| Mona Bone Jakon | ||||||||||
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| Studio album by Cat Stevens | ||||||||||
| Released | July, 1970 [1] | |||||||||
| Recorded | January - February 1970, Olympic Studios, London; Abbey Road Studios, London |
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| Genre | Folk Rock Soft rock |
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| Length | 35:15 | |||||||||
| Label | A&M (U.S.) Island (UK) |
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| Producer | Paul Samwell-Smith | |||||||||
| Professional reviews | ||||||||||
| Cat Stevens chronology | ||||||||||
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Mona Bone Jakon is the third album released by singer-songwriter Cat Stevens. The album was released In July, 1970[1] on the Island Records label in the United Kingdom, and A&M record label in the United States and Canada. After a meteoric start to his career, surprising even his original producer at Deram Records with the hit singles "I Love My Dog", "Matthew and Son" and "I'm Gonna Get Me a Gun", Stevens' debut album, Matthew and Son began charting as well. However, after the pressure for a repeat album of the same calibre, Stevens, considered a young teen sensation, was overwhelmed by a new lifestyle, as well as the demands of writing, recording, performing, publicity appearances, and touring. In the fall of 1968, he collapsed, with the diagnosis of tuberculosis and a collapsed lung. For over a year, while recovering, Stevens virtually disappeared from the British pop scene. Mona Bone Jakon is notable not only for his return, but for the emergence of a very different artist. The album was certified Gold for sales/shipments of more than 500,000 copies in the United States.
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During his hospital-dictated year of bedrest, he began writing a catalogue of songs to fill far more than his next album. After his recovery, Stevens negotiated out of his contract with Deram Records and joined with former Yardbirds bassist Paul Samwell-Smith with a stripped down sound, with songs played in spare arrangements on acoustic guitars and keyboards and accompanied by a spare backing band, consisting only of three other performers: second guitarist Alun Davies, bassist John Ryan, and drummer Harvey Burns—and on one song, "Katmandu"—Peter Gabriel on the flute. Stevens began to make the transition from pop star to a folk-rock performer, when the term "singer-songwriter" was just being coined.
The songs themselves were darker in tone: the madrigal-inspired ballad "Lady D'Arbanville" elevated the tragedy of a lost lover (in this case, Stevens' former girlfriend Patti D'Arbanville) to that of a deceased one; "Trouble" was a plea to stave off death. There were also lighter songs; "Pop Star" showcased Stevens' dramatic change in voice by satirizing the triviality of celebrity.
Though "Lady D'Arbanville" would reach #8 on the British charts, Mona Bone Jakon was only a modest success upon its initial release. The album attracted attention, however, in the wake of the commercial breakthrough of its follow-up, Tea for the Tillerman, and with the inclusion of three of its songs ("Trouble", "I Wish, I Wish", and "I Think I See the Light") in Hal Ashby and Colin Higgins's black comedy Harold and Maude in 1971.
According to Stevens, the inspiration for the title was a name he created to describe his penis:
""Mona Bone Jakon" is another name for my penis. It's the name I give it. It's not some sort of secret vocabulary, it's just something I made up."[2][3][4]
Robert Chalmers, in a 2003 interview with Islam for The Independent on Sunday, wrote: "When [Stevens] re-emerged in 1969, he had more than 40 new songs and released three triumphant albums in 15 months on Chris Blackwell's Island label: Mona Bone Jakon, Tea For The Tillerman, and Teaser And The Firecat."[5]
All songs written by Cat Stevens.
Album
| Year | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 1971 | Pop Albums | 164 |
Singles
| Year | Single | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1970 | Lady D'Arbanville | Pop Singles | 8 |
| Organization | Level | Date |
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| RIAA – USA | Gold | January 15, 1976 |
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