I missed Kevin Ayers' 80th birthday on 16th August so by way of compensation, here's an hour long, 15-track selection for your listening pleasure.
Although I've had Joy Of A Toy and whatevershebringswesing for a few years, I'm still very much a beginner when it comes to Kevin's music. This selection draws from a limited number of albums and odds and sods, covering 1969 to 1973.
I don't love everything that Kevin recorded and some of the lyrics are teeth-grindingly bad or off-colour at times, but there is so much gold to discover.
I won't attempt a biography or to write about Kevin's origins in Soft Machine, as I don't know enough and there are much better-written blogs out there. What will I say is that sometimes compiling a selection is more than just a pleasure. I enjoy creating every one but this was one of the 'special ones', where sequencing each track was a joy.
When I started, I had in mind a 'quick' post, maybe 10 songs and 45 minutes. It ended up that the music dictated the shape, the form and duration, so you get 15 songs and 60 minutes instead. Lose yourself for an hour in the strolling bass, the guitar and piano harmonies, the duck calls and that deep, rich voice.
Nearly brought tears to my eyes.
1) Singing A Song In The Morning (Single Version): Kevin Ayers & The Whole World (1970)
2) Stars (Single Version): Kevin Ayers & The Whole World ft. The Ladybirds (1971)
3) whatevershebringswesing: Kevin Ayers (1972)
4) The Lady Rachel (Unreleased Single Version): Kevin Ayers & The Whole World ft. The Ladybirds (1972)
5) When Your Parents Go To Sleep: Kevin Ayers ft. Archie Legget (1973)
6) Gemini Chile (Alan Black Session): Kevin Ayers (1970)
7) Song For Insane Times: Kevin Ayers ft. Soft Machine (1969)
8) May I?: Kevin Ayers & The Whole World (1970)
9) The Interview (Top Gear Session): Kevin Ayers (1970)
10) Hymn: Kevin Ayers ft. Robert Wyatt (1973)
11) Clarence In Wonderland (Album Version): Kevin Ayers & The Whole World (1970)
12) Oh! Wot A Dream: Kevin Ayers (1973)
13) The Oyster And The Flying Fish: Kevin Ayers & The Whole World ft. Bridget St. John (1970)
14) There Is Loving / Among Us / There Is Loving: Kevin Ayers (1972)
15) All This Crazy Gift Of Time: Kevin Ayers (1969)
1969: Joy Of A Toy: 7, 15
1970: Shooting At The Moon: 8, 11, 13
1970: Singing A Song In The Morning EP: 1
1971: Stranger In Blue Suede Shoes EP: 2
1972: whatevershebringswesing: 3, 14
1973: Bananamour: 5, 10, 12
1976: Odd Ditties: 4
2005: The BBC Sessions 1970-1976: 6, 9
I'm intrigued with this, not being at all familiar with the music. Something to listen to while I breakfast on courgette burgers
ReplyDeleteThanks, George, that sounds like a rather fine breakfast, too!
DeleteKhayem, you have pre-empted me (but done a far better job!) as I have been ruminating on a Kevin Ayers post for some time now... simply didn't know where to start! We have gone Kevin Ayers mad in this house over the last few months - there is just so much to explore, so many different moods and I love that he always flew just under the radar somehow, always able to remain totally true to his artistic self and be a complete one-off. I would liken that special and idiosyncratic creative quality he had to that of Julian Cope, Robyn Hitchcock and Syd Barrett - it makes great sense that you'd be into him too of course! We've accumulated quite a lot of his output now and even the songs which don't always get in there at first then seem to have a way of unexpectedly working their magic. Plus he seemed like a jolly nice chap and one whose lifestyle in choosing wine and sunshine over fame and its trappings I very much admire! Anyway, this is a super comp and it's great to hear you had so much joy putting it together. Oh and a recommendation of another album you might like to invest in is 'The Confessions of Dr Dream and Other Stories'...
ReplyDeleteNearly at the end. It's a great compilation, and it's found its way on to a cd here.
ReplyDeleteThat means a lot, thank you, George!
DeleteThank you, C, though I wouldn't agree at all with the "far better job" comment and I very much look forward to reading your thoughts on Kevin Ayers when the words fall into place.
DeleteIt seems so obvious in hindsight with the path leading to Julian Cope, but in fact it was a long, long time before I started investigating Syd Barrett, Robyn Hitchcock and Kevin Ayers' music. In fact, I can pinpoint the latter to 1996 and the wonderful (re)recording of Hymn that he did with Ultramarine. They'd also worked with Robert Wyatt, who I was familiar with, but at that point I'm not sure that I even knew they'd both been in Soft Machine!
So, a lot of catching up to do!
My next stops will be your recommendation The Confessions of Dr Dream and Other Stories and June 1, 1974, as suggested by NØ below.
Excellent selection. Like you I find you have to dig hard to find the gold with Mr Ayers but it is worth the effort.
ReplyDeleteThanks very much, Ernie. To run with your metaphor, I feel like I've only been scratching at the soil as far as Kevin Ayers' work is concerned, but I'm looking forward to digging deeper.
DeleteThanks for this, all the obvious hard work. Might have liked something from June 1, 1974, but thanks again.
ReplyDeleteThanks, NØ. Sadly, as it currently stands, I only have the one song from June 1, 1974 courtesy of a magazine freebie CD, and that's by Nico. Thanks for the reminder, I must look out for the album.
DeletePerfect!
ReplyDeleteJust what the world needs this morning. Thanks once again!
After the week of seemingly unending rain that we've just had, this selection has been a little ray of sunshine on more than one occasion, strictlyrockers. Thanks for your kind words!
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