Chapter Three - Rivmic Melodies (1969)
The Soft Machine, 1969
"On the first tour I was completely drunk with the whole thing; I'd never seen anything like it in my life! Girls lining up outside the door, free drink everywhere - so I was drunk every night, with enormous quantities of girls at my disposal. By the second tour, I had changed completely... I went on a very strict macrobiotic diet and I didn't go out partying. I became alienated from everything that was going on around me - because of the violence and extremity of it. At its worst, it was literally plane, hotel, gig, hotel, plane, hotel, gig and so on. Mike Ratledge and I would just stay in... He would read books, while I used to lie on the floor and stare at the ceiling. At the end of 1968 I could barely take it anymore."
Kevin Ayers, 1987
With their 1968 tour slowly wrapping up, the band takes some time off from each other. Wyatt stayed in the US to record solo demos, Ratledge and Hopper returned to London and began composing new songs, and Ayers took a holiday to the beaches of Ibiza in Spain with Daevid Allen. The band reunited in February 1969, with the band sharing their song ideas with each other, and the compositions they all had worked on. Initially, Kevin was going to leave the group, having been fed up with touring and the sort, though he was convinced by Peter Jenner to at least stay for one more album.
“I think that was the start of the problems that plagued us for the next two albums, we couldn’t quite agree on who’s songs we’d record for the album and what direction we wanted the band to go in.”
Robert Wyatt, 2007
"I see Rivmic as being us at our most eclectic, what with Kevin's songs being almost childlike and playful in some regards, Mike and I writing more jazzier and abstract music, and of course Robert being a blend of the two"
Hugh Hopper, 2003
Eventually, much like The Beatles had the previous year, they decided to make a double album. Though each disc would focus on a specific concept, combining separate songs into extended suites. Sessions for the album began the same month they’d gotten back together, at Olympic Studios in London. Wyatt and Ayers would often listen to The Mothers of Inventions’s Absolutely Free during sessions for inspiration.
“While I didn't mind doing the songs, I honestly felt the band was starting to get a bit too silly around that period, and my skills as a musician weren’t being used in a way that I wanted to use them.”
Mike Ratledge, 1971
Syd Barrett, 1969
One particular song that was a cause for tension was the Ayers composition Singing a Song in the Morning (Initially called Religious Experience). The sessions for the song took place when the band was doing overdubs for a couple of Syd Barrett's tracks for his debut solo album The Madcap Laughs.
“When Syd arrived at the studio, he was completely out-of-it. He wasn’t able to tune his guitar or find the chords. I remember he brought along some of his ‘friends’ to the studio, and what were just half-a-dozen of people soon became one huge party. Mike, who had every right to be angry, just tugged me aside and demanded ‘either Syd goes or he goes.’ I don’t remember if Syd’s guitar part made it in the final mix, but I think we ended up crediting him in the liner notes just to be safe.”
Kevin Ayers, 2006
Singing a Song in the Morning / Dedicated to You But You Weren’t Listening - Harvest 1969
Other musicians to participate in the album’s recording other than the Softs were Hopper’s brother Brian Hopper on saxophone, David Bedford on piano, mellotron, and arrangements, Paul Buckmaster on cello, Jeff Clyne on double bass, and Paul Minns on oboe. Recording of the album finished in May 1969 and a single was released to promote the album in the form of Singing a Song in the Morning / Dedicated to You But You Weren’t Listening, which peaked at #5 in the single charts. The album, entitled Rivmic Melodies, was released in September 1969. It was a critical and commercial success, reaching the top 10 in the UK and topping the charts in France. The album did better in the US charts than it’s predecessor, barely making the top 40 on the Billboard album charts.
Front Cover Back Cover
Gatefold
Disc One - Rivmic Melodies
Side A:
Pataphysical Introduction (1:13) (Hugh Hopper, Robert Wyatt) [1]
Town Feeling (4:33) (Kevin Ayers) [2]
Hibou Anemone and Bear (5:59) (Mike Ratledge, Wyatt) [1]
Song for Insane Times (3:41) (Ayers) [2]
Hulloder (1:04) (Hopper, Wyatt) [1]
Girl on a Swing (2:49) (Ayers) [2]
Side B:
The Lady Rachel (5:17) (Ayers) [2]
Dada Was Here (3:25) (Hopper, Wyatt) [1]
Thank You Pierrot Lunaire (0:48) (Hopper, Wyatt) [1]
Have You Ever Bean Green? (1:19) (Hopper, Wyatt) [1]
Pataphysical Conclusion (3:22) (Ayers, Hopper, Ratledge, Wyatt) [1]
Singing a Song in the Morning (4:39) (Ayers) [3]
Disc Two - Ether’s Nose Job
Side C:
The Circus Party (2:53) (Ayers) [2]
The Clarietta Rag (2:57) (Ayers) [2]
As Long As He Lies Perfectly Still (2:31) (Ratledge-Wyatt) [1]
Eleanor’s Cake (Which Ate Her) (2:53) (Ayers) [2]
Dedicated to You But You Weren’t Listening (2:32) (Hopper) [1]
Stop This Train (Again Doing It) (6:06) (Ayers) [2]
Side D:
Fire Engine Passing With Bells Clanging (1:50) (Ratledge) [1]
Pig (2:09) (Ratledge) [1]
Orange Skin Food (1:47) (Ratledge) [1]
A Door Opens and Closes (1:09) (Ratledge) [1]
10:30 Returns to the Bedroom (4:12) (Ratledge) [1]
All This Crazy Gift of Time (9:20) (Ayers, Ratledge) [2]
Released: September 1969
Top position in UK charts: #9
Top position in US charts: #40
Track sources:
[1] Soft Machine - Volume 2 1969
[2] Kevin Ayers - Joy of a Toy, 1969
[3] Kevin Ayers - Joy of a Toy, 1969 (2003 reissue)
Soft Machine, 1969
Once again, the band began touring Europe, headlining a free concert at Hyde Park along with Pink Floyd. At least a part of that concert was recorded, albeit no commercial releases exist. Between legs of the tour, the quartet was expanded into an octet with the addition of four horn players, albeit only saxophonist Elton Dean stayed beyond a few months.
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