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“This man will deliver the music.”Īs it turned out, Cat already had written several songs, which seemed oddly relevant including the exuberant “If You Want to Sing Out, Sing Out,” which formed a bookend for the movie and the album. “The script has the words but it yearns for the music,” Ashby explained. Ashby had heard his music in a bar, traced his whereabouts and shared the screenplay with him. The friend turned out to be a scraggly kid in torn jeans who looked like he hadn’t slept in months. One day he called to tell me, “I’d like to bring over a new friend.” “I love it but I’m struggling to find a point of view,” he said. Having come of age in remote New Caledonia, Higgins found himself baffled by Hollywood and its values – a confusion expressed in his hilarious script.Īshby, having just directed his first film, The Landlord, shared my affection for the screenplay but was reluctant to commit. The script had been written by a UCLA film student named Colin Higgins, who was supporting himself as a pool cleaner. I had just acquired the script of Harold and Maude for Paramount and sought to recruit Ashby to direct it. “Harold And Maude” Everettįull disclosure: I would never have met Cat Stevens had Hal Ashby not introduced me to him. “Where Do The Children Play?” asks one of his songs, and he seems determined to find out. Now a silver-haired, 73-year-old father of six, he lives in Dubai and has decided to venture back on the road. In the film, Maude (Ruth Gordon), the mentor, explains to a comically suicidal Harold (Bud Cort) that “consistency is not a human trait.”Īs a model of inconsistency, Cat’s lyrics over the years teetered between Buddhism, Taoism and total confusion. The movie, directed by Hal Ashby, focused on an aimless youth who unexpectedly finds a life mentor - one who suddenly abandons him.
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During the pandemic, Fishman reviewed the important voices of the 1970s, concluding: “I may not be the person I am today had I not been exposed to Cat and his music.” His songs ultimately “occupied a space between earnest innocence and earned wisdom,” wrote Fishman in the Washington Post.Ĭat’s link to Harold and Maude was fortuitous. Demographics Evolve, The Question Isn't Where Is Hollywood's Audience, But WhoĬan Cat now find re-acceptance? Howard Fishman, a noted composer-performer, votes yes.