Το Rock γίνεται ακόμα φτωχότερο... Παραθέτω από το διαδίκτυο ένα συνοπτικό βιογραφικό αλλά χρειάζεται ολόκληρος τόμος για να εξιστορήσεις τα πεπραγμένα καλλιτεχνών σαν τον Kevin Ayers.....
--------------------------- (bbc,com)-------------------------
Kevin Ayers, the founding member of 1960s psychedelic band Soft Machine, has died aged 68. A pioneer of the genre, he worked with Brian Eno, Syd Barrett, John Cale, Nico and Robert Wyatt during his career. Bernard
MacMahon, director of his last UK label Lo-Max Records, confirmed to
the BBC News website Ayers died in his sleep at his home in Montolieu,
France. "He was the moving embodiment of that sixties ideal of creativity, freedom of speech and free love," he said. ΒBC
Radio 6 Music presenter Stuart Maconie paid tribute to the musician,
describing him as a "legendary English musician, a stalwart of the
Canterbury music scene". MacMahon described Ayers as a "character", adding: "You wouldn't forget him if you'd met him. He was father of the underground." He added Ayers was very critical of his musical footprint. "I
think he always made music entirely for his own pleasure and
satisfaction despite the fact that he had this long career. I don't
think he had any interest in being a pop star," he said. "Kevin was an artist and was plagued with massive insecurities about what he was doing. "He would write material and people would hear what he was doing and would have to practically force him into the studio."
Ayres and Soft Machine toured the USA extensively with Jimi Hendrix but he left the band in 1968 after their first album. Fellow founding member Wyatt said the band "lost its axis" after his departure. Ayers released his first solo album, Joy of a Toy, in 1969 for Harvest EMI. The record is said to have influenced artists including Teenage Fanclub, Candie Payne and Euros Child. After an extensive tour of the United States opening for Jimi Hendrix, a weary Ayers sold his white Fender Jazz bass to Noel Redding[12] and retreated to the beaches of Ibiza in Spain with Daevid Allen to recuperate. While there, Ayers went on a songwriting binge that resulted in the songs that would make up his first album, Joy of a Toy. The album was one of the first released on the new Harvest label, alongside Pink Floyd's. Joy of a Toy established Ayers as a unique talent with music that varied from the circus march of the title cut to the pastoral "Girl on a Swing", and the ominous "Oleh Oleh Bandu Bandong", based on a Malaysian folksong. Ayers' colleagues from Soft Machine backed him, with the addition on some cuts of Rob Tait, sometime Gong drummer. One interesting product of the sessions was the single, "Religious Experience (Singing a Song in the Morning)", early recordings of which featured Syd Barrett on guitar and backing vocals.[12] The lead guitar that appears on the final mix was often thought to have been played by Barrett, even appearing on various Barrett bootlegs, but Ayers said that he played the solo, emulating Barrett's style. However the 2004 CD reissue of Joy of a Toy includes a mix of this song featuring Barrett's guitar as a bonus track.
Ayres and Soft Machine toured the USA extensively with Jimi Hendrix but he left the band in 1968 after their first album. Fellow founding member Wyatt said the band "lost its axis" after his departure. Ayers released his first solo album, Joy of a Toy, in 1969 for Harvest EMI. The record is said to have influenced artists including Teenage Fanclub, Candie Payne and Euros Child. After an extensive tour of the United States opening for Jimi Hendrix, a weary Ayers sold his white Fender Jazz bass to Noel Redding[12] and retreated to the beaches of Ibiza in Spain with Daevid Allen to recuperate. While there, Ayers went on a songwriting binge that resulted in the songs that would make up his first album, Joy of a Toy. The album was one of the first released on the new Harvest label, alongside Pink Floyd's. Joy of a Toy established Ayers as a unique talent with music that varied from the circus march of the title cut to the pastoral "Girl on a Swing", and the ominous "Oleh Oleh Bandu Bandong", based on a Malaysian folksong. Ayers' colleagues from Soft Machine backed him, with the addition on some cuts of Rob Tait, sometime Gong drummer. One interesting product of the sessions was the single, "Religious Experience (Singing a Song in the Morning)", early recordings of which featured Syd Barrett on guitar and backing vocals.[12] The lead guitar that appears on the final mix was often thought to have been played by Barrett, even appearing on various Barrett bootlegs, but Ayers said that he played the solo, emulating Barrett's style. However the 2004 CD reissue of Joy of a Toy includes a mix of this song featuring Barrett's guitar as a bonus track.
A second album, Shooting at the Moon,
soon followed. For this, Ayers assembled a band that he called The Whole
World, including a young Mike Oldfield on bass and occasionally lead
guitar, avant-garde composer David Bedford on keyboards and improvising
saxophonist, Lol Coxhill. Again Ayers came up with a batch of engaging
songs interspersed with avant-garde instrumentals and a heavy dose of
whimsy.
He released 16 albums and headlined the Free Hyde Park Concert of 1974. The
late BBC DJ John Peel wrote in his autobiography that Ayers's talent
was "so acute you could perform major eye surgery with it". Ayers's
father, BBC producer Rowan Ayers, created the BBC Two music programme
The Old Grey Whistle Test, which gave a host of underground acts TV
exposure while it aired between 1971 - 1987.
The musician is survived by two daughters and his sister Kate.
Απολαύστε λίγο από τη μαγεία της πρώτης φάσης των Soft Machine όταν ο KEVIN AYERS ήταν ακόμα μέλος τους :
και μερικά αποσπάσματα από την πορεία του μετά τους SOFT MACHINE
