| Kevin Ayers |
|
| Background information |
| Birth name |
Kevin Ayers |
| Born |
16 August 1944 (1944-08-16) (age 62) |
| Origin |
 Kent, England |
| Genre(s) |
Psychedelia
Pop
Experimental Music |
| Instrument(s) |
Guitar, Bass |
| Years active |
1960's—present |
| Label(s) |
Harvest
Island
LO-MAX Records |
| Website |
kevin-ayers.com |
Kevin Ayers (born 16 August 1944 in Herne
Bay, Kent)
is an English
songwriter
and major influential force in the early English psychedelic
movement. John
Peel wrote in his autobiography that "Kevin Ayers' talent is so acute
you could perform major eye surgery with it."
Ayers was a founding member of the pioneering psychedelic band
Soft
Machine in the late 1960s, and was closely associated with
the Canterbury scene.
He has recorded a series of albums
as a solo artist and worked with Brian Eno, Syd
Barrett, John Cale, Elton
John, Robert Wyatt, Andy
Summers, Mike Oldfield, Nico, Ollie
Halsall and many others. Long resident in Deya, Mallorca he
returned to the United Kingdom in the mid 1990s. He
now lives in the south of France and is completing work on a new album
recorded in New York City, Tucson,
Arizona and London.
|
Contents
- 1 Early
life
- 2 Soft
Machine
- 3 Solo
career - 1969 - present
- 4 Kevin
Ayers Album Discography
- 5 Kevin
Ayers Single Discography
- 6 Compilations
& Live Recordings
- 7 External
links
- 8 References
|
Early life
Ayers is the son of BBC maverick producer Rowan
Ayers, but following his parents' split and his mother's subsequent
marriage to a British Civil Servant, Ayers spent most of his childhood in
Malaysia.
The tropical atmosphere and unpressured lifestyle had an impact, and
one of the frustrating and endearing aspects of Ayers' career is that
every time he seemed on the point of success, he would take off for
some sunny spot where good wine and food were easily found.
Ayers returned to England at the age of twelve, and in his
early college
years took up with the burgeoning musicians' scene in the Canterbury area. He
was quickly drafted into the Wilde Flowers, a band that featured Robert
Wyatt and Hugh Hopper as well as future
members of Caravan. Ayers has stated
in interviews that the primary reason he was asked to join was that he
probably had the longest hair. However, this prompted him to start
writing songs and singing.
Soft Machine
The Wilde Flowers morphed into Soft
Machine with the addition of keyboardist
Mike Ratledge and guitarist Daevid
Allen. Ayers switched to bass (and later both guitar and bass
following Allen's departure from the group), and shared vocals with the
drummer
Robert
Wyatt. The contrast between Ayers' baritone and Wyatt's reedy
tenor, plus the freewheeling mix of rock and jazz influences, made for a memorable new sound
that caught on quickly in the psychedelic 1960s. The band often shared
stages (particularly at the UFO Club) with Syd
Barrett's Pink Floyd.
Solo career - 1969 - present
After an exhausting and extensive tour of the United States
opening for Jimi Hendrix, a weary Ayers sold his
white Fender
Jazz bass to Noel Redding and retreated to
the beaches of Ibiza
in Spain with Daevid Allen to recuperate. While
there, Ayers went on a songwriting binge that resulted in the songs
that would make up his first album, Joy of
a Toy. The album was one of the first released
on the new Harvest label, along with Pink
Floyd's releases. Joy of a Toy established Ayers as
a unique talent with music that varied from the circus march of the
title cut to the pastoral "Girl on a Swing" and the ominous "Oleh Oleh
Bandu Bandong", based on a Malaysian folksong. Ayers' old mates from
Soft Machine backed him, with the addition on some cuts of Rob Tait,
sometime Gong
drummer.
One interesting product of the sessions was the single,
"Religious Experience (Singing a Song in the Morning)", early
recordings of which featured Ayers' close friend Syd
Barrett on guitar and backing vocals. The lead guitar that
appears on the final mix was often thought to have been played by
Barrett, even appearing on various Barrett bootlegs, but Ayers has said
that he played the solo, emulating Barrett's style. However the 2004 CD reissue of Joy
of a Toy includes a mix of this song featuring Barrett's
guitar as a bonus track.
A second album, Shooting at the Moon,
soon followed. For this, Ayers assembled a band that he called The
Whole World, including a young Mike Oldfield on bass and
occasionally lead guitar, and avant-garde composer David
Bedford on keyboards. Again Ayers came up with a batch of engaging
songs interspersed with avant-garde instrumentals and a heavy dose of
whimsy.
The Whole World was reportedly an erratic band live, and Ayers
was not cut out for life on the road touring. The band broke up after a
short tour, with no hard feelings, as most of the musicians guested on
Ayers' next album, Whatevershebringswesing,
which is regarded as one of his best, featuring the meliflluous
eight-minute title track that would became Ayers' signature sound for
the 70s.
1974 was a watershed year for Ayers. In addition to releasing
his most compelling music in this year, he was helped provide other
artists with access to a wider stage, most notably Lady June (June
Campbell Cramer). The recording, titled Lady June's
Linguistic Leprosy, made in a front room of
Cramer's home in Vale Court, Maida Vale, brought Lady June's spoken
word poetry together with the music and voice of Ayers, and also had
contributions by Brian Eno and Pip Pyle. It was originally released on
Ayers' own Banana Productions label (via Virgin/Caroline).
The
Confessions of Dr. Dream and Other Stories
marked Ayers’ move to the more commercial Island record label and is
considered by many to be the most cohesive example of Ayersian
philosophy. The production was expensive with Ayers quoting the
recording costs in a 1974 NME interview as exceeding £32,000 (a vast
figure at the time). On this LP Mike
Oldfield returned to the fold and guitarist Ollie
Halsall from progressive rock band Patto
began a twenty-year partnership with Ayers.
On the 1
June 1974,
Ayers headlined a heavily publicised concert at the Rainbow Theatre,
London, accompanied by John Cale, Nico, Brian
Eno and Mike Oldfield. Tensions were
somewhat fraught at the event since the night before John
Cale had caught Ayers sleeping with his wife, prompting Cale
to write the bile-soaked paean 'Guts' that would appear on his 1975
album Slow
Dazzle. The performance was released by Island Records just a few weeks
later on a live LP entitled June
1, 1974.
In 1976 Ayers returned to his original label Harvest and
released Yes
We Have No Mañanas (So Get Your Mañanas Today).
The album was a more commercial affair and secured Ayers a new American
contract with ABC Records. The LP featured contributions from B.J. Cole
and Zoot
Money. That same year Harvest released a collection entitled Odd
Ditties, that assembled a colourful and lively group of songs
that Ayers had consigned to single B-Sides or left unreleased.
The late 70’s and 80’s saw Ayers as a self-imposed exile in
warmer climes, a fugitive from changing musical fashions and a hostage
to chemical addictions. 1983’s Diamond Jack and
the Queen of Pain was, perhaps, a low-point for
Ayers. He was quoted in a 2007 BBC radio interview as saying he had
"virtually no recollection of making those records". The road back was
marked with 1988’s prophetically titled Falling Up,
that received his first unanimously positive press notices in years.
Despite the critical acclaim Falling Up
received, Ayers by this point had almost completely withdrawn from any
public stage, a state further compounded by the sudden death, by a
drugs overdose, of his musical partner Ollie
Halsall. An acoustic album Still Life with Guitar
recorded with Fairground Attraction
surfaced in France on the FNAC label and was subsequently released
throughout Europe. Some collaborations with Ayers fanatics Ultramarine
and a concert tour with Liverpool's Wizards of Twiddly completed his
output in the 90's.
In the late 90's Ayers was living the life of a recluse in the
South of France. At a local art gallery he met American artist Tim
Shepard who had studio space in the area, and the two became friends.
Ayers started to show up with a guitar and by 2005, passed some new
recordings onto Shepard, most taped on a cassette recorder at his
kitchen table. The songs were by turns "poignant, insightful and
honest" and Shepard "deeply moved" by what he heard encouraged Ayers to
record them properly for a possible new album.
Hooking up with London’s LO-MAX Records, Shepard found equal
enthusiasm for the demos and after making some tentative enquiries,
discovered a hotbed of interest for Ayers' work amongst the current
generation of musicians. New York’s Ladybug
Transistor set up rehearsals for a possible recording organised by
bandleader Gary Olson, and Kevin flew out to New York. When the
rehearsals gelled, the entourage which had now swelled to include horn
and string players flew out to Tucson, Arizona where the first sessions were
recorded in a dusty hanger known as Wavelab Studios.
With the tapes from the first sessions, Shepard set about
getting Ayers to complete the album in the UK, where by now word had
spread and a host of musicians started gravitating to planet Ayers.
Shepard recounted meeting Teenage Fanclub at a Go-Betweens
party and hearing their passion for Ayers’ music and wrote a letter to
singer, guitarist Norman Blake.
Mojo
magazine (July 2007) reported that, within a couple of weeks Ayers was
in a Glasgow studio with Teenage Fanclub and a host
of their like minded colleagues who had all assembled to work with
their hero. Bill
Wells from the Bill Wells Trio rubbed shoulders with Euros
Childs from Gorkys Zygotic Mynci. Francis
Reader from the Trash Can Sinatras added his
voice and provided a safe house for Kevin to return to each night.
Friends and peers from the past also visited the sessions. Robert
Wyatt provided his eerie Wyattron in the poignant ‘Cold
Shoulder’, Phil Manzanera contributed
to the brooding ‘Brainstorm’, Hugh Hopper from Soft
Machine played bass on the title track and Bridget
St. John, a British Folk singer beloved of John Peel
who signed her to his Dandelion Records, duetted with
Ayers on ‘Baby Come Home’, the first time they had sung together since
1970 on Shooting at the Moon. The
Unfairground is scheduled for release in
September 2007.
Kevin Ayers Album Discography
| Album Cover |
Title |
Label |
Date of Release |
|
|
The Soft Machine |
ABC/Probe |
Dec 1968 |
|
|
Joy of a Toy |
Harvest |
Nov 1969 |
|
|
Shooting at the Moon |
Harvest |
Oct 1970 |
|
|
Whatevershebringswesing |
Harvest |
Nov 1971 |
|
|
Bananamour |
Harvest |
May 1973 |
|
|
Lady June's
Linguistic Leprosy (with Lady June and Eno) |
Caroline/Virgin |
1974 |
|
|
The
Confessions of Dr. Dream and Other Stories |
Island |
May 1974 |
|
|
June 1, 1974
(with Nico, John
Cale and Brian Eno) |
Island |
1974 |
|
|
Sweet Deceiver |
Island |
Mar 1975 |
|
|
Yes
We Have No Mañanas (So Get Your Mañanas Today) |
Harvest |
Jun 1976 |
|
|
Rainbow Takeaway |
Harvest |
Apr 1978 |
|
|
That's What You Get Babe |
Harvest |
Feb 1980 |
|
|
Diamond Jack and
the Queen of Pain |
Charly |
Jun 1983 |
|
|
Deia...Vu |
Blau |
1984 |
|
|
As Close As You Think |
Illuminated |
Jun 1986 |
|
|
Falling Up |
Virgin |
Feb 1988 |
|
|
Still Life with Guitar |
FNAC |
Jan 1992 |
|
|
The Unfairground |
LO-MAX |
Sep 2007 |
Kevin Ayers Single Discography
| Single Cover |
Title |
Label |
Date of Release |
|
|
Joy of a Toy / Why Are We Sleeping? |
ABC/Probe (USA) |
Nov 1968 |
|
|
Singing A Song In The Morning / Eleanor’s Cake (Which
Ate Her) |
Harvest |
Feb 1970 |
|
|
Butterfly Dance / Puis-Je? |
Harvest |
Oct 1970 |
|
|
Stranger In Blue Suede Shoes / Stars |
Harvest |
Aug 1971 |
|
|
Oh! Wot A Dream / Connie On A Rubber Band |
Harvest |
Nov 1972 |
|
|
Don’t Let It Get You Down / Oh! Wot A Dream |
Harvest (FR) |
Nov 1972 |
|
|
Caribbean Moon / Take Me To Tahiti |
Harvest |
Apr 1973 |
|
|
The Up Song / Everybody’s Sometime and Some People’s
All The Time Blues |
Island |
Feb 1974 |
|
|
Day by Day / The Up Song |
Island (NL) |
1974 |
|
|
After The Show / Thank You Very Much |
Island |
Jul 1974 |
|
|
Falling In Love Again / Everyone Knows The Song |
Island |
Feb 1976 |
|
|
Stranger In Blue Suede Shoes / Fake Mexican Tourist
Blues |
Island |
Feb 1976 |
|
|
Star / The Owl |
Harvest |
Apr 1977 |
|
|
Money Money Money / Stranger In Blue Suede Shoes |
Harvest |
1980 |
|
|
Animals / Don’t Fall In Love with Me |
Columbia (ES) |
1980 |
|
|
My Speeding Heart / Champagne and Valium |
Charly |
1983 |
|
|
Who’s Still Crazy / My Speeding Heart |
WEA (ES) |
1983 |
|
|
Stepping Out |
Illuminated |
1986 |
|
|
Am I Really Marcel? / That’s What We Did |
Accidentales (ES) |
1988 |
|
|
The Best We Have / Saturday Night in Deià |
Accidentales (ES) |
1988 |
|
|
Thank You Very Much / There Goes Johnny / Don’t Blame
Them |
FNAC |
1992 |
Compilations & Live
Recordings
- Odd Ditties (Harvest 1976) (a collection
of rarities and unreleased tracks)
- The Kevin Ayers Collection (SFM 1983)
- Banana Productions: The Best of Kevin Ayers
(EMI 1989)
- BBC Live in Concert (Windsong 1992)
- Document Series Presents Kevin Ayers
(Connoisseur Collection 1992)
- 1969-80 (Alex 1995)
- First Show in the Appearance Business: The BBC
Sessions 1973-1976 (Strange Fruit 1996)
- The Garden of Love with Mike Oldfield
and Robert Wyatt (Voiceprint 1997)
- Singing the Bruise: The BBC Sessions, 1970-1972
[live] (Strange Fruit 1998)
- Too Old to Die Young: BBC Live 1972-1976
(Hux 1998)
- Banana Follies (Hux 1998)
- Turn the Lights Down (live) with the
Wizards of Twiddly (Market Square 2000)
- The Best of Kevin Ayers (EMI 2000)
- Alive In California (Box-O-Plenty
Records, November 2004)
- BBC Sessions 1970-1976 (Hux 2005)
- Some Kevin Ayers (white label promo 2007)
External links
References
- Tomorrow Never Knows: Rock and Psychedelics in the
1960s (University Of Chicago Press 2002) ISBN-10: 0226075621
- Turn On Your Mind: Four Decades of Great
Psychedelic Rock (Hal Leonard 2003) ISBN-10: 0634055488
- Is This Man A Dipso? (NME Aug 31, 1974)
- You Need a Bit Missing Upstairs to Play This Game
by Jonathan Glancey (The Guardian July 4, 2003)
- Whatevershebringswesing sleevenotes by
Martin Wakeling (EMI Sept 2006)
- Ayers and Graces by Nick Kent (NME Dec
7, 1974)
- Joy of a Toy sleevenotes by Martin
Wakeling (EMI Sept 2006)
- The Rare Record Price Guide (Diamond
Publishing Group Ltd Oct 2006) ISBN-10: 0953260151
- Kevin Ayers: Mojo Working by James
McNair (Mojo July 2007)
| v • d • e Soft
Machine |
| Daevid Allen | Kevin Ayers | Elton Dean
| Hugh
Hopper | Mike Ratledge | Robert
Wyatt |
| Roy Babbington | John
Etheridge | Karl Jenkins | John Marshall |
| Steve Cook | Marc
Charig | Lyn Dobson | Nick Evans | Jimmy
Hastings | Allan Holdsworth | Brian
Hopper | Ric Sanders | Alan
Skidmore | Rab Spall | Andy
Summers | Alan Wakeman |
| Discography |
| Regular albums: |
| The Soft Machine
(1968) | Volume Two (1969)
| Third (1970) |
Fourth
(1971) |
| Five
(1972) | Six
(1973) | Seven
(1973) | Bundles
(1975) | Softs
(1976) | Alive &
Well: Recorded in Paris (1978) | Land
of Cockayne (1981) |
| Related articles |
| Canterbury sound - Jazz
fusion - Wilde Flowers |
.jpg)
