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Kevin Ayers

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Kevin Ayers

Kevin Ayers (born 16 August 1944 in Herne Bay, Kent) is an English songwriter and major influential force in the English psychedelic movement. John Peel wrote in his autobiography that "Kevin Ayers' talent is so acute you could perform major eye surgery with it."

Ayers was a founding member of the pioneering psychedelic band Soft Machine in the late 1960s, and was closely associated with the Canterbury scene.

He has recorded a series of albums as a solo artist and worked with Brian Eno, Syd Barrett, John Cale, Elton John, Robert Wyatt, Andy Summers, Mike Oldfield, Nico, Ollie Halsall and many others. Long resident in Deià, Mallorca, he returned to the United Kingdom in the mid 1990s. He now lives in the south of France, and has completed work on a new album recorded in New York City, Tucson, Arizona and London.

Biography

Early life

Ayers is the son of maverick BBC producer Rowan Ayers, but following his parents' split and his mother's subsequent marriage to a British Civil Servant, Ayers spent most of his childhood in Malaysia. The tropical atmosphere and unpressured lifestyle had an impact, and one of the frustrating and endearing aspects of Ayers' career is that every time he seemed on the point of success, he would take off for some sunny spot where good wine and food were easily found.

Ayers returned to England at the age of twelve, and in his early college years took up with the burgeoning musicians' scene in the Canterbury area. He was quickly drafted into the Wilde Flowers, a band that featured Robert Wyatt and Hugh Hopper, as well as future members of Caravan. Ayers has stated in interviews that the primary reason he was asked to join was that he probably had the longest hair. However, this prompted him to start writing songs and singing.

Soft Machine

The Wilde Flowers morphed into Soft Machine with the addition of keyboardist Mike Ratledge and guitarist Daevid Allen. Ayers switched to bass, (and later both guitar and bass following Allen's departure from the group), and shared vocals with the drummer Robert Wyatt. The contrast between Ayers' baritone and Wyatt's reedy tenor, plus the freewheeling mix of rock and jazz influences, made for a memorable new sound that caught on quickly in the psychedelic 1960s. The band often shared stages (particularly at the UFO Club) with Syd Barrett's Pink Floyd. They released their debut single 'Love Makes Sweet Music' / 'Feelin' Reelin', Squeelin' in February of 1967, making it one of the first recordings from the new British psychedelic movement. Their debut album, The Soft Machine, was recorded in the USA for ABC/Probe and released in 1968. It is considered a classic of the genre.

Solo career - 1969 - present

After an exhausting and extensive tour of the United States opening for Jimi Hendrix, a weary Ayers sold his white Fender Jazz bass to Noel Redding 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, along with Pink Floyd's releases. 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' old mates 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 Ayers' close friend Syd Barrett on guitar and backing vocals. 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 has 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, and avant-garde composer David Bedford on keyboards. Again Ayers came up with a batch of engaging songs interspersed with avant-garde instrumentals and a heavy dose of whimsy.

The Whole World was reportedly an erratic band live, and Ayers was not cut out for life on the road touring. The band broke up after a short tour, with no hard feelings, as most of the musicians guested on Ayers' next album, Whatevershebringswesing, which is regarded as one of his best, featuring the mellifluous eight-minute title track that would became Ayers' signature sound for the '70s.

1974 was a watershed year for Ayers. In addition to releasing his most compelling music in this year, he was helped provide other artists with access to a wider stage, most notably Lady June (June Campbell Cramer). The recording, titled Lady June's Linguistic Leprosy, made in a front room of Cramer's home in Vale Court, Maida Vale, brought Lady June's spoken word poetry together with the music and voice of Ayers, and also had contributions by Brian Eno and Pip Pyle. It was originally released on Ayers' own Banana Productions label (via Virgin/Caroline).

Kevin Ayers, Hyde Park free concert, 29th June 1974

The Confessions of Dr. Dream and Other Stories marked Ayers’ move to the more commercial Island record label and is considered by many to be the most cohesive example of Ayersian philosophy. The production was expensive, with Ayers quoting the recording costs in a 1974 NME interview as exceeding £32,000 (a vast figure at the time). On this LP Mike Oldfield returned to the fold and guitarist Ollie Halsall from progressive rock band Patto began a twenty-year partnership with Ayers.

On the 1 June 1974, Ayers headlined a heavily publicised concert at the Rainbow Theatre, London, accompanied by John Cale, Nico, Brian Eno and Mike Oldfield. Tensions were somewhat fraught at the event since the night before John Cale had caught Ayers sleeping with his wife[citation needed], prompting Cale to write the bile-soaked paean 'Guts' that would appear on his 1975 album Slow Dazzle. The performance was released by Island Records just a few weeks later on a live LP entitled June 1, 1974.

In 1976 Ayers returned to his original label Harvest and released Yes We Have No Mañanas (So Get Your Mañanas Today). The album was a more commercial affair and secured Ayers a new American contract with ABC Records. The LP featured contributions from B.J. Cole and Zoot Money. That same year Harvest released a collection entitled Odd Ditties, that assembled a colourful and lively group of songs that Ayers had consigned to single B-Sides or left unreleased.

The late '70’s and '80’s saw Ayers as a self-imposed exile in warmer climes, a fugitive from changing musical fashions, and a hostage to chemical addictions. 1983’s Diamond Jack and the Queen of Pain was, perhaps, a low-point for Ayers. He was quoted in a 1992 BBC radio 1 interview as saying he had "virtually no recollection of making those records". The road back was marked with 1988’s prophetically titled Falling Up, that received his first unanimously positive press notices in years. In 1988 he also recorded a vocal track for Mike Oldfield's single, "Flying Start". The lyrics of this song contains many references to the life of Ayers.

Despite the critical acclaim Falling Up received, Ayers by this point had almost completely withdrawn from any public stage, a state further compounded by the sudden death, by a drugs overdose, of his musical partner Ollie Halsall. An acoustic album Still Life with Guitar recorded with Fairground Attraction surfaced in France on the FNAC label and was subsequently released throughout Europe. Some collaborations with Ayers fanatics Ultramarine and a concert tour with Liverpool's Wizards of Twiddly completed his output in the '90's. The recording of a key date in London with the Wizards was released on the Market Square label in 2000 under the title Turn The lights Down!.

In the late '90's, Ayers was living the life of a recluse in the South of France. At a local art gallery he met American artist Tim Shepard who had studio space in the area, and the two became friends. Ayers started to show up with a guitar, and by 2005, passed some new recordings onto Shepard, most taped on a cassette recorder at his kitchen table. The songs were by turns "poignant, insightful and honest," and Shepard, "deeply moved" by what he heard, encouraged Ayers to record them properly for a possible new album.

Hooking up with London’s LO-MAX Records, Shepard found equal enthusiasm for the demos and after making some tentative enquiries, discovered a hotbed of interest for Ayers' work amongst the current generation of musicians. New York’s Ladybug Transistor set up rehearsals for a possible recording organised by band leader Gary Olson, and Kevin flew out to New York. When the rehearsals gelled, the entourage, which had now swelled to include horn and string players, flew out to Tucson, Arizona where the first sessions were recorded in a dusty hanger known as Wavelab Studios.

With the tapes from the first sessions, Shepard set about getting Ayers to complete the album in the UK, where by now word had spread, and a host of musicians started gravitating to the studio. Shepard recounted meeting Teenage Fanclub at a Go-Betweens party and hearing their passion for Ayers’ music, and wrote a letter to singer, guitarist Norman Blake. Mojo magazine (July 2007) reported that, within a couple of weeks, Ayers was in a Glasgow studio with Teenage Fanclub and a host of their like-minded colleagues, who had all assembled to work with their hero. Bill Wells from the Bill Wells Trio rubbed shoulders with Euros Childs from Gorkys Zygotic Mynci and Francis Reader from the Trash Can Sinatras.

Friends and peers from the past also visited the sessions. Robert Wyatt provided his eerie Wyattron in the poignant ‘Cold Shoulder’, Phil Manzanera contributed to the brooding ‘Brainstorm’, Hugh Hopper from Soft Machine played bass on the title track and Bridget St. John, a British Folk singer beloved of John Peel, duetted with Ayers on ‘Baby Come Home’, the first time they had sung together since 1970 on Shooting at the Moon. The Unfairground was released in September 2007.

Discography

Albums

Title Label Date of Release
The Soft Machine ABC/Probe Dec 1968
Joy of a Toy Harvest Nov 1969
Shooting at the Moon Harvest Oct 1970
Whatevershebringswesing Harvest Nov 1971
Bananamour Harvest May 1973
The Confessions of Dr. Dream and Other Stories Island May 1974
June 1, 1974 (with Nico, John Cale and Brian Eno) Island Jun 1974
Lady June's Linguistic Leprosy (with Lady June and Brian Eno) Caroline/Virgin Nov 1974
Sweet Deceiver Island Mar 1975
Yes We Have No Mañanas (So Get Your Mañanas Today) Harvest Jun 1976
Rainbow Takeaway Harvest Apr 1978
That's What You Get Babe Harvest Feb 1980
Diamond Jack and the Queen of Pain Charly Jun 1983
Deia...Vu Blau Mar 1984
As Close As You Think Illuminated Jun 1986
Falling Up Virgin Feb 1988
Still Life with Guitar FNAC Jan 1992
The Unfairground LO-MAX Sep 2007

Singles

Title Label Date of Release
Love Makes Sweet Music Polydor Feb 1967
Joy of a Toy ABC/Probe (USA) Nov 1968
Singing a Song in the Morning Harvest Feb 1970
Butterfly Dance Harvest Oct 1970
Stranger in Blue Suede Shoes Harvest Aug 1971
Oh! Wot A Dream Harvest Nov 1972
Don’t Let It Get You Down Harvest (FR) Nov 1972
Caribbean Moon Harvest Apr 1973
The Up Song Island Feb 1974
Day by Day Island (NL) Feb 1974
After The Show Island Jul 1974
Falling In Love Again Island Feb 1976
Stranger In Blue Suede Shoes Harvest Feb 1976
Star Harvest Apr 1977
Mr Cool ABC (USA) Apr 1977
Money Money Money Harvest Feb 1980
Animals Columbia (ES) 1980
My Speeding Heart Charly 1983
Who’s Still Crazy WEA (ES) 1983
Stop Playing with My Heart Blau (ES) 1984
Stepping Out Illuminated 1986
Am I Really Marcel? Accidentales (ES) 1988
The Best We Have Accidentales (ES) 1988
Thank You Very Much FNAC 1992

Compilations & Live Recordings

  • Odd Ditties (Harvest 1976) (a collection of rarities and unreleased tracks)
  • The Kevin Ayers Collection (SFM 1983)
  • Banana Productions: The Best of Kevin Ayers (EMI 1989)
  • BBC Live in Concert (Windsong 1992)
  • Document Series Presents Kevin Ayers (Connoisseur Collection 1992)
  • 1969-80 (Alex 1995)
  • First Show in the Appearance Business: The BBC Sessions 1973-1976 (Strange Fruit 1996)
  • The Garden of Love with Mike Oldfield and Robert Wyatt (Voiceprint 1997)
  • Singing the Bruise: The BBC Sessions, 1970-1972 [live] (Strange Fruit 1998)
  • Too Old to Die Young: BBC Live 1972-1976 (Hux 1998)
  • Banana Follies (Hux 1998)
  • Turn the Lights Down (live) with the Wizards of Twiddly (Market Square 2000)
  • The Best of Kevin Ayers (EMI 2000)
  • Didn't Feel Lonely Till I Thought of You: The Island Records Years (Edsel 2004)
  • Alive In California (Box-O-Plenty Records, November 2004)
  • BBC Sessions 1970-1976 (Hux 2005)
  • Some Kevin Ayers (white label promo 2007)

References

  • Gong: The Return of the Banana by Steve Peacock (Sounds Oct 16, 1971)
  • Is This Man A Dipso? by Nick Kent (NME Aug 31, 1974)
  • Let's Drink some Wine and Have a Good Time by Kenneth Ansell (ZigZag 46, 1974)
  • Ayers and Graces by Nick Kent (NME Dec 7, 1974)
  • Despair and Temperence in Maida Vale by Mike Flood Page (Sounds Jan 25, 1975)
  • The Confessions of Doctor Amphibious and the Malaysian Headwash by Max Bell (NME May 24, 1975)
  • Golden Ayers by John Ingham (Sounds Mar 6, 1976)
  • Ready to Die by John Ingham (Sounds Jul 3, 1976)
  • Tomorrow Never Knows: Rock and Psychedelics in the 1960s (University Of Chicago Press 2002) ISBN-10: 0226075621
  • Turn On Your Mind: Four Decades of Great Psychedelic Rock (Hal Leonard 2003) ISBN-10: 0634055488
  • You Need a Bit Missing Upstairs to Play This Game by Jonathan Glancey (The Guardian July 4, 2003)
  • Soft Machine: Out-Bloody-Rageous by Graham Bennett (SAF Publishing 2005)
  • Whatevershebringswesing sleevenotes by Martin Wakeling (EMI Sept 2006)
  • Joy of a Toy sleevenotes by Martin Wakeling (EMI Sept 2006)
  • The Rare Record Price Guide (Diamond Publishing Group Ltd Oct 2006) ISBN-10: 0953260151
  • Kevin Ayers: Mojo Working by James McNair (Mojo July 2007)
  • The Unsung Hero of Psychedelia by Lisa Verrico (The Sunday Times Sep 2, 2007)
  • The Father of the Underground by Garth Cartwright (Daily Telegraph Aug 30 2007)
  • Kevin Ayers and Robert Wyatt by Simon Reynolds (Reynoldsretro Dec 14 2007)
  • The New Musical Express Book of Rock, 1975, Star Books, ISBN 0 352 300744
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