Song of the Day 3/16: Yusuf Islam, “Don’t Let Me Be Understood”

When Cat Stevens converted to Islam in 1977, he changed his name and dropped out of the music industry for almost 30 years. He made headlines in 1989 when he was quoted supporting the fatwa against Salman Rushdie, and his music was promptly dropped by most U.S. radio stations. When he finally recorded another pop album in 2006, it included this haunted, stripped-down version of a tune that must hold special meaning for him. The video was made at a 2007 concert in London.

The rock and roll generation knows the song because it was covered by Eric Burdon and the Animals in 1965, but theirs was not the original version. The song was written the year before — the melody and chorus by arranger/conductor Horace Ott, the verses by Bennie Benjamin and Sol Marcus. Ott gave the song to Nina Simone for her “Broadway, Blues, Ballads” album, for which he arranged most of the tracks.