Soft Machine

        
Formed 1966
Disbanded 1976 

        Group  Members  Jack Bruce Andy Summers Robert Wyatt Allan Holdsworth Marc Charig
  Elton  Dean  Alan  Skidmore  Daevid  Allen  Kevin  Ayers Lyn Dobson Roy Babbington John
  Etheridge  Nick  Evans Jimmy Hastings Hugh Hopper Brian Hopper Phil Howard Karl Jenkins
  John  Marshall  Mike  Ratledge  Alan Wakeman Ray Warleigh Genres Rock Styles Canterbury
  Scene,  British  Psychedelia, Jazz-Rock, Experimental, Psychedelic, Prog-Rock/Art Rock,
  Rock  Tones  Irreverent,  Fiery, Complex, Playful, Rollicking, Witty, Quirky, Literate,
  Cerebral Labels One Way (8), See For Miles (3), Cuneiform (3), Voiceprint (2), Columbia
  (2), Charly (2), Castle (2)

  

        The  Soft  Machine  were  never  a commercial enterprise, and indeed still remain
  unknown  even  to  many listeners that came of age during the late '60s, when the group
  was  at  their  peak.  In their own way, however, they were one of the more influential
  bands  of their era, and certainly one of the most influential underground ones. One of
  the  original  British  psychedelic groups, they were also instrumental in the birth of
  both progressive rock and jazz-rock.They were also the central foundation of the family
  tree  of the "Canterbury school" of British progressive rock acts, a movement that also
  included  Caravan,  Gong,  Matching  Mole,  and  National  Health,  not  to mention the
  distinguished solo careers of founding members Robert Wyatt and Kevin Ayers.

        Considering  their well-known experimental and avant-garde leanings, the roots of
  the  Soft  Machine  were  in  some respects surprisingly conventional. In the mid-'60s,
  Wyatt  sang  and drummed with the Wilde Flowers, a Canterbury group that played more or
  less conventional pop and soul covers of the day. Future Soft Machine members Ayers and
  Hugh Hopper would also pass through the Wilde Flowers, whose original material began to
  reflect  an  odd  sensibility,  cultivated  by  their highly educated backgrounds and a
  passion  for  improvised  jazz.  In  1966,  Wyatt  teamed up with bassist/singer Ayers,
  keyboardist  Mike  Ratledge,  and  Australian  guitarist Daevid Allen to form the first
  lineup of the Soft Machine.

        This  incarnation of the group, along with Pink Floyd and Tomorrow, were the very
  first  underground  psychedelic  bands in Britain, and quickly became well-loved in the
  burgeoning  London  psychedelic underground. Their first recordings (many of which only
  surfaced   years  later  on  compilations  of  1967  demos)  were  by  far  their  most
  pop-oriented,  which  doesn't  mean  they  weren't  exciting, or devoid of experimental
  elements. Surreal wordplay and unusually (for rock) complex instrumental interplay gave
  an  innovative  edge to their ebullient early psychedelic outings. They only managed to
  cut  one  (very  good) single, though, which flopped. Allen, the weirdest of a colorful
  group  of  characters, had to leave the band when he was refused re-entry into the U.K.
  after a stint in France, due to the expiration of his visa.

        The  remaining  trio  recorded their first proper album in 1968. The considerable
  melodic  elements  and  vocal harmonies of their 1967 recordings were now giving way to
  more challenging, artier postures that sought — sometimes successfully, sometimes not —
  to  meld  the  energy  of  psychedelic rock with the improvisational pulse of jazz. The
  Softs were taken on by Jimi Hendrix's management, leading to grueling stints supporting
  the Jimi Hendrix Experience on their 1968 American tours. Because of this, the group at
  this  point  were  probably  more  well-known in the U.S. than their homeland. In fact,
  their  debut  LP was only issued, oddly, in the States. For a couple of months in 1968,
  strangely  enough,  the Soft Machine became a quartet again with the addition of future
  Police guitarist Andy Summers, although that didn't work out, and they soon reverted to
  a trio. The punishing tours took their toll on the group, and Ayers had left by the end
  of 1968, to be replaced by Wyatt's old chum Hugh Hopper.

        Their  second  album, Vol. 2 (1969), further submerged the band's pop elements in
  favor  of  extended  jazzy compositions, with an increasingly lesser reliance on lyrics
  and  vocals. Ratledge's fuzzy, buzzy organ, and Wyatt's pummeling, imaginative drumming
  and  scat  vocals,  paced  the  band on material that became increasingly whimsical and
  surrealistic,  if  increasingly  inaccessible to the pop/rock audience. For their third
  album, they went even further in these directions, expanding to a seven-piece by adding
  a horn section. This record virtually dispensed with vocals and conventional rock songs
  entirely,  and  is  considered  a  landmark  by  both  progressive  rock  and jazz-rock
  aficionados, though it was too oblique for many rock listeners.

        The  Soft  Machine  couldn't afford to continue to support a seven-member lineup,
  and scaled back to a quartet for their fourth album, retaining Elton Dean on sax. Wyatt
  had  left  by  the  end  of  1971,  briefly leading the similar Matching Mole, and then
  establishing a long-running solo career. In doing so he was following the path of Kevin
  Ayers,  who  already  had  several  solo albums to his credit by the early '70s; Daevid
  Allen,  for  his  part,  had  become a principal of Gong, one of the most prominent and
  enigmatic '70s progressive rock bands.

        For  most  intents  and  purposes,  Wyatt's departure spelled the end of the Soft
  Machine's  reign  as  an  important  band.  Although  the  Soft  Machine  were always a
  collaborative  effort,  Wyatt's  humor, humanism, and soulful raspy vocals could not be
  replaced.  Ratledge and Hopper kept the group going with other musicians, though by now
  they   were  an  instrumental  fusion  group  with  little  vestiges  of  their  former
  playfulness.  Hopper  left in 1973, and Ratledge, the last original member, was gone by
  1976. Other lineups continued to play under the Soft Machine name, amazingly, until the
  1990s, but these were the Soft Machine in name only. — Richie Unterberger

        Similar  Artists: Robert Wyatt Matching Mole Genesis Pink Floyd The United States
  of  America King Crimson Caravan Hatfield & The North Henry Cow Frank Zappa David Bowie
  National  Health  Roots  and  Influences:  Jazz Followers: Magellan Etron Fou Leloublan
  Organisation Passage Tin Huey Ultramarine Tortoise Cairo Gorky's Zygotic Mynci Delivery
  Eternity  X  Ant-Bee  Performed Songs By: Karl Jenkins Mike Ratledge Hugh Hopper Robert
  Wyatt Kevin Ayers John Etheridge Elton Dean Roy Babbington J. Marshall

Discographie (Albums):

 1968  Volume One  One Way 
 1969  Volume Two   One Way 
 1970  Third  Columbia 
 1971  Fourth   One Way 
 1972  Fifth   One Way 
 1973  Six   One Way 
 1974  Seven   One Way 
 1975  Bundles   See For Miles 
 1976  Softs   See For Miles 
 1981  The Land of Cockayne   One Way