WHY ARE WE SLEEPING? 1970
KEVIN AYERS R.I.P. [16 Aug. 1944 - 18 Feb. 2013] "Stranger In Blue Suede Shoes" 1972
BUTLINCAT2 .
I walked into this bar and the man refused
He said, "We don't serve strangers in blue suede shoes
We don't give credit and we don't give way
We have to think about what the people might say
You know what I mean?"
I said, "Sure, man."
Oh, he gave me a smile that was sickly and wet
And I offered him one of my cigarettes
He took it, afraid that he might appear rude
Then proceeded to sell me some second-class food
Nice guy. Meet 'em everywhere
He said "My oh my, I have suffered too long
And this cigarette seems to be very strong
I don't make the rules, I just get what I take
And I guess every rule was made to break
You can take what you like, it won't hurt me
'Cause I'm just working for the company"
From the green cigarette, he took a long drag
And said "I think I'll pack my travelling bag
I'm tired of cheating and wasting my head
And filling the boss's bags with bread
I want to get out in the sun and rain
And feel the wind on my skin again
The world is large and I've got time yet
And by the way, thanks for that cigarette
Thank you very much"
KEVIN AYERS + THE WHOLE WORLD - "May I?" (Live TV Performance On "Old Grey Whistle Test") | © 1972
KEVIN AYERS - BANANAMOUR- FULL ALBUM - U.K. UNDERGROUND - 1973
Kevin Ayers
Kevin Ayers | |
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![]()
Free concert at Hyde Park, 29 June 1974
| |
Background information | |
Born | 16 August 1944 Herne Bay, Kent, England |
Died | 18 February 2013 (aged 68) Montolieu, France |
Genres | |
Occupation(s) | Musician, singer-songwriter, record producer |
Instruments |
|
Years active | 1960s–2013 |
Labels |
Contents
[hide]Biography[edit]
Early life[edit]
Soft Machine[edit]
Solo career, 1969–1999[edit]
Later years, 2000–2013[edit]
Discography[edit]
Soft Machine[edit]
Title | Label | Date of Release |
---|---|---|
The Soft Machine | ABC/Probe | Dec 1968 |
Solo[edit]
Title | Label | Date of Release |
---|---|---|
Joy of a Toy | Harvest | Nov 1969 |
Shooting at the Moon | Harvest | Oct 1970 |
Whatevershebringswesing | Harvest | Nov 1971 |
Bananamour | Harvest | May 1973 |
The Confessions of Dr. Dream and Other Stories | Island | May 1974 |
Sweet Deceiver | Island | Mar 1975 |
Yes We Have No Mañanas (So Get Your Mañanas Today) | Harvest | Jun 1976 |
Rainbow Takeaway | Harvest | Apr 1978 |
That's What You Get Babe | Harvest | Feb 1980 |
Diamond Jack and the Queen of Pain | Charly | Jun 1983 |
Deià...Vu | Blau | Mar 1984 |
As Close As You Think | Illuminated | Jun 1986 |
Falling Up | Virgin | Feb 1988 |
Still Life with Guitar | FNAC | January 1992 |
The Unfairground | LO-MAX | September 2007 |
Singles[edit]
Title | Label | Date of Release |
---|---|---|
Love Makes Sweet Music (with Soft Machine) | Polydor | Feb 1967 |
Joy of a Toy (with Soft Machine) | ABC/Probe (USA) | Nov 1968 |
Singing a Song in the Morning | Harvest | Feb 1970 |
Butterfly Dance | Harvest | Oct 1970 |
Stranger in Blue Suede Shoes | Harvest | Aug 1971 |
Oh! Wot a Dream | Harvest | Nov 1972 |
Don't Let It Get You Down | Harvest (FR) | Nov 1972 |
Caribbean Moon | Harvest | Apr 1973 |
The Up Song | Island | Feb 1974 |
Day by Day | Island (NL) | Feb 1974 |
After The Show | Island | Jul 1974 |
Falling in Love Again | Island | Feb 1976 |
Stranger in Blue Suede Shoes (reissue) | Harvest | Feb 1976 |
Star | Harvest | Apr 1977 |
Mr Cool | ABC (USA) | Apr 1977 |
Money Money Money | Harvest | Feb 1980 |
Animals | Columbia (ES) | 1980 |
My Speeding Heart | Charly | 1983 |
Who's Still Crazy | WEA (ES) | 1983 |
Stop Playing with My Heart | Blau (ES) | 1984 |
Stepping Out | Illuminated | 1986 |
Am I Really Marcel? | Accidentales (ES) | 1988 |
The Best We Have | Accidentales (ES) | 1988 |
Thank You Very Much | FNAC | 1992 |
Baby Come Home | LO-MAX | Sep 2008 |
Compilations, collaborations and live recordings[edit]
- June 1, 1974 (|Island |Jun 1974) (with Nico, John Cale and Brian Eno)
- Lady June's Linguistic Leprosy (Caroline/Virgin, Nov 1974) (with Lady June and Brian Eno
- Odd Ditties (Harvest 1976) (a collection of rarities and unreleased tracks)
- The Kevin Ayers Collection (SFM 1983)
- Banana Productions: The Best of Kevin Ayers (EMI 1989)
- BBC Live in Concert (Windsong 1992)
- Document Series Presents Kevin Ayers (Connoisseur Collection 1992)
- 1969–80 (Alex 1995)
- First Show in the Appearance Business: The BBC Sessions 1973–1976 (Strange Fruit 1996)
- The Garden of Love with Mike Oldfield and Robert Wyatt (Voiceprint 1997)
- Singing the Bruise: The BBC Sessions, 1970–1972 [live] (Strange Fruit 1998)
- Too Old to Die Young: BBC Live 1972–1976 (Hux 1998)
- Banana Follies (Hux 1998)
- Turn the Lights Down (live) with the Wizards of Twiddly (Market Square 2000)
- The Best of Kevin Ayers (EMI 2000)
- Didn't Feel Lonely Till I Thought of You: The Island Records Years (Edsel 2004)
- Alive In California (Box-O-Plenty Records, November 2004)
- BBC Sessions 1970–1976 (Hux 2005)
- Some Kevin Ayers (white label promo 2007)
- Songs For Insane Times: An Anthology 1969–1980 (EMI, September 2008)
- The Harvest Years (5 X CD box set, Harvest 2012 ) - Includes Joy of a toy, Shooting at the Moon, whatevershebringswesing, Bananamour and The Confessions of Dr. Dream and other stories all with bonus tracks, single mixes, B sides, BBC session tracks. Odd ditties is omitted and Confessions is included despite it being originally released on Island, not Harvest.
References[edit]
- ^ Strauss, Neil (September 5, 1996). "The Pop Life". The New York Times.
- ^ Turn On Your Mind: Four Decades of Great Psychedelic Rock (Hal Leonard 2003) ISBN 0-634-05548-8
- ^ Unfairground liner notes (September 2006)
- ^ Sean O'Hagan (20 February 2013). "Kevin Ayers obituary". The Guardian. Retrieved 23 January 2015.
- ^ ab The Guardian-4 July 2003
- ^ The Independent-10 September 2007
- ^ ab The Sunday Times-2 September 2007
- ^ "Is This Man A Dipso?" by Nick Kent (NME 31 August 1974)
- ^ Soft Machine: Out-Bloody-Rageous by Graham Bennett (SAF Publishing 2005)
- ^ Telegraph-30 August 2007
- ^ Allmusic by John Bush
- ^ ab Joy of a Toy notes by Martin Wakeling (EMI September 2006)
- ^ "Current News". Planet Gong. Retrieved 2013-05-02.
- ^ Sounds, 25 January 1972
- ^ NME 18 January 1975
- ^ NME 31 August 1974
- ^ What's Welsh for Zen by John Cale (Bloomsbury 2003) ISBN 0-7475-4622-3
- ^ The Mirror, 7 September 1998
- ^ "Kevin Ayers". Telegraph. 2013-02-20. Retrieved 2013-05-02.
- ^ Margrave of the Marshes, John Peel & Sheila Ravenscroft, Bantam Press, 2005. ISBN 0-593-05252-8
- ^ ab BBC6 Interview September 2006)
- ^ Kevin Ayers: Mojo Working by James McNair (Mojo July 2007)
- ^ Mojo Working by James McNair (Mojo July 2007)
- ^ Pitchfork-31 July 2007 Archived 11 October 2007 at the Wayback Machine.
- ^ Metacritic 2007
- ^ "Kevin Ayers Has Died | News | Clash Magazine". Clashmusic.com. Retrieved 2013-02-20.
- ^ "Farewell, Kevin Ayers... - News - Mojo". Mojo4music.com. Archived from the original on 22 February 2013. Retrieved 2013-02-20.
- ^ "R.I.P. Kevin Ayers". Consequence of Sound. Retrieved 2013-02-20.
- ^ "Soft Machine founder Kevin Ayers dies". BBC News website. BBC. Retrieved 21 February 2013.
- ^ "Kevin Ayers, a Psychedelic Rocker, Dies at 68". New York Times. Retrieved 2013-02-22.
- ^ "Remembering Kevin Ayers, Britain's Carefree Psychedelic Genius". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2013-02-22.
Further reading[edit]
- Steve Peacock, "Gong: The Return of the Banana" (Sounds, 16 October 1971)
- Nick Kent, "Is This Man A Dipso?" (NME, 31 August 1974)
- Kenneth Ansell, "Let's Drink some Wine and Have a Good Time" (ZigZag, 46, 1974)
- Nick Kent, "Ayers and Graces" (NME, 7 December 1974)
- Mike Flood Page, "Despair and Temperance in Maida Vale" (Sounds, 25 January 1975)
- Max Bell, "The Confessions of Doctor Amphibious and the Malaysian Headwash" (NME, 24 May 1975)
- John Ingham, "Golden Ayers" (Sounds, 6 March 1976)
- John Ingham, "Ready to Die" (Sounds, 3 July 1976)
- Tomorrow Never Knows: Rock and Psychedelics in the 1960s (University of Chicago Press 2002) ISBN 0-226-07562-1
- Turn On Your Mind: Four Decades of Great Psychedelic Rock (Hal Leonard 2003) ISBN 0-634-05548-8
- Jonathan Glancey, "You Need a Bit Missing Upstairs to Play This Game" (The Guardian, 4 July 2003)
- Graham Bennett, Soft Machine: Out-Bloody-Rageous (SAF Publishing 2005)
- Whatevershebringswesing sleevenotes by Martin Wakeling (EMI, September 2006)
- Joy of a Toy sleevenotes by Martin Wakeling (EMI, September 2006)
- The Rare Record Price Guide (Diamond Publishing Group Ltd, Oct 2006) ISBN 0-9532601-5-1
- James McNair, "Kevin Ayers: Mojo Working" (Mojo, July 2007)
- Lisa Verrico, "The Unsung Hero of Psychedelia" (Sunday Times, 2 September 2007)
- Garth Cartwright, "The Father of the Underground" (Daily Telegraph, 30 August 2007)
- Simon Reynolds, "Kevin Ayers and Robert Wyatt" (Reynoldsretro, 14 December 2007)
- The New Musical Express Book of Rock, 1975, Star Books, ISBN 0-352-30074-4
External links[edit]
![]() | Wikimedia Commons has media related to Kevin Ayers. |
- Kevin Ayers discography at Discogs
- 1998 Kevin Ayers interview at Perfect Sound Forever (online music magazine)
- The Wire's 100 Records That Set the World on Fire (When No One Was Listening) at the Wayback Machine(archived 15 February 2005)
- NME news story
- The Independent feature
- Simon Reynolds feature
- An interview from 2008 with The Word (magazine), re-published in 2013 by The Guardian.