KEVIN AYERS & THE WHOLE WORLD: SHOOTING AT THE MOON

I'm not quite sure to describe just how important Kevin Ayers was to the UK music scene of the late Sixties and early Seventies, but possibly it is enough to say he was a founder member of The Soft Machine, playing on their debut album, as well as being heavily involved with Gong. If that was not enough, he can also rightly be accused of bringing Mike Oldfield to public attention. Ayers The Soft Machine left after the American tour for the debut, later releasing his first solo album, the wonderful 'Joy of a Toy', which featured, among others, David Bedford. After touring with Gong, he formed a proper band for his second album, The Whole World, and while he provided vocals, guitar and bass the rest of the band was Mike Oldfield (bass, guitar, vocals), David Bedford (piano & jangle piano, organ, accordion, guitar, marimba), Lol Coxhill (saxes & electric sax, "zoblophone") and Mick Fincher (drums, percussion) along with Robert and Bridget St. John providing vocals on one song each. At the time it was expected this would be a band with whom he would work for some years but sadly that was not to be the case.

Now, some 55 years from when this album was originally released, Esoteric have made this available again on vinyl, fully remastered from the original tapes. I must confess this was not an album I knew well, as I have tended to listen mostly to his debut, so this anarchic, zany and "out there" release has been a real voyage of discovery for me. This is, to me, the definition of a Marmite album as the listener will either hate it or love it (personally I loathe Marmite, and Vegemite come to that), and I can totally understand both sides. This is a strange combination of mindless noodlings and experimentations alongside psychedelic numbers, and if I was informed this had been recorded with everyone under the influence of various different substances I would not have been surprised.

However, there is something incredibly compelling about this, and when a friend of mine posted on FB recently that they were revisiting this album it brought forth a huge response from many others who declared a deep love for this. One can imagine Syd Barrett involved with the likes of "Clarence In Wonderland", and one can certainly hear the influences which Ayers must have consumed from all the times he played with Pink Floyd when he was in The Soft Machine. This may not be something I will play often, but I have a new appreciation for this album, and the remastering has clearly defined the instrumentation, with the bass playing in particular being incredibly important to the overall sound.

If you want to hear something from the Gold Years which these days does not get enough recognition for its importance, then this remastered reissue is a delight.

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