| Robert Wyatt |
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Tom on the inspiration for the new album: "Robert Wyatt. I love him. I'm slowly working to get his back catalog, discovering a new record every couple months or whatever. I think he's a big influence on some of the EP and quite a bit of the new album" Scroll down for more info about Robert and videos from the Soft Machine - he's on drums. They got their name from a poetic description of the human body by cult novelist William Burroughs. They caused a sensation in London in 1967 with their exceedingly far out music. There's also all about his career from Wikipedia and a link to solo videos at his website (see below) Robert Wyatt: My real feeling of lack of freedom comes from the fact that I have to be anything at all, specific... I get nearer and nearer towards happiness, or a feeling of being relaxed and free when I can lose myself in my environment. I mean, I get lost in listening to other people's music, or just hanging around Notting Hill Carnival, you forget who you are. That's one of the pleasures of it. But, in a simple way, if you get into a warm bath, where the temperature of your own blood matches that of the water around you, you sort of get that lovely feeling, of just sort of melting into the world. And that's really what I aspire towards - in the sense that it's the opposite - of those notions of artists, finding their own individualism, and kind of standing against the world: to me that's the ultimate nightmare. I want to get lost and diffused in the world, and that's my idea of freedom and happiness. strongcomet.com/wyatt Robert Wyatt was a founding member of the Soft Machine, who along with Pink Floyd helped to transform the late sixties psychedelic scene in the UK into something more lasting. Through successive albums, Soft Machine soon moved toward a more jazz-based fusion with rock music, punctuated by Wyatt's distinctive drumming and vocals, attracting a massive following across Europe. After extensive touring, Wyatt left intending to pursue a solo career, but instead assembled Matching Mole who released two critically acclaimed LP's before disbanding prematurely. In 1973, Wyatt fell from a third floor window during a party, leaving him paralysed from the waist downwards. From that day onwards he has concentrated his efforts into solo recordings, mixing simple and effective keyboard melody lines with poignant lyrics, often filled with personal and political references. The results have proved both haunting and reflective, even producing two chart hits - his 1974 re-working of 'I'm a Believer', and the 1983 Falklands War indictment 'Shipbuilding' written especially for him by Elvis Costello. Soft Machine at youtube: Theatre De La Musique 1970 Info: Here's a clip of Soft Machine on French Television from 1970. This is my favourite incarnation of the band. Robert Wyatt, Elton Dean, Hugh Hopper, & Mike Ratledge... a few months before Robert left to form Matching Mole. Excellent group interplay and Wyatt at his best on vocals. Elton died last month, so this clip is dedicated to his memory. Also see Wikipedia In 1966 Wyatt and Mike Ratledge formed the Soft Machine with Ayers and Allen. Here Wyatt both drummed and sang, an unusual combination for a stage rock band. In 1970, after chaotic touring, three albums and increasing internal conflicts in Soft Machine, Wyatt released his first solo album, The End of an Ear, which combined his vocal and multi-instrumental talents with tape effects. A year later, Wyatt left Soft Machine and formed his own band Matching Mole (a pun on "machine molle", the French for Soft Machine), a largely instrumental outfit. After two albums and a split, Matching Mole were about to embark on a third record when, on 1 June 1973, during a drunken party, Wyatt fell from a third floor window. He was subsequently paralysed from the waist down (paraplegia) and confined to a wheelchair. The injury led Wyatt to abandon the Matching Mole project, and his drumming. He promptly embarked on a solo-career, and with a collective of session musicians (including Mike Oldfield, the poet Ivor Cutler and Henry Cow guitarist Fred Frith), he released his acclaimed solo-album Rock Bottom. Later that same year he put out a single, a cover version of "I'm a Believer", which hit number 29 in the UK chart. There were strong arguments with the producer of Top of the Pops surrounding his performance of "I'm a Believer," on the grounds that his wheelchair-bound appearance 'was not suitable for family viewing', the producer wanting Wyatt to appear on a normal chair. Wyatt won the day and 'lost his rag but not the wheel chair', but gave a performance that could be described as disgruntled. Me: I'm just posting things as I read it but that's made me really mad. First he has to deal with the fact he's in a wheelchair for the rest of his life then he gets shit like that. There's a page of videos at his website: strongcomet.com/wyatt/video Here's lots more stuff including a recent article about disability discrimination in pop and Robert talks about the time they didn't want his wheelchair on TOTP (article also mentions the Mystery Jets) Who says the people who make the music we listen to can't have a visible disability. So many musicians have mental disabilities and the press glamourises it. What's so offensive about a wheelchair. Maybe the only time people will understand is when it happens to them... Scroll down for a link to hear Slow Walkin Talk with Jimi Hendrix on bass (it's brilliant) jahsonic.com/RobertWyatt.html Robert Wyatt's 1974 masterpiece Rock Bottom is among the most layered, lovely, and luscious pop records ever as well as a testament to survival. As Wyatt explains in the notes, "The night before the new group was to have its first rehearsal, I fell from a fourth floor window and broke my spine." Produced by Nick Mason, the cream of England's vital prog-rock scene contributed their most subtle, least-wanky efforts for their dear friend's solo recording. Ivor Cutler, Fred Frith, Hugh Hopper, and Mike Oldfield shine alongside ethereal singer songwriter keyboardist percussionist Wyatt. The most touching of these playful drone-pop songs appear to detail Wyatt's relationship with his wife/collaborator, Alfreda Benge. "Your lunacy fits neatly with my own," he sings. strongcomet.com How Rock Bottom was created (before & after his accident) "I came to terms with the fact that I was no longer a drummer" One man who will weep few tears over the axing of Top of the Pops is songwriter Robert Wyatt. Wyatt was a cult figure in the early 1970s as drummer with alternative band Soft Machine. But a fall from a fourth floor window left him paralysed and in a wheelchair. After leaving hospital, he was scheduled for a Top of the Pops appearance at the height of its popularity. Then a producer asked him if he could get out of his wheelchair for the performance. "He told me it was not quite the image the programme wanted," Wyatt explains. "It was genuinely the first time I had realised since the accident that I might be considered unsightly." It was this, coupled with the problems of performing in unsuitable venues, that made Wyatt exchange touring for contemplative songwriting. The Attitude is Everything organisation has been working to see the act is enforced and has decided to lead by example. One of the acts it has helped, the Mystery Jets, are currently in the charts. Band member Blaine Harrison was born with Spina Bifida and needs crutches to get around. Harrison acknowledges there is still a taboo about disability, but thinks the problem lies more with the image men than the public. "Often in interviews, the press almost ignore my disability. A lot of our fans don't even know I've got Spina Bifida, and I don't think they'd care if they did." Attitude is Everything hopes its work will change the climate and end the situation where a disabled artist has to be a superhero to go on tour. It also hopes the kind of reaction Robert Wyatt faced on Top of the Pops 30 years ago will die when the show does. YOU'VE GOT TO HEAR THIS: Slow Walkin Talk MP3 at new-black.blogspot.com (Jimi Hendrix on bass) djnoble.demon.co.uk More info about Jimi playing bass (quite technical) Considering Jimi heard the song only once and this is a first take, it's no wonder Robert Wyatt pronounced Jimi's performance 'staggering'! totalmusicmagazine.com Sadly live shows would not be a big feature of this new direction Wyatt insisting “I think more like a film maker. Once I've made my record, it's finished, you don't finish a film and then take the actors out on the road [anyway] I had to get drunk to do it the first time round” guardian.co.uk Pop, jazz and the breakdown of harmonic structure; the three-cornered hat of Wyatt's career was already in place before he had even raised a drumstick. "I left school at 16 completely unable to do anything at all," he remembers. "Then the Beat Group thing started, so I started playing drums and singing, the two instruments you can play without learning a thing about music." He laughs heartily, a three-packs-a-day laugh. "They seemed about the right career choice for me." Geoff Travis at the Rough Trade record label secured his release from the huge debts and tiny royalties saddled on him by Richard Branson at Virgin, and, for the first time, he felt a degree of emancipation from a music industry that he felt had exploited him from the beginning. "I think sometimes you can get rather lonely," he says at one point, referring to not only a personal alienation but a political one, too. "I feel a chill of alienation when I'm told what Britishness is by someone for whom I feel contempt, or at least revulsion." More on the Soft Machine The Softs were taken on by Jimi Hendrix's management, leading to grueling stints supporting the Jimi Hendrix Experience on their 1968 American tours. Because of this, the group at this point were probably more well-known in the U.S. than their homeland. In fact, their debut LP was only issued, oddly, in the States. For a couple of months in 1968, strangely enough, the Soft Machine became a quartet again with the addition of future Police guitarist Andy Summers, although that didn't work out, and they soon reverted to a trio. For most intents and purposes, Wyatt's departure spelled the end of the Soft Machine's reign as an important band. Although the Soft Machine were always a collaborative effort, Wyatt's humor, humanism, and soulful raspy vocals could not be replaced. Mike Oldfield interview MO: Well, I certainly remember Robert Wyatt. Of course, I was the bass player in Kevin Ayers And The Whole World and he joined us for nearly six months or so. So, I was playing bass to his drums which was quite an experience. And it was just great because he’d be playing along in a really good feel and everything and just suddenly, he’d go crazy and he’d be playing it like it was an avant gard percussion instrument! I would have to keep the bass line going to keep the song going and wait until he’d decide to rejoin the rhythm, which he would do beautifully, he’d come straight back into it. It was completely unpredictable and he was a wonderful drummer. RS: He was brilliant. MO: He really was. RS: I love the Soft Machine, especially Volume Two... MO: There was a beautiful film, I don’t know whether you’ve seen it in New York. It’s a French film. It’s about the migration of geese. It’s called Le Peuple De Immigranteur and Robert Wyatt’s music is featured on it quite a bit. Very, very beautiful film. Just released in France last year. Blog with links: ebn.weblogger.com -- Song For Che MP3: download here |