1. A Certain Kind 2. Save Yourself 3. Priscilla 4. Lullabye Letter 5. Hope For Happiness Robert Wyatt-Mike Ratledge-Kevin Ayers Filmed in October 1967. Broadcast on Ce Soir On Danse TV France 25 August 1968.
Grandiose ! L époque où les cameramen de l ORTF savaient filmer et mettaient en valeur les artistes. Robert Wyatt impérial comme toujours ! Merci de nous faire profiter de ces belles images.
My uncle managed and produced much of SM's early work. Unfortunately he passed last year and I am really trying to learn all I can about the band & awesome to see classic videos like this one . Thank you for posting 🙏
this one of those things on the net i personally keep returning too . its got everything you need. class, dirt, poetry , skill, experimentalism of youth and three absolutely stunning musicians. r i p Kev.
With all those well-dressed, selfconcious audience members sitting through this incredible performance, my heart is with the one woman (and finally, also one dude) who are just going-off dancing!!!
I, like the other poster, never thought that I would get to see the original line up with Kevin Ayers in a live clip. Thanks for posting this, what a gem.
I was lucky enough to see the Softs in 1968, opening for the Amboy Dukes and Jimi Hendrix! what a great show. What a great original band. Too bad about Wyatt's accident.
Wow. Probably the REALLY surprising thing is the Amboy Dukes on the bill. I've always known Jimi and Soft Machine toured the States in 1968 (same management firm), but never knew the Dukes went back that far.
Jimi and the Softies included Canada in their 1968 tour as well as the USA. I saw them in Canada's capital, Ottawa. It was a wild concert. The mood was positive and that encouraged the players to give it their all. I happened to be on acid at the time and though I had never seen Soft Machine or even heard of them I loved them immediately. Now I have everything I am aware they recorded. This was probably the only tour where Jimi Hendrix was the more conservative of the performing artists.
What an explosive Psychedelic/Jazz/Pop combo! Kevin, why did you have to leave? How cool Kevin is wearing makeup pre Glam by 3 years! R.I.P. KEVIN AYERS
Kevin is a star no doubt. But man hugh was a level above most any bass player and I think he fit the direction they were going better. Heck even rob got pushed out of the vision eventually. I love this line up and the next three piece the best personally. I like the poppy mix those two line ups produced
Uniquely gifted, perpetually iconic, always searching, continually stretching boundaries, never satisfied............ sadly missed for all these years; nearly 50, the void is still present as the noon-day sun. Oh we lucky few, who recognized the magic, and keep the memories......... of an era of creativity that will never be replicated. Out-bloody-rageous!!!
En 1970 j'était dans ma cabine au Psychédélic club de Nice et après la fermeture de la boîte vers 5h00 du matin, j'écoutais ce morceau pour m'évader un peu. Aujourd'hui encore la version studio de "a certain kind" m'arrache les tripes.
Soooo cool...great young musicians "back in the day"... and i think all great live shows should have at least a few very cool delightful dancing girls with those wonderful wiggles.. thanks for posting this...great find
gosh what a privilege to have been one of the few people at that performance ! I couldn't sit through that. I would have to be dancing. but not now as nearly 70 !
What an Awesome band especially for that time period! Never got the notoriety they most justifiably deserved! Way ahead of their time! Pink Floyd with Soul!! Absolutely Brilliant! Very difficult to play drums and sing with that intensity! WOW!!
In a class of his own, technically. There was nobody in pop or jazz to compare him to. I could never understand why he chose to play that piece of shit Lowrey organ.
@@johntechwriter Respec the Lowrey. Rutledge works it very well. Another lovely use of the organ (besides the classic Lucy in the Sky) is with The Band
One year later Robert Wyatt had grown his hair to the point where it completely covered his face; ; he literally sang through his hair, didn't seem to affect his brilliant drumming. But Kevin had left taking with him some of the dream dimension of the band.
This is absolutely incredible, to be able to travel back decades and see this early recording of such great original artists in their formative days, Thanks for sharing/jim
I had commented a while back about seeing SoftMachine opening for Jimi H. in '68. It's great how the music fans keep this alive! I knew it was special then!
I discovered SM through this video when I was around 20 (30 now). I had this and their first album on repeat for weeks! Then Volume Two for months. They instantly became my favourite band of all times and still are today. Also Robert Wyatt's drumming is a major influence. My favourite drummer together with Billy Cobham, Ginger Baker, Bill Bruford and Pierre van der Linden.
It's great to see this. I saw this line-up and repertoire when they opened for the Jimi Hendrix Experience at the Bushnell Memorial Auditorium, Hartford CT, spring of '68. I had no clue going in and was there to see Hendrix (of course) - he did Dylan's "Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window" as well as most of "Are You Experienced?" and they did not disappoint. However, my lasting memory is of The Soft Machine. Totally unknown to me and unexpected. They were as loud, if not louder than the Experience, and, I think, opened with "Hope For Happiness" which is still one of my favorites. Couldn't take my eyes or ears off of them. Had a similar experience when I saw Mahavishnu Orchestra open for ELP in Long Beach CA in '71 or '72.
I was at the Bushnell for the March show and had exactly the same reaction. I knew what to expect from Hendrix but never heard of Soft Machine. They had some big amps and some big talent. What a sound! Never forgot the show and still listen to them all the time. Hope for Happiness was burned into my brain that night.
Early Soft machine is completely ace. You tube having a few movies up is a real treat for those of us too young to be let in, or even find our way to the venue! I'd have looked wild in my school shorts and cap!
My older brother dragged me to the Grande Ballroom in Detroit for their summer of 1968 show. I'd never heard them before and much of the crowd there that night was older and wiser but more stoned than me, for sure. I was certain I'd never heard their tunes before but knew I was witnessing a unique amalgamation of experimental musicians. Thank brother, Tommy!
I always dug the Softs, from the very beginning. Bought all their records. As well as, later on, the recordings of concerts on compact discs (like "Live at the Paradiso 1969"). Even got "Spaced", the sound track the Softs did in 1969 for a multi-media show. Saw them in Rotterdam in 1970 and in New York City in the 1970s. Was crazy about the first three albums. Really dug SM Six, too. Was shocked when I heard of poor Robert Wyatt's accident. Never understood what happened to the band - why Robert was pushed out.
... music is great ...... I just can say that !!!! ... my skin, my heart and my soul fly free in a real world ..... a world that is not understood by anybody or everybody .... a world as much real as you and me ...... grandioso !!!
Saw them accidentally at the Museum of Modern Art in 1966. They played without stopping for a half hour and the set was done. I knew they were amazing and that set was reproduced as a studio session on their first album with Kevin Ayres on bass.
Fantastico filmato, ottima regia, una grande emozione sentire i soft machine nella loro prima formazione, meno beat di quanto fatto sentire nel loro primo disco. La dimensione live ci rivela un gruppo già molto avanti. Notevole!
Incredibili! Grandiosamente psichedelici e melodici allo stesso tempo. Wyatt a batteria e voce è straordinario!!! Le tastiere di Ratledge hanno un che di onirico e precursore per il loro periodo jazz che arriverà a breve.
Troppo sottovalutato, Ratledge, forse perché si è ritirato presto. Già si era scocciato, a partire dal '73, infatti fu lui a volere Karl Jenkins ed a consegnargli il complesso. Ma musicalmente era troppo superiore..ma pigro.
I notice 2 people disliked this soft machine Vid...i find that unbelievable. what is there not to love ..this is such great music..I especially Love Soft machine 1 which these tracks came off
Questa esibizione live dei Soft machine del 68 vede la band in formazione a trio Robert Wyatt canto e batteria e percussioni Mike Ratledge Organo e Kevin Ayers chitarra basso Nel filmato vediamo anche ragazzi che stanno ballando Premesso che la musica dei Soft machine non è musica da ballare però chi la voleva ballare si muoveva a shake cioè i movimenti non seguivano dei passi studiati ma si muovevano come la musica suggeriva alla mente e al corpo di ogni singolo individuo Quindi con libertà totale di espressione e movimento
Truly funny to me how many people here think Wyatt wasn't sounding EXACTLY how he wanted to. Listen to his solo albums - the man can't and won't do it like anyone else.
alleluya un jeune dans les commentaires d'une video de soft machine ! écoute ma playlist pour découvrir d'autre truc cool ;) www.deezer.com/playlist/4177276582?
Ah, that explains it. I was surprised that by August 1968 they weren't further away from their R'n'B roots. But if it was filmed in late 1967, the whole thing makes sense. A most enjoyable picture of a band in transition, with the final "Hope for Happiness" showing them making tangential contact with early 'heavy prog' as they whizz effortlessly past.
I have never heard this and I am blown away. I am 56. I can hear so many bands from later periods in them... they had a huge influence and i had no idea.
People can say what they want about Robert Wyatt being off key vocally But actually not. That is all about psychedelia, that is what creates the unique effect. Guess most people cannot grasp that concept. IT WAS DONE PURPOSELY!! That is what made them great!! Was Robert High?? Maybe So But who wasn't back then? What a great performance in my opinion! Obviously those that want to criticize Robert Wyatts voice don't understand the genre he is performing!
I love Robert's voice, and his exploration of microtonalism with regards to his pitching. Seriously though, when you are on stage trying to hear yourself sing it's not easy especially without stage monitors, so it's easy to slip off the exact note. Anyway, like you say, it was psychedelia and the exploration and feeling was the main thing.
Robert's voice has always been one of my favorite aspects of early Soft Machine albums. It doesn't fit any predetermined mold, it is distinctly the sound of Soft Machine, just as much as Ratledge's gap-less playing style is the sound of Soft Machine.
Amazing post. Thank you! Got to love Robert's "challenging" relationship to the matter of the key of "A Certain Kind" and Mike looking daggers at him as a result. Nevertheless, THE GREATEST BAND THERE EVER WAS!
Pure video gold dust! I'm so happy we have a few full gigs of the early Soft Machine filmed and out there, unlike Syd's Floyd and The Nice. I'm honoured to have played at and organised a gig with Kevin in Manchester about 8 years ago that was called the '3.3D Holographic Zero Point Energy Disclosure Project'. Next I hope to be reborn into England in the late 1940's so that I can do stuff like this 'first time around' - please oh powers of the Universe!
