Kevin Ayers (and company)
Band members Related acts
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line-up 1: (1974) - Kevin Ayers
(RIP 2013) --
vocals, guitar - Doreen Chanter -- backing vocals - Irene Chanter
-- backing vocals - Liza Strike --
backing vocals
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- Kevin Ayers (solo efforts)
- John Cale (solo efforts) - The Whole World Band (Kevin Ayers and Mike Oldfield) - The Wilde
Flowers (Kevin Ayers)
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Genre: art-rock Rating: *** (3 stars) Title: June 1, 1974 Company: Island Catalog: ILPS-9291 Year: 1974 Country/State: UK, Germany Grade (cover/record): VG+/VG+ Comments: -- Available: 1 Catalog number: 5564 Price: $25.00
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It's a stretch, but with John Cale and Nico
participating you can look at this as sort of a pseudo Velvet
Underground reunion. The participation of Kevin Ayers and Robert Wyatt
would also let you look at it as an abbreviated Soft Machine
reunion. Regardless ,"June 1, 1974"
stands as an interesting one-off art-rock, all-star collaboration. With the ever-eclectic singer/guitarist
Kevin Ayers garnering lead credits, the album featured an impressive
collection of participants, including
If you're a major Kevin Ayers fan I guess this collection would have some interesting for you. Otherwise it's more of a historical artifact. Mildly interesting to hear and to realize so many of these folks have passed on.
(side
1) It
sounded like it took the audience a moment to figure out what was going on
with the opening. Where's Kevin Ayers? Hey isn't that Brian Eno?
Compared to the original studio version of 'Driving Me Backwards' (which was
itself pretty raw), the live version was stark, dark and thoroughly
ominous. Definitely an interesting choice to kick off a concert.
Eno's howl of a vocal sounded like he'd just slammed his fingers in a car
door. Combined with the buzz saw violin and Archie Leggat's
bass runs I'm not
sure this was the track to get an audience up
and dancin' in the aisles.
Even if it had, the abrupt ending would have paralyzed most of the audience.
I'll admit the song's fascinating in the way a bad traffic accident is ... The
second song off of Eno's "Here Come the Warm Jets". 'Baby's On
Fire' has always reminded me of an early XTC performance. There's just
something in Eno's jittery delivered that captures Andy Partridge and
company. A then 17 year old Mike Oldfield covered Robert Fripp's
original guitar solo and once again the song just sort of stopped in it's
tracks. If
there's any truth to the story Cale had just learned that Ayers have been
sleeping with his wife, singing this song must have been agonizing.
Regardless, it's one of the weirdest Presley covers I've ever heard - like
listening to someone having their fingernails pulled out. Cale went on
to record the song for his 1978 "Slow Dazzle"
album. It also became a staple in his live show and YouTube has dozens
of live performances. With a young Andy Summers on guitar, here's a
clip from a December1981 appearance on the Musical Express, Spain television
program: John Cale -
Heartbreak Hotel (youtube.com) Produced by Cale, 1974's "The End" was Nico's fourth studio album and the first she'd released in the wake of former lover Jim Morrison's 1971 death. Propelled by Nico's dry, atonal vocals and her harmonium, this has always struck me as sound like a never-ending nightmare. The audience must have been wondering WTF ... This'll scare the crap out of your young children. Kicking in at the 7:15 mark, even weirder was the abrupt shift to a Michael Oldfield guitar solo.
(side
2) The
second side of the album showcased Ayers and The Soporifics.
Originally recorded for 1970's "Shooting at the Moon"
how you feel about 'May I?' is going to depend on how you feel about the
more experimental numbers on side one, versus the more
"commercial" sound on side two. For me this was a sweet,
jazzy-tinged ballad that showcased Ayers' deep voice and some tasty Ollie
Halsall lead guitar. Pulled
from 1974's "Bananamour" the breezy rocker 'Shouting In a Bucket Blues'
is about as commercial as Ayers gets. Yeah, his gravelly vocal are an
acquired taste for me. Judging
by the reaction, 'Stranger In Blue Suede Shoes' sounded like an audience
favorite. Given it was the album most commercial offering, that made sense
to my ears. I've always thought the track sounded like The
Velvet Underground paying tribute to their love of early rock and
roll. This one was originally recorded for 1971's
"Whatevershebringswesing." 'Everybody's Sometime and Some People's All the Time Blues'
was the first of two tracks from 1974's "The
Confessions of Dr. Dream and Other Stories" album. A spare,
acoustic blues number, the song title
was a mouthful. Can't say it didn't anything for me. Michael
Oldfield on guitar. The final track off 1974 "The Confessions of Dr. Dream and Other Stories" album, the stark ballad 'Two Goes Into Four' has always frustrated me in that the song seemed poised to find a melody, but never did.
© Scott R. Blackerby August, 2024
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Cale, Brian Eno, guitarist Ollie Halsall, a tired looking Nico, Mike Oldfield and
Robert Wyatt. According to the liner notes, Ayers was scheduled to
play at London's Rainbow Club and decided to invite longtime friend Nico to
accompany him. Nico in turn brought along former Velvet Underground
compatriot Cale, who in turn brought along Eno. Recorded before a 3,000 strong
partisan crowd, the resulting album was entertaining, if rather erratic.
In
a generous gesture, the first side found Ayers turning over the spotlight to
his guests. Eno turned in nifty, if challenging performances on 'Driving Me
Backwards' and 'Baby's On Fire. Cale was less successful on his
half speed, "tear my heart out" reading of 'Heartbreak Hotel', but could be forgiven as he had
some other things on his mind. Perhaps urban legend, but supposedly
the day before the concert Cale discovered
that Ayers had been sleeping with his wife (The harrowing Cale
composition 'Guts' was supposedly inspired by the episode.) For
her part Nico subjecting the
audience to a seemingly endless cover of The Doors' 'The End.' On
the flip side, backed by his touring band The Soporifics, Ayers' five
selections were far more commercial and engaging. Highlights included 'Stranger In Blue Suede Shoes' and
'Two Goes Into Four'. As to be expected,
the set won rave reviews from critics, but failed to generate much in the
way of commercial recognition - gee, hard to imagine why your local top-40
station wouldn't play Nico droning away on "The End" ...