Australian singles chart:
Father and Son entered the Kent charts on 24 May 1971 and peaked at #18.
Album:
The song is on Tea for the Tillerman which entered the Kent album charts on 12 April 1971 and peaked at #2.
Songwriter:
Cat Stevens
Producer:
Paul Samwell-Smith
Record label of Australian release:
Island
BONUS CLIP BELOW – scroll down for a recent re-recording of the song, released in September 2020.
Wikipedia:
Father and Son frames a heartbreaking exchange between a father not understanding a son’s desire to break away and shape a new life, and the son who cannot really explain himself but knows that it is time for him to seek his own destiny.
Stevens sings in a deeper register for the father’s lines, while using a higher one for those of the son.
Read more: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Father_and_Son_(song)
Songfacts:
Stevens made up the story in the song, but his relationship with his own father, Stavros Georgiou, was an influence. His dad owned a restaurant in London and Cat (known to his dad as Steve Georgiou) worked there as a waiter right up until he signed a record deal at age 17. Stavros was hoping his son would join the family business.
Read more: www.songfacts.com/facts/cat-stevens/father-and-son
This song is also on our Spotify playlist Bang a Gong – the 70s
BONUS CLIP
Father and Son was originally included on the 1970 album Tea for the Tillerman. 72 year old Yusuf / Cat Stevens recorded reimagined versions of all tracks in 2020 for a new album called Tea for the Tillerman 2, including Father and Son.
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