❤ Chris ❤

Well ahead of their time 👍 creativity

The friction between Robert Wyatt and Mike Ratledge, one with the desire to focus on pop and the other on jazz (additionally with the influence of psychedelic rock at that time), is what makes their music absolutely unique and -honestly, to me- perfect. (I'm 32)

Looks like Jon Lord from Deep Purple, that's who I thought at first glance

Saw Soft Machine a week ago at Yoshi's Oakland. Just great. John is still hilarious.

@Aymeric, je suis un fan et fier propriétaire de votre livre sur Canterbury... pouvez-vous me dire d’où et de quand provient la toute première image de Mike Ratledge dans cette vidéo?

Good analysis from kevin there

Freestyle Asset rock jazz gotta love it

Nothing "chaotic" about the SM larger groups - fantastic prog. Maybe Ratledge missed relistening to the recordings.

Dont think Kevin Ayers mattered much in the end

Wyatt's drumming on Volume One is nothing but groundbreaking.

Une photo avec Jacky barbier,prise à l,ouest de la grosse,bourgogne.quelle année ?😊 Tchuss,pierro.

The bowed contrabass on Nucleus' "Elastic Rock"... one of those moments where i'd wish to go again for the first time.

Flattering speakers like NS-10s??? Say what???

Hands down my favorite yes song

A wonderful song and one of my favourite songs by the band.

Bollocks to golf courses and hurrah for moles

One thing about Ant you have to admire is that almost all the way through his career its been "well things weren't working out financially...." And he kept going. Richard McPhail says his parents were very supportive, I don't know about financially, but I think something like that really helps.

"Gary Green's, from Gentle Giant, guitar solo on "Peel the Paint" uses an echoplex belonging to Mike Ratledge that Green's brother Jeff, a roadie with Ratledge's band Soft Machine, had borrowed. "

One of the best records, ever. By anyone. ❤

This guy's baselines are permanently etched on my brain, like no other player. Superb.

Wonderful, thanks for posting.

He seems to be the most laid back guy ever, even when it comes to how his music career (?) wasn't pushed by record companies and management. Just let him make music...MAKE him MAKE it!

I saw them on a late night Scottish TV show "Jazz at the Gateway". The playing was phenomenal by all involved. Bought the album and still love it 43 years later - Thanks Fred.

As the decades roll on, it becomes increasingly obvious that the post Wyatt bands made music that can be a very rewarding listen. Quibbling about the name is quite a bit less rewarding. The Jeknins led bands would likely have dried up without the name Soft Machine, for that reason alone, I'm ok w/ everything they did, except for maybe that Cockayne album.

When did this interview take place ?

I like the period they make a lot of canned music

What on earth has Ratledge been doing for the past 40+ years? Seems to have become a recluse or something. Kinda weird that he just walked away from the band he'd founded and led, allowing others to use the SM name to this day.

Musicians often have blinders on and overlook things about recordings that they contributed to. It could be argued that Ayers put less into the first Soft Machine album than Ratledge or Wyatt and may be less engaged as a listener than quite a few people who own a copy of the album. Soft Machine 1 was a spectacularly groundbreaking pop album that prints in the head beautifully. I dig almost everything that came later, they're all different and 1 has an atmosphere and feel that's unique in their catalog.

Hope someone uploads the Whistle Test footage soon enough.

-Three- was it for me

❤

The music business creates an artificial kind of music. Music inspires the musician naturally. Then it is honest and creative. People in the business demand that the musician should not wait for the inspiration..and that they should force the music. When you force the music...that is when it becomes contrived. The reason being that you are forcing music to be something that it isnt

Robert Wyatt's adoration of Paul Desmond I get. His 'Take Ten' album is a must have!

Да ли је на зиду велики гитариста из Хатфилд енд Норт(Смит)?.

Funny because he succeeded in creating a singing style that suited his accent and so made unique music

I think John identified the reason why many people go to university-to escape reality! Great guitarist!

I loved his voice and accent. Kind of reminds me of Alan Rickmans voice. It was so distinct and cool, and I wished Ayers was much more popular so people could've heard his awesome voice

Etheridge is fantastically talented, very open minded, a real sponge as a listener. Really enjoyed hearing the comments about how tension is often what makes a band interesting. If he wants to pull in elements of earlier Soft Machine, I'd love to hear them working on Joy Of A Toy from the Vol. 1.

Agree about Mike Ratledge at that time. I watched his hands-I play keyboards myself. He was amazing. Wyatt was a phenomenal drummer. The Village Voice was close to accurate. Both were tops in the rock world.

Can't say enough good about Etheridge. Incredibly solid and innovative musician w/ a fantastic track record who had the impossible task of playing in Holdsworth's shadow. His work on the Darryl Way Wolf records right up to the new stuff is excellent. When seeing back to back recent Soft Machine gigs he always hits you with something new... even with the between numbers wise cracks.

ABSOLUTE LEGEND RIP MR ALLEN

and i loved the driver rick , with nice booots, i gave .it was a pleasure.

i do love thehe lads. from finland from a friend.

I'm thinking The Beatles and Dylan were taking 'songs' in all kinds of directions that certainly inspired many of the rock musicians at least, and as I saw others as well like some of the jazz players. There were all kinds of variations and combinations leading to interesting attempts at classification by marketers and critics. Almost like rolling the dice. One example that comes to mind, outside of The Wildeflowers and Soft Machine, is Steely Dan, basically a pop vocal band but with a distinct jazz sensibility. I'd suggest others like Pink Floyd and King Crimson had various intents in their sounds outside of the basic song and dance. Like Mick Jagger said it was 'in the air'.

Great interview!

I need to read his heroin book!

Saw him twice. He played great

Doug's playing on "Ship of Fools" brings a lump to my throat. It is just so lovely.

I cannot understand the separatist talk and the dismissal by some of Duke and ATTW3. I love the early stuff as a 5 piece, but for me these are amongst the best of their works. The big change came with Abacab.