Chapter Two - Joy of a Toy (1968)

    

Jimi Hendrix and The Soft Machine: Robert Wyatt, Kevin Ayers, Daevid Allen, Larry Nowlin & Mike Ratledge. | Jimi hendrix, Jimi hendrix experience, Psychedelic rock

 

The Soft Machine with The Jimi Hendrix Experience, 1968


    After the leave of Daevid Allen, The Soft Machine continued forth onto the next year as a trio. Sharing the same management as Jimi Hendrix, the band opened for The Jimi Hendrix Experience during their North American tour in 1968. At the end of the first leg of the tour, in April, the band recorded their second album, produced by former bassist of The Animals: Chas Chandler and noted producer Tom Wilson at the Record Plant Studios in New York City.


“I think it took about a week to record the album, which is pretty quick in terms of album making. I personally felt the album represented our sound a bit better than our debut, but that’s just me talking.”

Robert Wyatt, 2016​


Joy of a Toy

                                Front Cover                                                                Back Cover

Side A:

Hope for Happiness (4:22) (Kevin Ayers, Mike Ratledge, Brian Hopper) [1]

Joy of a Toy (2:49) (Ayers, Ratledge) [1]

Hope for Happiness (Reprise) (1:39) (Ayers, Ratledge, Hopper) [1]

Why Am I So Short? (Ratledge, Ayers, Hugh Hopper) [1]

So If Boot At All (Ayers, Ratledge, Wyatt) [1]

A Certain Kind (H. Hopper) [1]

Side B:

Save Yourself (2:25) (Wyatt) [1]

Priscilla (1:03) (Ayers, Ratledge, Wyatt) [1]

Lullabye Letter (4:42) (Ayers) [1]

We Did It Again (3:46) (Ayers) [1]

Plus Belle Qu’une Poubelle (1:00) (Ayers) [1]

Why Are We Sleeping? (5:30) (Ayers, Ratledge, Wyatt) [1]

Box 25/4 Lid (0:49) (Ratledge, H. Hopper) [1]

Released: July 1968

Top position in UK charts: #12

Top position in US charts: #109

Track sources:

[1] - The Soft Machine, 1968


A Certain Kind / Why Are We Sleeping Single Cover - Columbia, 1968

 

The album was promoted greatly in magazines and newspapers. A single was released in the form of A Certain Kind / Why Are We Sleeping? which was a surprise hit, peaking at #3 in the UK and #1 in France. The album, titled Joy of a Toy, was released in July 1968. The album was a commercial success, hitting #12 in the UK, topping the charts in France, though did little in terms of success in America, only reaching #109 on the Billboard charts. 



Andy Summers


After returning to London, The Soft Machine were joined by guitarist Andy Summers following the breakup of Dantanlian’s Chariot. After some weeks of rehearsals, the band embarked on a tour of the US, with a few solo shows before reuniting with Hendrix in August and September. Summers was eventually fired at the insistence of Ayers. By the end of the tour, Ayers would transition from bass to the electric guitar. With this transition in instruments, Hugh Hopper, their road manager, became an official member, on bass.


“It was mainly due to my fingers getting blisters from playing long gigs, so I figured a guitar and a pick would do me better.”

Kevin Ayers, 1969

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Chapter Eight - Rock Bottom, Dr Dream, and Deja Vu (1974)

Image
  Robert Wyatt and Nick Mason, 1974​ By the time Robert Wyatt’s accident had occurred and Soft Machine broke up, he had already composed most of the songs that would later appear on his second solo album. He continued to work on the songs at the hospital. Six months later, he was back at work in the recording studio. “I was just relieved that I could do something from a wheelchair. If anything, being a paraplegic helped me with the music because being in hospital left me free to dream, and to really think through the music.” Robert Wyatt, 1991​ Rock Bottom saw the enlistment of musicians including Ivor Cutler, Hugh Hopper, Richard Sinclair, Laurie Allan, Mike Oldfield, and Fred Firth. Producing the album was Pink Floyd drummer, Nick Mason. The record was unlike anything Wyatt had done up to that point, being a very emotional and personal work with intense and often harrowing music, and dense and personal lyrics. It was released on July 26th, 1974 on the Virgin label, to great critical
Read more

Chapter Seven - A Most Prolific Year (1973)

Image
Soft Machine, 1973 After touring the first half of 1972, the band got back together in CBS Studios around the summertime to record their next album. With Robert Fripp at the production helm, the album was conceived as a “musical adaptation of The Little Red Book” .  Robert Fripp, 1973 Originally the double album was set to be titled Soft Machine’s Little Red Records with an accompanying cover parodying a piece of Chinese propaganda artwork. The title and artwork, however, was turned down by Harvest, who feared the potential controversy. “I honestly don’t blame ‘em, I doubt our original cover would have done us any favours in the US, what with the Cold War and Red Terror and all that. Personally I never really cared that much for Rob’s politics either way, so I was sort of unphased by it.” Kevin Ayers, 1980​ Initial cover art for Little Red Records The album was then retitled after one of Ayers’ songs, Stranger in Blue Suede Shoes. Unlike their former record, where most of the songs we
Read more

Chapter Ten - Epilogue

Image
Robert Wyatt, 2017​ After the success of Soft Machine and Friends’ Hyde Park concert, Robert Wyatt continued his solo career, going on to work with the likes of Brian Eno, Henry Cow, Roxy Music, Clara Bley, among others. He also became more politically active, joining the Communist Party of Great Britain in the 80s. The same decade, he would release his first full-length album in 6 years, Born Again Cretin on the Rough Trade label . Born Again Cretin                                           Front Cover                                                                           Back Cover Side A Opium War (Robert Wyatt) (7:14) [1] Heathens Have No Souls (Wyatt) (7:12) [1] L'albero Degli Zoccoli (Wyatt) (8:28) [1] Side B Holy War (3:35) (Wyatt) [1] Revolution Without "R" (Wyatt)  (3:24) [1] Billie's Bounce (Charlie Parker)  (1:30) [1] Born Again Cretin (Wyatt)  (2:35) [1] Prove Sparse (Wyatt)   (10:10) [1] Released: August 7th, 1981 Track sources: [1] - Radio Exper
Read more