New Masters

New Masters
Studio album by Cat Stevens
Released	December 1967
Recorded	5 October 1967, Decca Studios, West Hampstead, London
Genre	Rock
Length	30:14 (Original) 51:09 (Reissue)
Label	Deram Records
Producer	Mike Hurst
Cat Stevens chronology
Matthew and Son (1967) New Masters (1967) Mona Bone Jakon (1970)

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic

New Masters is the second album by singer-songwriter Cat Stevens. The album was released in December 1967 by Deram Records, a new subsidiary of Decca Records as a follow up to the highly successful "Matthew and Son". The label was disappointed by the album's poor sales, given that the previous album made the UK Top Ten and produced several hit singles. New Masters in sharp contrast generated little interest, failing to chart in either the U.K. or the United States. The single "Kitty"/"Blackness of the Night" languished at #47, becoming Stevens' first single to miss the top 40. This was a sudden and steep commercial decline from the meteoric success Stevens enjoyed with his earlier recordings.

Stevens attributed at least some of the album's failings to producer Mike Hurst, who gave the coffee house oriented songs elaborate baroque arrangements, a far cry from the stripped down folk style which Stevens was eager to pursue. One glimmer of success did shine through on the track "The First Cut Is the Deepest", which has become a minor classic through the years after having been covered by many other artists with considerably more success than Stevens' original. In the wake of "New Masters" flop, Stevens ended up selling the song for £30 to P.P. Arnold (formerly of the Ike and Tina Turner Revue) and propelled the former Ikette to fame in the UK, In the decades to come it would also be a hit for Rod Stewart, Sheryl Crow, James Morrison and Keith Hampshire. Hampshire's version reached no.1 on the Canadian charts in 1973. Other versions have been rendered by singer Barbara Jones, Colm Wilkinson of Les Misérables and Jesus Christ Superstar fame, Duffy and the Jools Holland Rhythm & Blues Orchestra.

Track listing

All tracks composed by Cat Stevens; except where indicated

Side one

1. "Kitty" – 2:23
2. "I'm So Sleepy" – 2:24
3. "Northern Wind" – 2:51
4. "The Laughing Apple" – 2:39
5. "Smash Your Heart" – 3:02
6. "Moonstone" – 2:18

Side two

1. "The First Cut Is the Deepest" – 3:03
2. "I'm Gonna Be King" – 2:30
3. "Ceylon City" – 2:29
4. "Blackness of the Night" – 2:31
5. "Come on Baby (Shift That Log)" – 3:52
6. "I Love Them All" – 2:12

Bonus tracks (2003 CD reissue)

1. "Image of Hell" – 3:08
2. "Lovely City (When Do You Laugh?)" – 2:43
3. "The View from the Top" – 3:36
4. "Here Comes My Wife" – 3:00
5. "It's a Supa (Dupa) Life" – 2:54
6. "Where Are You?" (Stevens, Jimmy McHugh) – 3:03
7. "A Bad Night" – 3:11

Personnel

• Cat Stevens – guitar, piano, vocals
• Chris Hunt – drums on Lovely City
• Arthur Greenslade, Lew Warburton, Ivor Raymonde – music direction