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The Soft Machine was a pioneering English Psychedelic , Progressive Rock and Jazz Fusion band from Canterbury , named after the book '' The Soft Machine '' by William S. Burroughs . They were one of the central bands in the Canterbury Scene . Soft Machine biography at www.progarchives.com Canterbury Scene definition at www.progarchives.com . BIOGRAPHY Beginnings: from psychedelic pioneers to post-Ayers jazz fusioneers The Soft Machine was formed in 1966 by Robert Wyatt (drums, vocals), Kevin Ayers (bass, guitar, vocals), Daevid Allen (guitar) and Mike Ratledge (keyboards). Allen, Wyatt and future bassist Hugh Hopper had played in the Daevid Allen Trio, occasionally accompanied by Ratledge. Wyatt, Ayers and Hopper had played in a band called the Wilde Flowers , which included future members of another Canterbury band, Caravan . This first Soft Machine line-up became involved in the early UK Underground , featuring prominently at the UFO Club , and recorded the group's first single, as well as some demo sessions that were released several years later. They also played in Holland, Germany and on the French Riviera . In 1967, upon their return from a performance in France , Allen (an Australia n) was denied re-entry to the United Kingdom , so the group continued as a trio. In early 1968, eventual '', in New York . Disbanded after Ayers's amicable departure at the end of this tour, Soft Machine reformed with former Road Manager and composer Hugh Hopper on bass added to Wyatt and Ratledge, to record their second album in 1969. From the unusual Psychedelic Rock style of the Ayers led period, featuring Ayers and/or Wyatt singing on most of their pieces, '' Volume Two '', with Brian Hopper playing saxophones, launched a transition towards a purely instrumental sound resembling what would be later called Jazz Fusion . Notwithstanding the disconcerting personnel changes that came about during this period, this is a fascinating period of creative tension. The base trio was late in 1969 expanded to a septet with the addition of four Horn players, though only saxophonist Elton Dean (†) remained beyond a few months, the resulting Soft Machine quartet (Wyatt, Hopper, Ratledge and Dean) running through '' Third '' (1970) and '' Fourth '' (1971), with various guests, mostly jazz players ( Lyn Dobson , Nick Evans , Marc Charig , Jimmy Hastings , Rab Spall , Roy Babbington ). ''Fourth'' was the first of their fully instrumental albums. All members were highly literate in various musical backgrounds, but foremost was the eclectic genius of Ratledge, who through composition, arrangements and improvisational skills propelled a collective output of the highest standard, in which the vocal charm and extraordinarily original drumming of Wyatt, the lyricism of some of Dean's solos and the unusual avantgarde pop angle of Hopper's pieces all had a major role. Their propensity for building extended suites from regular sized compositions, both live and in the studio (already in the Ayers suite in their first album), reaches its maximum in the 1970 album ''Third'', unusual for its time in each of the four sides featuring one suite. ''Third'' was also unusual for remaining in print for more than ten years in the United States, and is the best-selling Soft Machine recording. Cosmik.com The post-Wyatt era After differences over the group's musical direction, Wyatt left (or was fired from (a pun on ''machine molle'', the French for ''soft machine''). He was briefly replaced by Australian drummer Phil Howard , but further musical disagreements led to Howard's dismissal after the 1971 recording of the first LP side of '' Fifth '' (1972) and, some months later, to Dean's departure. They were replaced respectively by John Marshall (drums) and, for the recording of '' Six '' (1973), Karl Jenkins (reeds, keyboards), both former members of Ian Carr 's Nucleus , and The Softs' sound developed even more towards Jazz Fusion . In 1973, after ''Six'', Hopper left and was replaced by , and violinist Ric Sanders . Their 1978 performances and record (titled ''Alive and Well'', ironically) were the last for Soft Machine as a working band. The Soft Machine name was used for the 1981 record ''Land of Cockayne'' (with Jack Bruce and, again, Allan Holdsworth, plus Dick Morrissey on tenor sax), and for a few live shows in 1984, but these featured Jenkins and Marshall with groups assembled just for those performances. The Soft Machine legacy Since 1988, a wealth of live recordings of Soft Machine have been issued on CD, with recording quality ranging from poor to excellent. In 2002, four former Soft Machine members - Hugh Hopper, Elton Dean, John Marshall and Allan Holdsworth - toured and recorded under the name Soft Works (initially called '''Soft Ware'''). In 2005, with John Etheridge replacing Holdsworth, they toured and recorded as '''Soft Machine Legacy''', three albums of theirs have been released: ''Live in Zaandam'' (2005), the studio album ''Soft Machine Legacy'' (2006) and ''Live at the New Morning'' (2006). On their tour in summer 2006, Theo Travis (formerly of Gong and The Tangent ) replaced Elton Dean, who died in February 2006. Both of these groups performed some pieces from the original Soft Machine repertoire as well as newer material. Soft Machine biography Graham Bennett's Soft Machine biography, ''Soft Machine: Out-Bloody-Rageous'', was published in September 2005. In 2006 the book won an Award for Excellence in Historical Recorded Sound Research from the Association for Recorded Sound Collections. Awards
DISCOGRAPHY Albums
Singles
REFERENCES Literature
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