Saturday, 5 January 2019

Kevin Ayers - May I.


I was introduced to the music of Kevin Ayers by my good friend, and fellow painter, Simon Fletcher. So here's song for him that I'm sure he'll enjoy. He's not been too well recently.

In around 1969, we went to a concert in Guildford together, which was possibly part of a promotion tour for the album 'Shooting at the Moon' (below). I still have my copy.

Lol Coxhill was his Sax' player at the time, and spent the entire show fiddling with his electronics; he never did get it right. Mike Oldfield was on bass. David Bedford was on keyboards, and Mick Fincher (unknown to me) on all things percussion. A small but brilliant lineup.

Here are Ayers & Co with 'May I'; a beautiful little song from the album.

Ayers had previously been the frontman with Soft Machine, he died at his home in Southern France in 2013.





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14 comments:

  1. Susan Heather5 January 2019 at 05:19

    I hope the family are not caught up in the tropical storm in Thailand.

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    Replies
    1. Cro Magnon5 January 2019 at 05:55

      I hear that Wills's house was battered a bit; mostly damaging the garden. He didn't exactly choose the right time to go.

      Delete
    2. Susan Heather5 January 2019 at 06:06

      Are they all there at the moment?

      Delete
    3. Cro Magnon5 January 2019 at 06:43

      Not yet, the Mem-Sahib flies out on the 14th; hopefully when the storms have calmed a bit.

      Delete
  2. Rachel Phillips5 January 2019 at 10:15

    I also saw Kevin Ayers at around the same time in a small venue in Norwich. Probably part of the same tour.

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    Replies
    1. Cro Magnon5 January 2019 at 10:32

      Somehow I'm not surprised, he was very big on the university/art college circuit. He wasn't really a 'Top of the Pops' act.

      Delete
  3. Tom Stephenson5 January 2019 at 12:16

    I once spent the afternoon looking after his daughter at a garden party. A stunningly pretty little girl. She must be about 50 by now. I used to drink with Lol Coxhill here in a Bath boozer too. Right. That's enough name-dropping.

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    Replies
    1. Cro Magnon5 January 2019 at 13:06

      Later on Lol took his experimental music to another level, and it became rather self-centred and tedious. I think he often found himself playing to an audience of ONE.

      Delete
    2. Tom Stephenson5 January 2019 at 13:21

      He was not a very sociable person, bordering on rude.

      Delete
    3. Cro Magnon5 January 2019 at 15:34

      Oh dear. He always looked at bit 'marginal'.

      Delete
    4. Rachel Phillips5 January 2019 at 17:08

      He is described as a 'raconteur'. I wonder if anybody ever listened to him.

      Delete
  4. Gwil W5 January 2019 at 13:55

    Shooting at the Moon. It doesn't matter if you miss - you'll end up in the stars.

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    Replies
    1. Cro Magnon5 January 2019 at 15:33

      Poor Ayers is up there; probably earlier than he expected too.

      Delete
    2. Tom Stephenson5 January 2019 at 15:38

      So is Lol Coxhill.

      Delete

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