Profile of Kevin Ayers on Famous Like Me

Kevin Ayers (born August 16, 1945) is a British rock singer from Canterbury, England.

He was in the pioneering psychedelic progressive rock band Soft Machine in the late 1960s, and was closely associated with the Canterbury scene.

He has recorded a series of albums as a solo artist. Long resident in Spain, he returned to the United Kingdom in the mid-1990s. He now lives in the south of France and still regularly tours Europe, US and Japan with a Belgian backing band. In the past he worked together with Mike Oldfield, Andy Summers, Ollie Halsall and many other famous artists. More information can be found at his website.

Ayers was born in 1945 (not 1944, as is usually stated), the son of a British civil servant and spent much of his childhood in Malaysia. The tropical atmosphere and unpressured lifestyle had an impact, and one of the frustrating and endearing aspects of Ayers' career is that every time he seemed on the point of success, he would take off for some sunny spot where good wine and food were easily found.

Ayers returned to England at age 12, and in his early college years took up with the burgeoning musicians' scene in the Canterbury area. He was quickly drafted into the Wilde Flowers, a band that featured Robert Wyatt and Hugh Hopper as well as future members of Caravan. Ayers has stated in interviews that the primary reason he was asked to join was that he probably had the longest hair. However, this prompted him to start writing songs and singing.

The Wilde Flowers morphed into Soft Machine with the addition of keyboardist Mike Ratledge and guitarist Daevid Allen. Ayers switched to bass, and shared vocals with drummer Robert Wyatt. The contrast between Ayers' baritone and Wyatt's reedy tenor, plus the freewheeling mix of rock and jazz influences, made for a memorable new sound that caught on quickly in the psychedelic 60s. The band often shared stages (particularly at the UFO Club) with Syd Barrett's Pink Floyd.

After an exhausting and far too extensive tour of the United States opening for Jimi Hendrix, a weary Ayers sold his white Fender Jazz bass to Noel Redding and retreated to the beaches of Ibiza in Spain with Daevid Allen to recuperate. While there, Ayers went on a songwriting binge that resulted in the songs that would make up his first album, Joy of a Toy. The album was one of the first released on the fledgling Harvest label, along with Pink Floyd's releases. Joy of a Toy established Ayers as a force to watch, with music that varied from the circus march of the title cut to the pastoral "Girl on a Swing" and the ominous "Oleh Oleh Bandu Bandong", based on a Malaysian folksong. Many of the songs on this album remain in Ayers' live sets. Ayers' old mates from Soft Machine backed him, with the addition on some cuts of Rob Tait, sometime Gong drummer.

A second album, Shooting at the Moon, soon followed. For this, Ayers assembled a band that he called The Whole World, which featured a young Mike Oldfield on bass and occasionally lead guitar. Again Ayers came up with a batch of engaging songs interspersed with avant-garde instrumentals and a heavy dose of whimsy.

One interesting product of the Shooting at the Moon sessions was the single, "Singing a Song in the Morning", early recordings of which featured participation from Syd Barrett. The lead guitar that appears on the final mix was often thought to have been played by Barrett, even appearing on various Barrett bootlegs, but Ayers has said that he played the solo, emulating Barrett's style. The 2004 CD reissue of Joy of a Toy includes a mix of this song featuring Barrett's guitar as a bonus track.

The Whole World was reportedly an erratic band live, and Ayers was not cut out for life on the road touring. The band broke up after a short tour, with no hard feelings, as most of the musicians guested on Ayers' next album, Whatevershebringswesing, regarded as one of his best.

On the 1 June 1974, he headlined in a concert that was later released as a live album and became known under the acronym ACNE. The line-up of the concert was Kevin Ayers, John Cale, Nico and Brian Eno. Mike Oldfield, by then famous, played as well.

Discography

• Joy of a Toy (November 1969)
• Shooting at the Moon (October 1970)
• Whatevershebringswesing (January 1972)
• Bananamour (May 1973)
• The Confessions of Dr. Dream and Other Stories (May 1974)
• June 1, 1974 (june 1974) (live album)
• Sweet Deceiver (March 1975)
• Yes We Have No Mananas (June 1976)
• Rainbow Takeaway (April 1978)
• That's What You Get Babe (February 1980)
• Diamond Jack and the Queen of Pain (June 1983)
• Deia...Vu (1984)
• As Close As You Think (June 1986)
• Falling Up (February 1988)
• Still Life with Guitar (February 1992)

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