@@johnayres2303 Agree about five being massively underrated and really, really good. 2 is brilliantly lively and original too, with Wyatt giving it such refreshing humour. Brilliance too in drumming as well as in the contributions from Hopper and Ratledge. 4 has great parts, but is unequal in my view. Some great stuff on Bundles too, though I could do without the drum solos there. I'm OK about the Karl Jenkins stuff. Some very good initial ideas that work well, but then he doesn't always follow up wiht developing them much.
I love this CD/DVD set - totally worth tracking down! If you think this music doesn't have soul then you aren't listening, you're just judging based on something other than the music. Thank you to Cuneiform Records for bringing stuff like this out for our enjoyment!
If you enjoy what you seen and hear but haven't purchased this yet take the plunge and buy it. The audio and video quality are stunning and the performance smokes. Easily one of my favorite archival releases of the past decade.
Got the CD/DVD, combo. THIS IS A MUST FOR THE SOFT MACHINE FAN!!! John Marshall does a killer drum solo toward the end of the show. Love his rare Hollywood drum kit, especially the pedal tuned floor toms, I would love to have kit like that!!!
Michael Naura (NDR Jazz pope) broadcasted that concert on NDR3 radio 8 years later (Sept. 26, 1981). I still own the old noisy MC. I´m glad to get the chance to see the whole concert now on a high quality CD/DVD. Guests are: Gary Boyle gt (Isotope) Linda Hoyle voc (Affinity) Art Themen ss (Jack Bruce Band)
Fender VI is a bass guitar,tuned to EADGBE,but an octive lower than a guitar,so usual bass tuning+two higher strings....used to have one years ago....weighed a ton!!
Art Themen! Great player, I am more used to seeing him in a more conventional jazz setting, but even in that context he still plays adventurously. Nice bloke, too.
I will never forget my disappointment, when I attended a concert in Düsseldorf ... expecting the "Third" line-up and then couldn't believe, that Robert was missing : - (
wasn't too bad ... my home town wasn't that far ... and It's not that I dislike what they did later ... I just thought (and still think): they should have renamed the band ... without Robert there's no Soft Machine
@grayguy Yes, its Gary Boyle, and the saxophonist is Art Themen. SM first plays a set by themselves, and then Hugh comes in and they play 1983, and then they carry on without Hugh, and with Themen and Boyle.
@twtom Babbington played a Fender VI , which is a six-string bass guitar - quite simply this is a standard guitar an octave lower. To put another way this is a normal 4-string bass guitar E, A, D, G plus 2 higher strings B, E. Until 6-string basses with high C and low B came in this was what was normally meant by a six-string bass guitar. If you watch "Let It Be" you can see Lennon with one. To further build up the guitar aspect of this instrument they came with a whammy bar!
Compie oggi 75 anni il grande tastierista e compositore inglese Mike Ratledge (Maidstone, 6 maggio 1943). Di estrazione musicale sia Classica che Jazz, è stato un asse portante dei Soft Machine, di cui era membro fondatore, per la sua straordinaria capacità compositiva e l’approfondita ricerca sonora.
hahahahaha now that's some stoned guitar playing there Gary! He misses as many notes as he plays! Anyway...I like the sound of this lineup! Sure, SM were evolving into something quite different from the original band, but if you really listen to every one of their recordings, they never stayed in one place for too long! Their sound and style was constantly changing. For years I refused to listen to anything post-Robert Wyatt. That was a mistake! They had a LOT of great music still to come. Completely different genre, really, though.
The compositions are outstanding and looking forward not back. A great band even if GB's guitar work is not very interesting to my ear, rather athletic with unconfident bending rarely attempted.
I love Soft Machine with the first 3 lineups. After that, it became just another European fusion band. Robert brought the quirky and the humorous. So did Kevin Ayers, only more quirky. Hugh Hopper had a totally unique style of bass and tone, not to mention his underrated but groundbreaking fuzz tone. Michael Ratledge stood out with that over-driven bee buzzing Lowry organ before he settled into a more bland Rhodes playing role. That's what made SM stand out to me. I get it that they had to evolve, but the 68 to 71 SM is where it's at for me.
This must have been recorded between the releases of 6 and 7. Hugh has been replaced by Roy Babbington. But, who is the other sax player that appears around 02:40 Lastly, is the guitarist Gary Boyle? Didn't realise he ever played with the Softs.
No one 'vamps' like Mike Ratledge / and that' s a fact / Boyle is cool too / never have so few musicians/ done so much for a Machine / they started off at J.G. Bennett's place btw /you can hear it in the lyrics / the overdriven amps / the best bassists on the mountain / we call 'Jazz...'
How refreshing and modern this music sounds in 2023, those rich-toned saxes, Ratledge's lovely poly-rhythm keyboards and the wonderful rhythm section! Great to hear the oboe as jazz lead again, as on Chloe and thr Pirates. It's all fab but the guitar solo is marred by GB's rather out-of-tune, half-attempted and rapidly abandoned bends.
I wish I knew more about the Softs to better appreciate this. What kind of bass is he playing? It says Fender, but it looks guitar scale and six strings? which would have been odd for that time.
excellente got here from `progarchives` link will buy it now `six` is the least nourishing of they`re output , so this will be the better aspect of that issue
Roy babbington (Delivery) is not Hugh Hopper! His playing is too soft ;-)) Karl jenkins take the head, music is became a classic jazz rock fusion without any soul.
@BassLudeman well, I´ve got an old newspaper(NME ?)article about that event: "The Softs at the Bratwurst -Teutonia" were I can see some pictures with single Softs-members and Linda Hoyle, who were also present. May be she did her own thing that evening. Hugh Hopper introduced his "1984" album (just left the band that month) but played "1983" with the Softs. I´m glad that Allan H. became their regular guitarist and not Gary B. (ha ha) Regards from Bratwurst Utopia
"Karl"..........the worst thing that ever happened to Soft Machine! Painfully benign without Robert, Hugh, Elton, and Lyn. And that guitar player is crap! By '73, the magic had disappeared.......
Indeed....... I was always focused on the "guitar player" as a youngster. It was the departure of Daevid Allen from the "Softs" that proved to a stubborn young man, that a guitar really wasn't necessary; as long as the core was solid, talented, and innovative. When some nut-job decided to change that formula, it was the beginning of the end. I was always surprised that Mike hung on as long as he did.
For this ensemble, which was an excruciatingly unsuccessful attempt at capitalizing on the original magic, he was definitely crap; and sloppy as hell in this concert. Not even Holdsworth or Etheridge could bring the spark back. This isn't Soft Machine; it's Jenkin's Juke Joint Jokers. Mike and Roy should never have had any part of it. If you don't get it; you were never really a fan of the original .............
Boyle, Holdsworth and Etheridge are great. Why do people talk about different line-ups being better/inferior than others. I bought all their albums in the 70s and such thoughts never crossed my mind - I just played them to death and enjoyed every one of them. Nobody knocked Karl Jenkins at the time but since he's become a succesful composer it's cool to knock him but I'm not jumping on the bandwagon, sorry. I was a fan of the original (I assume you mean the line-up with Daevid Allen) -I'm a fan of Soft Machine - full stop. I saw the Bundles gig at Newcastle in 1975 - Ratledge didn't smile all night - but he never did anyway - he looked okay to me and gave a brilliant typical solo while the others walked off and left him to it. If you don't like the later albums, fair enough - but to imply that people liking them aren't true fans is a bit much
