Soft Machine (general topic)

[mjzee]

13 hours ago, felser said:

The turning wheel was #1.  I bought it for like $.57 from Woolworth's in East Liberty, and #2 later on from a dollar record store in Philly.  I had been exposed to them through an excerpt of "Out-Bloody-Rageous" on a fabulous Columbia sampler called 'Different Strokes'.  I picked up Soft Machine III shortly after picking up #1 (2 LPs for the price of 1, easy call), and have been with their releases ever since.

 

 

I had that Different Strokes too!  I think it was a buck.  That was a great time for samplers.  And yes, $2.99 for SM3.  My favorites from them were the live disc of SM6 and all of SM7.  It's a shame that Mike Ratledge lost interest in the music industry; he had a nasty organ tone (and I mean that in a good way).

[felser]

9 minutes ago, mjzee said:

I had that Different Strokes too!  I think it was a buck.  That was a great time for samplers.  And yes, $2.99 for SM3.  My favorites from them were the live disc of SM6 and all of SM7.  It's a shame that Mike Ratledge lost interest in the music industry; he had a nasty organ tone (and I mean that in a good way).

Yes it was.  What a great time capsule it has proven to be - wish they would put out CD's of some of those old samplers on Columbia, Warner-Reprise, and Impulse.  Agreed on Ratledge.  I'm partial to SM3 and SM4, like Elton Dean and Hugh Hopper and Robert Wyatt a lot.

[mjzee]

I had other samplers too from that era.  Some that come to mind (other than the Warner Reprise greats):

Zig-Zag Festival, on Mercury:

The A&M Bootleg Album:

The ESP Sampler:

Columbia had a 7" series called PlayBack:

 

[felser]

8 hours ago, mjzee said:

Zig-Zag Festival, on Mercury:

 

 

Having a blast discovering the unknown-to-me groups on this one, which I have never seen before, thanks so much!  Now I'm motivated to track down an affordable CD of the Fort Mudge Memorial Dump, sampled on here!!

[barnaba.siegel]

If anyone would like to fill some gaps in collection or just pick a few live gigs, by SM, I'd strongly recommend:

Third the 2CD set with the absolute studio classic and a live performance at Royal Abert Hall

Virtually - my personal favorite, pure fire from the most iconic line-up

Noisette - on of the few recordings capturing band with Lyn Dobson, so double sax or sax/flute

BBC 1967-1971 and 1971-1974 - two 2CD sets, all-killer no-filler, there is stuff with Allan Holdsworth and a big-band gig

Floating World Live - peek performance with more fusion oriented material from "Bundles"; what Holdsworth is playing here is unspeakable

Bundles the 2CD set the 2022 Cherry Red edition, classic jazz-rock album extended by late 1975 gig (John Etheridge on guitar)

There are many, many more, like Switzerland 1974, the Montreux performance - not perfect in terms of sound quality, but it's audio with video and it's great to see Holdsworth's fierce solos or Mike Ratledge playing some modular stuff on  Synthi AKS.

[rostasi]

New single.

Part of the flip… 
(Slightly) Slightly All the Time

Quote

Fabled jazz-rock group Soft Machine present this heartfelt tribute to one of the greats of British jazz - trumpeter Harry Beckett - covering his stunning “The Dew at Dawn” on this limited edition 7” vinyl, with a cover of a classic Softs tune on the B side. 

This is the second 7” in My Only Desire Records’ Brit Jazz 45s series, which sees some of their favourite contemporary jazz acts each making brand new studio recordings of two classic compositions from the golden era of ‘60s and ‘70s British jazz. 

Now led by guitar master John Etheridge, an original Soft Machine member since the mid-‘70s and Canterbury scene veteran saxophonist Theo Travis, the band has undergone some recent lineup changes with bassist Fred Thelonious Baker (a former Harry Beckett bandmate) joining for 2023’s ‘Other Doors’ album. This is also the first recording with drummer Asaf Sirkis, who has replaced the late British jazz legend John Marshall. 

Etheridge and Travis’ unique arrangement has upped the tempo of the “The Dew at Dawn” (originally released on Ogun Records in 1975) pushing the Caribbean-infused groove to the fore. Beckett’s joyful theme - first played on Etheridge’s guitar and then picked up by Travis’ mesmeric soprano saxophone - evokes the sun rising over the misty Hackney marshes and the hope of a better future. The track is underpinned by Baker’s nimble bass guitar and Sirkis’ scattering drums, with Etheridge’s superb soloing honed over a stellar five-decade career. 

“Slightly All the Time” from Soft Machine’s seminal 1970 opus ‘Third’, gets a clever reworking for this 7”, with the sprawling epicness of Mike Ratledge’s original composition, trimmed down to its essential parts, and Travis’ outrageously good flute playing ramping up the ‘70s Brit jazz vibes.

 

Edited January 11, 2024 by rostasi

[romualdo]

On 1/6/2024 at 4:32 AM, clifford_thornton said:

FWIW, the Daevid Allen version of the band did have a single on Polydor (France?) but the full album was shelved. BYG put that material out when they had Gong in their stable.

Love Makes Sweet Music / Feelin' Reelin' Squealin' - UK Polydor 7"

https://www.discogs.com/release/445900-The-Soft-Machine-Love-Makes-Sweet-Music-Feelin-Reelin-Squeelin

https://www.discogs.com/release/2033931-Soft-Machine-Faces-And-Places-Vol-7

[clifford_thornton]

Aha! Different session. Thanks.

[felser]

15 hours ago, romualdo said:

Love Makes Sweet Music / Feelin' Reelin' Squealin' - UK Polydor 7"

https://www.discogs.com/release/445900-The-Soft-Machine-Love-Makes-Sweet-Music-Feelin-Reelin-Squeelin

https://www.discogs.com/release/2033931-Soft-Machine-Faces-And-Places-Vol-7

I've found "Love Makes Sweet Music" hard to track down over the years, have it on the big Rubble collection.  Don't have "Feelin Reelin' Squeelin", but can live just fine without it, as it's never done a thing for me.  The early stuff and the first two legit albums are fascinating, very different than what came after.

[romualdo]

3 minutes ago, felser said:

I've found "Love Makes Sweet Music" hard to track down over the years, have it on the big Rubble collection.  Don't have "Feelin Reelin' Squeelin", but can live just fine without it, as it's never done a thing for me.  The early stuff and the first two legit albums are fascinating, very different than what came after.

both tracks were added on the 2009 UK reissue of the first LP

this is my favourite softs period - Allen, Wyatt & Ayers +/- Ratledge/Hopper

https://www.discogs.com/release/2378052-The-Soft-Machine-The-Soft-Machine

[rostasi]

I didn’t have those two songs until the mid-70s
when it was released on the Triple Echo box set.

Love Makes Sweet Music was covered by Bon Scott (AC/DC)
in his early band, The Valentines.

I like Feelin’ Reelin’ Squeelin’ because
I’ve long been a fan of Kevin Ayers.

[mjzee]

1 hour ago, felser said:

I've found "Love Makes Sweet Music" hard to track down over the years, have it on the big Rubble collection.  Don't have "Feelin Reelin' Squeelin", but can live just fine without it, as it's never done a thing for me.  The early stuff and the first two legit albums are fascinating, very different than what came after.

I had these two songs on some sampler LP from the early '70's, probably British...now racking my brains but don't remember the name.  I wouldn't forget Feelin' Reelin' Squealin'...especially in Kevin Ayers's voice.

[felser]

1 hour ago, romualdo said:

both tracks were added on the 2009 UK reissue of the first LP

Thanks!

1 hour ago, rostasi said:

I didn’t have those two songs until the mid-70s
when it was released on the Triple Echo box set.

Same here.

 

[romualdo]

12 minutes ago, mjzee said:

I had these two songs on some sampler LP from the early '70's, probably British...now racking my brains but don't remember the name.  I wouldn't forget Feelin' Reelin' Squealin'...especially in Kevin Ayers's voice.

twas called "Rare Tracks" released in 1975 (UK) & here in Australia in 1980 - love the Jethro Tull single "Sunshine Day" mislabelled as Jethro Toe

It's actually quite a good comp from the time

https://www.discogs.com/release/1348392-Various-Rock-Legends-Rare-Tracks

1 hour ago, rostasi said:

I didn’t have those two songs until the mid-70s
when it was released on the Triple Echo box set.

Love Makes Sweet Music was covered by Bon Scott (AC/DC)
in his early band, The Valentines.

I like Feelin’ Reelin’ Squeelin’ because
I’ve long been a fan of Kevin Ayers.

Picked up my Triple Echo set when one of our Brisbane FM radio stations 4ZZZ went digital & offloaded all of their vinyl (late 80's?)

The Valentines are highly sought after by collectors here in Australia plus the group Fraternity (Flaming Galah) where Bon Scott was a flute playing hippy before he changed his image to a hard rocker 

https://www.discogs.com/release/4881588-Fraternity-Flaming-Galah

Kevin Ayers voice is one of the defining features of the Soft Machine that I gravitate towards (have all of his solo material) - his french version of May I (Puis Je?) is superb

To me The Softs are Wyatt/Ayers & Allen

Edited January 12, 2024 by romualdo

[mjzee]

17 hours ago, romualdo said:

twas called "Rare Tracks" released in 1975 (UK) & here in Australia in 1980 - love the Jethro Tull single "Sunshine Day" mislabelled as Jethro Toe

It's actually quite a good comp from the time

https://www.discogs.com/release/1348392-Various-Rock-Legends-Rare-Tracks

That's the one!  I had it with the yellow cover (but without "Special Price Series" banner):

A really nice collection of ephemera.  Thanks for locating that!

17 hours ago, romualdo said:

Kevin Ayers voice is one of the defining features of the Soft Machine that I gravitate towards (have all of his solo material) - his french version of May I (Puis Je?) is superb

"Joy Of A Toy" is one of my favorite albums.

[barnaba.siegel]

This is how the upcoming LP boxset looks like. Nice artwork, very much like 60/70 science-themed graphics.

There is a preorder for LP's, but US only. Other areas and CD's will come later. Release: May 2024

http://www.waysidemusic.com/Music-Products/Soft-Machine-Høvikodden-1971-4-x-vinyl-lps-in-heavy-slip-case-(due-to-size-and-weight-this-price-for-the-USA-only-Outside-of-the-USA-the-price-will-be-adjusted-as-needed)__Rune-spc-530-v.aspx