** THE SOFT MACHINE - 1968 ORIG WHEEL COVER - FUZZ ORGAN PSYCH PROG ROCK **
£
45
$
60
Favourite Auctions
To save auctions to your favourites, please login
If you don't have an account, please register
Description
ORIGINAL '68 "WHEEL COVER" ... CLEAN VINYL NEAR EX PLAYS WITH GOOD SOUND
HARD CARD GATEFOLD SLEEVE IS G ONLY ,EDGE AND GENERAL WEAR
Collectible 49 year old original 1968 first pressing in thick gatefold with the famous trippy designed "WHEEL COVER" by the psychedelic laced pioneering progressives, laced with plenty of acid-sixties reverberations...
The SOFT MACHINE > VOLUME ONE
Without a lead guitar, the first Soft Machine, fondly remembered as Volume 1, sought to meld psychedelia and progressive-rock through Wyatt’s imaginative, liberally panned drumming, Ayers’ jazz & pop bass grooves, and Ratledge’s horror movie Doors organ. With those pieces in motion, they achieved a wondrous time capsule of experimental pop under the constant surreal lyricism of Wyatt and Ayers. Like Syd Barrett was to Pink Floyd, Ayers brought an infatuation with unhinged, uncouth pop to the group aesthetic, which would make Vol. 1 the most conventional Soft Machine album in terms of structure. Ayers wasn’t long for this band, though. He left on good terms after the US tour in order to focus on his solo career, which would find modest success over a few decades and a dozen odd releases, many of which returned to the themes first explored on Vol. 1. There’s no rest for the wicked, as they say and the bass-hole was quickly filled by one Hugh Hopper just in time to record their second album in 1969. Hopper had previously played with Wyatt in the Daevid Allen Trio, so it was an easy fit that reflected in the work they produced together. The band's debut is certainly a very creative album, and with all the organ fireworks going on during the instrumental jams, one may not notice on the first couple listens that the "lead guitar" Kevin Ayres is credited with is actually a bass. There are no boring or weak moments. The sound production suits the music just fine. Fuzzy organ and bass are spread all over the place, from short odd-time-signature experiments "Box 25/4 Lid" to downtempo almost-ballad-like type songs ( "A Certain Kind"), to three-minute repetitive trance in "We Did It Again".
"Why Are We Sleeping" is a highlight, with simple structured organ chords, excellent lyrics and frenetic solo...but they're all really good. Nice humour, experiments with vocals, overall warmth...
Side one
- "Hope for Happiness" (Brian Hopper, arr. Robert Wyatt / Mike Ratledge / Kevin Ayers) – 4:21
- "Joy of a Toy" (Ayers / Ratledge) – 2:49
- "Hope for Happiness (reprise)" (B. Hopper, arr. Wyatt / Ratledge / Ayers) – 1:38
- "Why Am I So Short?" (Hugh Hopper / Wyatt) – 1:39
- "So Boot If At All" (Ratlege / Ayers / Wyatt) – 7:25
- "A Certain Kind" (H. Hopper) – 4:11
Side two
- "Save Yourself" (Wyatt) – 2:26
- "Priscilla" (Ayers / Ratledge / Wyatt) – 1:03
- "Lullabye Letter" (Ayers) – 4:32
- "We Did It Again" (Ayers) – 3:46
- "Plus Belle qu'une Poubelle" (Ayers) – 1:03
- "Why Are We Sleeping?" (Ayers / Ratledge / Wyatt) – 5:30
- "Box 25/4 Lid" (Ratledge / H. Hopper) – 0:49
price rating
