My penultimate concert of 2018 was a date on the 50th Anniversary tour of the legendary Soft Machine - this in spite of the band having actually formed 52 years ago. Robert Wyatt, Daevid Allen and Kevin Ayers passed from the ranks fairly early on and the last original member (Mike Ratledge) left as long ago as 1976. The current line-up consists of bassist Roy Babbington who played with the band from 1971-76 before returning in 2008, guitarist John Etheridge who has been there since 1975, the frail but phenomenal John Marshall, currently in his 46th year behind the drum kit and 'new' boy Theo Travis who has been contributing a bewildering variety of instrumentation since 2006.
'Out-Bloody-Rageous' is a Mike Ratledge composition from the band's 'Third' LP, issued in 1970. The current line-up revisited the tune on-stage the other night and in truncated form on their latest album 'Hidden Details', but here, featuring a line-up of Hugh Hopper, Elton Dean, Robert Wyatt and Ratledge, is the 48 year old 19 minute original in all its glory.
Soft Machine - Out-Bloody-Rageous
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2 comments:
Not that up on Soft Machine so looking forward to this.
Another reminder to dig into Soft Machine's back catalogue. I keep reading how talented Robert Wyatt is.
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