MINT BEAUTY ● 2xLP 1970 Orig● THE SOFT MACHINE ● THIRD ● PROG JAZZ Psych + WYATT
Sold Date:
June 14, 2020
Start Date:
June 11, 2020
Final Price:
$40.00
(USD)
Bid Count:
7
Seller Feedback:
20618
Buyer Feedback:
80
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2xLP PROGRESSIVE ADVENTURE
TOP COPY 1970 ORIGINAL ..|/\|...............................................|/\|..SOFT MACHINE "THIRD" ..|/\|...............................................|/\|.. USA - G-30339 - Columbia Records
TOP MINT "ARCHIVE COPY"...
1970 ORIGINAL FIRST PRESSING from 50 years in thick gatefold cover, a 2 LP set, third album (just as the title implies), finding the Soft Machine in a full blown adventurous & highly creative affair.
With 4 close-to-twenty-minute-long tracks, it's hard to come up with a brief review that is still informative. So instead will listen to the album and try to describe each track as it plays:
"Facelift" - Opens with a loooong, deep, menacing organ note over which other keyboard lines build into a chaotic patchwork of sound. After about four minutes of this, the other instruments (bass & reeds) start to creep into the mix. Around the five minute mark, there's an audible edit (this track was constructed from two different live shows) and the song switches to a more structured section. This part sounds more like the jazz-based progressive rock that Canterbury bands are known for. Near the track's midpoint, there are a couple edits as other melodies are faded in and out. A whirling flute solo over another long organ note follows, then at the thirteen minute mark the band goes back into jazzrocking. At one point, it sounds like recordings from both concerts are playing at the same time. The track ends with a repetition of the composed bit from five minutes into the track, which shifts into some backward masking and finally fades away.
"Slightly All the Time" - Starts off with the bass sounding like it's randomly bouncing between a handful of notes, creating a catchy bass line. The drums soon join in, and then the horns state the main melody. After that there's a lengthy section of reeds backed up by bass, drums and organ. Just before the six minute mark, the track doubles its pace and then goes into a fluttering flute solo. It calms back down a couple minutes later and goes into a keyboard and sax dominated section which builds up into a ripping fuzz organ solo. Next, the song slows down and gets a little atmospheric, with swelling guitar (or is that a keyboard?) notes floating behind a smoky sax solo. During the last couple minutes the song accelerates to high speed, finally ending with a restatement of the horn theme from the beginning, this time joined by heavily distorted organ.
"Moon in June" - some collectors single this out as the best song on the album. For those who are big fans of Robert Wyatt vocals, which cover the first half of this track. The music behind the vocal parts seems to wander around until mid-way through the track, they launch into some fusion jams. Over the course of the next several minutes, the bass, drums and keyboards really shine. There are some more vocals from Wyatt, but it's mostly just wordless melodies. Towards the end, the music breaks down into some very experimental sounding stuff with long reverberating notes and squeaky keyboard noises. The track finally ends with some clanging sounds just past the nineteen minute mark.
"Out-Bloody-Rageous" - Far and away another favorite track, largely due to the wonderful looped keyboard (or is it guitar?) sounds at the beginning and end. These are built up, layer by layer into an undulating wall of sound. After this opening, the piano and bass pick up the looped melody and launch into a fairly straightforward jazz/prog number. An impressive organ solo covers the next several minutes, this gives way to a brief reappearance of the wall of keyboard loops, which fades into a section of piano working variations on the loop theme. After that, the backing 'spice' get to solo for a few minutes, eventually being joined by the keys and bass for a final restatement of the main theme before the loops return and gracefully sweep the song along its last few minutes to the album's end.
If one had to make a comparison, they might say most of this album reminds of the early Mothers of Invention, particularly when they'd play long tracks with lots of soloing (such as "King Kong"). There are also parts reminding of Daevid Allen & Gong
and the "Fan Man adds:
Third marks the most major of Soft Machine's several shifts in musical genre over their career, completing their transition from psychedelic music to jazz, and is a significant milestone of the Canterbury scene, featuring interplay between the band's personnel: Mike Ratledge on keyboards, Robert Wyatt on drums, Hugh Hopper on bass and newest member Elton Dean on whiring sax.
Lyn Dobson appears on saxophone and flute on "Facelift", recorded while he was a full member of the band (then a quintet), although he is credited as an additional performer. Jimmy Hastings (brother of Pye Hastings from Caravan) makes substantial contributions on flute and clarinet on "Slightly All the Time", free-jazz violinist Rab Spall (then a bandmate of Wyatt's in the part-time ensemble Amazing Band) is heard on the coda to "Moon in June", and Nick Evans (a member of the band during its short-lived septet incarnation) makes brief appearances on trombone in "Slightly All the Time" and "Out-Bloody-Rageous".
In the Q & Mojo Classic Special Edition Pink Floyd & The Story of Prog Rock (2005), the album came #20 in its list of "40 Cosmic Rock Albums".
The original release of Third had an unpolished sound quality. "Slightly All the Time" and "Out-Bloody-Rageous" are the most straightforward tracks on the album, representing the jazz-rock sound that would be explored further on subsequent albums.
"Facelift" is the most radical track. The version on the album was recorded live at the Fairfield Halls, Croydon, 4 January 1970 (the first by the quintet version of the band), with a brief section from the Mothers Club, Birmingham, 11 January 1970, and some recordings from the 1969 Spaced project. While a large part of the finished product is essentially a live recording, parts involve tape collage and speeding up, slowing down, looping and backwards playing of tapes, the ending being the most memorable part, where two different treatments of the same basic riff (one from the live concert, the other, at double speed, from Spaced) are heard simultaneously, backwards. At the time of the 5-piece line-up, "Facelift" was typically expanded with solo improvisations and showcases by Lyn Dobson on flute, vocals and harmonica.
"Slightly All the Time" is a medley of different instrumental pieces, including Ratledge's "Backwards" and Hopper's "Noisette". "Backwards" later appeared on fellow Canterbury Scene band Caravan's 1973 album For Girls Who Grow Plump in the Night, as part of the "A-Hunting We Shall Go" medley.
"Moon in June" is the last song with lyrics that Soft Machine recorded, and their last look back to their progressive rock, pre-jazz sound. The song is in three parts. The first is a pastiche of vocal themes delivered in a stream of consciousness which varied in live performances. Wyatt plays all the instruments in this section. The lyrics borrow from Soft Machine's earlier "That's How Much I Need You Now" and "You Don't Remember", but largely from new vignettes recorded in a demo by Wyatt in October 1968 while on holiday in New York state. An excerpt from a different demo of Part 1, recorded in November 1968, was included on Robert Wyatt's 2001 Flotsam Jetsam archive compilation. The second part features the whole band, and is an instrumental similar to other jazz-rock pieces on the album. The third is a drone featuring Wyatt and violinist Rab Spall; Spall's part was recorded separately and was sped up and slowed down to make the violin fit the beats of the music. This section also features Wyatt scat singing uncredited renditions of two Kevin Ayers songs: "Singing a Song in the Morning" and "Hat Song".
"Out-Bloody-Rageous", the final song on the album, is an instrumental composed by Ratledge, and contains a number of tape loops inspired by the work of Terry Riley.
Original edition
Side A: "Facelift" (Hugh Hopper) – 18:45
Side B: "Slightly All the Time" (Mike Ratledge) – 18:12
Including: "Noisette" (Hopper), "Backwards" (Ratledge) and "Noisette Reprise" (Hopper)
Side C: "Moon in June" (Robert Wyatt) – 19:08
Side D: "Out-Bloody-Rageous" (Ratledge) – 19:10
CONDITION:
The cover: rated: M- Thick gatefold and usually worn after 50 years z there are no delete marks, no split seams, no bends, and no writing ...
The vinyl: Rated: M- top copy, minty clean all over...fantastic! and all 4 Columbia labels are clean
A cool addition to anyone's music library!
SEE: SELLERS OTHER ITEMS (((similar grooves for "head" people...)))
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All imperfections are noted both cover & record
GRADING SCALE: M, M-, EX, VG++,VG+, VG, VG- M Completely clean, no marks, plays clean
M- Carefully used, looks clean, plays clean, shiny gloss, plays clean
EX Faint scuff or superficial mark, near M-, high gloss, plays clean VG++ Glossy with minimal scuffing or light mark playing very nice, enjoyable
VG+ a bit more scuff or marks still plays well with very minimal surface at worse VG more marks/scratches only minor, nothing deep, no loud clicks or pops this grade is abused by many, VG here does not mean "trashed" VG- surface noise present, will not have skips or jumps ALL PAYMENTS SHOULD BE MADE WITHIN 5 DAYS Of AUCTIONS END BIDDERS PLEASE = Do Not Bid If You Are Not Serious About Following Through The Transaction! ALL ITEMS GUARANTEED FOR WINNING BID - LESS SHIPPING!
