Soft Machine (A Jet-Propelled Soft Machine)

Soft Machine were an English rock and jazz band from Canterbury, formed in 1966 after The Wilde Flowers. The Soft Machine was the central group of the Canterbury scene, and one of the most acclaimed bands in the world.

The band was known by the jazz influences on their music, elaborating improvisation, and one of the bands that was revealed at the U.F.O. Club.

The Soft Machine was initially founded in 1966 by the former Wilde Flowers members, guitarist Kevin Ayers and drummer Robert Wyatt, and by the keyboardist Mike Ratledge, and guitarist Daevid Allen, named after the novel The Soft Machine by William S. Burroughs. The group gained popularity performing at the British Underground, mainly in concerts at the U.F.O Club. In early 1967, the band signed with EMI Records and released the single Love Makes Sweet Music, and one month later, She's Gone, the latter being the most successful until the Kevin Ayers-Syd Barrett collaborated song, Singing a Song in the Morning. In July 1967, the group releases their debut album, Jet-Propelled Photographs.

After Allen's unexpected departure, the group hired Hugh Hopper, who assumed the bass guitar while Kevin Ayers assumed the role of lead guitarist. In this formation the group released Hope for Happiness (1968), Songs for Insane Times  (1969), The Garden of Love  and Moon in June  (1970), Kings and Queens  (1971), and Matching Mole  (1972).

In 1973, during the tour, Hugh Hopper departed from the group to Caravan, replaced by Phil Miller, from Caravan. Former Patto's guitarist Ollie Halsall joined in early 1974. Following the exhaustion of touring and disinterest, keyboardist Mike Ratledge left the group in 1974, replaced by Karl Jenkins in 1977.

With Phil Miller, the group recorded two of the most well-known albums, Soft Machine's Little Red Record (1973) and Confessions of Dr. Dream and Other Stories (1974), both albums promoted during the Red Road Tour.

In 1975, the group entered into hiatus, and Kevin Ayers released his trilogy, Day By Day, Sweet Deceiver, and Caribbean Moon. Robert Wyatt released his album, Ruth is Stranger than Richard.

Kevin Ayers and Robert Wyatt reformed Soft Machine in late 1976, with Karl Jenkins. As a trio, the group recorded Softs (1977), and Ollie Halsall returned to the Soft Machine. With Jenkins, Soft Machine got deeper into jazz influences, merging jazz fusion genres into their music. Their producer, Pink Floyd's drummer Nick Mason, was trying to produce a side project, gave the project to Soft Machine, which developed into Soft Machine's Fictitious Sports (1980) and Land of Cockayne (1982).

The 80's were struggling times for Soft Machine. With the emerging genres of New wave and Synthpop, the keyboardist Karl Jenkins left the group. The group became interested on former Pink Floyd keyboardist Richard Wright (at the time) and his side project. Soft Machine released Fragments Of Your Own Imagination (1984), and three years later, Falling Up (1987). Both albums were received poorly by the critics, but also had some good opinions to some tracks (such as the single Confusion, Seems We Were Dreaming, and Am I Really Marcel?). The group decided to fulfill their contract, and Richard Wright returned to Pink Floyd.

In 1991, while recording demo tapes to an eventual solo record, Robert Wyatt received a call from Kevin Ayers wanting to pick up Soft Machine again. Both were recording new solo albums, but Ayers wanted to release them under the name of the Soft Machine. Reforming the group with the return of Hugh Hopper, the band started to record together again. During the recording sessions, they received the news that Ollie Halsall died from heart attack in Spain. Soft Machine suspended the sessions, returning in 1993. A year later, Soft Machine releases All Aboard the Ghost Train! (1994), receiving great praise. There was their most successful album in fourteen years.

Soft Machine embarked on tours during 1993 and 1997 with Phil Manzanera assuming the keyboards; and restoring their classic formation with Mike Ratledge during 2001 and 2008. In 2006, Robert Wyatt announced the new and last album by Soft Machine: "it's about time, huh?", Robert Wyatt. The album features posthumous songs by Ollie Halsall. The album was called The Unfairground (2007). In 2007, the group embarked on tour with David Gilmour, releasing Live in Gdánsk (2008).

Formation
Soft Machine's first formation had Kevin Ayers (bassist), Robert Wyatt (drummer), Mike Ratledge (keyboardist), Daevid Allen (guitarist), and Larry Nowlin, an American guitarist who played for a few gigs only with the group. The future member Hugh Hopper served as a substitute in some gigs, as he initially formed The Wilde Flowers with Ayers and Wyatt.

Later, the group would evolve with the British underground scene, playing specially at the U.F.O Club, but also playing in other London clubs such as Speakeasy and Middle Earth. In a lot of times, Soft Machine would've been playing in the same days as The Pink Floyd, as both had inaugurated The U.F.O.

Signing with EMI and Probe
People inside EMI became interested on Soft Machine after seen them playing in the UFO Club. By an invitation, the group signed with them. Hiring Giorgio Gomelsky, he eventually also became their manager. With him, the band produced their first single, Love Makes Sweet Music, written by Kevin Ayers and performed by Robert Wyatt. The B-Side, Feelin' Reelin' Squeelin' was also written by Ayers, and performed by him. The single rose up to #22 at UK Single Charts, conquering various radios in London at the time.

Indicated by Gomelsky, the subsidiary ABC Probe signed with them to their releases in the United States. When Love Makes Sweet Music was released in the US, it was a minor hit in the region of New England and also in San Francisco. One month later, already recording their debut album, with the support of Gomelsky and EMI, the group released She's Gone as a pre-album single. She's Gone was a bigger hit than Love Makes Sweet Music, charting into #12 in UK Album Charts. It was backed by We Know What You Mean.

Together with Pink Floyd, both bands headlined The 14 Hour Technicolor Dream, with Soft Machine playing their music at 10 pm. The success of the group in the underground scene was big enough to encouraging them to proceed with the recording sessions at the De Lane Lea to their debut album. In May, the group had finished the recordings for their album.

Jet-Propelled Photographs
Jet-Propelled Photographs was released in July 1967, and had a greater success in the underground scene, but it also received great appraise of the British mainstream media. With songs already known by the people, the group experimented forms to insert and blend Jazz music on the pop psychedelia of the time, mainly available at the Summer of Love. Jet-Propelled Photographs was also one of the first recording documents of the developing Canterbury scene.

The group started to tour in June, playing in the mainland Europe, in countries such as Netherlands, Germany, and on French Riviera. Their long tour in France gave them a rising status in France, rendering a series of gigs at the village square of Saint Tropez. The gigs led them to an invitation of Eddie Barclay to play on his trendy show, Nuit Psychédélique. With certain status on France, they were invited to play at the Paris Biennale. After their tour on France, the guitarist Daevid Allen was denied to return with the band on the United Kingdom, returning to France to establish his band, Gong.

Tour with Jimi Hendrix Experience and second album
The group had the same management team as Jimi Hendrix, giving them the chance of support Hendrix's band, Jimi Hendrix Experience. In the end of the first leg of the tour, the band went to the Record Plant Studios in New York to record their second album. Their second album was composed with a lot of songs already performed during the 1967/68 tours, such as the title track Hope for Happiness, We Did It Again, and Why Are We Sleeping, the latter being performed in subsequent tours. Kevin Ayers, considering to retire of his music career was convinced by Jimi Hendrix and Robert Wyatt with a gift.

Despite they've recorded the album during April 1968, the album was released only in December due to problems with the recording label. The album was released as Hope for Happiness, and performed slightly better than their first album in the United States, but worse in the United Kingdom. Hope for Happiness charted in #3 in France, place where the band gained a cult-following status. Soft Machine's second album was a deepening of the group in jazz music, but blended with less pop music, and more psychedelic-oriented.

After the end of the sessions, the Soft Machine started another short tour in the United States with guitarist Andy Summers (future member of The Police). In June, they've started a leg in United Kingdom & Europe, starting by playing at the Hyde Park's Free Concert. The tour would end in the same day of the release of their album. Then, Summers was fired from Soft Machine due to divergences with Kevin Ayers.

Songs for Insane Times
After a three-month pause on recording and touring, the group starts to record their third album at the Abbey Road Studios. They've hired Peter Jenner to help them, and eventually, the Soft Machine also became a client of the Blackhill Enterprises, which was also managing the bands Pink Floyd and Tyranosaurus Rex. Soft Machine also invited Hugh Hopper to bass guitar, with Kevin Ayers moving to the lead guitar. The first sessions were long jam sessions which gave them some songs finalized in one take, such as Hibou, Anemone and Bear and sections of Esther's Nose Job. Recorded parts of the jam sessions were re-recorded and reworked resulting in almost every non-Ayers song in the album.

Syd Barrett
The sessions of Songs for Insane Times happened at the same time as the recording sessions of Syd Barrett's debut solo album, The Madcap Laughs, since Jenner was also producing the album with the help of Roger Waters and David Gilmour. For near a month, Soft Machine recorded the takes for three songs for the album, Clowns and Jugglers, (It's) No Good Trying, and Love You. Kevin was absent during the sessions of Madcap Laughs, except for Clowns and Jugglers. After finishing the songs with Barrett, the Soft Machine returned to follow with the project of their third album. With Kevin arriving, the band started on playing The Lady Rachel, then to record the vocals for other songs, such as Have You Ever Been Green?, a tribute to Jimi Hendrix, returning with the title track, the Ayers-penned Song for Insane Times. In June, the band returned to a short tour in Europe and United Kingdom.

Singing a Song in the Morning
In September, Ayers appeared with Syd Barrett in the studio. At the time, the band was overdubbing Kevin Ayers' demo, Religious Experience. With Syd, the sessions took a lot of time, with more the a hundred takes of his guitar being recorded. The final mix put the reverbed guitar on the first appearance of the song in the album, then a most audible version in the reprise.

The reprise was chosen to be the lead single, carrying the name of the original song. Singing a Song in the Morning was their biggest hit until Shouting in a Bucket Blues, topping the Singles Charts in United Kingdom, France and charting in the Top 10 of various European countries. Singing a Song in the Morning would be featured in future tours and solo shows of the band and members.

Experimental scene
Songs for Insane Times was their first hit album in the United Kingdom, for the first time, topping the charts. In the album, the band returns to a most sophisticated pop sounding and less jazz ambitious songs. The album was also an immediate hit in France, the Soft Machine's cult country. Their tour to promote the album, Tour of Insane Times, had six cities in France (Paris, Marseille, Saint-Étienne, Nice, Lyon, Lille and Toulouse). For the first time, a bigger number than their motherland United Kingdom, which had one city less.

The performances of the tour were better elaborated, opposing the album's pop-psychedelia, going towards a jazzy style, with the exception of some songs, such as their hit song. During the French leg, the group stayed at the Château d'Hérouville to record their fourth album. In two weeks, the group recorded and mixed the album. The record was released as The Garden of Love, the title track being a recording of a performance at the Rainbow Theatre with David Beford and a young Mike Oldfield.

The Whole World

 * See main article: Moon in June

After the French leg, arranged by Kevin Ayers, The Whole World became Soft Machine's backing band. The group had almost the same line-up as the live presentation of The Garden of Love: David Bedford (keyboards), Elton Dean and Lol Coxhill (brass), Mike Oldfield (electric guitar and vocals), Mick Fincher (drums and percussion), and The Whole World Chorus.

After a tour in the United States, Soft Machine and The Whole World return to the Abbey Road Studios to record a fifth studio album. One track, Robert Wyatt's Moon in June, was already recorded (during The Garden of Love sessions) but it remained unreleased until the inclusion in the album, only being played live during the Tour of Insane Times. The recordings sessions of the album lasted until September, and the band worked in various studios besides Abbey Road, such as Wessex Sound Studios and AIR Studios, with the album being released one month later. Lunatics Lament was chosen to be released as the lead single, backed by Wyatt's piano piece, For Making Everything Beautifuller.

Soft Machine versus Pink Floyd, a media-built battle
The album was released as Moon in June in late November and credited for Soft Machine & The Whole World. In 1971, the media noticed that Pink Floyd's newest album, Atom Heart Mother, was also released in the same month as Moon in June, starting a media-built battle between both bands because of their same place origins (the British underground scene).

With some incidents of clash between fans of both bands, the members of Soft Machine and Pink Floyd gave their opinions on Rolling Stone, ridiculing and criticizing intensively the alleged rivalry and between the two bands, which said that both bands had good relations between the members.

Kings and Queens and Matching Mole
Despite the clarifications, the rivalry was unceasingly being built. In 1971, the band extensively toured in new places to reach a new public. Soft Machine went to a tour in South America for the first time, playing in Chile (in Santiago at the Estadio Nacional de Santiago), Argentina (in Buenos Aires at the Monumental de Nuñez), and Brazil (in São Paulo at the Salão de Exposições do Anhembi; and Rio de Janeiro at the Maracanãzinho). The band was supported by the brazilian band, Os Mutantes, who opened every concert, with the exception of a night at Maracanãzinho who the jazz musician Hermeto Paschoal opened for them, including a jam session at the end of the concert on stage.

Interested on the miraculous improvisation of Hermeto Paschoal, who shared almost same interests in jazz and experimental music, the band made a proposal to Paschoal of integrate their backing band. Hermeto recused the proposal, however, accepted to make an appearance in their sixth album about to record. Before the sessions, the band also made their first tour in Asia/Oceania, appearing in Kyoto, Osaka, Auckland, Melbourne and Sydney, the latter with Daevid Allen and Gong.

The band worked on the album between March and August. With Margaret, a soft rock pastiche song by Ayers being released, failing to chart in the US, but being well-received in Europe. The album was announced as Kings and Queens, second and last album with The Whole World credited. Kings and Queens mixed progressive rock, symphonic rock, and jazz music. Hermeto Paschoal makes his appearance in There Is Loving/Among Us/There Is Loving, and in the jazz song, Teeth, composed by Mike Ratledge. The album reached number 4 in UK Album Charts and number 63 in Billboard 200, still not beating the record of Songs for Insane Times.

In 1972, the band started to tour instead of going to the studios. Soft Machine stopped to tour after an invite by Barbet Schoreder to make a soundtrack for his film, La Vallée. The group recorded their songs with Pink Floyd at the Château d'Herouville, releasing it as the double soundtrack album, Immediate Curtain. The album was received as a answer to the press, which both bands were opposing. While Pink Floyd got back to touring, Soft Machine decided to record another album there. With songs already written by Wyatt back in late 1971 and some unreleased takes of Ayers, in June 1972 the Soft Machine releases their seventh studio album, Matching Mole, a pun with the translation of band's name to the french, Machine Molle. During the rest of the year the band toured.

Replacing with Phil Miller
In late 1972, during a concert with Caravan, Hugh Hopper expressed his desire to depart from Soft Machine. Besides the insistence of Robert Wyatt and Mike Ratledge, Hopper was decided, but, the Caravan proposed to switch Hugh Hopper to Phil Miller, which both sides agreed completely. Then, Soft Machine debuts their new formation with Miller on a concert in Paris in December 1972.

Genres
Soft Machine is one of the first psychedelic groups of the United Kingdom. The group started playing in the UK underground scene, similar as other bands such as Pink Floyd, Gong, Tyranosaurus Rex, The Nice and Tomorrow. Having a proper sound with jazz influences, the group was labeled initially as a Canterbury scene, and jazz-rock band. Other genres were the Psychedelic rock, experimental rock, jazz fusion and proto-prog.

During the 70's, the band would've been modeling their song in between Progressive rock, jazz-rock and conventional rock songs by Kevin Ayers. Undoubtedly, the Soft Machine were great influences on innovative contemporary jazz music and progressive rock scene.

The group tried a more accessible sound in the 80's with new wave and synthpop oriented songs, plus Kevin Ayers traditional rock songs, but noticing a dissatisfaction of the critics on their abrupt change of sound. In the 90's, the band would return slightly to Progressive rock with their new release mixing with folk and jazz influences. Their last album also saw a greater influence of rock-oriented music and less progressive music.

Members

 * Kevin Ayers - lead guitar, bass guitar, vocals (1966-2008; died in 2013)
 * Robert Wyatt - drums, percussion, keyboards, vocals (1966-2008)
 * Mike Ratledge - keyboards (1966-1975; 2007-2008)
 * Hugh Hopper - bass guitar, brass instruments (1968-1972; 1992-2008; died in 2009)
 * Ollie Halsall - lead guitar, vocals (1974-1992; died in 1992)
 * Phil Miller - bass guitar (1972-1975; died in 2017)
 * Daevid Allen - lead guitar, vocals (1966-1967; died in 2015)
 * Karl Jenkins - keyboards, brass instruments (1976-1983)
 * Richard Wright - keyboards, synthesiser, vocals (1983-1987)

Discography

 * Main article: Soft Machine discography 

Studio albums

 * Jet-Propelled Photographs (1967)
 * Hope for Happiness (1968)
 * Songs for Insane Times (1969)
 * The Garden of Love (1970)
 * Moon in June (1970)
 * Kings and Queens (1971)
 * Matching Mole (1972)
 * Soft Machine's Little Red Record (1973)
 * Confessions of Dr. Dream and Other Stories (1974)
 * Softs (1977)
 * Rainbow Takeaway (1978)
 * Soft Machine's Fictitious Sports (1980)
 * Land of Cockayne (1982)
 * Fragments of Your Own Imagination (1984)
 * Falling Up (1987)
 * All Aboard the Ghost Train! (1994)
 * The Unfairground (2007)