ABSTRACT
During his early years as a recording artist, Stevens was promoted by the English Decca label as a teen idol. Although a number of his compositions (e.g., “Here Comes My Baby,” “First Cut Is the Deepest”) were covered by more established stars, he remained relatively unknown stateside in the 1960s. A period spent recovering from tuberculosis in 1968 enabled Stevens, who had been unhappy about Decca’s overemphasis on commercial success, to think at length about his future objectives within the music industry.
