I Love My Dog

"I Love My Dog"
"I Love My Dog"
	Italian single issue cover
Single by Cat Stevens
B-side	"Portobello Road"
Released	30 September 1966
Recorded	1966
Genre	Folk rock, soft rock
Length	2:26
Label	Deram
Songwriter(s)	Cat Stevens/Yusef Lateef
Producer(s)	Mike Hurst
Cat Stevens singles chronology

"I Love My Dog" is a song written by Cat Stevens, and was his first single (b/w "Portobello Road"), appearing the following year on his debut album Matthew and Son. Stevens later acknowledged that he had essentially written the lyrics to the music of American jazz multi-instrumentalist Yusef Lateef's "The Plum Blossom", from his 1961 Eastern Sounds.^[2] Stevens indicated that he "told Yusef Lateef about it, gave him a big cheque, and in fact, started paying him royalties." The song is now released with credits that include Yusef Lateef.

The B-side, "Portobello Road", is about the famous street of the same name and market in London, England. The song lyric was written by American Kim Fowley, and Stevens was asked to collaborate by composing music for it. It was later covered by Stevens' first guitarist, Alun Davies, after signing with Island Records in 1970. Davies' version appeared on his first solo album, Daydo, in 1974.

"I Love My Dog" peaked at No. 28 in the UK Singles Chart in November 1966, spending seven weeks on that chart.^[3]

The song has also been covered by Carolyn Hester, Theo Bikel, Linda Tillery and Mike Batt.^[4]

Personnel[edit]

Cat Stevens - vocals, guitar
Alan Tew - orchestral arrangements

References[edit]

^ Samadder, Rhik (31 January 2017). "Dogs-Reggae-Soft-Rock-10-Top-Dog-Tracks". The Guardian.
^ ^a ^b "Disc 1". In Search of the Centre of the Universe (booklet). Cat Stevens Box Set. Island Records. 2001. p. 64. 314 85 285-2.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
^ Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 529. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
^ "Cat Stevens Scrapbook - Cat Stevens Under The Covers". Majicat.com. Retrieved 2016-09-29.

External links[edit]

I Love My Dog at songfacts.com

This 1960s single-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

[1] Samadder, Rhik (31 January 2017). "Dogs-Reggae-Soft-Rock-10-Top-Dog-Tracks". The Guardian.

[Lateef-2] "Disc 1". In Search of the Centre of the Universe (booklet). Cat Stevens Box Set. Island Records. 2001. p. 64. 314 85 285-2.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)

[British_Hit_Singles_&_Albums-3] Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 529. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.

[4] "Cat Stevens Scrapbook - Cat Stevens Under The Covers". Majicat.com. Retrieved 2016-09-29.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]