Stop This Train (Kevin Ayers Album) (A Jet-Propelled Soft Machine)

Stop This Train is the debut studio solo album by the Soft Machine's frontman, Kevin Ayers. The album was backed by Soft Machine's supporting band, The Whole World. The album was produced by the manager Peter Jenner and released in November 1969 by Harvest Records.

Kevin's debut album was recorded together with Soft Machine's album, Moon in June. The ammount of songs recorded by Kevin were sufficient to comprehend both albums, resting a reasonable ammount to release as a solo record. The album was entirely backed by The Whole World, which was also recording with Soft Machine their next album.

It is noticed the contrasts on the album of the pop-psychedelic songs, such as Town Feeling mixed with avant-garde and canterbury scene songs, as Pisser Dans un Violon and Underwater. The humor of Kevin Ayers stand out on the lyrics of the album, despite some of them are emotional. It also features a re-recording of a track of Soft Machine's debut album, Shooting at the Moon.

The album was a moderate hit in Europe and the United Kingdom, with Kevin's record peaking in number 14 in UK Albums Charts. In France, the album reached the third position. The album reached number 189 position in the US Billboard 200, although the success was much concentrated in Europe.

Stop This Train was well-received by the fans of Soft Machine and by the critics. Some of them called a sequel to Soft Machine's Songs for Insane Times, denied by Kevin, who was looking for a way to separate his work with Soft Machine and his solo works. Gemini Child was released as the lead single, backed by Shooting at the Moon. During the time, Soon, Soon, Soon was released as a non-album single. It is considered Kevin's most experimental work.

Personnel

 * Kevin Ayers - lead guitar, bass guitar, lead and backing vocals, producer


 * David Bedford - organ, piano, accordion, marimbaphone, guitar


 * Lol Coxhill - saxophone, zoblophone


 * Mike Oldfield - bass, guitar and vocal


 * Mick Fincher - drums, percussion, bottles & ashtrays


 * The Whole World Chorus - backing vocals


 * Paul Buckmaster - cello


 * Paul Minns - oboe


 * Peter Jenner - producer


 * Peter Mews - engineer