What a guy Kevin. Had the pleasure of seeing him a few times in the 70s and early 80s. His best work was, in my humble opinion, with Robert Wyatt. A role model for young people ?. Don't think John Cale would agree. Keep stum on that one, but many know the tale, can't afford the potential legal fees.
With that one a lot of it was like the others innit they do all that and then puff this puff that and make so much of cheese and wotnot ooh Lala others go from behind and try different ways to smoke and go like boooof hows that oh yes
What does education have to with it? Drug addiction has isn’t picky and usually targets the best and the hypersensitive talents. It is a shame but addiction is not confined to class, intelligence or pedigree l Nick Drake?? . It’s a disease. A cancer if you will.
The Kevin Ayers catalog was a big part of my musical upbringing from Joy of the Toy onward. An eclectic mix of eccentric English songs almost like a musical trip through alice in wonderland with a ever so strange banana obsession!!!! I got to see him live in 1975 at the Astoria in London with Andy Summers & Zoot Money just before the punk thing kicked off & just about when Summers met Stingo & Copeland to do their pretend punk band. As a musician myself I recorded a cover version of May I for my brothers funeral as he was a big fan. Ayers songwriting was always very amusing and he even got quite poppy in his later material. He never quite broke out commercially partly, I think because he was so laid back himself. He was always surrounded by a group of very talented musicians from Oldfield, Summers, Coxhill, Bedford, Wyatt, Halsall etc. Whatevershebringswesing and Confessions of Dr Dream albums are stamped in my head from a young age. He was a one off with music full of vision and humour but possibly fuelled by the occasional substance, mainly red wine. A bit mad but a memorable talent. Too old to die young!
I was lucky to see him in the Gulbenkian theatre at UKC around 1974 - his first words were "get those God damn lights out of my eyes". Great concert in his home town.
Saw him in a tiny club in Glasgow in this era ,1969/70, when his band had Mike Oldfield, Lol Coxhill and others. Amazing - I later travelled to London to see the Ayers Cale Nico Eno June 1st 1974 show. He should have been a big star.
I bought Kevin Ayers & The Whole World's Shooting At the Moon at bargain price in late 1972. I remember Mike Oldfield's lead solo hitting me like a storm on that brand new but low-quality stereo I had. And then Kevin's humourous and tender vision of a French girl in a French café (see 11:30) and that oyster and its flying fish. I instantly became addicted to this low voice and all. And still am. Same happened with Frank Zappa and Neil Young, and Daevid and so many of those heroes of my youth.
This is still awfully exciting to watch and hear. Kevin Ayers seems like a good role model for young people- well read, doesn't take himself seriously, bilingual, few hang ups, and a nice line in hats.
