Buddha and the Chocolate Box

Buddha and the Chocolate Box
Studio album by Cat Stevens
Released	21 March 1974 [1]
Recorded	February 1974
Studio	Sound Techniques Studios, London, England. Mixed at Sound Techniques, AIR Studios, and Morgan Studios, London. [2]
Genre	Soft rock, folk rock
Length	32:16
Label	Island (UK/Europe) A&M (US/Canada)
Producer	Cat Stevens Paul Samwell-Smith
Cat Stevens chronology
Foreigner (1973) Buddha and the Chocolate Box (1974) Saturnight (1974)
Singles from Buddha and the Chocolate Box
"Oh Very Young" Released: March 1974 [3] "Ready" Released: November 1974 [4]

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[5]
Christgau's Record Guide	C− [6]
Rolling Stone	(mixed) [7]

Buddha and the Chocolate Box is the eighth studio album by Cat Stevens, released in February 1974. The single "Ready" charted on 30 November 1974 ^[4] and reached number 20 in Canada. ^[8]

Track listing

All tracks composed by Cat Stevens

Side One

1. "Music" – 4:21
2. "Oh Very Young" – 2:36
3. "Sun / C79" – 4:35
4. "Ghost Town" – 3:10
5. "Jesus" – 2:14

Side Two

1. "Ready" – 3:18
2. "King of Trees" – 5:07
3. "A Bad Penny" – 3:21
4. "Home in the Sky" – 3:38

Personnel

• Cat Stevens – vocals, synthesizer, guitar, keyboards, production, design, concept, illustrations
• Alun Davies – acoustic guitar, vocals
• Bruce Lynch – bass guitar
• Jean Roussel – keyboards and string arrangements
• Gerry Conway – drums, vocals, percussion

Additional personnel

• Jimmy Ryan – guitar
• Mark Warner – guitar
• Roland Harker – banjo
• Joanne – vocals, choir
• Judy – vocals, choir
• Sunny – vocals, choir
• Ruby – vocals
• Barry – vocals
• Joy – vocals
• Brigette – vocals, choir
• Suzanne – vocals, solo
• Jacqui – vocals, choir
• Clifford – vocals, choir
• Danny – vocals
• Rick McCollum – vocals
• Jimmy – vocals, choir, chorus
• Larry – vocals
• Del Newman – string arrangements
• Suzanne Cox – vocals

Production

• Paul Samwell-Smith – producer
• John Wood – engineer
• Victor Gamm – engineer, mixing
• Alan Harris – mixing
• Ted Jensen – mastering
• Robin Black – mixing
• Roger Quested – mixing
• Beth Stempel – reissue co-ordination
• Bill Levenson – reissue supervisor
• Vartan – art direction
• Roland Young – design, concept
• Mathieu Bitton – package design, reissue package design

Charts

Weekly charts Weekly chart performance for Buddha and the Chocolate Box Chart (1974) Peak position Australian Albums (Kent Music Report) [9] 5 Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria) [10] 3 Canada Top Albums/CDs ( RPM ) [11] 3 Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista) [12] 6 French Albums (SNEP) [13] 9 German Albums (Offizielle Top 100) [14] 34 Italian Albums ( Musica e Dischi ) [15] 6 Norwegian Albums (VG-lista) [16] 5 UK Albums (OCC) [17] 3 US Billboard 200 [18] 2

Year-end charts Year-end chart performance for Buddha and the Chocolate Box Chart (1974) Position Australian Albums (Kent Music Report) [9] 22 Canadian Albums (RPM) [19] 32 French Albums (SNEP) [20] 46 US Albums (Billboard) [21] 32 Certifications Certifications for Buddha and the Chocolate Box Region Certification Certified units/sales United Kingdom (BPI) [22] Gold 100,000^ United States (RIAA) [23] Platinum 1,000,000^ ^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

1. "RIAA". Recording Industry Association of America .
2. "Cat Stevens – Buddha and the Chocolate Box (2009, CD)". Discogs .
3. "Oh Very Young". allmusic.com. Retrieved 6 August 2024.
4. "Ready". 45cat.com. August 2024. Retrieved 7 August 2024.
5. Ruhlmann, William. Buddha and the Chocolate Box at Allmusic . Retrieved 3 March 2013.
6. Christgau, Robert (1981). "Consumer Guide '70s: S". Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies . Ticknor & Fields. ISBN   089919026X . Retrieved 13 March 2019– via robertchristgau.com.
7. "Buddha and the Chocolate Box". Rolling Stone . 23 May 1974.
8. "RPM Top 100 Singles – February 8, 1975" (PDF).
9. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. St Ives, NSW: Australian Chart Book. ISBN   0-646-11917-6 . Retrieved 26 June 2013. See also: Kent Music Report.
10. "Austriancharts.at – Cat Stevens – Buddha and the Chocolate Box" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 16 June 2022.
11. "Top RPM Albums: Issue 5027". RPM . Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 16 June 2022.
12. Pennanen, Timo (2021). "Cat STEVENS". Sisältää hitin - 2. laitos Levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla 1.1.1960–30.6.2021 (PDF). Helsinki: Kustannusosakeyhtiö Otava. p. 246. Retrieved 15 June 2022.
13. "InfoDisc : Tous les Albums classés par Artiste > Choisir Un Artiste Dans la Liste : Cat Stevens". infodisc.fr. Archived from the original on 6 May 2013. Retrieved 24 February 2012. Note: user must select 'Cat STEVENS' from drop-down
14. "Offiziellecharts.de – Cat Stevens – Buddha and the Chocolate Box" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 16 June 2022.
15. "Classifiche". Musica e dischi (in Italian). Retrieved 16 June 2022.Set "Tipo" on "Album". Then, in the "Titolo" field, search "Buddah & the chocolate box".
16. "Norwegiancharts.com – Cat Stevens – Buddha and the Chocolate Box". Hung Medien. Retrieved 16 June 2022.
17. "Cat Stevens | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart. Retrieved 16 June 2022.
18. "Cat Stevens Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 16 June 2022.
19. "RPM Top 100 Albums of 1974". RPM . Retrieved 3 October 2011.
20. "Les Albums (CD) de 1972 par InfoDisc" (in French). infodisc.fr. Archived from the original (PHP) on 27 October 2012. Retrieved 11 February 2012.
21. "Top Pop Albums of 1974". billboard.biz. Retrieved 24 February 2012.
22. "British album certifications – Cat Stevens – Buddha and the Chocolate Box". British Phonographic Industry . Retrieved 11 June 2019.
23. "American album certifications – Cat Stevens – the Chocolate Box". Recording Industry Association of America . Retrieved 11 June 2019.