New Masters

New Masters
Studio album by Cat Stevens
Released	December 1967
Recorded	5 October 1967, Decca Studios, West Hampstead, London
Genre	Baroque pop, folk pop
Length	30:13 (Original Release) 51:08 (1989 Reissue) 61:12 (2004 Reissue)
Label	Deram Records
Producer	Mike Hurst
Cat Stevens chronology
Matthew and Son (1967)Matthew and Son1967 New Masters (1967) Mona Bone Jakon (1970)Mona Bone Jakon1970

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic

New Masters is the second studio 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 debut album, Matthew and Son. The label was disappointed by his second album's poor sales, given that the previous album made the UK Top Ten and produced several hit singles. New Masters generated little interest, failing to chart in either the U.K. or the United States. The single "Kitty"/"Blackness of the Night" languished at number 47, becoming Stevens' first single to miss the top 40. This was a sudden and steep commercial decline from the considerable success that 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, much different from the stripped-down folk style that Stevens was eager to pursue. Even so, at least one song, "The First Cut Is the Deepest", has become a minor classic through the years after having been covered by many other artists with far more success than Stevens' original. Prior to the release of New Masters, Stevens had sold the song for £30 to P. P. Arnold (formerly of the Ike and Tina Turner Revue) which gave the former Ikette her first U.K. hit. 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 songs written and composed by Cat Stevens. 

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Kitty"	2:23
2.	"I'm So Sleepy"	2:23
3.	"Northern Wind"	2:51
4.	"The Laughing Apple"	2:39
5.	"Smash Your Heart"	3:02
6.	"Moonstone"	2:18
7.	"The First Cut Is the Deepest"	3:03
8.	"I'm Gonna Be King"	2:30
9.	"Ceylon City"	2:29
10.	"Blackness of the Night"	2:31
11.	"Come on Baby (Shift That Log)"	3:52
12.	"I Love Them All"	2:12

Bonus tracks (1989 CD reissue)
No.	Title	Length
13.	"Image of Hell"	3:08
14.	"Lovely City (When Do You Laugh?)"	2:43
15.	"The View from the Top"	3:36
16.	"Here Comes My Wife"	3:00
17.	"It's a Supa (Dupa) Life"	2:54
18.	"Where Are You?"	3:03
19.	"A Bad Night"	3:11

Bonus tracks (2004 CD reissue)
No.	Title	Length
13.	"Here Comes My Wife (Single Mono Version)"	3:00
14.	"A Bad Night (Single Mono Version)"	3:11
15.	"The Laughing Apple (Single Mono Version)"	2:39
16.	"Kitty (Single Mono Version)"	2:23
17.	"Blackness of the Night (Single Mono Version)"	2:31
18.	"Lovely City (When Do You Laugh?) (Single Mono Version)"	2:54
19.	"Image of Hell (Single Mono Version)"	3:08
20.	"It‘s a Supra (Dupa) Life (Single Mono Version)"	2:54
21.	"Here Come My Wife (Stereo Version)"	3:00
22.	"Where Are You? (Single Mono Version)"	3:03
23.	"The View From The Top (Single Mono Version)"	3:36

Personnel

• Cat Stevens – guitar, piano, vocals
• Chris Hunt – drums on "Lovely City"
• Herbie Flowers - Bass on "The First Cut is the Deepest"
• Arthur Greenslade, Lew Warburton, Ivor Raymonde – music direction