/albums/cat-stevens/teaser-and-the-firecat/) It is frequently discussed alongside *Tea for the Tillerman* as the peak of his singer-songwriter period; AllMusic's Ruhlmann wrote that while *Tea for the Tillerman* may have been the more impressive effort, *Teaser and the Firecat* "gave more surface pleasures to more people".[13](https://www.allmusic.com/album/release/teaser-and-the-firecat-mr0003696426) "The Wind" later brought the album renewed attention through its use in [Cameron Crowe](https://www.edgepedia.org/cameron-crowe)'s Oscar-winning film *Almost Famous*.[8](https://catstevens.com/teaser-and-the-firecat-50th-anniversary-2/)
## References
1. [Teaser And The Firecat, Yusuf / Cat Stevens official site](https://catstevens.com/media/albums/teaser-and-the-firecat-1971/)
2. [Teaser and the Firecat CD, Yusuf / Cat Stevens US store](https://shopus.catstevens.com/products/teaser-and-the-firecat-cd)
3. [Teaser and the Firecat, On A&M Records discography](https://www.onamrecords.com/artists/cat-stevens/discography/united-states/a-m-records/sp-4313/teaser-and-the-firecat)
4. [Teaser and the Firecat, Official Charts Company](https://www.officialcharts.com/albums/cat-stevens-teaser-and-the-firecat/)
5. [Cat Stevens: Teaser & The Firecat, Hi-Fi News](https://www.hifinews.com/content/cat-stevens-teaser-firecat)
6. [Cat Stevens, On A&M Records](https://www.onamrecords.com/artists/cat-stevens)
7. [Teaser and the Firecat (1971) by Cat Stevens, RockLists](https://www.rocklists.com/albums/cat-stevens/teaser-and-the-firecat/)
8. [Teaser and the Firecat 50th Anniversary, Yusuf / Cat Stevens official site](https://catstevens.com/teaser-and-the-firecat-50th-anniversary-2/)
9. [Cat Gives Us A 'Teaser', uDiscover Music](https://www.udiscovermusic.com/stories/cat-gives-us-a-teaser/)
10. [Release "Teaser and the Firecat" by Cat Stevens, MusicBrainz](https://musicbrainz.org/release/eb1525e7-84d7-3015-a37e-5c09478407e3)
11. [Cat Stevens to return this summer with a new album, Associated Press](https://apnews.com/article/38ea9f80a80803d0d214a39c0d95728e)
12. [Teaser and The Firecat, original 1971 album liner notes](https://albumlinernotes.com/Teaser_and_The_Firecat.html)
13. [Teaser and the Firecat review by William Ruhlmann, AllMusic](https://www.allmusic.com/album/release/teaser-and-the-firecat-mr0003696426)
14. [Billboard Album Reviews, October 9, 1971](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Billboard/70s/1971/Billboard%201971-10-09.pdf)
15. [How Cat Stevens Hit the Big Time With 'Teaser and the Firecat', Ultimate Classic Rock](https://ultimateclassicrock.com/cat-stevens-teaser-and-the-firecat/)
16. [Cat Stevens - Teaser and the Firecat, Sputnikmusic review](https://www.sputnikmusic.com/review/6295/Cat-Stevens-Teaser-and-the-Firecat/)
17. [Cat Stevens / Teaser and the Firecat 50th anniversary reissue, Super Deluxe Edition](https://superdeluxeedition.com/news/cat-stevens-teaser-and-the-firecat-50th-anniversary-reissue/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Music › Musical works and recordings › Albums and recorded releases › Studio albums › Country and folk albums › Folk and singer-songwriter albums*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license