Wednesday, November 13, 2013

Robert Wyatt, '68

Drummer-singer-songwriter for the original Soft Machine lineup, Robert Wyatt had much to do with shaping the sound of that band in its early days. His whimsical songwriting style, faux casual vocal delivery and busy progressive drumming stamped the band as a world apart. Of course Mike Ratledge on keys gave the band something critical too, but then his influence stayed with the group throughout its first quasi-psychedelic period and through most of its later jazz-rock incarnation.

That first period was something in its own right. The Softs carved a distinct niche as a proto-progressive rock art band that sounded like nothing before. At the peak of the band's initial exposure (after touring with Hendrix) Robert Wyatt recorded some sides in a New York studio, then more in California. Only half of it ever saw the light of day. But now the whole is out and you can hear it as '68 (Cuneiform). There's a limited edition LP and a CD version as well. And it is most welcome for its own special qualities and the light it sheds on the period.

Wyatt comes through with a set of often quirky unpredictable numbers, playing many of the instruments himself (though Hendrix is on bass for one, and sometimes the keys sound uncannily like Ratledge) and giving us quite a bit more of the songwriting he was doing with the Softs. There is even a first version of "Moon in June", that iconic Wyatt song that formed a side later on when the Softs reformed and recorded the double-album Third. Here it has its own trajectory--not better than the Soft version, but interesting in its own way.

If you love Wyatt and the early Soft Machine's approach, this will most certainly be a revelation. Not everything here is a masterpiece--some is a little silly, but only a little bit of it. The rest you won't want to miss.

It's probably the reissue/unissue of the year for me. So give it an earful, please.

4 comments:

  1. Greetings
    I agree with the comment that "Robert Wyatt '68" is the reissue/apparition of the year... brilliant whimsy... check out the expanded early incarnation of "The Concise British Alphabet" wherein Robert Wyatt extensively enunciates each of the letters numerous ways.
    Semper Dada!
    Fazulito Reet
    College of Pataphysics - Los Feliz Chapter to the World

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  2. Semper Dada indeed, Fazulito. Glad it hit you the same way. Hey, I didn't realize that the College of Pataphysics was still open. All hail King Ubu and thanks for your comment!
    Cheers,
    Grego

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  3. Hello Grego Applegate Edwards
    So, you've heard about (or, better yet, know something about) Pere Ubu & Alfred Jarry & Robert Wyatt's appointment (way back in the mid/late 1960's) as the "official orchestra of the College of Pataphysics? Splendid! And let's not leave out brother Daevid Allen / Professor Perplexed and his groovy University of Errors, eh? Double-plus-good, right?

    If you'd like to receive random issues of my peerless & priceless & pataphysical Libertinage Dadazine, I suggest that you e-mail me (fazulreet@gmail.com) and provide a postal or mail address, and I'd be happy to send some to you.

    Cheers!
    Fazulito Reet
    College of Pataphysics - Los Feliz Chapter to the World

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  4. Hello Fazulito,
    Yes, sure! And Daevid Allen was also an important part of my musical upbringing too--starting with the BYG and on to the many Gong offshoots. I will email you--would be happy to look at your Dadazine. When I was in high school I spent many fruitless hours combing the used bookstores in search of the Dada Manifesto, not realizing that it was not exactly ready-to-hand back then!
    Cheers,
    Grego

    ReplyDelete