1. The Soft Machine
As Long As He Lies Perfectly Still 2:32
Volume 2, 1969, Probe/ABC
A tribute to former bandmate Kevin Ayers.
2. Love Song With Flute (Mono) 4:11
Caravan
Caravan, 1969, Verve
In glorious mono. Another offshoot of The Wilde Flowers is Caravan, which included bass player Richard Sinclair.
3. 5 And 20 Schoolgirls 4:19
Daevid Allen
Majick Brother
Actuel, 1969
This is the third branch of the Wilde Flowers. Australian guitarist and singer Daevid Allen first met Robert Wyatt from the Soft Machine when he was lodging in Wyatt’s parents’ house near Canterbury. After a bried tenure in the Soft Machine, Allen went on to form Gong in Paris when he was refused re-entry into the UK after a tour in Europe.
4. The Song Of McGuillicudie The Pusillanimous 5:07
Egg
Egg, 1970, Deram
Egg included in its early incarnation the guitarist Steve Hillage, who played with Gong and Kahn.
5. Girl On A Swing 2:49
Kevin Ayers
Joy Of A Toy, 1970, Harvest/EMI
From his 1970 debut record Joy of a Tory.
6. Elastic Rock 4:06
Nucleus
Elastic Rock
Band members later became part of the Soft Machine
Roy Babbington and John Marshall from Nucleus went on to play in late-period Soft Machine. The band also featured at one stage Andy Summers who, as we know, formed The Police.
7. O Caroline 5:04
Matching Mole
Matching Mole, CBS
Robert Wyatt has an amazing skill to extract love songs from the obliquest of situations. This is O Caroline. After Robert Wyatt left Soft Machine, or was fired, due to musical differences, he started a new project Matching Mole, which is a pun from the French translation of Soft Machine, Machine Mole. Matching Mole included former Caravan member Dave Sinclair.
8. This Is What Happen 5:02
The Keith Tippet Group
Dedicated To You, But You Weren't Listening
9. Stranded 5:56
Khan
Space Shanty, Decca, 1972
Legend of a Mind, 2002, Decca
I first heard this on the fantastic Decca Deram Nova compilation I picked up in a record shop in Brighton for a few pounds.
10. Bittern Storm Over Ulm 2:19
Henry Cow
Unrest
Unrelated to Canterbury rock geographically but whose members collaborated with Canterbury groups and artists.
11. Underdub 4:03
Hatfield and the North
The Rotter’s Club, 1975, Virgin
12. Terran 3:49
Art Bears
Hopes And Fears
Art Bears were formed from the ashes of Henry Cow, with singer Dagmar Krause and avant-garde guitarist Fred Frith.
13. Norrgarden Nyvla 2:58
Fred Frith
Gravity
Saturday, 12 July 2008
Acik Week 1 - Folk Revival
Jackson C Frank
“Blues Run The Game”
JACKSON C FRANK , Columbia/Castle,1965
Jackson C Frank first came to England from America in 1965. This song was produced by Paul Simon.
Vashti Bunyan
“Some things Just Stick In Your Mind”
SINGLE, Decca, 1965
Written by Keith Richards and Mick Jagger. It took Vashti another 35 years to achieve commercial success after decades in seclusion when her best known seminal folk record JUST ANOTHER DIAMOND DAY, was rediscovered. Although this song not exactly a folk tune, it’s still a great and one of my favouritesby her.
John Renbourn
“The Earl Of Salisbury”
SIR JOHN A LOT OF MERRIE ENGLAND, Warner Bothers, 1968
A beautiful, medieval song,
Bert Jansch
“Pretty Polly”
JACK ORION, Transatlantic, 1966
Most traditional folk songs are about two things – sex and death. There are many great versions of this tune but this is my favourite.
Shirley Collins and Davey Graham
“Reynardine”
FOLK ROOTS, NEW ROUTES, Decca,1964
A Victorian ballad about a werewolf who kidnaps young maidens then, presumably, has his wicked way with them and kills them. It’s sung by Shirley Collins who, along with Anne Briggs and Martin Carthy, is pivotal to the early English folk revival in the 1950s and 60s. And together with Alan Lomax she recorded an amazing collection of Southern American folk music.
Pentangle
“Light Flight”
BASKET OF LIGHT, Transatlantic 1969
The BBC used this next song as the theme to the first drama it broadcast in colour.
Fairport Convention
“Fotheringay”
WHAT WE DID ON OUR HOLIDAYS, Island, 1969
Here’s another song about death, this time that of Mary Queen of Scots who was beheaded by her sister, Queen Elizabeth the first.
Nick Drake
“River man”
FIVE LEAVES LEFT, Island, 1969
This song was produced by Joe Boyd, who also worked with VASHTI BUNYAN and the INCREDIBLE STRING BAND.
Round Table
“Scarborough Fair”
SPINNING WHEEL, Jay Boy,1969
Studio session bands are put together for no particular reason other than to make weird records that disappear without a trace. This song features band leader, the late David Munrow from the EARLY MUSIC CONSORT playing the lead crumhorn.
The Incredible String Band
“The Hedgehog Song”
THE 5000 SPIRITS OR THE LAYERS OF THE ONION, Elektra, 1967
This next song was chosen by the Arch Bishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams as one of his favourite records of all time.
Jan Dukes De Grey
“Texas”
SORCERERS, Nova, 1969
Acid folk from JAN DUKES DE GREY from their first record in 1969.
Mellow Candle
“Heaven Heath”
SWADDLING SONGS, Deram, 1972
Moving further into experimental folk from very young Irish group,
Richard Thompson
“Vincent Black Lightening 1952”
RUMOUR AND SIGH, Capitol, 2001
A peerless performer and songwriter who I had the pleasure of seeing a few years ago combines my two favourite things in this song – guitars and motorcycles, and being a folk tune, love and death.
Guaranteed to make me weep every time I hear it.
Steeleye Span
“All Around My Hat”
ALL AROUND MY HAT, Crysalis, 1975
Produced by Mike Batt of The Wombles and Katie Melua fame, here’s is a good fun mix of glam rock and traditional folk, which reached No. 5 on the UK charts in 1975.
“Blues Run The Game”
JACKSON C FRANK , Columbia/Castle,1965
Jackson C Frank first came to England from America in 1965. This song was produced by Paul Simon.
Vashti Bunyan
“Some things Just Stick In Your Mind”
SINGLE, Decca, 1965
Written by Keith Richards and Mick Jagger. It took Vashti another 35 years to achieve commercial success after decades in seclusion when her best known seminal folk record JUST ANOTHER DIAMOND DAY, was rediscovered. Although this song not exactly a folk tune, it’s still a great and one of my favouritesby her.
John Renbourn
“The Earl Of Salisbury”
SIR JOHN A LOT OF MERRIE ENGLAND, Warner Bothers, 1968
A beautiful, medieval song,
Bert Jansch
“Pretty Polly”
JACK ORION, Transatlantic, 1966
Most traditional folk songs are about two things – sex and death. There are many great versions of this tune but this is my favourite.
Shirley Collins and Davey Graham
“Reynardine”
FOLK ROOTS, NEW ROUTES, Decca,1964
A Victorian ballad about a werewolf who kidnaps young maidens then, presumably, has his wicked way with them and kills them. It’s sung by Shirley Collins who, along with Anne Briggs and Martin Carthy, is pivotal to the early English folk revival in the 1950s and 60s. And together with Alan Lomax she recorded an amazing collection of Southern American folk music.
Pentangle
“Light Flight”
BASKET OF LIGHT, Transatlantic 1969
The BBC used this next song as the theme to the first drama it broadcast in colour.
Fairport Convention
“Fotheringay”
WHAT WE DID ON OUR HOLIDAYS, Island, 1969
Here’s another song about death, this time that of Mary Queen of Scots who was beheaded by her sister, Queen Elizabeth the first.
Nick Drake
“River man”
FIVE LEAVES LEFT, Island, 1969
This song was produced by Joe Boyd, who also worked with VASHTI BUNYAN and the INCREDIBLE STRING BAND.
Round Table
“Scarborough Fair”
SPINNING WHEEL, Jay Boy,1969
Studio session bands are put together for no particular reason other than to make weird records that disappear without a trace. This song features band leader, the late David Munrow from the EARLY MUSIC CONSORT playing the lead crumhorn.
The Incredible String Band
“The Hedgehog Song”
THE 5000 SPIRITS OR THE LAYERS OF THE ONION, Elektra, 1967
This next song was chosen by the Arch Bishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams as one of his favourite records of all time.
Jan Dukes De Grey
“Texas”
SORCERERS, Nova, 1969
Acid folk from JAN DUKES DE GREY from their first record in 1969.
Mellow Candle
“Heaven Heath”
SWADDLING SONGS, Deram, 1972
Moving further into experimental folk from very young Irish group,
Richard Thompson
“Vincent Black Lightening 1952”
RUMOUR AND SIGH, Capitol, 2001
A peerless performer and songwriter who I had the pleasure of seeing a few years ago combines my two favourite things in this song – guitars and motorcycles, and being a folk tune, love and death.
Guaranteed to make me weep every time I hear it.
Steeleye Span
“All Around My Hat”
ALL AROUND MY HAT, Crysalis, 1975
Produced by Mike Batt of The Wombles and Katie Melua fame, here’s is a good fun mix of glam rock and traditional folk, which reached No. 5 on the UK charts in 1975.
Sunday, 20 January 2008
Life's not fair
The first few weeks of 2008 have been testing. This week particularly. Wranglings with our idiotic and greedy landlord Korhan Gumus and his enforcer, the managing agent Sefa Aykac, reached a head when our water was turned of in a deliberate attempt to get us out. This comes after a series of threats and abuse.
Korhan has failed to increase rent in accordance with regulations since Ayla moved in. It's now laughably small and even if it had been raised with inflation it would still be modest. On the couple of occasions he has attempted to increase the rent it has been by a huge amount. The last time was via a lawyer and he wanted it quadrupled or we had a month to vacate. We also pay a large service charge to the managing agent for the maintenance of common areas and water.
It turns out the water bill has never been paid by either Sefa or Korhan accruing a debt of 2000YTL. When the water company arrived to cut off the water, Sefa deliberately pointed them to our stopcock and meter. They clamped the taps, cutting off water to only our flat meaning we had to pay the whole debt to have it put back on. It was only after Ayla turned on the water-works at the waterworks office after two hours arguing that they advised we smash the clamps off. But they're still coming round to cut off the whole building if all the tenants can't find the whole 2000.
What is not fair is that they landlord and his agent can act in such a gross and shabby way, that we should suffer because of their greed - where has all the service money gone from 4 flats?- and that they have got away and we have had to pay the bill twice.
But all this is nothing compared to the truly terrible and upsetting news I received from home concerning a dear friend. Recently he was diagnosed with terminal cancer after a few months of what doctors thought was a trapped nerve.
Korhan has failed to increase rent in accordance with regulations since Ayla moved in. It's now laughably small and even if it had been raised with inflation it would still be modest. On the couple of occasions he has attempted to increase the rent it has been by a huge amount. The last time was via a lawyer and he wanted it quadrupled or we had a month to vacate. We also pay a large service charge to the managing agent for the maintenance of common areas and water.
It turns out the water bill has never been paid by either Sefa or Korhan accruing a debt of 2000YTL. When the water company arrived to cut off the water, Sefa deliberately pointed them to our stopcock and meter. They clamped the taps, cutting off water to only our flat meaning we had to pay the whole debt to have it put back on. It was only after Ayla turned on the water-works at the waterworks office after two hours arguing that they advised we smash the clamps off. But they're still coming round to cut off the whole building if all the tenants can't find the whole 2000.
What is not fair is that they landlord and his agent can act in such a gross and shabby way, that we should suffer because of their greed - where has all the service money gone from 4 flats?- and that they have got away and we have had to pay the bill twice.
But all this is nothing compared to the truly terrible and upsetting news I received from home concerning a dear friend. Recently he was diagnosed with terminal cancer after a few months of what doctors thought was a trapped nerve.
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