Cat Stevens: Tea for the Tillerman Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		5.0
Video		3.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		5.0
Overall		5.0

Cat Stevens: Tea for the Tillerman Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman December 10, 2025

Tea for the Tillerman is the album that really put Cat Stevens on the fast track to superstardom in the United States at least, though it's salient to note Stevens had already had a number of successes (and failures) in the United Kingdom by the time this album was released. Stevens was something of a teen idol early in his career, racking up at least a few chart hits in England and environs and also providing massive hits for others as a songwriter, but then experiencing the dreaded "sophomore slump" with his second British album, which along with some major health issues put a temporary kibosh on things. Stevens rebounded with a veritable bang with both Mona Bone Jakon and this album.

The track list for the original album presented in two versions on the Blu-ray can be seen in screenshot 9 accompanying this review.

This is another positively massive set branded as a Super Deluxe Edition. The five CDs have the following tracks:

CD 1: Tea for the Tillerman, 2020 Remaster

1. Where Do The Children Play?
2. Hard Headed Woman
3. Wild World
4. Sad Lisa
5. Miles From Nowhere
6. But I Might Die Tonight
7. Longer Boats
8. Into White
9. On The Road To Find Out
10. Father And Son
11. Tea for the Tillerman

CD 2: Tea for the Tillerman, 2020 Mix

1. Where Do The Children Play?
2. Hard Headed Woman
3. Wild World
4. Sad Lisa
5. Miles From Nowhere
6. But I Might Die Tonight
7. Longer Boats
8. Into White
9. On The Road To Find Out
10. Father And Son
11. Tea for the Tillerman

CD 3: Tea for the Tillerman

1. Where Do The Children Play?
2. Hard Headed Woman
3. Wild World
4. Sad Lisa
5. Miles From Nowhere
6. But I Might Die Tonight
7. Longer Boats
8. Into White
9. On The Road To Find Out
10. Father And Son
11. Tea for the Tillerman

CD 4: Tea for the Tillerman: Demos, Alternate Versions, Bonus Tracks

1. Don't Be Shy
2. The Joke
3. I've Got A Thing About Seeing My Grandson Grow Old
4. Honey Man (Duet with Elton John)
5. But I Might Die Tonight (Deep End movie version)
6. Love Lives In The Sky
7. Can This Be Love? (Previously unreleased)
8. If You Want To Sing Out, Sing Out
9. It's So Good (Previously unreleased)
10. Miles From Nowhere (Studio demo)
11. Wild World (Demo)
12. If You Want To Sing Out, Sing Out (Demo - Previously unreleased)
13. Don't Be Shy (Demo - Previously unreleased)

CD 5: Tea for the Tillerman Live

1. Where Do The Children Play? (Live at the Troubadour, December 1970)
2. Hard Headed Woman (Live at the Troubadour, December 1970)
3. Longer Boats (Live at the Troubadour, December 1970)
4. Wild World (Live at the Troubadour, December 1970)
5. On The Road To Find Out (Live at the Troubadour, December 1970)
6. Father And Son (Live at the Troubadour, December 1970)
7. Into White (Live at the Troubadour, December 1970)
8. On The Road To Find Out (Live At KCET Studios, Los Angeles, USA, 08/06/71)
9. Where Do The Children Play? (Live At KCET Studios, Los Angeles, USA, 08/06/71)
10. Wild World (Live At KCET Studios, Los Angeles, USA, 08/06/71)
11. Miles From Nowhere (Live At KCET Studios, Los Angeles, USA, 08/06/71)
12. Longer Boats (Live At KCET Studios, Los Angeles, USA, 08/06/71)
13. Father And Son (Live At KCET Studios, Los Angeles, USA, 08/06/71)
14. Wild World (Cat Stevens In Concert, BBC Live Recording, 27/11/71)
15. Into White (Cat Stevens In Concert, BBC Live Recording, 27/11/71)
16. Tea for the Tillerman (BBC Live Recording, 16/06/70)
17. Wild World (Beat Club, Germany, 25/08/70)
18. Hard Headed Woman (Beat Club, Germany, 25/08/70)
19. Wild World (Pop Deux, France, 01/11/70)
20. Father And Son (Live At Fillmore East, November 1970)

Cat Stevens: Tea for the Tillerman Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Cat Stevens: Tea for the Tillerman is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Universal Music Group with AVC encoded 1080i transfers in a variety of aspect ratios, but with all of the archival material hovering around Academy Ratio. The 2020 music video for Where Do the Children Play? (seen in screenshot 3) is by far the best looking piece in terms of video quality and is 1.78:1. The rest of the videos are sourced from at times pretty shoddy looking standard definition live tapings, and have many of the typical anomalies associated with such efforts. The official music video for Father and Son actually looks relatively decent, and of the live material, I'd rate the BBC live material as looking the best. There's also a charming semi-animated menu the disc boots to (seen in screenshot 10). Playing the album offers a static image of the cover art with only the track names changing (see screenshot 1).

Cat Stevens: Tea for the Tillerman Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The Blu-ray disc offers two versions of the original album in LPCM 2.0. The first is a 2020 remaster of the original album, and the second is branded as a "2020 mix", and in my estimation is by far the better representation of the album. While both versions offer sterling fidelity and clarity, the "mix" version is noticeably louder and to my ears provides a much better accounting of some of the spare but still evocative instrumentation that Cat uses. Some audiophiles might be disappointed that there's no surround version (let alone an Atmos remix), but this album is kind of a "solo" outing in many ways, and Cat's haunting (and occasionally growly) voice and guitar in particular sound fantastic.

Cat Stevens: Tea for the Tillerman Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

In addition to the two audio versions of the album on the Blu-ray, there's a wealth of additional promo and live videos (1:00:53 total time):

1. Father And Son (Official Video 1970)
2. Where Do The Children Play? (Official Video 2020)
3. On The Road To Find Out (Live At KCET Studios, Los Angeles, USA, 08/06/71)
4. Where Do The Children Play? (Live At KCET Studios, Los Angeles, USA, 08/06/71)
5. Wild World (Live At KCET Studios, Los Angeles, USA, 08/06/71)
6. Miles From Nowhere (Live At KCET Studios, Los Angeles, USA, 08/06/71)
7. Longer Boats (Live At KCET Studios, Los Angeles, USA, 08/06/71)
8. Father And Son (Live At KCET Studios, Los Angeles, USA, 08/06/71)
9. Wild World (Cat Stevens In Concert, BBC Live Recording, 27/11/71)
10. Into White (Cat Stevens In Concert, BBC Live Recording, 27/11/71)
11. Father And Son (Cat Stevens In Concert, BBC Live Recording, 27/11/71)
12. Wild World (Beat Club, Germany, 25/08/70)
13. Hard Headed Woman (Beat Club, Germany, 25/08/70)
14. Wild World (Gala du Midem, France 24/01/71)
15. Wild World (Deux Sur La 2, France, 12/10/70)
16. Wild World (Pop Deux, France, 01/11/70)

As listed above, the five CDs have a wealth of additional material. The set comes housed in an oversized box measuring approximately 13" square by a bit over 2" deep. A beautifully textured fabric cover (very similar to the one in the recently reviewed The Wes Anderson Archive: Ten Films, Twenty- Five Years 4K set) has a hinged opening which offers a gatefold LP with the original album, and another (non gatefold) LP with Cat's live Troubadour performance of the album. Underneath those is a stunning hardback book with a glut of writing (including by Cat/Yusuf, as well as other collaborators), a ton of great photos, and a song by song listing with additional information. Underneath that is another gatefold with the five CDs and Blu-ray disc in pockets. But, wait, you also get: finally, at the bottom of the box is an envelope with several paper items, including a couple of Stevens drawings and a poster.

Cat Stevens: Tea for the Tillerman Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Revisiting this album after literally decades away from it was surprisingly emotional for me. This is a beautifully written and performed set of songs, and this Super Deluxe edition truly lives up to its branding. Highly recommended.