In 1974, Cat Stevens Covered This Breezy Sam Cooke Song — And The Charts Took Notice

British singer-songwriter Cat Stevens was one of the most acclaimed musical artists during the 1970s. But while his classic albums, such as 1970's "Tea for the Tillerman" and, in what may have been Stevens' best year of his career, 1971's "Teaser and the Firecat," frequently made the Top 5 on both sides of the Atlantic, it was his cover of Sam Cooke's 1963 hit "Another Saturday Night" that brought him his joint-highest placing on the Billboard Hot 100.

And it's no surprise that the non-album single became such a hit. Despite the desperation writ large in Cooke's lyrics for the song, "Another Saturday Night" is light and breezy, showing Stevens' fans another side of his artistry other than that heard on his more emotional ballads, which confirmed his reputation as a moving composer of spiritually rich, thoughtful songs that were also catchy and pleasant on the ear. It is arguably an unexpected choice for Stevens to play, but it proved to be a commercial success, hitting No. 6 on the Hot 100, charting at No. 19 in the U.K., and No. 1 in Canada in 1974.

Cat Stevens had emerged from the London folk scene of the mid-1960s, with the singer growing his reputation through frequent airplay on pirate radio. By the 1970s he was a label mate of critically acclaimed singer-songwriters such as Nick Drake and John Martyn, but Stevens' wide appeal meant that he outsold other artists of a similar stripe by a large margin. And with "Another Saturday Night," Stevens broadened his palette far beyond that of his immediate contemporaries to deliver an upbeat, danceable hit, led by a playful, joyous organ line and a reggae-inspired rhythm section. 

It's a notable twist on Sam Cooke's original, which he performed in a straightforward R&B style with a more relaxed delivery. Compared to Cooke's take, Stevens' interpretation feels carnivalesque, with the irony inherent in the song heightened by the increased contrast between the self-pitying lyrics and the joyous instrumental.

"Another Saturday Night" has remained Stevens' joint-biggest Hot 100 hit, matched only by "Morning Has Broken." Though it hasn't commonly featured in Stevens' setlists since his return to live performance, it confirms him as a talented interpreter of other writers' songs, and stands as a somewhat overlooked gem of his catalog.