As I said last time, this is a very odd LP.  It is completely different from “Joy of a Toy”, curiously in much the same way as Soft Machine Vol II differs from their first album.  In fact, once I finish with this one, I plan to take a brief detour into those first two Softies.

Frankly, most of this record is virtually unlistenable; it postively grates along the senses, and is painful to the ear.

Having said that, it does contain one of the very best songs that Kevin Ayers ever did, and one or two lesser gems of immense merit.  As far as I can remember just now, that does differntiate it from Soft Machine Vol II.

Side 1 kicks off with a brilliant song “May I”, which is classic wistful KA stuff, with a truly wondrous backing track; sheer bliss.  This one is very much in the style of “Joy of a Toy” and strangely reminiscent of the first track on the Matching Mole LP.  I love this one to bits, and it promises much for the rest of the record.

The next song starts off well enough, this being the bit called “Rheinhardt and Geraldine”, a little coffee shop jazzy, but nice to listen to.  However, after the first 90 seconds, we get a wierd staccato cacophony, which goes on for nearly two minutes, before the song proper is more or less resumed, in quite a pleasing way.  This morphs seamlessly into the next piece, of wich more next time.

This is a very odd LP, not least because of the frankly pretentious way the tracks are organised.  Strictly speaking, there are only 4 tracks on the album, two on each side, but 3 of these are split into discrete titles, so there are really 10 tracks on the record, 5 on each side.  The tracklisting on the back cover is detailed and in small block capitals, but I set it out here in ordinary text:

“1. May I

David……Piano & accordion

Lol……….saxes

Mike……Bass

Mick………Percussion

Rheinhardt and Geraldine

David…..Piano, organ

Lol…saxes

Kevin……Guitar, vocal

Mike…Bass

Mick…Drums

Colores Para Dolores

As above except Robert Wyatt and the Whole World chorus

2.  Lunatics Lament

Mike…Guitar, Vocal

Lol…saxes

David…Organ

Kevin…Bass, vocal

Mick…Drums

Pisser Dans Un Violon

Kevin…Bass

David…Organ

Lol…Electric Sax

Mike…Guitar

Side Two

1.  The Oyster and the Flying Fish

Bridget St. John Vocal

Kevin…Guitar & Vocal

David …Jangle piano

Underwater

David …Guitar

Lol…Sax

Kevin…Guitar & Bass

Clarence in Wonderland

David….Piano, Marimbaphone

Lol…Zoblophone

Mike…Bass

Mick…Bottles and ashtrays

Kevin…Guitar & vocal

The Whole World Girly Chorus

Red Green and You Blue

Lol….saxes

Mike…Bass

Kevin…Guitar & vocal

Mike…Bass

David…Organ

Mick…Percussion

2.  Shooting at the Moon

Lol…Saxes

David…Piano & organ

Kevin…Guitar & vocal

Mike…Bass & vocal

Mick…Drums”

More today on the back cover of the LP; I should add, by the way, that I never got this one on CD, for reasons which will become apparent.

At the top left are the LP title and the name of the band, followed by a list of the members other than KA, in alphabetical order by surname.  There is a central oblong box with a detailed tracklisting and some credits, to which I shall return.  At the top right is a small rectangular abstract colour picture, looking a bit like a postage stamp; and these details: “SHSP 4005 (1e 062 o 04556) stereo”.

Each of the 5 photos is labelled with the first name of the chap there shown.  Kevin is to the left of the central box, and David is to the right of it.  Along the bottom, below the central box, are Lol, (Rupert), Mick and Mike.

The credits in the central box follow the tracklisting.  All text in the box is in small block capitals, but I shall use regular text here to transcribe the credits:

“Acknowledgements… Peter Jenner… Peter Mew… Peter Selwood and Peter Rabbit John Peel… John Walters  Richard Williams… Bridget St. John… Robert Wyatt  Blackhill Enterprises… Michele Jane… Cyrille… Anna Lisa Rachel… Tom Lipps… Pinky  Mike Ratledge… David Allen.

Produced by…Kevin Ayers and Peter Jenner

Engineer…Peter Mew

Front cover…Tom Fu

All titles composed by Kevin Ayers.”

Next time, more about the track listing and indeed the methodology of the tracks.

It may be recalled from an earlier post, “Joy of a Toy (2)” I think, that I first acquired “Shooting at the Moon” at precisely the same time as I got “Joy of a Toy”.  This was because I bought these together as a rereleased double album comprising the two LPs.

However, I was later able to pick up, for 20p (GBP 0.20), from a charity fair, an original copy of “Shooting at the Moon” [SHSP 4005].  The front cover has a deep blue background on which silver features are stencilled out.  The central thing is a large circle, containing a picture of an archer standing on one leg and shooting an arrow from a modern recurve bow straight up, vertically, towards the moon, which is directly above him.  Around the outside of the top of the circle is the name of the LP, and below the circle: “KEVIN AYERS AND THE WHOLE WORLD”.

The back cover has black and white photos of the 5 chaps in the band, being KA, David Bedford, Lol Coxhill, Mick Fincher and Mike Oldfield.  Between the snaps of Lol and Mick is, in colour, Rupert Bear.

More of this back cover next time.

Today we should be able to finish off on the 2003 Deluxe CD reissue of this splendid record.

The penultimate track is Track 15, this being the single version of “The Lady Rachel”, lasting just 4.51 minutes, compared with the 5.18 minutes of the LP version.  This is different from the other two versions on the CD, the vocals seeming to have been rerecorded for the 45.  The instrumental middle 8 is reduced to a few bars, which accounts for the shorter length.  Another most worthy alternate take.

The CD finishes on an ecstatic high, Track 16, which is the single version of what was originally called “Religious Experience”, but here is known simply as “Singing a Song in the Morning”.  This is pure unalderated joy, and even has some female backing vocals.  It is very different from the other two versions, and should have been a smash hit.

I do not propose to leave Kevin Ayers just yet; indeed, I want to post a lot more about him before we get onto the exciting adventures which surrounded the acquisition of the last two “Picnic” albums.

Next time, therefore, I hope to start a brief series on “Shooting at the Moon”.

We come now to Track 12 on the 2003 Deluxe CD reissue of this record, which is the second of the six bonus tracks, and the first of the two versions of “The Lady Rachel” comprised in those six.  This is “Extended first mix Previously unreleased”.  This lasts 6.43 minutes, compared with the 5.18 minutes of the LP version.  It is quite different from that one, notably in that the vocals are somewhat more subdued.  Conversely, the orchestration has a slightly fuller feel.  The tempo is, I think a tiny bit slower, and the phrasing of the vocals has a faintly different pattern.  The instrumental middle 8 is sparser and longer, with some “swirling” bits which are absent from the LP; this is where the extra length comes in.  This is a most worthy alternate cut.  This was apparently a 1972 rerecording.

Track 13 is “Soon Soon Soon”, a 3.23 gem, the one with The Ladybirds doing the “We Know What You Mean” refrain referred to above.  Super little ditty this one.

Track 14 is the second of the three versions of “Religious Experience” which comprise half of the six bonus tracks.  This is purest of the three.  The song itself is unbearably catchy, the vocals being the repetition of

“Singing a song in the morning

Singing it again at night

Don’t even know what I’m singing about

But I know it makes me feel alright.”

Track 9 on the 2003 Deluxe CD reissue of this record was the penultimate track on the LP, being the utterly splendid “Oleh Oleh Bandu Bandong”, which lasts 5.36 minutes.  The vocals comprise the tuneful chant of the “words” in the title, repeated several times, and which only appear towards the beginning of the song.  The rest is a strange piano based instrumental, based loosely on the rhythm of the lyrics.  Classic.

Track 10 was the closing track on the LP, a most brilliant cadence called “All This Crazy Gift of Time”.  This is the second best on the vinyl after “Eleanor”.  It is a super song in every respect, and again features Kevin Ayers singing in harmony with himself.  I can think of no better way of ending an album, with the exception of course of “Hey, That’s No Way To Say Goodbye” on “Wildflowers”.

The first bonus track, Track 11, is the first of the three versions of “Religious Experience”, this one, uniquely featuring Syd Barrett.  More about the song itself on the later versions, but for now this from Mark Powell’s notes on this particular rendition:

“An avid enthusiast of Syd Barrett, the wayward ex-Pink Floyd genius, Ayers felt Syd’s contribution could enhance his latest composition.  On the way to Abbey Road studios, Kevin called into Barrett’s flat and requested his presence on the session.  And so it was on November 9th 1969 Kevin Ayers and Syd Barrett worked on the first version of Religious Experience.  Present earlier in the day were Richard Coughlan and Richard Sinclair from Canterbury band Caravan.”

Today we start on what have been the first track on Side 2 of the LP, “Stop This Train (Again Doing It)”, which is a truly wonderful description of the sort of train trip one would experience on a tab of LSD.  This is a most satisfying song to listen to, distinctly odd though it be.  This train comes in at 6.06 minutes.

Track 7 is the utterly brilliant song which was naturally selected for the sampler, “Eleanor’s Cake (Which Ate Her)”.  It lasts a mere 2.54 minutes, but brought immense pleasure to me every time I played that half of “Picnic”.  It really is one of the best songs ever, where Kevin Ayers sings in harmony with himself, but I still don’t see where the title comes from.

Track 8 is the ethereal classic “The Lady Rachel”.  This is one of the two songs for which the insert gives the lyrics, where it is called “The Lady Rachel (Lullabye For Children)”.  It is a wonderful song, and deserves its reputation.  It would make a somewhat chilling lullaby for a kid however:

“The drawbridge is open

And a voice from the water says

“welcome my daughter

“We’ve all been expecting you to come”.

The opening track is, of course the brilliant quasi-instrumental “Joy of a Toy Continued”.  The piece has no lyrics, but lots and lots of “la”s, and is irresistibly cheerful.  It lasts a mere 2.54 minutes.

Track 2 is “Town Feeling”, the first time the record shows Kevin Ayers’ unique “talking” way of singing, a bit reminiscent of Rex Harrison in “My Fair Lady”.  This is a typically clever and well constructed song, with first class instrumental breaks throughout, and the middle 8 spoken refrain “banana”.  Wonderful stuff, this one comes in at 4.51 minutes.

Track 3 is “The Clarietta Rag”, a song which does what it says on the tin, and another gem, this one lasting 3.20 minutes.

Track 4 is the classic “Girl on a Swing”.  It only lasts 2.50 minutes, but here Kevin Ayers sings in 2 part harmony with himself.  This could have come from “A Saucerful of Secrets” in terms of instrumentation, vocals, lyrics, and musical effects.

Track 5 is the celebrated “Song for Insane Times”, which is the most jazz influenced song on the LP, and would have ended Side 1.  This one could have come from “Soft Machine Vol I”, and lasts 4.01 minutes.

Next time, we in effect turn the record over.

We should today be able to finish off the brilliant 16 page insert which came with the wonderful 2003 Deluxe CD reissue of this classic record.

We have reached Page 12, where the only picture is of a demo single label of “Singing A Song In The Morning”, HAR 5011, 1970.  Much of Mark Powell’s notes here refer to the various versions of “Lady Rachel” which appear on the CD, of which there are no fewer than three.  There is also this detailed description of the only bonus track to feature as just one version:

“A final session took place in September 1969 to record the superb “Soon Soon Soon” featuring a refrain of “We Know What You Mean” by vocal group The Ladybirds, a reference to the early Soft Machine track recorded in April 1967 by Giorgio Gomelsky.  The session also featured an urgent orchestration by David Bedford.”

The remainder of the notes are almost exclisively concerned with the three versions of “Religious Experience” [aka "Singing A Song In The Morning"] which appear on the CD.

Page 13 contains an ad for the LP with handwriting by Peter Jenner:

“Bass players often seem to write very good songs, for instance Jack Bruce and Paul McCartney.  I was asked to hear some songs by the Soft Machine ex bass player Kevin Ayers.  I thought the songs were very good so I took them along to Harvest who liked them as well.  Kevin then got together with David Bedford, one of England’s leading young classical composers and (with his friends) made a record called “Joy of a Toy” which cost a bomb, but both myself and the people at Harvest think that this is a great record and hope that you will listen to it.”

Page 15 has the lyrics of “”Lady Rachel” and “Song For Insane Times”.