Izitso

Izitso
Studio album by Cat Stevens
Released	April 1977
Recorded	September 18, 1976 - March 31, 1977, Muscle Shoals Sound Studio, Sheffield, Alabama; Sound 80 Studios, Minneapolis, Minnesota; Ardent Studios, Memphis, Tennessee; Le Studio, Morin Heights, Quebec, Canada Sweet Silence Studios, Copenhagen, Denmark
Genre	Pop rock Pop Soft rock White soul Folk pop
Length	35:55
Label	A&M (U.S.) Island (UK)
Producer	Cat Stevens Dave Kershenbaum
Cat Stevens chronology
Numbers (1975) Izitso (1977) Back to Earth (1978)

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic

Izitso is an album released by the British singer/songwriter Cat Stevens in 1977. After the lackluster Numbers, Izitzo – an album of pop/rock songs more in keeping with the style of Stevens' earlier 1970s albums – proved to be his comeback. The song "Child for a Day" was featured in the 1977 film First Love, starring Susan Dey and William Katt. "Was Dog a Doughnut" is one of the first electro or techno-pop songs ever recorded, as well as an early example of hip hop music.

Track listing

All tracks composed by Cat Stevens; except where indicated

Side one

1. "(Remember the Days of the) Old Schoolyard" - 2:44 duet with Elkie Brooks.
2. "Life" - 4:56
3. "Killin' Time" - 3:30
4. "Kypros" - 3:10
5. "Bonfire" - 4:10

Side two

1. "(I Never Wanted) To Be a Star" - 3:03
2. "Crazy" - 3:33
3. "Sweet Jamaica" - 3:31
4. "Was Dog a Doughnut?" (Stevens, Bruce Lynch, Jean Roussel) - 4:15
5. "Child for a Day" (Paul Travis, David Gordon) - 4:23

Personnel

• Cat Stevens - Epiphone casino guitar, Ovation guitar, electric, acoustic, and steel guitars, guitar synthesizer, bouzouki, keyboards, piano, celesta, harpsichord, wurlitzer electric piano, fender rhodes, polymoog, moog synthesizer, minimoog, arp string synthesizer, Yamaha CS-80, sequencer, drums, percussion, harmonica, brass, arrangements, Vocals
• Jean Roussel - Hammond organ, piano, Organ, synthesizer, ARP String Synthesizer, Yahama CS-80, keyboards, flute, glockenspiel, vibraphone, string instruments, brass instruments, arrangements
• Chick Corea - electric piano, keyboards on "Bonfire" and "Was Dog A Doughnut?"
• Barry Beckett - piano, electric piano, Organ, keyboards on "Killin' Time" and "Child For A Day"
• Tim Henson - acoustic piano, piano, Organ, keyboards on "Killin' Time" and "Child For A Day"
• Little Brother Montgomery - ARP 2600 on "Was Dog A Doughnut?"
• Broderick Smith - harmonica on "Sweet Jamaica"
• Marjorie Lagerwall - harp on "Sweet Jamaica"
• Ray Gomez - guitar on "Was Dog A Doughnut?"
• Pete Carr - electric guitar, acoustic guitar, steel guitar, ovation guitar, Epiphone Casino, guitar synthesizer, bouzouki
• Jim Johnson - rhythm guitar on "Killin' Time"
• Weldon Myrick - steel guitar on "(I Never Wanted) To Be A Star"
• Reggie Young - electric guitar on "(I Never Wanted) To Be A Star"
• Bruce Lynch - double bass, electbass, bass synthesizer
• David Hood - double bass, bass, bass synthesizer on "Killin' Time" and "Child For A Day"
• Andy Newmark - drums, percussion on "(Remember The Days Of The) Old Schoolyard" and "Kypros" and "Bonfire" and "Sweet Jamaica"
• Bill Berg - drums, percussion on "Life" and (I Never Wanted) To Be A Star" and "Crazy"
• Barry Morgan - drums, percussion "Life" and "Was Dog A Doughnut?"
• Roger Hawkins - drums, percussion on "Killin' Time" and "Child For A Day"
• Elkie Brooks - Vocals on "(Remember The Days Of The) Old Schoolyard"
• Suzanne Lynch - backing vocals on "(Remember The Of The) Old Schoolyard" and "Life" and "Sweet Jamaica"
• Carla Benson - backing vocals on "Sweet Jamaica"
• Evette Benton - backing vocals on "Sweet Jamaica"
• Barbara Ingram - backing vocals on "Sweet Jamaica"
• David Campbell - string instruments, brass, arrangements
• Gene Page - string instruments, brass instruments, arrangements

Production

• Producers - Cat Stevens, Dave Kershenbaum
• Engineers - Harvey Goldberg, Mike Stavros, Ian Boughey, Nigel Walker, Flemming Rasmussen, Tom Jung, Paul Martinson, Nick Blagona, Mike Ross, Freddy Hansson, Steve Brandon, Jerry Masters, Gene Eichelberger, Dee Robb, John Kelly, Ken Frieson
• Mastering - Ted Jensen, Bernie Grundman
• Mixing - Claude Dupras
• Design - Mathieu Bitton
• Programming - Cat Stevens, Claude Dupras
• Supervisor - Bill Levenson
• Illustrations - Cat Stevens
• Cover Designs - Cat Stevens, Eckford Stimpson
• Photography - Moshe Brakha
• Coordinator - Beth Stempel

Charts

Album

Year	Chart	Position
1977	Pop Albums	7

Singles

Year	Single	Chart	Position
1977	(Remember the Days of the) Old Schoolyard	Pop Singles	33
1977	(I Never Wanted) To Be a Star	Pop Singles	44
1977	Was Dog A Doughnut	Pop Singles	53
1977	Sweet Jamaica	Pop Singles	70

Special Thanks

• Chick Corea Appears Courtesy of Polydor Incorporated.