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

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