Soft Machine Live at UFO in 1967

[yuvalkeshet]

can anyone take the effort to write down this speech?

[Loridans1]

Absolutely fabulous stuff! Ridiculous, pretentious & unlistenable, but such f- - - ing genuine psychedeiica!

[LAMBOFGOD690]

GO PROB ROCK



[mobyboy]

I wish I could be there - but I havent been born

[cordedpoodle]

Obviously influenced by Ferlinghetti's Cellar album. I know what you are thinking... Ferlinghetti who?

[sergejisd]

@cordedpoodle Lawrence : still alive and kicking

[GOORVY]

wow, if I were there I wouldn't need any drug haha

[enigmadroid]

If the guy in charge of opening and closing the curtain is aware of this, please communicate with me! telos-musica@usa.net. amen.

[TumbrelJockey]

The light show was so perfectly "random" there -today they are sterile by comparison.

[cordedpoodle]

@TumbrelJockey Sterile by design. Sterile by corporations. Sigh. Nothing lasts not the Raphelites, not the Bohemians, not the Jazzers, not the Beats, not the Hippies, not the Punks, not the... but the avant guard artist refuses to die!!!

[bobvidpix]

WOW most authentic! liquids boiling in Aldus tutor projectors by the originator & Soft Machine, the Floyd, Graham Bond - pioneers of the United Freak Out , 11p-6am 1x a month in the basement of the Tottenham crt rd. Blarney Club pub. Hoppy had married Suzy Creamcheese in Hyde Park, and along with americans, Jack Moore and Jim Haynes were changing London with the UFO, the International Times on Southampton Row in the basement of indica Bookshop and the Arts Lab on Drury Lane

[paisleybabee]

@bobvidpix wow!sounds like you were there :)

[Miloshell]

can anyone write it down here for the not-english speakers! I cant understand most of what he says. Thanks!

[tomthefunky]

I read this club was used most nights of the week as an Irish community hall. I can just picture little old Irish ladies wondering in from the street and witnessing something like this. "Jaysus, Mary and Joseph!!!"

[bobvidpix]

@tomthefunky - yes - it was the Blarney Club - just a few doors down from the Totten Crt. Rd. tube station - but I can't imagine any conflict - the UFO was in the basement below the club and by the time the freaks arrived the old ladies were home and the blokes to sloshed to care . . .

[tomthefunky]

@bobvidpix: Thanks for the info, Bob. Did you ever go there? Your profile says you live in the U.S. Are you English or American?

[bobvidpix]

@tomthefunky - yes i went once in march or april, 1967. Got to know the players and a year later moved to London and did lightshows at middle earth and other events for two years before returning to the states.

[tomthefunky]

@bobvidpix : That's fascinating, Bob!! Do you remember the famous Stax/Volt tour? It took place in March 1967. Please tell me you saw one of those shows.

[bobvidpix]

@tomthefunky - only wish i had - i had a nigerian roommate in 67 with a hundred stax-volt LP's - played as much as my psychedelic - however, i did see the 'american folk blues' tours back then - and did shows with blues acts like john lee hooker and canned heat.

[bobvidpix]

@tomthefunky I was still in high school when i first went there - the people i met were the ones running the event: Americans Jack Moore and Jim Haynes - who were among those who started the UFO and underground newspaper International Times, along with John 'Hoppy' Hopkins - they also began the Arts Lab and other pioneering events/centers in 60's London

[pataphysician71]

@tomthefunky Mike McInnerney did graphics work for the London Free School before becoming the arts editor of International Times in 1967. His wedding that summer was a big "flower power" event in a London park - well covered in the press. He also designed the 14 Hour Technicolour Dream poster. He later became a follower of Meher Baba - the same guru that Pete Townshend followed - which might explain the Tommy connection. The last I heard he was lecturing at Bath Spa College.

[tomthefunky]

@pataphysician71: Bath Spa College? Wow, so you can relax, get a massage and foot rub, and learn stuff at the same time! (just kidding)

.

I read Ronnie Lane of the Faces married Mike McInnerney's wife. Or was it the other way around? And I'm pretty sure it was Mike who turned Townshend on to Baba.

[nikguitar07]

great historical value. back then it was maybe something different but I really cant listen to it now, though ....

[bobvidpix]

@nikguitar07 - yes - it was and yes - hard to listen to any more...

[lacasa40]

Wow, awesome!!!

[dannyhood66]

Is this night club night tripper or ufo club still going on today at the same location..

[bobvidpix]

@dannyhood66 - ended long ago - after this the 'scene' went to chalk farm, north london - to the roundhouse - then the 60's were over and it all went away ...

[felixmelis]

great...

never seen before!

[conncork]

Happy Days

[MrLuciferSam]

just seen the last night of the Gong reunion tour - toptastic!

[dannyhood66]

The future days have past...Amazing, that some of those people dropped acid that night and had to get up and go to work the next morning..A lot of them really lived it up back then..Then hangover in the 70's for some of the original aristocrat's..I don't fucking know i was born in 66...Swinging london must have been a real metropolis at the time..

[rangumai]

Soft Machine were great, even when I was six!

'Geezer sounds like an Aussie?

Robert Wyatt 4 eva!

[dreadlegs]

The singer is an Aussie. His name is Daevid Allen. His departure from the band was precipitated by a dodgy passport whereupon he alighted in France and formed Gong. His career as a spititual guru and challenger of musical boundaries has continued till today. He is currently on tour as Gong (with Steve Hillage) check it out...

[written12]

Thanks for the background info. and the update.

I am a bit puzzled by the issue of a dodgy passport. I mean, Australia is part of the Commonwealth. How could he have been forced to flee Britain?

[burgersoft777]

Allen was refused re-entry to the UK because he overstayed his visa on a prior visit. Rather different from the image presented of him being hounded out of England. I used to be a fan of Gong, but these days I feel the best thing he did, was getting his landlords son then 16 to form a band. Robert Wyatt is a far more important performer in my humble opinion of course.

[ReyZame]

Agree about Robert.

The emphasis on the last syllable of each last word in a sentence, the whole way Daevid is declaring his "official complaints" reminds me so much of 2 decades later, i.e. the unforgettable Mark Smith from the Fall

[bogeybast]

I graduated high school in 1974 & began my pursuit of higher education which, among other things, included this ground breaking band.  The age of Aquarius has, alas, passed.

[fastn1]

we know what you mean we know what you've seen we understand

[7upIsLove]

H-O-P-P-Why?

[thoomoo]

it probably sounded great if you were off your tits on acid

[romney27]

ohh "acid tits"... and who said you can't go home

[slashgrass]

I wish there was footage of a complete performance of The Pink Floyd at the UFO from 1966-67, I'd kill for any early unreleased Floyd footage with Syd.

[leroysquab]

Awesome, thanks for sharing this! Big props to the Boyle family too!

[kohaylan]

I saw them in a marquee in St Tropez later that month.

[sydbarrett2009]

psihodelic wery much!!! thank you

[paisleybabee]

Is that Syd playing with them?

[mlucifersam]

nope!!!!

[Beadbud5000]

@paisleybabee Daevid Allen

[paisleybabee]

@Beadbud5000 Ohhh,yeah that makes sense.Ah if only such a grail could be discovered!

[SAHBfan]

Freaky wierd, man!

:-o

[jellybabe88]

think I might have been there - not that I can remember !!!

but I survived...

[Mickdog2112]

Is it Deavid Allen reading or Kevin Ayers?

[strangebeastie]

Definitely Daevid Allen.

[Beadbud5000]

Daevid sort of. He splits around this time and gets caught up and stuck in France on a visa issue. He ends up forming Gong by 69 or 70

[OneLineNowMan]

whoa .... bad trip...man I think I would need check in to Belleview after that!

[JekyllBoote]

No, this is definitely the Soft Machine, not the Daevid Allen Trio. I don't know about "leftist crap", but Allen's self-importance and earnestness here go a long way to demonstrating how the band were better off without him.

[bulldogman59]

what do you mean lefist crap you cant unerstand what he is talking about

[EzequielPais]

Wooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo­ooW...Pysodelic!!!

Peace and Joy

Ezequiel *****

[muza3]

This probably is 'Daevid Allan Trio' no Soft Machine

[Beadbud5000]

Nope it is Soft Machine with Aryes and in there

[muza3]

yes,i know now, but similar :)

[Beadbud5000]

Yeah I was the Trio CD release. They gigged in 63 & 64 but Ratledge & Wyatt were busy with college and it did not pay all that much. No fuzz organ or fuzz bass either

[MKyd]

lovely

[Mickdog2112]

I didn't mean literally nuts I meant nuts as in cool. And I know Psychedlic music is amazing.

[eeayt]

buenisimo

[sonnenberg]

W.O.W.

[Mickdog2112]

Wow the UFO was sooo nuts. Would loved to have been there. Love Pink Floyd to death I'm just getting into these guys but so far they're amazing.

[shotdonkey]

actually, this is not "nuts" at all; but rather quite a lucid and informed social comment if you listen carefully. if you`re a newcomer to soft machine - or psychedelia for that matter - you have a lot to look forward to and to learn, believe me ;-)

[wookie72]

I'd say it's a social comment, but if you don't know the context (that John "Hoppy" Hopkins had been given a harsh sentence for pot possession) you would think it was pretty strange. It's pretty out there, anyway. The point is that they get their message across through the intensity of the material... medium is the message.

[mellotrongirl]

Soft Machine 1...they did the pinwheel LP cover thing two years before Led Zep III.

[broccolibloom]

sounds like Joe Boyd at the start saying "cut the record" soooo good man

[Beadbud5000]

wow, so I disagree! Granted, Good Morning is not a Gong type album, but in terms of folk

7 fringe, it was the best record he ever did!

[eriktheviking2006]

Wow.... I take it hardly anyone knows about this? I didn't!

[willHulbert]

Don't suppose anybodies got footage of "Third

Ear Band" at the UFO ?

[DRGasMoney]

or lothar and the hand people

[pataphysician71]

This is the original UFO at the Blarney Club on Tottenham Court Road before they moved to the Roundhouse. FYI, this was recorded just before a Pink Floyd performance and they are playing the Floyd's instruments - Robert on Nick Mason's double-bass Premier kit, Kevin with Roger Water's Rickenbacker bass, and Mike on Rick Wright's Farfisa duo compact.

[alexlancer11]

@pataphysician71 Nice observation I can't believe that I did not realize it before LOL This actually the show where Joe Boyd said he noticed the change in Syd. Also it was suposed to have been one of those shows where Syd kind of just stood there on stage , but who knows what really happend.

[pataphysician71]

@alexlancer11 For those interested in the details, this film is from June 2, 1967. Hoppy had been tried the previous day. The show was written up in International Times 15. It mentions that Jimi Hendrix, Chas Chandler, Pete Townshend, Eric Burdon and some of the Yardbirds were there. Also on the bill that night was Hydrogen Jukebox, which featured Glen Sweeney, later of Third Ear Band. The review of the show notes: "It is a pity that with all this happening the Pink Floyd had to play like bums."

[leptonlunatic]

Does anyone know where I can find some of Daevid Allen's old poetry?

[pataphysician71]

Try the GAS website - they had some of his original books for sale.

[LSDCoatedBrain]

Yeah, like pataphysician said, the gas website, the urls on my page if you need it. Theres one book, an autobiography of sorts that Daevid wrote about soft machine and early gong, I'm not sure cus I haven't read it but it may have some of his poetry in it. The book is called "Gong Dreaming".

[Beadbud5000]

AS CD called The Australian Years has a bit. Check with the Gong society.

[dasher1982]

hahah everyone is completely fucked up on drugs right thuuuur...hard to believe that most of the audience now are probably sweet old grandparents with the strongest thing they would now touch being a strong cup of tea.

[shotdonkey]

I wouldn`t bet on that... ;-)

[pressgangers]

I think that voice you hear at the start that says "cut the music cut the record" is Joe Boyd

[swallowthemind]

heh I've been to venues that tried to be as visual as this but have never quite nailed it..

[totallyunimpressed]

Wow great! Is that really Daevid Allen reciting the blurb?

[LSDCoatedBrain]

Yes it is.

[girlinafurrug]

Cor, I'm so grateful and excited to see a decent clip of the sacred UFO!

[priapus56]

Christ! I bet the audience was full of today's Guardian readers... Fuck 'em all. They've tried their best to ruin this once great country! (England)

[zbelm]

What, do you read? ...priapus56

[priapus56]

I've given up reading anything about politics. At fifty-one there is fuck-all I can do to stop the rot and anyway I would be swimming against the tide. When I was interested I read The Economist..

[JimmySmers]

I agree, it is leftist crap and makes them look so foolish because they were probably doing it just to be "trendy". REALLY LAME

[swanlee597]

We need some Pink Floyd from the UFO

[Beadbud5000]

Daevid Allen who actually founded the band actually seen at a gig in the band! That is a rarity!

[psychedelicshalom34]

I wonder why the place was called UFO!

Great to see a so rare SM with Kevin Ayers stuff!

[madkrull]

UFO stand for Underground Freak Out ,

[zbelm]

Unlimited freak out, actually.

[zomboo2]

Wow!!

 thanks for UP

[yeshead]

Holy smokes, it doesn't get more rare than this. Finally a film document that captures what really used to go on inside UFO. Long lost Floyd? How about Tomorrow with Steve Howe?

[DRGasMoney]

Any Soft Machine with Kevin in it is just tops! As far as everything from UFO recorded, that's way too positive and cannot be true!

[topofthepopsguy]

No Music, what the heack are you talking about, this is progressive, i guess a little too progressive for some.

This is great news indeed about this rediscovered footage. I was wondering if anything else has come to light ? Currious, since this clip was way cool. Please post more if possible.

[gfunkusarelius]

crap, too bad they didn't have any music

[jbphburg]

Just in time for the 40th anniversary of the show!

[MADROCKS212]

our man daevid allen sounds like aleister crowely....

[mothergong]

this video is included on Gong's Montserrat 1973 and Other Stories DVD

[zbelm]

Wow! I read in the Robert Wyatt biog 'Wrong Moves' that no recordings (sound or otherwise) existed of live performance by the Daevid Allen line-up of SM! That book was published in the early '90s, though, probably a long time before the Gong DVD came out.  Thank you mlucifersam!

[mlucifersam]

I've been told this about the source for this clip. Apparently "As technical director he recorded everything played in the UFO. he also worked for the Stones and recorded everything for them. He's 70 now and is living in Amsterdam where he is transfering everything to digital. Should be quite an archive."

He also has, so I'm told, un-heard live Pink Floyd with Syd Barrett

[dullsville]

My God.....that is cool. I hope that guy likes You Tube, he will be showered with praise for UFO flicks.Lost Syd Barrett?......whoa.

[dannyhood66]

@mlucifersam I gotta see that with sid that your talking about?..Have you seen the clips for the movie "dope?,1967 at the ufo club,'.Floyd is just the house band",that plays in the movie.I only seen a clip of it though..Wow i didn't realize how late my comment is to yours!.lol

[Bucky315]

This is absolutely FANTASTIC!! PLEASE POST MORE OF THIS GIG IF IT EXISTS ON FILM!!!!

[Reinisen]

Where the F**K did you get this from?

Reine

[misterwho]

Que buen video, jamàs lo habìa visto; increible poder ver algo de los años del ufo, aparte de Tonite Let's All Make Love In London.

Gracias por subirlo!