Kevin Ayers – Whatevershebringswesing – 1972

Mozart, Beethoven, Wagner, Bach...and I suppose Pink too.

Kevin Ayers – Whatevershebringswesing – 1972

Postby Roland Bru » Sat Sep 27, 2008 2:56 pm

Kevin Ayers is, as they say in the trade, an enigmatic figure. He started out as a member of Soft Machine, and performed on their first album. Soft Machine is a kind of Pink Floyd in 1967 / 68 (but they went in a more jazz-rock direction after the first album, never scaling commercial highs like Pink Floyd, but actually becoming a cult favourite). Kevin Ayers is also a cult favourite and this album is a nice example of his solo career. It’s the third solo album (following Joy of a toy, with a supporting guitar part by Syd Barrett, and Shoot at the moon) and was released in 1972. It is usually considered the most proggy, and one of his best albums.

The proggy reputation is mostly based on the first song, There is loving / Among us / There is loving (beautiful) and Song from the bottom (scary, like the Beatles Revolution #9, with slightly more musical content), as the other songs are more folksy in nature: Margaret is a lovely acoustic ballad, Oh my adds a horn section and sounds like it could appear in a musical situated in the 1920’s. The title song is again folksy, with a prominent bass part. Stranger in blue suede shoes is more up-tempo. Lullaby is as inconsequential as all pop songs called lullaby, but lovely nonetheless. The bonus songs are a mixed bag: Stars is OK, but never seems to reach its potential. Don’t sing no more sad songs is from the same musical as Oh my, but with better vocal parts. Fake Mexican Tourist blues is another of Kevin’s Carribean flavoured songs and works great. The early mix of Stranger in blue suede shoes is not very different, but it’s a fun song, so another version is OK by me.
Roland Bru
 
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