Hear Cat Stevens’ Previously Unreleased “Butterfly,” Cut From His 1978 LP Because It Was “Too Pop”

Hear Cat Stevens’ Previously Unreleased “Butterfly,” Cut From His 1978 LP Because It Was “Too Pop”

In 1978, after a near-death experience and subsequent conversion to Islam, Cat Stevens changed his name to Yusuf Islam and decided to walk away from his music career. But he owed his record label one last Cat Stevens album, so he reunited with his Tea For The Tillerman producer Paul Samwell-Smith to record Back To Earth.

In the ’90s, Cat Stevens returned to music; he now bills himself as Yusuf/Cat Stevens. And next month, he’s reissuing Back to Earth as a five-CD box set featuring a remastered version of the original album, demos and outtakes from the same era, and material from UNICEF’s Year Of The Child charity show at London’s Wembley Arena in 1979.

Included in the Super Deluxe box set are two previously unheard tracks, “Butterfly” and “Toy Heart,” the latter of which features guitarist Eric Johnson. They were cut from the original album because Stevens considered them to be too “pop.” But now, you can hear them both below.

The Back To Earth Super Deluxe box set is out 2/28 via Cat-O-Log Records/BMG. Pre-order it here.

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