1970/71: Two of Us (Special I)

If one special chapter was enough for 1970, so why not three special chapters for 1971? Most of them are Beatles-centered, by the way!

Just in time, springtime!

Paul McCartney recording Rock and Roll Springtime.

Besides the brief hiatus, the activities from the fellow Beatles in music industry never ceased. Ringo Starr released two albums (Beaucoups of Blues and Sentimental Journey, same as our timeline), while Paul began to record his then-debut solo album, as well, as George and John did the same. As a skilled multi-instrumentalist, Paul started recording his solo album alone, alternating between Apple Studios, his home and Morgan Studios.

Despite the official sessions started by June 1970, the desire of recording a solo album comes from as early as 1969 to Paul, in a session that delivered "The Lovely Linda" and "That Would Be Something", which would be later added to The Beatles' Abbey Road. As with much of the album, McCartney sang the composition accompanied by acoustic guitar before filling the remaining tracks with a second guitar part, bass and percussive accompaniment.

As for John, he first reassembled The Dirty Mac minus Keith Richards, who was replaced by longtime friend Klaus Voormann, Eric Clapton who kept in an in-and-out of the group as a member of Derek and the Dominoes, and Mitch Mitchell, former drummer from the now-disbanded Jimi Hendrix Experience. Clapton would be eventually replaced by Hugh McCracken, a consistent session musician between Paul and John's records at the time.

Eventually the sessions were interrupted as the Beatles were returning, and after a few sessions for John's album included Ringo and George. Paul brought three of his tracks, two of which were already known by the rest of the group, Teddy Boy and Junk, and Maybe I'm Amazed. Wild Life was developed after a jam session with the entire band.

The return for the solo albums came after the first session, and it was focused to finish the records, or wait until after the release of All Things Must Pass. "That deadline fucked me, because I had a lot of work to do with 'Let It Down' and Phil [Spector]. Paul and John were the only beneficiaries with this, since they had simpler records, so I needed to wait until March to touch my album again.", George Harrison.

Ringo and Klaus Voorman during The Dirty Mac sessions.

Paul's return to his solo work started with Linda, who suggested to hire a few more musicians to help him to not get too weary recording four albums in a row (this, from Abbey Road to his solo album). Moving to New York, Paul hold auditions to work with musicians, recruiting David Spinozza and Denny Seiwell. When Spinozza became unavailable, McCracken was also hired to help Paul, suggested by Lennon.

"Paul was overwhelmed by his solo album and then by the sessions with the Beatles, so I suggested to hire some people to work with, while he was recording with the band. He would compose the songs, give it to me and the group would rehearsal until he effectively resumed the recording sessions of the album."

-Linda McCartney 

In contrast to Paul, George and John hired Phil Spector as their producer, with Spector focusing more on George's debut album rather than John's, who produced his debut album largely on his own, with a few appearances of Yoko Ono. Mitchell sometimes recalls the behavior of John changing from being upbeat to highly emotional and would discuss his feelings with Ono as they listened to playbacks in the studio control room.

"There were times at those sessions that were fucking unbearable. John would come up screaming and shouting when we were recording the damn track. The things started to get better when Ringo and George came up to the sessions, we chatted a lot there until they had to return with the group. I had my fair share of contribution to Instant Karma!, so I was quite happy to contribute something to the Beatles."

-Mitch Mitchell

Paul and Linda's album was announced along with John's to February 1971, two months before All Things Must Pass. Originally titled just "Suicide", the label preferred to add "(Call It) Suicide" to avoid backlash. Both agreed with Brian Epstein to release the album before February 20th, with Lennon's album being released two days after Rock and Roll Springtime.

Paul and Linda McCartney – Rock and Roll Springtime

Paul and Linda McCartney - Rock and Roll Springtime (1971)

Genre: Indie pop, folk rock, lo-fi

Total: 40:33

All songs written by Paul McCartney, except when mentioned.

Side A - 19:17

1. "Smile Away" - 3:51

2. "The Lovely Linda" - 0:43

3. "Long Haired Lady" (Paul and Linda McCartney) - 5:54

4. "Hot as Sun/Glasses" - 1:57

5. "(Call It) Suicide" - 2:48

6. "Momma Miss America" - 4:04

Side B - 21:16

7. "Eat at Home" (P. & L. McCartney) - 3:18

8. "Man We Was Lonely" - 2:56

9. "Every Night" - 2:31

10. "Heart of the Country" (P. & L. McCartney) - 2:21

11. "Monkberry Moon Delight" (P. & L. McCartney) - 5:21

12. "Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey" (P. & L. McCartney) - 4:49

Rock and Roll Springtime is the debut studio album by the husband-and-wife music duo Paul and Linda McCartney. The album was released on 17 February 1971 by Apple Records, with production credited to the duo. It is the first side-project of Paul McCartney outside the Beatles. Similarly to John Lennon/The Dirty Mac and Ringo Starr's Sentimental Journey, it was also recorded in-between the All Things Must Pass sessions. The photos of the cover were taken and arranged by Linda and Paul themselves.

Originally conceived as Paul's original debut album, Linda's inclusion came after the sessions for the album resumed after reuniting with the Beatles during the All Things Must Pass sessions, with Linda contributing and receiving credits afterwards. The first sessions happened with Paul alone, expanding to a number of session musicians in the songs credited to both Paul and Linda.

At the time, the album received negative to mixed reviews, despite being highly anticipated with The Dirty Mac. The album was harshly criticized being called 'half-baked', despite Paul's solo hit with Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey, which received considerable airplay in the radio. Despite the critics, Paul album reached number 5 in the United States and number 3 in the United Kingdom.

In more recent years, reviews of Rock and Roll Springtime have been more favorable towards the record. The album was considered a crucial mark for DIY musicians, home recordings and lo-fi music styles, gaining a cult following with its successor, Another Day. It is praised by artists such as Neil Young, and even John's son Sean.

John Lennon – John Lennon/The Dirty Mac

John Lennon - John Lennon/The Dirty Mac (1971)
Genre: Rock, avant-pop
Total: 42:05
All songs written by John Lennon.

Side A - 21:47
1. "Power to the People" - 3:22
2. "Cold Turkey" - 5:01
3. "Well Well Well" - 5:59
4. "I Found Out" - 3:37
5. "Working Class Hero" - 3:48

Side B - 20:18
6. "Mother" - 5:34
7. "Hold On" - 1:52
8. "God" - 4:09
9. "Love" - 3:21
10. "Remember" - 4:33
11. "My Mummy's Dead" - 0:49

John Lennon/The Dirty Mac, sometimes simplified to just The Dirty Mac is John Lennon's debut album backed by The Dirty Mac. It was released on 19 February 1971 in tandem with the similarly titled album by his wife, Yoko Ono, and two days after Paul and Linda's Rock and Roll Springtime. It was produced by Phil Spector and has a similar cover to Yoko Ono's debut.

To record the album, John Lennon reassembled The Dirty Mac, replacing Keith Richards with Klaus Voorman in the bass, and later Eric Clapton with Hugh McCracken. The sessions for The Dirty Mac happened simultaneously with Rock and Roll Springtime and George Harrison's Let It Down, where a frequent exchange of session musicians happened, while Phil Spector also produced George album. During the same period, John was frequenting a primal scream therapy, which changed his behavior during the sessions.

John's album received mixed reviews, but it was viewed more favorably than Rock and Roll Springtime at the time, being considered "more cohesive" than the other one. "Power to the People" was John's most played track in the radio, as it was released earlier in 1970. The album reached number 10 in the United States and number 4 in the United Kingdom.

The Dirty Mac is revalued as one of John Lennon's masterpieces, and it would be quickly followed, and overshadowed, by the triple album It's So Hard, considered a response of John and Yoko to the husband-and-wife duo between Paul McCartney and Linda, igniting a friendly rivalry between the two couples.

Notes:

• Paul and Linda McCartney - Rock and Roll Springtime
• Paul McCartney - McCartney (1970)
• Paul and Linda McCartney - Ram (1971)
• John Lennon - John Lennon/The Dirty Mac
• John Lennon - John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band (1970) plus bonus tracks
• Plastic Ono Band - Cold Turkey/Don't Worry Kyoko (Mummy's Only Looking for Her Hand in the Snow)

1970/1971: A breath of fresh air

Don't try to take me if I can't return

Shagrat (sans Steve Took) recording Quatermass, 1970.

After passing through several bands and working as a session musician, Steve Took finally settled down in Shagrat, first performing in underground concerts and at the Phun City rock festival. The group was signed into Blackhill Records in late 1970, which caused the postponement of recording their first songs. After the early months, Blackhill finally scheduled a short tour across the UK and France, giving attention to the band of the remaining member of Rubber Band.

"The early days were such a mess because we needed to tour, but we had no managers, and my contract with Blackhill was almost expired. This is when I approached Syd and Peter to return to the company with my band instead, which they agreed. But it took quite long to sign another contract, because... of a lot unnecessary bureaucratic bullshit, you know?"

 -Steve Took, 1974

Quickly, Blackhill arranged a last-time concert for Shagrat in the Hyde Park Festival of 1971, looking to promote their soon-to-be newest act. "That's what we could do for a moment, as we couldn't afford to arrange any tours for Shagrat at the time due to no contract with them.", Andrew King. The band was first presented to a wider audience at the festival, performing a set comprising their songs and standards.

The group recorded their debut album in-between Abbey Road and Strawberry Studios, with songs written by each member, hiring Dick Taylor as a suggestion from Hawkwind's Dave Brock. The album would be recorded between August and December 1970, when the band left the studios to go on another tour in Europe, and then in the American West Coast.

"In the first moment, there was some lack of consensus of what our next album would be. Would it be folk? Hard rock? or the new wave of prog rock? So Hammond said 'well, why not everything? I'm sure we can work out with all this stuff.', so we pretty much agreed with him as we didn't have another choice."

-John Gustafson

Quatermass was quickly announced, although with no singles. The group received a wider attention from hard rock fans, generally associated with the emerging heavy metal scene with Deep Purple and Black Sabbath. Despite that, Shagrat denied being labeled as another fellow rising heavy metal band, though the group kept in pace with Deep Purple (John Gustafson was a friend of the group and later join the Ian Gillan Band).

Shagrat - Quatermass

Shagrat - Quatermass (1971)

Genre: Hard rock, progressive rock, freak folk

Total: 41:13

Side A - 19:09

1. "Scorpius/Steel Abortion" (Steve Took, Larry Wallis) - 4:30

2. "Up on the Ground" (John Gustafson) - 7:11

3. "Amanda" (Took) - 3:18

4. "Punting" (Gustafson) - 7:10

Side B - 22:04

5. "One Blind Mice" (Gustafson) - 3:10

6. "Seventh Sign" (Took) - 5:37

7. "Make Up Your Mind" (Hammond) - 8:44

8. "Beautiful Deceiver" (Took) - 4:33

Quatermass is the debut album of British rock band Shagrat, being released in 23 February 1971 by Blackhill Records in the United Kingdom and Europe and Capitol Records in the United States and the rest of the world. The album would be produced by Pretty Things member Dick Taylor, becoming the first work of former Rubber Band Steve Took in three years of semi-hiatus.

The album would be noted by the crossover between acid, hard rock, freak folk and progressive, symphonic rock music, labeled by the critics as 'inconsistent, yet powerful'. Shagrat appeared in the list of the most promising bands of 1970 and 1971. Later, the album would establish a cult following of prog-rock enthusiasts, being considered a classic from the first wave of progressive rock.

Despite the hustle towards the record, the numbers in the charts would reveal a great disappointment to the label, reaching number 20 in the UK Album Charts and number 174 in the Billboard 200, falling down quickly, as well as the disastrous West Coast tour that would eventually lead Blackhill to more financial problems in the 1970s.

All things must pass away...

John Lennon and George Harrison recording the guitar parts of Wild Life (if I'm not wrong, lol).

Following the release of Get Back, The Beatles could finally rest for a while, not before renewing their contract with Apple/NEMS and EMI, which I mean by settling their differences aside and marking a new era within the band. The longstanding partnership Lennon-McCartney was disbanded, with both songwriters (mostly Lennon) seeking creative freedom over his lyrics. The Beatles also agreed in releasing their albums in a two-year period, after a successor for their previous album, focusing on their personal lives and projects. In the meantime, Paul and George came into terms regarding George's songs and Epstein's equal share.

In the following four months, the band entered into a "semi-hiatus", as some of them resumed into recording solo projects, where a few contributions would be set aside to an eventual Beatles record. Despite recording their solo projects, all of the albums would be released only next year, a few months before All Things Must Pass. The band would, inevitably, resume their activities in August 1970, without Paul, as John invited George and Ringo to participate in a session.

"It was more or less like this. John invited George and I to play on some songs he was recording to [John Lennon/]The Dirty Mac, but in reality we were just fooling around the whole session when George said 'oh hey, we are recording for the Beatles right now?'. John answered something like 'I guess?', and this followed for a few days when we called Paul back to the studio."

-Ringo Starr, 1998

The album would turn out to be the last record with songs written during their stay in India, with Junk and Teddy Boy written by Paul, and Look at Me written by John Lennon. All Things Must Pass had an equal share of songs between Paul, John, and George, with It Don't Come Easy being sung by Ringo, earning him a songwriting credit as a parody of the Lennon-McCartney partnership, "Harrison-Starkey". The group also recorded a jam that would evolve to the side closer Wild Life, credited to Paul.

"I believe that All Things Must Pass was the first time in a long time that I felt that my contributions were actually being well used. The process was enjoyable all the way through, no peer-pressure from Get Back or A Doll's House, just a very laid back recording process which I believe we've all benefited from. It personally encouraged me to suggest the idea of the Concert for Bangladesh for the band."

-George Harrison

It's Johnny's Birthday would be featured as a secret track right after Harrison's I Live for You, a song based on Cliff Richard's Congratulations. The song was recorded by the group per request of Yoko Ono to John Lennon's 30th birthday. The idea to include the 49-second track in the album came from John himself as a novelty song, which all of the band agreed to do, even if the album came out seven months later.

The first single to be issued was George's What Is Life, released on February 1971, featuring the prominent use of a stripped-down Wall of Sound becoming a top-ten hit in the United States, the United Kingdom and elsewhere, backed by an instrumental version of Junk in the New World while backed by Teddy Boy in Europe, except for West Germany (backed by Watching Rainbows).

All Things Must Pass would be announced in early April 1971, with the release of the second single, Maybe I'm Amazed, becoming the Beatles' first smash hit of the seventies, backed by Isolation, and eventually a classic and signature song of the Beatles in the 1970s. Later in France and Latin America, Wild Life was released as a single, with Dig a Pony as the backing single.

The Beatles – All Things Must Pass

The Beatles - All Things Must Pass (1971)

Genre: Rock, pop, folk rock

Total: 43:38

Side A - 23:08

1. "Instant Karma! (We All Shine On)" (John Lennon) - 3:18

2. "All Things Must Pass" (George Harrison) - 3:44

3. "Teddy Boy" (Paul McCartney) - 2:22

4. "What Is Life" (Harrison) - 4:22

5. "Isolation" (Lennon) - 2:51

6. "Wild Life" (McCartney) - 6:31

Side B - 20:30

7. "It Don't Come Easy" (Harrison-Richard Starkey) - 3:00

8. "Oh My Love" (Lennon) - 2:44

9. "Maybe I'm Amazed" (McCartney) - 3:53

10. "Look at Me" (Lennon) - 2:53

11. "Junk" (McCartney) - 4:28

12. "I Live for You" (Harrison) - 3:35

13. "It's Johnny's Birthday" (Bill Martin, Phil Coulter) - 0:49

All Things Must Pass is the fourteenth studio album by the British band The Beatles. The album marks the return of the band in the production, with co-writing credits to George Martin and Phil Spector in some tracks, being released in 17 May 1971 by Apple Records, and being distributed by EMI. It is considered the first album from the Seventies era, after the Get Back sessions, of more mature songwriting in a back-to-the-roots style.

The recording sessions of All Things Must Pass started as solo sessions from each member, reserving a contribution that would feel suitable to a Beatles' album. The group reunited in two occasions in 1970, and the last two months in 1971. In contrast with the sessions of Get Back and Abbey Road, the sessions of All Things Must Pass were considered 'laid-back' and 'inspiring' by the members, who were also working on their solo records.

The themes of the album are considered a response to the hard times that the group had during the previous years, particularly the title track, relating to George's, and ultimately, the band's point of view. Besides that, love, existential and social themes are also common throughout the record, avoiding politics and religion, which the band was widely associated at the time. Wild Life is the third-longest Beatles song by length, after I Want You (She's So Heavy) and Hey Jude.

Initially, the album received negative reviews by the critics, who've characterized the mixing and production as 'lo-fi' and 'unfinished'. Nevertheless, All Things Must Pass was a big success as always, topping and alternating the top spot of Billboard 200 with Carole King's Tapestry, and later, the Beach Boys' Landlocked. In the United Kingdom, the same case happened with the Rolling Stones' Sticky Fingers. Four singles were released, and the most successful of them was Maybe I'm Amazed, becoming a classic Beatles tune.

In general, All Things Must Pass remains as a favorite record between the members, but mostly John Lennon, in an interview with Playboy in 1981, and Ringo Starr, who reverenced the equal share of tracks between the Beatles (Lennon and McCartney contributed four songs each, George contributed with three songs plus one in a partnership with Ringo).

The Beach Boys Go Dark

The Beach Boys (sans Brian) performing at the Central Park, 1971.

Despite having gone a long way, The Beach Boys seemed shaken up in the last few years, even with the success of Smile and Wild Honey, the disappointment of the last two records, plus the mental condition of the main songwriter Brian Wilson, made the band hire Jack Rieley as their manager. The move was instigated by the band themselves as a way to revitalize their public image along the turning of the decade

First measures were appointing Carl Wilson as the band's leader and spokesman, as well as ending the group's practice of wearing matching stage uniforms. Rieley also encouraged the band to record more socially conscious lyrics, as well as lyrics more centered on their actual feelings, instead of the sunny and happy themes that covered the band's prior catalog.

"Jack really helped us a lot to modernize our image, to stop making us looking like douchebags, stuck in the sixties. We needed that bump, to talk about more serious themes and be in touch with not only our audience, but our generation in general. I don't wanna sing about a happy day without thinking about Vietnam. That's the thing."

-Dennis Wilson

The policy of Jack Rieley to the band's first album under his management was to synthesize their feelings to music, relieving their frustrations. Most of them, unsurprisingly, about war, love, existentialism, hope and nostalgia. The major opponent of the idea was Mike Love, who argued that most of the lyrics weren't about the standard Beach Boys, being rebutted as that the album was a way to the group to reinvent themselves and keep in pace with their generation.

Mike's presence in the album was widely diminished, despite his presence in the sessions, with Dennis being favored as a potential songwriter. Love's major contributions in the album were Sound of Free (co-written with Dennis), Don't Go Near the Water (with Al Jardine), and the excluded Student Demonstration Time (an altered version of "Riot in Cell Block Number 9"). He also influenced in the decision to make "Won't You Tell Me" as the final track, as a bittersweet ending to the record.

"I'll be honest, it's a good record, but the sessions had some troublesome moments. Mike and Bruce kind of regretted the decision of having Jack as a manager, Brian was rock bottom, no treatments at the time, while Dennis was emerging and starting a feud with Bruce, and I had to maintain the order. It was good to me because I needed to grow some balls and be a leader who would guide the band to deliver the best product as possible in the end."

-Carl Wilson

The first experiences with Landlocked were written in Music Maker's report "Hold the Waves! 'Surf' is definitely 'Up' to the Beach Boys!", following an interview with Carl, Al Jardine, and manager Jack Rieley. Landlocked was controversially promoted with the magazine claiming that the band abandoned the 'saccharine music reminiscent from the Carpenters' towards a more progressive and conscious sound.

"I really was surprised of how Landlocked had such a hype across the people. That album made me willing to be more open to new experiences, helped me a lot to see that the audience wasn't the main way to see what the people was really listening to. Yet, I still feel a little uncomfortable with a lot of the lyrics and all the comparisons at the time. But I have learned my lesson, haha."

-Mike Love 

Long Promised Road was issued as a promotional single reaching number 2 on both the Billboard Hot 100 and UK Singles Charts, backed by Student Demonstration Time. The song was well-received, becoming a song generally associated with hope during hard times, similar to the situation the band and the world was at the time. The album was announced as "Landlocked.", as the band seemed to ditch once for all the previous surf sound from the sixties.

The Beach Boys – Landlocked.

The Beach Boys - Landlocked. (1971)

Genre: Progressive pop

Total: 38:23

Side A - 19:48

1. "Sound of Free" (Dennis Wilson, Mike Love) - 2:23

2. "Don't Go Near the Water" (Love, Al Jardine) - 2:39

3. "Lady (Fallin' in Love)" (D. Wilson) - 3:11

4. "Feel Flows" (Carl Wilson, Jack Rieley) - 4:44

5. "Fourth of July" (D. Wilson, Rieley) - 2:44

6. "Disney Girls (1957)" (Bruce Johnston) - 4:07

Side B - 18:35

7. "Long Promised Road" (C. Wilson, Rieley) - 3:30

8. "Lookin' At Tomorrow (A Welfare Song)" (Jardine, Gary Winfrey) - 1:55

9. "A Day in the Life of a Tree" (Brian Wilson, Rieley) - 3:07

10. "(Wouldn't It Be Nice to) Live Again?" (D. Wilson) - 4:38

11. "'Til I Die" (B. Wilson) - 2:31

12. "Won't You Tell Me" (B. Wilson, Murray Wilson) - 2:54

Landlocked (stylized Land Locked.) is the sixteenth studio album by the American band The Beach Boys, released on 30 August 1971 by Brother and distributed by Island Records. It was the first album of the Beach Boys under the management of Jack Rieley, that would become known later as the Rieley Trilogy. The cover and artwork was widely based on James Earle Fraser's sculpture "End of the Trail", becoming one of the most remarkable album covers of all-time.

With personal problems, such as Brian Wilson's conditions, and the poor response for Add Some Music for Your Day, Jack Rieley was hired as the band's manager. As a therapeutic exercise, Rieley suggested the group to make a record to relieve their frustrations, also encouraging the group to approach more socially conscious lyrics, as many groups at the time. The idea was accepted among the band, except for Mike Love and Bruce Johnston, who emphasized the themes of  'summer and love', thus becoming the album with the least Mike Love contributions.

Ironically, Landlocked remains as one of the Beach Boys' best-selling records. At the time, it ultimately became a smash hit by the band, making it their first release since Beach Boys Concert to top the Billboard 200, and the UK Album Charts. Won't You Tell Me and Long Promised Road were released as singles, with the latter being the most successful, although Sound of Free had a fair share of success.

The album addressed topics that were previously never addressed by the group such as environmental, social and psychological issues, adding to the repertory of love and nostalgia, becoming considered The Beach Boys' darkest record to date, according to NME's article 'The Beach Boys Go Dark'. The bittersweet tracks like Long Promised Road and (Wouldn't It Be Nice) To Live Again? are considered the greatest definition of the album as a whole. It is also considered the album that consolidates Dennis Wilson's emergence as a songwriting power in the band.

In the end, Landlocked remains a crucial piece and a quintessential record that defines Progressive pop as a genre, influencing the Neo-psychedelic movement, shoegaze, synth-pop and the alternative music scenes. The band was nominated to the 1972 Grammy Awards in three of the four major awards, with Carl Wilson's Long Promised Road winning the category of Song of the Year in a controversial victory over Carole King and James Taylor's You've Got a Friend.

Author's notes:

Hey everybody, hope you're doing well. Sorry for the sudden absence, my computer broke a while ago, but now I'm back and I'll resume with the blog. The cover design of Landlocked is originally from soniclovenoize's version. The Beatles' All Things Must Pass was made by andrewskyDE.

Sources:

• Shagrat - Quatermass
• Quatermass - s/t
• Steve Peregrin Took - The Missing Link To Tyrannosaurus Rex
• Shagrat - Lone Star
• Shagrat - Pink Jackets Required
• The Beatles - All Things Must Pass
• George Harrison - All Things Must Pass
• Paul McCartney - McCartney
• Wings - Wild Life
• John Lennon - John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band
• John Lennon - The John Lennon Collection
• Ringo Starr - Blast from Your Past
• The Beach Boys - Landlocked.
• The Beach Boys - Surf's Up
• The Beach Boys - Feel Flows: The Sunflower & Surf's Up Sessions 1969–1971

1970/1971: From my country to the world!

Don't put your wires in my brain

Roger Waters and David Gilmour during the sessions of Atom Heart Mother, 1970.

In the turn of the decade, Pink Floyd started to record their fifth album. After the failed sessions for the Zabriskie Point movie, which ended up only with a new version of Careful With That Axe, Eugene, while the band headed back to London with a few unreleased jams recorded during the sessions. Back in London, the group recorded a number of instrumentals that would be assembled into a large piece first performed in 17 January 1970, labeled "Theme from an Imaginary Western" according to David Gilmour.

By the meantime, the band was involved in other parallel projects too, producing Tailboard's debut album while Roger Waters partnered with Ron Geesin, bringing him to develop the track while also recording a soundtrack album for the documentary The Body. The rest of the band wasn't involved, instead focusing in their next album, producing a lot of instrumentals in-between tours.

Even though the idea initially was to each member contribute with a fair share to the album, as the sessions progressed, it seemed that the idea was being discarded, with the inclusion of Zabriskie Point demos, the country-influenced Crumbling Land (then-titled Country Song) and the rock-themed Red Queen (then-titled Unknown Song), both written by Roger Waters and mostly sung by David Gilmour.

Roger also included a folk piece originally recorded for The Body called Chain of Life. Nick Mason recorded the instrumental Heart Beat, Pig Meat, while Richard Wright included the instrumental Rise and Shine along with his track Summer '68. Fat Old Sun became Gilmour's second songwriting effort aside from his instrumental compositions such as Sunny Side Up.

However, the group wasn't satisfied with the epic on its large form. The experimental parts seemed to appeal to the space rock imagery associated with Pink Floyd, which the band wasn't particularly very fond of. The epic was dismantled in the album between to parts revolving the main theme, while the epic on its own remained unreleased until its unofficial appearance on bootlegs and its official release on Atom Heart Mother's 40th anniversary in 2010. Still, the group performed the epic, now named Atom Heart Mother, on its entirety on their shows.

"I believe that we were in a process that we didn't like the result of the suite of Atom Heart Mother as a cohesive project. It was a mishmash of ideas that sounded better when they were apart, so we preferred to dismantle the track all the way to the remaining ones that made it into the album."

-Roger Waters 

Quite unsatisfied with the final product, Blackhill Records announced Pink Floyd's fifth record entitled Atom Heart Mother. Red Queen was released as the promotional single, surprisingly reaching number 4 in the United Kingdom, number 13 in Billboard Hot Rock Singles, and number 35 in Billboard Hot 100, becoming one of the band's most played songs in the radio during the 1970s.

"Pretty weird to think that Atom Heart Mother was our breakthrough album in the United Kingdom. I'll be honest that I don't like that album, and I simply don't want to play stuff that I don't enjoy apart from maybe Red Queen and Fat Old Sun."

-David Gilmour 

Pink Floyd – Atom Heart Mother

Pink Floyd - Atom Heart Mother (1970)

Genre: Progressive rock, experimental, folk rock

Total: 46:10

Side A - 22:36

1. "Heart Beat, Pig Meat" (Nick Mason) - 3:12

2. "Atom Heart Mother" (Roger Waters, Richard Wright, David Gilmour, Mason, Ron Geesin) - 5:23

3. "Chain of Life" (Waters) - 3:59

4. "Sunny Side Up" (Gilmour) - 3:19

5. "Crumbling Land" (Waters, Wright, Gilmour) - 4:16

6. "Atom Heart Mother (Remergence)" (Waters, Wright, Gilmour, Mason, Geesin) - 5:48

Side B - 23:34

7. "Rise and Shine" (Wright) - 2:31

8. "If" (Waters) - 4:31

9. "Summer '68" (Wright) - 5:29

10. "Fat Old Sun" (Gilmour) - 5:22

11. "Red Queen" (Waters, Gilmour) - 4:37

12. "Morning Glory" (Waters, Wright, Gilmour, Mason) - 4:41

Atom Heart Mother is the fifth studio album by the British band Pink Floyd. The album was produced by the band, and the last credited to Norman Smith as a producer. It was released on 2 October 1970 in the United Kingdom and Europe by Blackhill Records, and 10 October in the United States and the rest of the world by Columbia. The album was recorded as Pink Floyd was trying to avoid the space rock association with less experimentation and more pastoral themes.

The sessions of the album began, in fact, in early 1970, where the band started assembling instrumentals done in rehearsals with the ones recorded previously in the failed sessions of the movie Zabriskie Point. Originally, the idea was to create an epic, conceived by the band and songwriting partner Ron Geesin. After all, the band decided to split the epic between two parts of the title track.

Ironically, after the sessions, the band remained unsatisfied with the final result, but Atom Heart Mother ended up becoming Pink Floyd's breakthrough in the United Kingdom topping the charts after dethroning the fellow Soft Machine's Magick Brother. In the United States, the album reached number 55, a new record for the band in the other side of the ocean.

The band released three singles for Atom Heart Mother: the first one, Red Queen, was released as a promotional single, becoming the most successful between the three. The second one is the country-influenced Crumbling Land, more successful in the United States reaching number 25, and the third one, Summer '68, popular in France and West Germany, reaching number 10 in the UK charts.

Face to face with the man who sold the world

David Bowie in 1970.

Following the successful release of An Occasional Dream, which included Bowie's yet-biggest single Space Oddity, David Bowie went to form his backing band called Hype, formed by Tony Visconti on bass guitar and drummer John Cambridge. Meeting guitarist Mick Ronson, Hype was complete, with Cambridge being replaced by Mick Woodmansey by the end of March, suggested by Ronson. 

In the meantime, the group presented themselves as David Bowie & Hype, performing in superhero costumes designed by Bowie's now wife Angela Burnett. Once, Visconti's clothes were stolen, where he had to return home as the Hypeman. The group rented an Edwardian mansion in Beckenham. Ronson and Visconti built a small makeshift studio there, where Bowie generally recorded most of the early 1970s demos.

The recording sessions for Bowie's next album started in April 1970 at the Advision Studios in London, then moving to the Trident Studios. During the same time, most of personal and managerial life of Bowie were in a hurry, leaving the arrangements to Ronson and Visconti, while Bowie focused more on lyrics. Bowie terminated the contract with Ken Pitt and hired Tony Defries without the consultation of Blackhill Enterprises, and while Ken remained on Blackhill, Defries' admission was more complicated.

Bowie wanted to make an album as a spin-off of The Supermen track from An Occasional Dream, hence strengthening the ties between previous albums, yet wanting something more cohesive like Cygnet Committee and 'not so loose' like the previous album. At the time, Bowie's relations with Blackhill's board were getting more and more strained, besides the issues with Ken Pitt and Tony Defries, Bowie wanted less control of the company in his career, wanting more artistic freedom to work, similarly to Syd's situation a few months prior.

"When I saw that Bowie was in the same point as myself, I immediately went to that big house that he was living and we talked so much about that. And he was right, actually, he wanted to change his own manager, and what's so revolting about this? If he wanted to cut ties with Blackhill, that was his decision, and I supported him until the end."

- Syd Barrett

Reaching an agreement with Blackhill, Metrobolist would be Bowie's last album under Blackhill Records, becoming the first major artist and founder from the label to depart. In late 1970, Bowie signed with RCA Records, as suggested by Defries. Bowie's departure would mark another point of the downfall of Blackhill.

As of Syd, his stay in Blackhill was far more complicated than Bowie, as he was still seen as the 'underground symbol', even though Bowie and Bolan scored a few more hits than him. In an agreement with the high-ranking of the label, Syd swapped managers from Peter Jenner to Andrew King, but still, Jenner would complain with Syd's absence in 1970, as he was getting engaged with Gayla Pinion.

Metrobolist was announced by Blackhill Records as the newest Bowie's release, under David Bowie & Hype, nearly a year after An Occasional Dream. No singles were released as Bowie's contract expired, but some songs were re-recorded under RCA and released as B-sides. The album received a little promotion from Blackhill and a bit more from Bowie's new label, RCA.

David Bowie & Hype – Metrobolist

David Bowie & Hype - Metrobolist (1970)

Genre: Hard rock, blues rock

Total: 40:24

All tracks are written by David Bowie.

Side A - 21:27

1. "The Width of a Circle" - 8:05

2. "All the Madmen" - 5:38

3. "Black Country Rock" - 3:32

4. "After All" - 3:52

Side B - 18:57

5. "Running Gun Blues" - 3:11

6. "Saviour Machine" - 4:25

7. "She Shook Me Cold" - 4:13

8. "The Man Who Sold the World" - 3:55

9. "Holy Holy" - 3:13

Metrobolist is the third studio album from British singer-songwriter David Bowie, produced by Tony Visconti. The album was released on 4 November 1970 by Blackhill Records, ultimately becoming Bowie's last album under the label before moving into RCA Records. The album's style is considered a sudden shift from David toward hard and blues rock music. It was the only record of David Bowie backed by his band, Hype.

As said before, music critics noticed Bowie's sudden shift from progressive, psychedelic and folk influences to a more straight-sounding hard and blues rock, quite similar to The Supermen track. Progressive elements were incorporated on the eight-minute epic The Width of a Circle, and the more hard elements are widely based on Cream.

As a result of Bowie's dismissal from Blackhill Records, no singles were released, and the album received a little promotion, in contrast with An Occasional Dream. The album was better critically received in the United States than in the UK, although selling less than its predecessor. Metrobolist reached number 6 in UK Album Charts and number 122 in the Billboard 200.

Despite initially being a commercial failure, the 1972 reissue after the breakthrough with Ziggy Stardust was revaluated by the critics, and ultimately became a fan-favorite and a cult classic with tracks such as The Man Who Sold the World and All the Madmen. The album is cited as an influence to goth rock and later glam rock.

Keeping the heat with memories

Os Mutantes somewhere in the early 1970s.

Os Mutantes would fulfill their dreams on being international rockstars with an international tour around Europe. At the time, the group was supporting The Moody Blues, which seemed to shape the sound of the group in later works. Still, the American Dream of the band seemed out of touch for a while, even with the interest around the band back in the Old World. The group was promoting Tecnicolor and their most recent release back in Brazil, A Divina Comédia ou Ando Meio Desligado.

"[...] I mean, do you think that the audience cares about the lyrics? We were having fun a lot with The Moody Blues at the time, but that proved a little that our music was certainly cheerful to the audience, I've even seen some people dancing in some shows there."

- Rita Lee 

Despite the transition between psychedelic rock to a progressive sound at the time, Polygram was interested into invest in the potential success of the group outside their home country, and Tecnicolor would be the presentation of another side of Brazil, besides the breezy bossa nova/lounge, to a more chaotic and playful rock music developed outside the American and mostly British hotspots.

The tropicália movement was going to reach international audiences... quite belated. Back in Brazil, the authoritarian military regime persecuting artists in music forced some of them to go to exile, such as Caetano Veloso and Gilberto Gil. The tropical themes of circus, carnival and party would be replaced by more somber themes of saudade and resistance against the regime of the time. A term coined by specialists defines this as the 'post-Tropicália era'. Os Mutantes wouldn't be affected again by the persecution... for a while.

"It was an appearance on a TV show [Samedi et Compagnie] in France when Albert [Raisner] asked about how life in Brazil was when Rita suddenly reaffirmed what Elis [Regina] said, that Brazil was 'a country ruled by troglodytes', and we [Sérgio Dias and Arnaldo Baptista] agreed with her, quite nervous about that, haha!"

- Sérgio Dias

The event passed quite unnoticed in Brazil at the time thanks to the efforts of the regime to prevent the same reactions as Elis did before. For the band themselves, they suffered some reprisals after returning to Brazil. The contract with Polygram was almost terminated, Rita herself was temporarily jailed, being freed under the same conditions imposed for Elis Regina, and Os Mutantes, now officially adding the bass player Liminha and drummer Dinho Leme to the group, went to a self-imposed exile, first in France, later in the United States.

"I remember that our last words before going to France was something like: 'from my country, to the world!'. We wanted to return as soon as possible, like we did a few years later."

- Arnaldo Baptista 

Os Mutantes – Tecnicolor

Os Mutantes - Tecnicolor (1971)

Genre: Tropicália, psychedelic rock, experimental rock

Total: 38:25

All tracks are written by Arnaldo Baptista, Rita Lee and Sérgio Dias, except where noted.

Side A - 19:33

1. "Panis et Circenses" (Caetano Veloso, Gilberto Gil) - 3:36

2. "Bat Macumba" (Veloso, Gil) - 3:16

3. "Virginia" - 3:23

4. "She's My Shoo Shoo" (Jorge Ben) - 2:52

5. "I Feel a Little Spaced Out" - 2:51

6. "Baby" (Veloso) - 3:36

Side B - 18:52

7. "Tecnicolor" - 3:54

8. "El Justiciero" - 3:52

9. "I'm Sorry Baby" (Arnaldo Baptista, Rita Lee) - 2:42

10. "Adeus, Maria Fulô" (Sivuca, Humberto Teixeira) - 2:39

11. "Le Premier Bonheur du Jour" (Jean Renard, Frank Gerald) - 2:46

12. "Saravah" - 2:59

Tecnicolor is the fourth studio album from Brazilian band Os Mutantes, and their first international release under Polygram. The album was released in 27 February 1971, being produced by Carl Holmes. The album was quite successful in most European countries such as France, West Germany and the Netherlands, bringing some new fresh music from Brazil, while it passed quite unnoticed in the United Kingdom, despite promotion in the Brazilian communities of the country.

The title track, Tecnicolor, and Virginia were released as singles, with the latter being a minor hit in France. The album reached number 21 in the French Album Charts, which was celebrated by the band. In later years, the album would receive a large cult following, including John's son Sean Lennon and Nirvana's frontman Kurt Cobain. Originally, the album wasn't released in Brazil, being reissued in 1979, a while after the disbandment of the group.

Polygram saw the release as a good sign that the band could build their international careers while exiled from Brazil. A new contract was signed, and the clause that required only one album per year was revoked, leaving the group with far more artistic freedom and ideas, yet under the schedule of delivering an album per year.

Author's comments:

Hey there! Long time no see. There were a few problems about moving from college and stuff, so it took longer than expected to me, sorry about that, we'll resume normally from now on.

Also there are a few things here and there. This will be probably David Bowie's last alternate release and we will focus a bit less on him. He will, however, appear more often later during Syd's plot, but unfortunately I don't see no things to be changed on his discography. Sorry, folks!

And now, we have the first release of Os Mutantes, which is actually the little modified version of OTL Tecnicolor, but instead, it was released as it was originally intended to an international audience. Hope you like it!

Sources:

• Pink Floyd - Atom Heart Mother
• Pink Floyd - Atom Heart Mother
• Roger Waters & Ron Geesin - Music from The Body
• Various Artists - Zabriskie Point soundtrack
• David Bowie - Metrobolist
• David Bowie - The Man Who Sold the World
• David Bowie - Holy Holy / Black Country Rock
• Os Mutantes - Tecnicolor
• Os Mutantes - Tecnicolor (2000)

1970: Paths that unleash and finish

Dandelions having their day

The charming Keith Noble, 1970.

Between 1969 and 1970, it felt like a school reunion for Pink Floyd. The tour with Syd Barrett and Tailboard was something far from their routine as a proper band, which was the usual routine for Tailboard themselves. But the new promising band seemed a bit apart from what they were in a few months back, mostly disinterest coming from part of the members.

"There was times that the entire group didn't came to the sessions, like, what the hell? They are supposed to be here, record new stuff for the album, but none of them came!"

 -Roger Waters

In fact, the ones that were committed on finish the album were Keith Noble, the lead vocalist, and Bob Klose, former 'modern-era' Pink Floyd member and guitarist. Willie Wilson was sometimes absent as he was negotiating his entry to the country rock band Cochise, and Clive Metcalfe was nowhere to be found. Still, Andrew King gave a ultimatum to the group to release their album and fulfil their contract, if needed.

Thus, this was the case of Tailboard. The band finished the recording sessions of Mr. Compromise in April 1970, and just sorta entered into a hiatus until it effectively announced their break-up. Some of the members still pursued career as session musicians, while some others retired, becoming professors. That was the case of Keith Noble and Clive Metcalfe. And that's how we reach the end of Tailboard, folks. But not before I show their album, of course.

The album was named Mr. Compromise, an ironically fitting name to the sessions. It was promoted by Blackhill and it was promoted by the folk-oriented Ashes and Silver. The single failed to chart in the United States and reached number 28 in UK Singles Charts before falling out quickly. The group did a short tour as part of their contractual obligations before entering into a hiatus and breaking up.

"It was relatively a good period. It was nice to meet with the guys for a last time before we've parted on our own ways. I still gave a few shots as a songwriter, but nothing too radical, and I thank the Pink Floyd and Syd a lot by helping us during that time, but it was too much business that I preferred to stick around being a professor, haha!"

-Keith Noble

Tailboard – Mr. Compromise

Tailboard - Mr. Compromise (1970)

Genre: Folk rock, psychedelic folk

Total: 43:03

All lyrics written by Keith Noble.

Side A - 20:01

1. "Mr. Compromise" - 3:28

2. "Narcissus" - 3:53

3. "Secretary Jane" - 4:07

4. "Red-Current Tide" - 1:57

5. "Up and Down Way (of It All)" - 3:43

6. "Only When I Laugh" - 2:53

Side B - 23:02

7. "Dandelions Have Their Day" - 4:52

8. "Weather" - 7:01

9. "King of the Icemen" - 5:40

10. "Ashes and Silver" - 5:29

Mr. Compromise is the debut and only studio album by British folk group Tailboard. Tailboard was a group active between 1969 and 1971, with one-off reunions in 1979, 1991, and 2003. The group was mostly formed by former members of pre-Pink Floyd, except for Willie Wilson. Mr. Compromise was released in 29 May 1970 by Blackhill Records in the United Kingdom only, being released in the US in 1992.

The album was recorded between 1969 and 1970 with the assistance from the members of Pink Floyd. Tailboard was promoted by Blackhill as a new hot folk group, backing Syd Barrett in the tours throughout Europe and the United States. The setlist was composed by the album's catalogue, plus the hit song "A Summer's Song", composed by Keith Noble.

Although it was promoted by the label, Mr. Compromise only reached number 43 in the UK Album Charts., passing unnoticed by the general public, despite being well-received by the critics and attracting a fraction of fans and Pink Floyd fanatics. Currently, the record is quite overlooked by Pink Floyd completionists, while the publishing rights were bought by Pink Floyd Records, being re-issued in 2020. The cover was drawn by fellow singer-songwriter and friend Syd Barrett.

Locking doors and switching lights (Atomic Rooster)

Vincent Crane and his kitties.

As it was told before, the first line-up from the Atomic Rooster wasn't going to last too long. Carl Palmer would leave to form Emerson, Lake and Palmer, while Nick Graham would become an organiser to the Glastonbury Festival. To fill up the roles, John Du Cann picked the bass while Martin Steer picked the drums, beginning the second incarnation of Atomic Rooster in less than a year.

As a few remaining songs from the previous album were lying unreleased and not recorded, Atomic Rooster started to record their second album. The sessions of this album would prove to be very useful to the band, particularly to Du Cann, who was seen as a skilled songwriter, as Brown was mostly missing in action throughout the sessions.

The lead singer of  the group finally appeared consistently in the final stages of the album, and it was his idea to merge several unreleased songs from the past sessions into Creepy Monsters. Brown also suggested to re-record What's Happening, the B-side of Nightmare, a single from the Crazy World of Arthur Brown era. The idea was accepted due to Arthur Brown being seen as the frontman of the group by the label and because the length would increase.

By early September, Death Walks Behind You would be announced and the fans of the new band would be caught by surprise, as the album would be released late that month. At the same time, Atomic Rooster was rising as one of the main hard/progressive rock-driven bands at the time, along with Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath and Deep Purple. The group would perform later that year at Top of the Pops to promote the album.

Atomic Rooster – Death Walks Behind You

Atomic Rooster - Death Walks Behind You (1970)

Genre: Progressive rock, hard rock

Total: 46:54

Side A - 22:35

1. "Death Walks Behind You" (John Du Cann, Vincent Crane) - 7:28

2. "What's Happening" (Arthur Brown, Crane) - 3:56

3. "I Can't Take No More" (Du Cann) - 3:33

4. "Gypsy Escape" (Brown, Crane, Du Cann) - 7:38

Side B - 24:19

5. "Tomorrow Night" (Crane) - 3:56

6. "Creepy Monsters" (Brown, Crane, Dalby, Du Cann) - 5:57

a. "Creep"

b. "Metal Monster"

c. "Night of the Pigs"

d. "Trouble"

7. "Gershatzer" (Crane) - 7:58

8. "No Time" (Brown, Du Cann) - 6:28

Death Walks Behind You is the second studio album by the British band Atomic Rooster, released on 21 September 1970. It was the first album with bass player John Du Cann, who co-wrote and sang in a lot of the songs. The album was produced by the band themselves and released by Blackhill Records, and features the William Blake monotype Nebuchadnezzar.

The album spawned one of the band's most successful singles, Tomorrow Night, which reached number 11 in the UK Singles Charts. The sessions of Death Walks Behind You lasted a month, while the new line-up of the band was formed in June of the same year, less than a month after the release of the more successful Galactic Zoo Dossier. Some songs were previously recorded and written by Arthur Brown, such as the medley of Creepy Monsters and What's Happening? (previously recorded as the Crazy World of Arthur Brown).

Atomic Rooster's new album was considered a bit underwhelming by the critics, while the fans considered a great effort. Throughout the years, Death Walks Behind You became re-evaluated and considered one of Atomic Rooster's classic records. It reached number 90 in the US Billboard 200 and number 12 in the UK Album Charts.

A dilemma over needs and desires

Soft Machine (except Kevin Ayers) in 1970 (Robert Wyatt, Mike Ratledge, Hugh Hopper and Daevid Allen).

Oh boy, and here we are with the Soft Machine again! After Woodstock, the group would gather at the Pye Studios and begin to record the sketches of what would become their third album. During the sessions, the rift between keyboard player Mike Ratledge and Daevid Allen would enlarge, as both were divergent in the direction that the band should take in the next few years. While Mike wanted the group to pursue a jazz-rock direction, Allen wanted the band to go further on the experimentation done in the last album.

The sessions of the new album were quite turbulent, with the rift between the two members: "We were kind of a powerful band on our own, I believe. But problems were caused by the ambitiousness of some members. Kevin was the good-looking boy of the group, I was the fun spirit, Rob was the typical drummer, Hugh was the quiet one, and Mike was the one who gave the texture to the music.", Daevid Allen.

At the time, Soft Machine was backed by the recently-formed backing band The Whole World, which assembled David Bedford on additional keyboards, Elton Dean on alto saxophone, Lol Coxhill on saxophone and zoblophone, a young Mike Oldfield on bass, guitar and backing vocals, and Bridget St. John on backing vocals. The group helped to increment the arrangements of the album and providing help in later tours.

During the same sessions, the band also recorded the unreleased album The Garden of Love, a fairly more avant-garde and jazz-rock project widely associated with David Bedford. The project was shelved due to objections of the management of Blackhill Enterprises, recalling the same fate as the Crazy World of Arthur Brown had. However, Facelift and Out-Bloody-Rageous, two of the songs which emerged from these sessions, were performed live by the Soft Machine after the departure of Daevid Allen, and released in the debut of Mike Ratledge's Pigling Band. The Dillema also originated from the same sessions.

"Magick Brother was the main reason to why we didn't make another double album. We like to experiment, we like jazz, but we most liked free-time. A lot of our songs are about living in peace and tranquillity and that's what we've always managed to do. And the sessions of that album were the opposite. I'd rather spend the rest of my life in Deià than touring."

 -Kevin Ayers, 1993

Blackhill Records announced Magick Brother as the third album of the Soft Machine. Lunatics Lament was released as the promotional single, reaching number 3 in the UK Singles Charts, number 37 in the Billboard Hot 100, and number 14 in the Billboard Hot Rock Songs. The album was widely promoted, focusing in the ambitiousness of the band as their newest peak in music. Pretty Miss Titty, released as Pretty Miss Diddy, also made a minor success in Europe.

"That record [Magick Brother] was a quite nice record. We put a lot of useless effort into it and that other failed project [The Garden of Love], but thankfully we were recompensed as we deserved."

 -Robert Wyatt, 2005

Soft Machine and the Whole World – Magick Brother

Soft Machine and The Whole World - Magick Brother (1970)

Genre: Canterbury scene, progressive rock, art jazz, experimental rock

Total: 91:14

Disc One (Early Morning) - 43:53

Side A - 19:33

1. "Chainstore Chant/May I?" (Daevid Allen, Kevin Ayers) - 4:52

2. "Pretty Miss Titty" (Allen) - 4:05

3. "Town Feeling" (Ayers) - 4:54

4. "Clarence in Wonderland" (Ayers) - 2:06

5. "Rational Anthem" (Allen) - 3:43

Side B - 24:20

6. "Mystic Sister & Magick Brother" (Allen) - 5:55

7. "We Know What You Mean" (Ayers) - 3:23

8. "Stop This Train (Again Doing It)" (Ayers) - 6:05

9. "Rivmic Melodies" (Ratledge, Wyatt, Hugh Hopper) - 8:57

a. "Hulloder"

b. "Dada Was Here"

c. "Thank You Pierrot Lunaire"

d. "Have You Ever Bean Green?"

e. "Out of Tunes"

Disc Two (Late Night) - 47:21

Side C - 25:22

10. "Lunatics Lament" (Ayers, Allen) - 4:53

11. "Ego" (Allen) - 3:57

12. "The Dilemma" (Robert Wyatt) - 6:14

13. "Princess Dreaming" (Allen) - 2:56

14. "Girl on a Swing" (Ayers) - 2:49

15. "Fredfish/Hope You Feel Okay" (Allen) - 4:33

Side D - 21:59

16. "Esther's Nose Job" (Mike Ratledge, Wyatt, H. Hopper) - 11:13

a. "Fire Engine Passing with Bells Clanging"

b. "Pig"

c. "Orange Skin Food"

d. "A Door Opens and Closes"

e. "10:30 Returns to the Bedroom"

17. "'Cos You Got Green Hair" (Allen) - 5:05

18. "Rheinhardt & Geraldine/Colores Para Dolores" (Ayers) - 5:41

Magick Brother is the third studio album by the Canterbury scene band Soft Machine (entitled Soft Machine and the Whole World). The album was co-produced by the Soft Machine and Peter Jenner and released in 14 October 1970 by Blackhill Records in the United Kingdom and Europe, and by CBS Records in the rest of the world. Magick Brother was recorded in a year period, right after the previous album, in late 1969 to August 1970. It is the last album featuring lead guitarist Daevid Allen, who left the band to form Gong.

As the previous album was defined by its jazz tones, the experimentation of Magick Brother is considered wider and far more complex, and the key element of the album, alternating between structured the suites of Rivmic Melodies and Esther's Nose Job, and the more fast-forward and mainstream Lunatics Lament and Clarice in Wonderland, with surrealistic lyricism mostly charged by Kevin Ayers and Daevid Allen, influenced by comedy, philosophy, and love.

The record was considered the Soft Machine's breakthrough in the United Kingdom by leading the UK Album Charts for three weeks, and number 39 in the US Billboard 200, being certified Gold. Lunatics Lament was the first single to be released, followed by Pretty Miss Titty. We Know What You Mean was the last song released as single, backed by The Dilemma.

Rolling Stone defines the album as 'the perfect crossroads between experimental, pure jazz, and mainstream music', ranking it in number 167 in the 500 Greatest Albums of All-Time. The concept of the album is refined by the songs set 'in the early morning and the late night of a Saturday'. It was regarded very influential by its contemporaries, such as Brian Eno, and later recognised by David Byrne as a key record to the composition of Talking Heads' Remain in Light.

Too lovely to understand

Daevid Allen with Gong, ca. 1970s.

With the release and the success of Magick Brother, the Soft Machine begun to prepare themselves and rehearsal for the next tour. Daevid Allen was the one that was actually amused with the success and the subsequent tour, while Mike Ratledge and Hugh Hopper were indifferent, and Kevin Ayers and Robert Wyatt were far more worried.

"I'm not a man of performances. Knowing that we did great with the album, I panicked for the rest of the week, considered going to Deià to distress, but Jimi Hendrix called me a day and he calmed me down. He wasn't used to call people, but specifically that day he wanted to talk with us about the album and other stuff. That encouraged me to go on tours."

-Kevin Ayers

"That was the time that I drank the most, apart from certain tours. I was actually feeling anxious all the time, it certainly wasn't going to be a few tours here and there like with Exiled from Canterbury, it was going to be a longer tour that we were used to."

-Robert Wyatt

However, in the middle of the tour, in Marseille, the tensions between Daevid and Mike finally broke out. The fight led to Allen promptly quit the band in the middle of the tour, leading the band to rearrange themselves to the next gigs. Daevid's songs were taken off the setlist, except for Pretty Miss Titty being sung by Kevin, but most of the setlist was replaced by improvisations, previous songs, and unreleased songs from The Garden of Love.

The Magick Brother tour lasted from November 1970 to July 1971, and Daevid split off the band in February 1971. He went and formed Gong, while the group passed through various incarnations, such as Pierre Moerlen's Gong. As of Soft Machine, but mostly Kevin Ayers, who was already exhausted, he was the one that felt Daevid's departure more than anyone, while the company tried to ease such a casualty.

"If I learned something with his [Daevid Allen] departure, surely it was about building confidence enough, and overcome the fear to be the frontman. Probably the first exercise was The Hat Song. It was a singalong between the audience and the band, trying to give some good vibrations to the audience. It was very helpful, really, in a few months I was doing far better than in the previous tours altogether."

-Kevin Ayers

Author's comment:

In this chapter, we've seen a lot of new changes and ends for some bands. Tailboard was a special band that I wanted to do something with it, but only Keith Noble had an album so we are seeing them departing from this timeline sooner. Initially was planned to do a Soft Machine entirely with Daevid Allen, but in some point there the albums were just not as good as I thought. In Magick Brother, the only different track there is The Dilemma, which is a heavily edited version of Moon in June.

Oh, and by the way, sorry about the sudden absence! I'm having final exams in college, and I'm transferring to another one! So I'll be a little bit absent in the next two weeks, but I'll try to release a new chapter as soon as possible, then return to the regular schedule. Anyway, thank you for you patience, and to enjoy A Crazy Gift of Time! :)

Sources:

• Tailboard - Mr. Compromise
• Keith Noble and Bob Klose - Mr. Compromise
• Atomic Rooster - Death Walks Behind You
• Atomic Rooster - Death Walks Behind You
• Arthur Brown's Kingdom Come - Galactic Zoo Dossier
• The Crazy World of Arthur Brown - Nightmare/What's Happening?
• Soft Machine - Magick Brother
• Gong - Magick Brother
• Kevin Ayers - Joy of a Toy
• Kevin Ayers and the Whole World - Shooting at the Moon
• Soft Machine - Volume Two
• Soft Machine - Third