WR

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: :: :: :: - WHAT'S RATTLIN' ? - :: :: The Weekly Digest for Canterbury Music Addicts :: :: Issue # 22 :: :: Thursday, September 19th, 1996 :: :: :: :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: ------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: bigbang@alpes-net.fr (Aymeric Leroy) Subject: Canterbury Discography / updated gaps list Date: Thu, 19 Sep 1996 12:18:52 +0000 Thanks to everyone who answered my request for information. The response has been tremendous ! Below is the updated list of the info I need : RC for "recording credits"(date, studio and location, producer or engineer); M for "musicians" (appearing on the album) and TL for "track listing". - Daevid Allen : RC of "The Owl And The Tree", "Australian Years","Australia Aquaria", "Seven Drones", "Radio Promo" and "Jewel In The Lotus" (apparently some of these albums don't have any RC listed) - Anaid : TL of "Vetue De Noir" and "Belladonna"- Caravan : TL of compilations "The Show Of Our Lives", "Canterbury Collec-tion", "And I Wish...", "The Best Of Caravan", "Songs And Signs" and "WithAn Ear To The Ground" [no need for "Canterbury Tales" TL, thanks]- Lindsay Cooper : RC, TL and M of "An Angel On The Bridge" and "Sahara Dust"- Elton Dean : RC, TL and M of the "Unlimited Saxophone Company" CD - Delivery : RC, TL and M- Todd Dillingham : RC, TL and M of all albums featuring 'Canterbury stars' (Andy Ward, Mike Wedgwood...)- Sophia Domancich Trio : RC and TL of "L'Annee Des Treize Lunes" - Frith/Kaiser "Who Needs Enemies ?" - Gong : RC, TL and M of "Camembert Eclectique" - Alain & Yvon Guillard : M of "Pazapa" - Hopper-Dean-Tippett-Gallivan : RC of "Mercy Dash" ('85)- Geoff Leigh/Frank Wuyts : RC, TL and M of "From Here To Drums" - Patrice Meyer : RC of "Dromadaire Viennois"- Nucleus : TL and RC of "Under The Sun", "Snakehips etc.", "Alleycat","Out Of The Long Dark", "Awakening", "Live At The Theaterhaus" and "Old Heartland" - Geoff Richardson : RC, TL and M of "Viola Mon Amour" - Rollercoaster : RC and TL of eponymous album from '80 - Skaboosh : TL of eponymous album - Soft Heap : TL of "A Veritable Centaur"- Gilli Smyth/Mother Gong : RC and TL of "Mother Gong Live in USA '91","Magenta/She Made The World", "Every Witche's Way", "Radio Promo", "Wild Child" and "Eye" ------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Eliezer Kaplan <zelwel@earthlink.net> Subject: Re: Short Wave and Soft Machine Date: Sun, 15 Sep 1996 20:42:48 -0700 (PDT) [In WR#21 Aymeric Leroy wrote :]> Are there really TWO Short Wave CD's ? Someone mentioned a CD called> "Live", but that's actually the name of their first CD from 1993. Can > anyone set the record straight on this ? That was me. And yeah, the one I have is from 1993. Don't know anything about the second one- wish I did. [Well I guess there's simply no second one ! I'd never realised beforethe CD was called "Live", which is strange as it's a balanced mix of live and studio material - AL] [Aymeric also wrote:]>The Soft Machine name indeed had a *big* commercial potential in the 70's,>and this was particularly the case in France [...] Anyway, I think it's>hard for Americans to realise the "commercial" status Soft Machine, despite>not being a commercial band at all, had in continental Europe in the early >to mid-70's Got me there again. It's hard for me to imagine SM as a popular band-guess the Europeans just had better taste than the Americans back then. [My own explanation is that Soft Machine had a social/intellectual significance to the young people in France at the time. They were pretty much assimilated to the '68 anti-government movement. And in a way Robert Wyatt personified that. Post-Wyatt Soft Machine was much criticised for becoming too "cold" and "sophisticated"; while Wyatt became a cult figure, which he still is... Why should any given country have "better taste" than the others, anyway ? - AL] I found MY first Soft Machine album (Six) as a promo copy in a cut outbin when I was in high school- '72, '73, don't remember. The cover lookedinteresting, and for a couple bucks I thought I'd give it a try. I doremember that it impressed the hell out of me, despite the fact that I'dnever heard of the band. So even if it wasn't exactly popular here, at leastit was available, and on a major label. Too bad they never broke out in the States. It would have blown my mind to see them live. Come to think of it, Seven was the last SM album released in the Statesat that time. To get 'Bundles' or anything later you had to hunt down the import. EK ["Six Album" was released in 1973 - AL] ------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: bigbang@alpes-net.fr (A. Leroy) Subject: Thoughts inspired by above post Date: Mon, 16 Sep 96 0:20:42 +0000 Eliezer Kaplan regrets that "Soft Machine never broke out in the States". This made me realise how important it is for any band to tour. ApparentlyNational Health is much more reknowned in the States than Hatfield and theNorth, mainly because due to a bit of luck (Stewart's contacts from Brufordtours), and of course the help of devoted promoters, they toured there in 1979-80. In France it was the other way around. Unlike Hatfield, who had RichardSinclair playing the part of the "Canterbury forefather", National Healthwas considered a second-generation band of the Softs family. Of course itwas very respected, but was never as "legendary" and "genuinely Soft- related" as Hatfield. I seem to understand NH's US tour was a pretty low-key affair, yet it seems to have done a *lot* for the band's name-recognition... ------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Jeffrey S. Kamil" <harryhat@wco.com> Subject: non-cant.info Dream Concert Date: Sun, 15 Sep 1996 17:50:00 -0700 (PDT) Sorry about this non Canterbury post but I thought that the elec. music fans on this list would be interested in this: Concert promoter is looking for input on how many people would beinterested in attending an Electronic Music Conference with many giants from the electronic music industry performing. Among those potentially scheduled to appear are: Tangerine Dream Klaus Schulze Steve Roach Paul Haslinger Steve Jolliffe Mark Shreeve Loop Guru... and many others. The concert is tentatively being planned for the Fall of 1997 in the U.S. onthe east coast. As of now the plan is for performances only. The performersare in the process of being booked. No other artists are being accepted as of now. Sorry! If you're interested please send smail and or email address to Jeff atharryhat@wco.com. The more replies we get, the closer this will be tobecoming a reality. All replies will be put on a mailing list and will be informed about any updated information. Thanks! Jeffrey S. Kamil ------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: neato@pipeline.com Subject: Re: Canterbury Discography / gaps to fill Date: Mon, 16 Sep 1996 01:42:46 GMT ["neato" (whoever he may be) sent me several additions to the discography.I included this one because it has additional comments. Later in this issueI will give an update list of which albums I still need info on. Thanks to all of you who replied - great response ! - AL] neato says: Dashiel Hedayat "Obsolete" Recorded at Strawberry Studios by Gilles Salle May 71 Originally released on the French Shandar label -Daevid Allen has said he connected with Dashiell Hedayat because he read abook by his father - Sadegh Hedayat - called "The Blind Owl", which he quiteenjoyed... Sadegh was an Iranian writer who commited suicide while in Parisin 1951...his work is quite compelling and deals strongly with theruminations which occur inside a troubled and brooding mind... On the backof the Evergreen publication of "The Blind Owl", he is compared to Edgar Allan Poe -in addition Dashiell Hedayat recorded an lp prior to "Obsolete" in 1969under the name Melmoth called "La Devanture des Ivresses"... while notas interesting as the later recording (for obvious reasons-no gong!) it hasa similar musical line-up and is a good (if not a bit dated) listen -both LPs have been reissued on cd by Mantra cheers neato@nyc.pipeline.com "all my mistakes were once acts of genius" [Two comments : first, I'm not planning to include albums like Melmoth,who are only marginally related to the Canterbury scene; second, DashielHedayat is still very active as a book writer, under the name Jack-AlainLeger (I thought the latter was his real name, but perhaps that's the other way around) - AL] ------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: drashcraft@juno.com (DAVID R. ASHCRAFT) Subject: National Health 'Missing Pieces' Date: Mon, 16 Sep 1996 01:35:11 EDT It was nice to see Michael Clare's Gong update and also my National Health review. I must respectfully take issue with your editorial comment regarding personnel... the line-up on the CD did include Mont & Bill, not Neil Murray. The studio sessions were recorded at Pathway Studios in October of 1975. Perhaps I misspoke when I referred to them as the Virgin demos but that was what my bootleg tape was called. Did the band cut other demos for Virgin? The band that I saw live in November of 1977 included Neil Murray but he does not appear on the CD as it is all pre-first LP material (with the exception of two humorous snippets from the 1979 touring band). Regards, David [OK - now, the definitive answer, from a photocopy of Dave Stewart's own hand-written sheet I presently have in front of me : "Zabaglione" and "TheLethargy Shuffle..." are credited as "Pathway Studios Demo, late '75". The line-up on that is : Stewart, Gowen, Miller (+ Lee on "Zabaglione"), Campbell and Bruford [Parsons is also there somewhere but uncredited]. "Paracelsus", "Agrippa" and "The Lethargy Shuffle Part 2" are credited as "BBC 'Top Gear' Radio Session', 17/2/76", and have Steve Hillage on guitar replacing Lee. And "Clocks And Clouds" is credited as "BBC 'Top Gear' Radio Session, 21/9/76", and has no second guitarist, Amanda Parsons on vocals, and Neil Murray on bass replacing Campbell. I don't understand why the credits are different on the CD - either Dave Stewart has memory problems, as he clearly states that Murray "does not appear on this CD", or there was some legal problem in getting clearance for Murray to appear on the CD, which led to an "official lie". Only my theory... In any case, let's wait for the final version of "Missing Pieces" - AL] ------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: bigbang@alpes-net.fr (Aymeric Leroy) Subject: A note about Bruford's "One Of A Kind" Date: Mon, 16 Sep 1996 9:17:26 +0000 There's been some discussion recently on the subject of uncredited guestson Bruford's second album, "One Of A Kind" (well the first was actually aBill Bruford solo album, but the line-up was essentially that of the laterBruford group) in the Allan Holdsworth e-mail digest "Atavachron". That album was recorded following the break-up of UK. Half of the materialplanned for the second album ended up on UK's "Danger Money" (the vocalmaterial), the other half on "One Of A Kind" (the instrumental stuff : "Forever Until Sunday" and "The Sahara Of Snow"). Now, the things is : there is violin on "Forever Until Sunday", and no-one is credited for playing it. Apparently, reviewers at the time were informed that Eddie Jobson was appearing, because at least one review (in a French magazine) mentions him. This fact has been confirmed by Holdsworth and Dave Stewart in later interviews, so I don't think there's any doubt. The interesting thing, though, is the reason given for not crediting Jobson (UK and Bruford were both on the samel label - EG - so there was no legal problem) : it was to capitalize on the rumour that there had been a big "clash" during the break-up of the original UK - this created more interest from the media, for some reason ! There's another intriguing fact that was mentioned in those discussions : apparently, the second part of "The Sahara Of Snow" is apparently taken from UK live tapes ! If this proved to be true, then it would mean that Jobson played the keyboards on that one (it wouldn't be surprising, given that the style of playing, in particular the piano arpeggios, is very Jobsonish, but until now I'd assumed that Stewart had stuck to the original arrangement/spirit). It may also be the reason why the bass is inaudible and seems to have been purposedly covered by keyboard-bass. Some people claim to hear audience participation at some point... Final comment, from me : another pretty obvious uncredited guest participation is the female vocals on "Hell's Bells". There's little doubt that Amanda Parsons and Barbara Gaskin are responsible for them. They did the same on "Land's End" one year later. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: (Bill Maccormick) Subject: various (Re: WR#21) Date: Mon, 16 Sep 96 10:14 BST-1 [In WR#21 Lisa Shannon wrote :]> I'd trade my first born CHILD for some live MacCormick Matching... uh, > well, let me ask her first. :) OK, where will you be shipping her from so I can arrange to meet her? :-)) One thing I had forgotten about was that Mike King (the Canadian guy whowrote the book about Robert Wyatt) sent me a variety of Mole/Softs tapesas a 'thank you' for helping out. These consisted of: 1. Mole - Sounds of the Seventies 21/6/72 2. Mole - In Concert 27/7/72 [now out on CD] 3. Mole - Top Gear 17/1/724. Mole - live at Olympia, Paris 15/5/72 (unbelievable Robert vocal passage on this) 5. Softs - live at Breda, Holland, 31/1/70 6. Softs - live at the Paradiso, Amsterdam 29/3/69 plus some other bits and pieces. Where the live stuff came from I don't know. Everything else is BBC. [In WR#21 David Maclennan wrote :]> And yes, they ARE Canterbury, IMHO. Let's not get into these endless> and pointless arguments about what percentage of Canterburiness> qualifies a band or artist for inclusion in the hallowed pantheon of> the "Canterbury Scene" (which we all know is a misnomer anyway as many > of the acts were London-based!) Well WERE they. Not to start with. We are talking about two bands here essentially - the Wilde Flowers/Softs and Caravan. These guys mainly came from Canterbury, went to school (Simon Langton's) in Canterbury (and nearby Herne Bay) and started to play in Canterbury. The move to London was really when Robert and others moved in his mother's house at 48 Dalmore Road, West Dulwich which the Softs made their base for most of the sixties. They rehearsed in the (not very big) front room, painted the outside and inside in suitably psychedelic designs and a lot of the Ayers/Hopper/first, second and third albums were written and rehearsed there. But the connections in the band were Canterbury connections with, until the seven piece came about, only Andy Summers' (later of Police) brief membership diluting it. The move to London was a necessity if you wanted to get on. That's where the clubs were, (UFO etc.) but the initial ideas, friendships, etc. originated in Canterbury amongst a very tight knit group of people. [In WR#21 Aymeric Leroy wrote :]> Has anyone heard the reissue of "Matching Mole's Little Red Record"> on Beat Goes On records ? I saw it in a second hand shop, and an inner> handwritten note by Robert Wyatt says that the CD starts with the Eno> stuff from the "Gloria Gloom" intro, "as was originally planned". I'm> not quite sure whether the entire "Gloria Gloom" has been placed at > the beginning, or just the intro. The side order has been swapped and the "Gloom" intro extended.Anecdotally, we were recording "Little Red Record" when we played the QueenElizabeth Hall in about July 72 and we discussed whether it might have been nice to start the concert with the Eno loops before we came on stage. Nice idea, didn't happen. [In WR#21 Eliezer Kaplan wrote :]> To say the name 'Soft Machine' was commercially exploited assumes> that the Softs had commercial value/potential. I don't think this ever > was the case. As Aymeric correctly states this is wrong. Whilst Mole never did a great deal in the UK, the response on the continent 'cos of Robert, and the Softs link made it a different deal. In 1972 Mole would have been getting the princely sum of 50-100 pounds per gig in England (!), in France, Belgium and Holland you could times that by ten, plus we would do live TV etc. When we played the Olympia, Paris as a support to John Mayall I think it's fair to say that as many people were there to hear us as Mayall. The Softs were a substantial act on the continent. They sold records and sold out big concert halls. The 72 Softs/Mole tour was a sellout of pretty big places (e.g. the Doelen in Rotterdam and Concertgebouw in Amsterdam). [In WR#21 Byron Towle wrote :]> Years ago when I first heard 801 'Live' I remember being blown away by> Bill's excellent bass work. Especially on the blistering version of Eno's > "Third Uncle". That one really smokes. Blush. [In WR#21 Aymeric Leroy wrote :]> Is there any good reason to think that such tapes [unreleased Quiet Sun> demos from 1970], if uncovered, could form an artistically 'interesting'> CD ? I mean, for instance, were those recordings essentially early> versions of the tracks you later reformed to record as "Mainstream" in > 1975 or thus far unheard compositions ? The first demos were a mix of things since unheard and a version of "Trot" from 'Mainstream'. The Warner Bros stuff re-appeared in two guises: 1. as "Mainstream" but with different arrangements 2. as "Alma" on Phil's 'Diamond Head' album "Alma" was part of a much longer piece called "Corazon y Alma" ("heart and soul", to the likes of you and me) of which "Lagrima" was also a part. I guess the recording quality was a bit iffy (haven't heard this stuff for years). It might have its amusing moments. Cheers Bill ------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: bigbang@alpes-net.fr (Aymeric Leroy) Subject: Caravan/In Cahoots Astoria gig Date: Mon, 16 Sep 1996 9:39:54 +0000 There is a scan of the promo poster for the forthcoming (Oct 31st) Londonconcert of Caravan with special guest In Cahoots on the Musart website. The line-up of Caravan is mentioned (always useful !). They will not haveGeoff Richardson. But they still have Jim Leverton on bass who was not on"All Over You". And Jimmy Hastings will be there on sax and flute.Of course, this is rounded up by David Sinclair and Richard Coughlan. Don't know about In Cahoots - the line-up tends to change with every tour these days, although it's always a combination of the same musicians : Phil Miller, Elton Dean, Jim Dvorak, Peter Lemer, Fred Baker and Pip Pyle. And while we're on the subject of Musart, a few fresh news from our friend Mark Hewins. How are you doing, Mark ? "Really great man! Lots of stuff going down (Just finished doing some samples for a 'Speed Metal' album)...Been asked to play with Grace Kennedy (Soul/Dance diva) Band; In fact thatreminds me we're doing some TV and a date in Brittany at the end of September.Also MASHU tour (feat. Elton Dean) from 23rd of November, details as soon as I know.Ponk <http://www.ice.net/~ponk/> have bought all the last remaining (US) print of my solo record (The Electric Guitar). The 16 track is running fantastically...Mervyn Africa and I have been doing some (very Groovy) Jazz things live in London. Latest gig at the 'Tulse' in London on Sept 17...Hugh and I did a 2 1/2 hour 'open air' gig in Whitstable, I expect you mayhave seen some of this on the site though!... Sorry to go on! Ha ha ha !" ------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: CuneiWay@aol.com Subject: National Health - Missing Pieces Date: Mon, 16 Sep 1996 12:06:22 -0400 OK, Good, definitive news.National Health "Missing Pieces" been released. Our copies showed up this morning. Regarding Hugh Hopper/Alan Gowen "Improvisations", I don't know too much about it - I don't think it's actually out yet. It consists of different tracks from the same concert (Hopper/Gowen/Morris) that gave us our bonus tracks for "Two Rainbows Daily", plus some other (studio??) recordings [all improvised without (??) overdubs] by the duo of Hugh & Alan. Hope this helps. Steve Feigenbaum ------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: mickmac@leonardo.net (Tatsuhiro "Mick" Suyama) Subject: Gowen/Hopper - second CD Date: Mon, 16 Sep 1996 01:49:32 -0700 [In WR#21 Aymeric Leroy wrote :]> A further CD by Gowen/Hopper was supposed to be released this Summer> on Voiceprint records. Apparently it consists of improvisations. Does > anyone know more about this ? I just bought it last week. Label#: Voiceprint / VP186CD Artist: Alan Gowen & Hugh Hopper with Nigel Morris Title: Bracknell - Bresse / Improvisations 1) Floating Path - Gowen/Hopper/Morris 18:002) Now What Exactly? - Gowen/Hopper/Morris 7:593) Zaparoshti - Gowen/Hopper/Morris 5:204) Ranova - Elton Dean 2:005) A L'ouest - Gowen/Hopper 14:466) Winged Trilby - Gowen/Hopper 7:087) Six Cream Bombs From Beaune - Gowen/Hopper 1:178) Rubber Daze - Gowen/Hopper 3:42 Tracks 1) - 3) recorded live 9/21/1980 at South Hill Bracknell, U.K. Alan Gowen: Keyboards Hugh Hopper: Bass, Tape Loops Nigel Morris: Percussion Tracks 4) - 8) recorded 5/1978 at Bresse-sur-Grosne, France by Jacky Barbier, with Jean-Pierre Weiller & Pierre Roger. Alan Gowen: Keyboards Hugh Hopper: Bass All tracks published by Rough Trade Publishing except track 4) (Elton Dean).Remastered Elsewhere Studio, Whitstable December 1994 by Rob Williams. Jacket Artwork by Alan Gowen. Liner Notes by Hugh Hopper, December 1994 [Mick's note:]My personal opinion is that I like "Two Rainbows Daily" better. I assume that track 4) - 8) were recorded very luckily.However, I'd much appreciate if this recording were done by Soft Head.(According to Hugh Hopper's note, this recording happened basically because French promoter's fault that Soft Head gig had cancelled, then Elton Dean & Dave Sheen went back to England). ------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: dshaw@pop.tiac.net (David G. Shaw) Subject: Hopper & Kramer Date: Mon, 16 Sep 1996 11:13:41 -0400 I recently found a copy of "A Remark Hugh Made" by Hugh Hopper and Kramer on Shimmy Disc CD (Shimmy 076). The opening cut is "Free Will and Testament," with words and singing by Robert Wyatt. It's a wonderful disc, with a truly bizarre arrangement of the Beatles' "We Can Work It Out." Also featured is the sax playing of Gary Windo, in what may have been his last recording date. Shimmy Disc titles don't stay in print for very long, so if you see this one, grab it! ------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Julian Belanger <cookie@cwconnect.ca> Subject: Soft Machine Date: Mon, 16 Sep 1996 11:32:02 -0700 Hi Rattlers, I'm just informing everyone on a new (I think) release called "Spaced" from the 1969 line-up of the Soft Machine (this came to my attention while surfing). If this has already been posted before, forgive me man. Apparently the music was used in a film special in the late 60's but recently forgotten until now. Excellent!!! You can purchase it from Cuneiform records. Has anyone heard it yet? Thanks, Julian (from CANADA) [It's been mentioned before, but as new subscribers join the WR circle every day, maybe some of them were not yet aware - AL] ------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: dshaw@pop.tiac.net (David G. Shaw) Subject: Wilde Flowers on Voiceprint Date: Mon, 16 Sep 1996 11:13:39 -0400 I may have missed a mention of it here, but has anyone heard the Wilde Flowers CD recently released on Voiceprint? What's the recording quality? Is it live tracks, rehearsal tapes, or a combination of found recordings? [Well, this actually been released for some time, a year and a half I think. This is quite a treat for fans of Caravan and Soft Machine (who isn't ?) who wanted to know how it had all started - well, in the beginning, little of the originality that made Canterbury music so special was there, IMHO. Most of the stuff is pretty straight rock'n'roll. The bonus is of course Wyatt and Ayers' vocals. A few songs later used by Soft Machine show up (including three versions of "Memories", no less). A limited edition of the CD had a large booklet with the Wilde Flowers' story recounted by Brian Hopper. I would recommend this CD for the few tracks recorded in 1969 by Hugh and Brian Hopper (with assistance from Robert Wyatt, Hugh Hopper, Mike Ratledge and Pye Hastings) : very nice pop in the vein of early Caravan and Softs. The recordings date from 1964-69, but the final '67 line-up (with Pye Hastings and David Sinclair) does not appear. The CD is mastered from acetates (a few scratches). This is neither rehearsal tapes nor material planned for inclusion on an album, rather something in between - demos, I'd say - AL] ------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: bigbang@alpes-net.fr (Aymeric Leroy) Subject: Steve Lake Date: Tue, 17 Sep 1996 9:14:30 +0000 I'm a little intrigued to see Steve Lake's name appear in many different places : 1) Journalist in the Melody Maker (I think) 2) Co-producer of Elton Dean's "Boundaries" 3) A&R man at ECM Records4) Co-writer of some tracks on Hugh Hopper and Richard Sinclair's "Somewhere In France" Does anyone know if these four Steve Lake's are just one person ? I'd be interested to know more about this guy ! ------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Jeff Gebhardt <72611.1554@CompuServe.COM> Subject: Down on the Farm Date: 17 Sep 96 02:10:45 EDT Here's my best guess at those "cool" RS lyrics for Camel's "Down on the Farm". There are a couple of lines that I just never have been able to get. Have you? * * * Early Sunday morning before daybreak Down upon the farm on the fishpond All the little ducks they go paddling Look out goldfish, you're for breakfast Sunday morning hear the church bells ringing High up in the trees hear the birds are singingIn the [ ] grass spiders spinning Rooster crows and cocks his doodle All around the farm animals stirring Through the morning mist the bulls are beefing Up across the meadows the cows are munching Crazy bell, it's time for milking There's such a lot to be done on the farm In the sunshine And when it's lunchtime It's hop down the pub for a pint Back on the tractor to finish the plowing Standing all alone Fred the scarecrow Hasn't got a clue how the wheat grows Doesn't mind the rain, hates the cold though Especially when those ice winds blow snow All along the lane bees are buzzing Little furry things in the hedgerows stirring In amongst the corn the bunnies are bouncing Must have springs upon their feet Behind the cowshed, the plowman is taking a peekAt the farmer's daughter who's hanging her undies in the sun Better get on your boots and join us Down on the farm... It's a lovely day for country walking Vicar's on his bike, Vinny's skateboarding Farmer and his dog out back, shooting Gun goes off, birds stop tweeting [ Lost dog sneaks around the farmyard ] [Grammy posh behind the rhubarb ] Sitting in his pram the baby Bunting [Goes out back] and starts his grunting Give him a drink he's gone pink Wants his mommy, needs changing I think Such a lot can be done on the farm in the sunshine And when it's lunchtime, it's off down the pub for a pintSneak out the back way with Nellie the barmaid to the woods Better get on your boots and join us Down on the farm.... * * * While on the subject of Mr. Sinclair, I ordered RSVP and Caravan of Dreams from CD-Now on July 30, and still no word. Waiting patiently. Thanks for being there! I'm loving the What's Rattling! Jeff Gebhardt Windsor, CA USA ------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Chris Cutler Subject: Ottawa Music Company Date: Tue, 17 Sep 1996 10:10:55 -0700 [In answer to a question of mine about the legendary Ottawa Music Company,Chris Cutler - a recent subscriber whom I don't think I need to introduce -made the following account. I had gathered different bits of information onthe OMC which I submitted to Chris : (1) This was a large band including mem-bers of Egg, Khan & Henry Cow (2) They played some Robert Wyatt songs - AL] Before I joined Henry Cow, I was looking for interesting people to work with. I met a lot of them, many who were musicians second and wanted to do something else for a living. I knew Egg very well in those days, and lived in a house with Steve Hillage and so on. I had the idea to make a kind of rock composers orchestra to play music by these people - because there were a lot of great composers with no performers to make their music live. With Dave Stewart (who wrote his first compositions precisely for the Ottawa Music Company), I formed the group. I'll send you a list of the people. Yes, Egg was involved, Steve Hillage too in Ottawa #1 - but the point was the other, 'unknown' people - we were 26 people altogether - a pool of composers and players.I joined Henry Cow during this period, and the #2 Ottawa included Henry Cow. We did play Robert Wyatt's "Moon In June" - as a tribute - and "Peaches En Regalia" and "Dali's Car" - for fun - but again the point was that we played the music of the members of the Ottawa Company. Not repeat not so-called Canterbury stuff. There were few concerts - they were big undertakings, a lot of rehearsal and a lot of musicians on stage. What else can I tell you ? C ------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: bigbang@alpes-net.fr (Aymeric Leroy) Subject: The little-known beginnings of Whitney Houston Date: Tue, 17 Sep 1996 9:14:30 +0000 Following is an excerpt from a 1985 interview with Hugh Hopper, from the French magazine "Notes". * * * Q : Have you heard the cover of your song "Memories" by Material ? HH : Yes. Actually the first time I heard it was over the phone, from New York. But the more I listen to the record, the less I like it. The singer, Whitney Houston, is fantastic, the atmosphere is okay, but it seems to me that it was done a bit... too quickly. It's good the first time you hear it, but when you start thinking about it, you realise many things could have been done better. Anyway, I like the song very much and their version is good. * * * Now you can tell you friends Whitney Houston started her career covering a Soft Machine song ! ------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Julian Christou <jchristo@eso.org> Subject: Re: WR#21 - Miscellaneous Date: Wed, 18 Sep 1996 13:50:34 +0200 Firstly to Bill McK Thanks for all the feedback and contributions to the group. Once again it's good to have you participate. SOFT MACHINE: Well there's been a lot of traffic here concerning them. Basically I think it boils down to who or what are the Softs ... I agree with those who say that the name was "cashed in on" during the latteryears especially after Ratledge's departure losing the only link with the origins. However, by that time Jenkins and Marshall had been members for a while witch the former taking over the baton and compositions so it was only natural that he'd keep the name if only for continuity! For those who followed tha band, the transition from "5" to "Softs" was very linear but for those who became aquainted with "Vol II" or "Third" and then picked up "Softs" there must have been a tremendous shock! [I couldn't agree more - AL] I agree with Eliezer in that I always looked forward to a new Softs tour or a new release with anticipation. Of course I was young and naive in those halcyon days. My intro to them was through "Third" via the Proms B'cast. Then I started listening to Radio 1 and hearing the concerts and sessions and picked up "Fourth" when it was released. I also backtracked to Vol. II and I, in that order and picked up the Gomelsky sessions and expanded into the Ayers and Allen offshoots, most notably Gong of course. I also started listening to "Jazz in Britain" (at least that's what it was called I think) on Radio 3 which further broadened my horizons musically. It was there I heard a special of Karl Jenkin's compositions performed by an augmented Nucleus and the suite was called "Penumbra". From what I remember it was basically reworks of his early Nucleus material with extra stuff. BTW - any chance of that ever surfacing from the BBC vaults? That led me to "Solar Plexus" and to "Elastic Rock" and "We'll Talk ..." and through the same links eventually to Centipede and to the Keith Tippett Group. Sort of Full Circle. Spedding's connections led me to Jack Bruce (with John Marshall) and Pete Brown's Battered Ornaments. BTW - the first (I think it is) Spedding solo album is "Songs Without Words" on EMI/Harvest - a very Jazz album with contributions from Roger Sutton and others I can't remember - recommended for those who like his Nucleus stuff. OK So I digressed but the point I'm getting to is that the Softs were part of the British Jazz scene at the time making one of a number of connections to the Rock world. It's interesting that after Jenkins left, Nucleus became known more as Ian Carr's Nucleus - maybe after Ratledge had left the Softs should have been called Karl Jenkins' Soft Machine a la Pierre Moerlin's Gong. After all was there really a Gong without Daevid? [Well, wrong example, I fear. Nucleus was really founded by Ian Carr, and although Jenkins did write much of the band's first two albums, Nucleus was Carr's band from the start. There is a very informative account of Nucleus' formation in Ian Carr's own book "Music Outside" from 1973... - AL] But what's in a name? After all we all listen to it for the music don't we? But then again we're the converted ones. As for the Soft's music, I really don't have a favourite period - more like I go through phases. The Hopper/Dean/Ratledge axis is currently my fave especially the "Peel sessions" and "In concert" not to mention the wonderful "Live In France" The band was at it's "noodling" best. Funnily enough, last night I was listening to "In Concert II" on the h'phones and the transition from "Noddling" to "Riffing" is very clear. The Electric keyboards interplay seems to be more structured than with Dean and at times there are almost three leads, Mike's "constipated" organ, Hugh's bass and Karl's El. Piano - (the former and latter swap to piano and soprano) all held together by Marshall's brilliant drumming. Probably one of the best British Jazz drummers. BTW What's he doing these days? The reworking of "Slightly All The Time" is about as good as the version on "Live In France" (IMHO) and quite different. I much prefer this to the live disc on "Sixth". Another question. The live stuff came from various sessions, does anyone know if these raw tapes still exist at CBS/Sony or somewhere? There live concerts were twice the length of the live disc - it'd be really nice to have access to a full concert, even the BBC one is abbreviated 'cos of the b'cast contraint. This was early Jenkins-era. By seventh the "riffing" was dominating Comments anyone? julian [As mentioned in a previous issue of WR, John Marshall is still working regularly with (ECM) saxophonist John Surman. In the late 70's, he was in (bassist) Eberhard Weber's band Colours, also featuring Charlie Mariano who played with Supersister (pre-Elton Dean) and Pierre Moerlen's Gong (on the album "Leave It Open"). In the late 80's, Marshall was also involved in the reformed Ian Carr's Nucleus. Brilliant as ever ! As regards your remark on Dean and Jenkins' compared abilities on electric piano, it must be noted that Jenkins was classically trained on the piano, which is not the case for Elton, and can explain certain things ! - AL] ------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: simonetta risaio <simonetta.risaio@infoboard.be> Subject: Marc Hollander Date: Wed, 18 Sep 1996 22:58:20 +0200 Hi there. I'm sorry I never find the time to participate in the interesting debates which go on in WR. However, here's a piece of information that might be of interest to some of the readers. There has been discussion as to what happened of Marc Hollander after Aksak Maboul. What follows is an extract from the "archaelogical notes" that Marc wrote for the cd reissue of Aksak Maboul's second (and last) record "Un peu de l'ame des bandits" : "Un peu de l'ame des bandits was released in January 1980. A couple of months later, the original nucleus of Aksak Maboul (Hollander & Kenis) and the core of Brussels cult combo Les Tueurs de la Lune de Miel decided to recruit each other... With the addition of vocalist Veronique Vincent, the band that went on to become the notorious Honeymoon Killers performed thus in 80-81 across Europe under the name Aksak Maboul... (...) Aksak Maboul has only episodically resurfaced since then: the original duo of Hollander & Kenis recorded one third of the first Made to Measure volume in '83, composed original music for fashion designer Yohji Yamamoto's '86 shows, and created the acid house classic "Drop That Ghetto Blaster" in 88 under the name Mr. Big Mouse. The Aksak Maboul spirit is well alive though, as both of the original protagonists play a central role in Crammed's musical policies, both as producers and A&Rs". All the best, mario bucci simonetta.risaio@infoboard.be ------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: bc71445@binghamton.edu (Jim Powers) Subject: Re: Soft Machine article Date: Wed, 18 Sep 1996 20:31:03 -0400 (EDT) [Jim is writing an article on Soft Machine for a forthcoming issue of Goldmine, the well-known US magazine for record collectors - AL] By the way, if anyone out there has any anecdotes about the Soft Machine, whether it's as an audience member or a member of a supporting band at any concert who have any reminiscences, I'd welcome those. I can't promise to use everything, of course, but I'd welcome anecdotes. Catch you on the flip side, Jim ------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: bigbang@alpes-net.fr (Aymeric Leroy)Subject: Robert Wyatt's Drury Lane Concert (1974) : recorded ? Date: Thu, 19 Sep 1996 9:14:05 +0000 From an interview with Robert Wyatt in "Ptolemaic Terrascope", 1992 : "[The Drury Lane concert] was a good laugh, except Virgin sneakily recorded it and then put the cost of recording onto my bill, which I thought was a bit nasty". I think this sets the record straight - now let's flood Virgin with requests for an official release !!! Oh, while we're on the subject, another funny anti-Virgin quote from the same interview : "Virgin charged us a lot for recording ["Ruth Is Stranger Than Richard"] at the Manor - I think I only stopped paying it off two years ago. I don't think we're supposed to live this long, really. It's not in the contract !". ------------------------------------------------------------------------- * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ** FORTHCOMING CANTERBURY-RELATED CONCERTS ** * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * [for more info : check out the 'Concerts' page of CALYX - see URL below] BON / U.S. TOUR [Bon Lozaga, Hansford Rowe, Vic Stevens] Sep 20 - Middle East, Philadelphia, Pa. (w/Boud Deun) Sep 21 - Down to Earth, Mt. Holly, N.J. (w/Boud Deun) Sep 25 - Cafe Tattoo, Baltimore, Md. Sep 26 - The Saint, Asbury Park, N.J. Sep 27 - Iota, Arlington, Va. (w/Boud Deun) Sep 28 - D&S Coffehouse, Warrenton, Va. Oct 4 - Middle East, Philadelphia, Pa. THE HARLINGEN CANTERBURY EVENT (NETHERLANDS)Sep 21 - Richard Sinclair Band [feat.Coe, Meyer, Rees-Williams] Hugh Hopper's Franglodutch Band Stips [new band fronted by ex-Supersister leader RJ Stips] Sep 22 - various Canterbury-related activities incl. Richard Sinclair solo & David Rees-Williams on pipe organ DAVE STEWART & BARBARA GASKIN Sep 28 - Queen Elizabeth Hall, London GONG / NORTH AMERICAN TOUR [Allen-Smyth-Malherbe-Sharpstrings-Howlett-Pyle] Oct 11 - Le D'Auteuil, Quebec City Oct 12 - Le D'Auteuil, Quebec City Oct 13 - Le D'Auteuil, Quebec City Oct 15 - Mama Kins, Boston Oct 16 - Tramps, NYC Oct 17 - Club Bene, Sayerville, NJ Oct 18 - Theatre Of Living Arts, Philadelphia Oct 19 - Museum Of Art, Baltimore Oct 20 - Birchmere, Arlington, VA Oct 22 - Cubby Bear, Chicago Oct 23 - Seventh House, (near) Detroit Oct 25 - Phantasy Club, Cleveland Oct 26 - Cabaret, Montreal Oct 27 - Cabaret, Montreal CARAVAN[Pye Hastings-David Sinclair-Jim Leverton-Richard Coughlan-Jimmy Hastings] with special guests IN CAHOOTS Oct 31 - Astoria, London GONG / EUROPEAN TOUR [Allen-Smyth-Malherbe-Sharpstrings-Howlett-Pyle] Nov 6-13 - French & Benelux dates (TBC) Nov 12 - Nice, France (TBC) Nov 14 - Genoa, Italy (venue TBC) Nov 15 - Piacenza, Italy (venue TBC) Nov 16 - Nr Venice, Italy (TBC) Nov 17-20 - Southern French dates (TBC) Nov 21 - Paris (Bataclan), France Nov 22 - Lille (Aeronef), France Nov 23 - Brussels (UK Club), Belgium MASHU / EUROPEAN TOUR[Mark Hewins-Hugh Hopper-Shyamal Maitra + special guest Elton Dean] From Nov 23 onwards - more details to come MAGICK BROTHERS / EUROPEAN TOUR [Daevid Allen-Graham Clark-Mark Robson] Dec - UK and/or European tour (to be confirmed) * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * END OF ISSUE #22 _________________________________________________________________________WHAT'S RATTLIN' ? - WHAT'S RATTLIN' ? - WHAT'S RATTLIN' ?_________________________________________________________________________ CALYX - The Canterbury Website http://www.alpes-net.fr/~bigbang/calyx.html THE ULTIMATE ONLINE CANTERBURY DISCOGRAPHY http://www.alpes-net.fr/~bigbang/cantdisco.html WHAT'S RATTLIN' ? BACK ISSUES - ONLINE ARCHIVE (MUSART) http://musart.co.uk/watrat/watrat.htm Send all correspondence regarding 'CALYX' and 'WHAT'S RATTLIN' ?' to : bigbang@alpes-net.fr_________________________________________________________________________