Customer Reviews

June 1, 1974 - Kevin Ayers/John Cale/Eno/Nico

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Kevin Ayers after recording the fantastic concept album 'The Confessions Of Dr Dream' with a bunch of session musicians in 1974, decided to form a new band called 'The Soporifics' ( Soporific means having a tendency to sleep!). Instead of doing the natural thing of taking the band into a rehearsal studio,Kevin Ayers being the free spirit that he is took the whole band off to the Rhone Valley for a nice little summer holiday ,using the advance on Dr Dream to finance the jaunt. This was a great idea until the money ran out, and Island record label got in touch to say that the album sales were going well ,and that they had booked the band into the prestigious Rainbow Theatre in Finsbury Park ,London ,in three weeks time 1st June 1974 to be exact ,and the gig had already sold out! This is the moment that panic set in .
The band gathered up all belongings , family members ,girlfriends ,hangers on etc, and got themselves back to London immediately and decamped to the Walpole Picture Theatre in Ealing to set about rehearsals . After a week Kevin Ayers realized that this was just not enough time to get ready, especially with the band's not exactly regimental time keeping for the rehearsals. Drastic measures were needed. Kevin Ayers decided to get on the phone to a few friends.
First up was Nico ,the intoxicating Diva from 'Velvet Underground's' first album, and through her Kevin Ayers contacted one of his own heroes John Cale also of the 'Velvet Underground' , who happened to be in town recording his own album ,but was only to pleased to help out as it turns out he had been a long time fan of Kevin Ayers himself . When John Cale arrived he brought with him his buddy Eno, perfect. Having heard on the grapevine that Kevin Ayers was in a bit of a jam, two of his old allies rang up to offer their services , which were also gladly excepted. They were Robert Wyatt who had been an original member of both 'The Wilde Flowers' and 'Soft Machine' with Kevin Ayers. Robert Wyatt had a terrible accident in 1972 falling off a balcony, and was hence forth confined to a wheelchair, but it says a lot for his character that he was still an excellent percussionist and vocalist. The other friend was none other than Mike Oldfield now at the height of his commercial success after the release of his 'Tubular Bells' record, after starting of his recording career in one of Kevin Ayers earlier bands 'Kevin Ayers and the Whole Wide World'.To round things off the delectable services of Lisa Strike, Doreen and Iris Chanter were added as backing singers.
Now if this is not enough you have to remember the quality of the Soporifics themselves, on lead guitar you had Ollie Halsall one of the most respected guitarists on the circuit, who later went onto a very successful solo career ,as well as stints with 'Boxer' ,'Tempest' and 'The John Otway Band'. Eddie Sparrow on Drums ,one of the greatest session drummers ever ,in fact after this concert he handed in his notice to the 'Soporifics', as he just could not turn down all the money he was being offered outside the band , and he could not do both. Archie Legget on bass who has been on so many Canterbury sounds albums before and after the Soporifics, that they are to many to mention.Then on Keyboards was Rabbit Bundrick who went on to join 'Free' and since then has been 'The Who's ' keyboard player since 1979. With this amount of talent you had the ultimate Avant Garde Supergroup.
Fortunately Island records to the eternal gratitude of all music lovers had the sense to record the event . Unfortunately all that has ever been released is the highlights ,but what highlights they are. We can only hope that somewhere in Islands vaults are the complete tapes ,which will someday see the light of day. But that is a minor quibble considering what we get.
First up are a couple of numbers from Eno ( with Kevin Ayers merely playing bass.) which prove that had he wished to go down that path he could of been one of Glam Rock's greatest stars, the two songs are very Roxy Musicish but then what do you expect as Eno had been a founder member of the band and had only left less than twelve months before, after appearing on their first two albums . Next John Cale slithers on stage to crawl his way through Elvis Presley's 'Heartbreak Hotel'. John Cale growls his way through the song slowing the tempo down almost to a stop, as well as giving completely new meaning to the words ,with his emphasis going as far away from Elvis's as is possibly, if you think that the treble speakers have gone out of your equipment fear not, it's just that Cale only uses the bottom end. Such is John Cale's mastery of his craft that by the time the song finishes you feel so dirty you need a wash.
Then Nico takes centre stage to drag out Jim Morrison's 'The End' accompanied only by some spine-chilling keyboards , it is one of the best choices Nico could of made, as you can hear that she has the audience in the palm of her mind as she recites the words . Big Jim would of nodded his approval.
Finally Kevin Ayers breezes onto the stage to give us a collection of songs from his back catalogue. Opening with 'May I?' from 'Shooting at the Moon'(1970) followed by ' Stranger In Blue Suede Shoes' from 'Whatevershebringswesing' (1972) then 'Shouting In A Bucket Blues ( Wrongly titled 'Standing In A Bucket Blues 'on the slip sleeve of this album) from 'Bannamour' (1973) wrapping things up with a couple from 'The Confessions Of Dr Dream'( 1974) the bluesy 'Everybody's Sometime And Some Peoples All The Times Blues',encoring with the totally irreverent 'Two Goes Into Four'. The Mike Oldfield guitar solo on the former song is mesmerising ,as it was on the studio version. Kevin Ayers free spirit roams through out his songs ,and all leave you feeling cheerful and carefree. The band are still a little under rehearsed, but in a funny way it just adds to the charm of it all.
Today Kevin Ayers has not changed, still arriving back in his native England, getting some cash together ,which he never seems to have a problem doing considering his enormous talents ,and then flits off again on his world travels. I just would like to think it is as idyllic as it sounds , one would hope so ,as the joy that Kevin Ayers has brought to the world through his music, he deserves to live life with a permanent smile on his face. A very classy British eccentric.
Mott The Dog.

Unfortunately I could not make this concert as it was held in London at the Marquee, which as anyone who has ever been there knows held very few people. However the concert was repeated on June 6th at the Palace Theatre in Manchester, to which I had the pleasure of attending.Without doubt this has to be one of the best live albums ever made, not only for the fact that the music is outstanding, but mainly due to the fact that rarely can there have been a collection of such superb musicians on stage at one time! The lead guitarist (Ollie Halsall) and the base player (Archie Leggett) were at that time two of the most in demand session men in the country and this album features both men in their prime. If you dont buy another live album in your life, buy this one!!!!!!

I was lucky enough to be at this, the greatest progressive super "group" concert of all time. (I even saw the cover being photographed looking through the glass doors.)
The only negative is that there is so much more of the concert that is absent from the LP and now the CD. Island must have balked at the idea of having "Why are We Sleeping/Dr. Dream" on two consecutive LPs, but we're also missing John Cale's "Buffalo Ballet" and "Gun".
Island, Voiceprint, Hux, someone has to release the complete concert. The world will be a much better place.

This is one of my favorite live recordings ever. John Cale sings a great version of Elvis Presley's Heart Break Hotel, Nico sings The End, Eno does a brief selection from Here Come the Warm Jets and it is all topped off by Kevin Ayers melancholy, unclassifiable pop tunes. Wonderful sound, stellar British progressive blues musicians and an eccentric lineup of cult stars at their artistic peaks. It's a one of a kind recording. I would suggest this CD to Nick Drake fans.

Hey, those of us who were there know that the progressive movement was not supposed to be Yes battering us with unlistenable double albums, or ELP mocking Mussourgsky, or do we even metion it- Rick Wakeman journeying to the center of the earth. If you want to catch art rock, progressive, avant-garde, whatever you want to call it, at its only accessible moment, this is the disc. Nico doing Jim Morrison, John Cale doing Elvis, Kevin Ayers (how come he never made it big?) making great music with a band featuring one helluva guitar player, and Eno- actualy performing! This disc showcases an event which could never happen now. GET IT!!!

It is great to hear these four great artists together, live. I really like the version of Eno's "Driving Me Backwards" on this album. If you are a big fan of any of the four artists on thsi album (Nico, Eno, John Cale, and Kevin Ayers) I would say that you should counsider getting this album. If you are a big fan of more than one of them, then this is a must-have!

On June 1, 1974, several artists who were signed to the Island record label got together at the Rainbow Theatre for a special event.

Recorded for posterity, the resultant album is an intriguing listen for those who are fans of the featured artists. Kevin Ayers gets about 22 minutes of music (for vinyl buffs, this is Side 2). John Cale, who was just about to release his first album for Island, FEAR, stuns the audience with his version of Elvis' "Heartbreak Hotel". Eno opens the show with "Driving Me Backwards", and follows it up with "Baby's on Fire" (both tracks are from his debut album HERE COME THE WARM JETS). And Nico proves to be quite chilling with her version of The Doors' "The End".

The audience are enthusiastic, and this is a well-recorded show.

Finally ! If by some chance you missed this album when it came out- or played it into grooveless oblivion this really is the time to update your album to a CD. Cindy's advice is still as sage as it was almost 30 years ago, and well if you have made it through the 70s,80's and 90's you should still remember to when to say "Thank You Very Much...Thank You Very Much !

I'm a huge Eno fan; so I must admit that I bought this mainly for his material on side one. The version of 'Babies On Fire' is much different from the live 801 version, and 'Driving Me Backwards' is brilliant as well and maybe even better than the studio original. Eno's menacing electronic drone behind Nico's chilling rendition of The Doors classic 'The End' is simply chilling. Cale's version of 'Heartbreak Hotel' is quite an original arrangement. All of side two (vinyl version) features former Soft Machine guitarist Kevin Ayers, whose music is an aquired tase in my opinion, but not as powerful or compelling as Cale, Eno, or Nico. Ayers winds up sounding like a lightweight version of Cale, or The Velvet Underground, without the tunes or vision of say Jonathan Richman and The Modern Lovers. I would have loved to hear more of the others and leass of Ayers which makes my rating of this release a lot lower.

This album is a live recording of a group of musicians fortuitously brought together for a single concert in London on a date you can guess. Beside the four names listed on the cover, there is Brian Oldfield and several other musicians. About half the songs are Brian Eno's, the other half Kevin Ayers. The Ayers songs could be called ballads or straightforward rock vocals, and are FANTASTIC.