SOFT MACHINE - Theatre De La Musique 1970

[19revolver66]

Saw Soft Machine,Nico with John Cale and Pink Floyd at The Roundhouse in 1970.Happy days.

[tatsareover]

when england use to be the best country for music...now is the worse in the total globe....apart from muse and radiohead of course....

[puddypuss]

saw them a lot around this time, very good. last time I saw them with robert wyatt was june 27th 1971. never the same without him.

[elevedesfb]

Dats dam gud muzik

[VagnerJS82]

Simply fantastic... The legend of Canterbury...

[scodou]

I saw them open for Hendrix in '68 at an amusement park in SLC, UT. They still inspire...

[gasparperalta]

/watch?v=FBg5nfK7480

[JonP1961]

The little section at 0:39-0:50 sounds like a jazz interpretation of Louie Louie... with completely different phrasing ;)... and they go into what sounds like some kind of Zappa-ism.... This is interesting stuff.... Can't believe I didn't pay more attention to this band as a teen!

[0556799]

Превосходная музыка... Класс...

[Darreltwittle]

This is trippy and defies all preconceived conformist notions about music dude...these guys are not shackled down by traditional traditions because they opened their miiiindssss braaaa....

[raindogred]

Elton Dean died on this day in 2006 - he'll be missed

[hanshintaro1977]

しゃれおつ

[needledropdamagedone]

What a great footage ! Thaks for sharing this. Historical moment in music.

[om3n147147]

WOW very early prog rock :)

[slowuncle]

"virgins are boring..."

[WELLBRAN]

Risky experimental dangerous exciting moody but always brilliant...that was soft machine...made many artists of their day look pedestriaand mundane

[rasputin510]

that´s wyatt before he jumped from a window.

[skorziks]

@rasputin510 Jumped? I thought he fell out of the window in a drunken stupor?

[BrainstormSongs]

Very geil!

[aoguy2]

Dean, Hopper, Wyatt & Ratledge - the classic line-up. Pushing the boundaries.

[aoguy2]

Dean, Hopper, Wyatt & Ratledge - the classic line-up. Pushing the bondaries.

[cooliovasquez]

@aoguy2 what is a bondary?

[failsworthpole]

@cooliovasquez I think they mean boundary

[killuminati63]

no ayers in this?:S 

[MrPoupard]

Thanks for the info on Karl Jenkins and sorry for delay in acknowledging.

By the way there's diddly squat new about music or lit being created while being "wasted" or under the influence - it goes right back to Hector Berlioz Symph Fantast and Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland

[abnormalvetter]

i'm absolutely loving these guys!

what is a good album to start off with?....i gotta know! :)

[Mestizo1971]

@abnormalvetter I figure you just discovered SM recently. Try out first with the 3rd LP. That is if you want to dig out their longer tunes, as in "Moon In June." Otherwise, start off with Vol.1. Good to know there are others with the ear for such music.

[Quiggification]

So often, the transitional band line-ups do the most amazing work...

[MrPoupard]

Is Karl Jenkins in the line up here?

[gilouseb]

@MrPoupard

No. The sax player here is Elton Dean (he recently died). Karl Jenkins never played with Robert Wyatt in Soft Machine. Wyatt left the band after the "4th" album, Jenkins joined it for "Six".

[pokerstaaars]

that guy is fucking wasted. I think he MAY be on drugs.

[dagostinoification]

youtube nous présente la un groupe mythique des année 70.a la source du jazz-rock,du jazz moderne électrique!robert wyatt un fabuleux batteur avant gardiste et brillant compositeur...didier d'agostino batteur sur youtube.

[elephanta2]

1970 is the golden age of Softs.

[lordtikiman]

what is the first song or can i get all the song names

[Tengent]

@lordtikiman Facelift is the first. I dunno if Wyatt's psychedelic singing has a name. At the end, they were about to start Esther's Nose Job.

[azimmerali]

groovy

[TheMidnightBell07]

Hey, they have a nice sound. They have a Atomic Roster /Chicago feel.

[Binerules91]

mesters

[byronbenoit12]

Virgins are boring

[BassLudeman]

they should be grateful for the things they're ignoring

[drunksingsheep]

Out-Bloody-Rageous

[spacemanbose]

can someone british write down the sacred lyrics of the second part of the vid?

[Soulvigilante]

I never would have thought to make the Cobain-Wyatt comparison, but now that you mention it, it is more than a passing resemblance.

[spacemanbose]

wyatt and ratledge.....so acid faces......

[hontatu]

good

[Voitground]

robert looks like kurt cobain.

[Gintodalbert]

I think robert wyatt doesn't ebven know who kurt cobain is and doesn't care either.

[angrysamoan666]

Gintodalbert, you prick

This depressing shit is why wyatt left

He loves kurt kobain AND he;s as talented lol

[Gintodalbert]

Don't call me prick,. Just because we don't have the same musical tastes. You intolerant bastard.

[angrysamoan666]

Your taste self names you, dickweed

[Gintodalbert]

@angrysamoan666 je t'emmerde et en français, gros con

[amir071]

@Gintodalbert - I think neither would care what you think or have to say...

[whitedwarf13]

@Gintodalbert i'm pretty sure Robert Wyatt will know who Kurt Cobain is...

[elviss]

Kurt Cobain looks like Robert

[branfransisco9]

no kurt looks like robert

[alazarab]

#1 Russian TV

[JumpinJohnny74]

What a bummer, he was a good bassist

[axzck]

´RIP Hugh... :-(

[Tengent]

R.I.P. my favorite fusion/prog bassist.

[droogless]

Hugh Hopper was the best.. god bless you man. R.I.P

[fnnichols]

First S.M. album is so good,still have the vinyl album from 69 or so.Ayres,Wyatt,Ratledge combo was best!

[helendeller]

Ok admit am BBC publicist but if ur into Prog check out BBC South East Today's series on Canterbury scene - tracing seeds of Prog back 2 Kent

[CadillacL]

Just read that Hugh Hopper (Bassist) for the Soft's died. R.I.P.

[thankGodforDavidG]

RIP Hugh Hopper, died in Kent, England had a huge contribution to Jazz-Rock. God bless Christine and the two daughters !

[Ghostorchid2]

Thanks for sharing! This is really good!

Thanks for posting VERNIXX!! 5****!!

[mark251050]

Huge Hugh... RIP

[eliottelescorielese]

I always hated the Canterbury scene, but in this past week I figured out that it's awesome, I don't know why... I always found soft machine and that stuff boring compared to the rest of prog rock... Now, all of a sudden, I love the Canterbury scene. Does anybody know Picchio dal Pozzo?

[MrGeorgeLupine]

Picchio dal Pozzo are one of my favourite bands, they were heavily influenced by the Canterbury scene and dedicated their first album to Robert Wyatt.

[paulayamigos]

the organist is the same who played with the doors?

[VERNIXX]

Um.........not the same guy at all.

[BassLudeman]

haha wow....

[PippoBlues93]

why is every one giving this dork thumbs up???

haha wow... anyone can say that!!!!

morons!!!

[johnjhuff]

@VERNIXX I will NEVER understand the obsession that some have with the Doors. Especially when there is great music like this.

[GigVid]

@paulayamigos ;

if this is not some kinda wind up or joke,

why say such a rediculous remark ?

mike ratledge ...the doors ( interesting notion though ..)

[JumpinJohnny74]

@paulayamigos .......wrong country guy, these guys are from England and The Doors are from the west coast

[KevVillato]

@paulayamigos No This master is Mike ratledge, and the other is Ray Manzarek

[slui0041]

@paulayamigos

The organist is Michael Ratledge

[gartentischtiger]

@paulayamigos no !he comes from the Band called Caravan

[ArthurMTedesco]

@paulayamigos no, that's Ray Manzarek

[Thomaspwgy]

@paulayamigos

Soft Machine - Mike Ratledge

The Doors - Ray Manzarek

[byronbenoit12]

@paulayamigos how could you get those two confused! ray manzarek has nothing on mike!

[KievSlavik]

@paulayamigos

I lol'd

[Macozair]

@KievSlavik lol

[oscarclash]

great...

[margix]

if you like this music try to listen the young band DIAGONAL on myspace or lastfm they are sensational!!!!

[Tengent]

Thanks.. they are great.

[diegograyskull]

Great Band!!!!!!

[OlUncleJoe]

They don't make 'em like this anymore...

[freebova]

They are great!!

Seems like an italian group Perigeo.

[kingtarkus]

Robert actually remained in SM for over a year after this show (this was before Third was released. Robert left after Fourth came out.)

Lyn Dobson was also a member of the group at the time of this show (the other saxophonist.) He left later that month.

[BassLudeman]

Yeah, although Robert was not on good terms with the rest of them by now, and he would leave the band and then come back many times during '70 to '71, and they were already auditioning new drummers by the time Fourth was released.

And he didnt "leave" the band, he was eventually fired.

[kingtarkus]

That's right, and they did at least one gig with Phil Howard when Robert was still on board. And he was fired in the end, I keep forgetting that.

[lukolino03]

Fantastique !

[zooreeka]

Interesting to see someone compare these with Gong, Crimsom and early Genesis - I can certainly see where you're coming from but Soft tMachine I thinks personally are more distan cousins and more on a par with Spirit and in particular Caravan. Kevin Ayers for me is one of the most eclectic Guitar players I have ever had the pleasure of listening to.

[Cleofizoid]

"Interesting to see someone compare these with Gong, Crimsom and early Genesis - I can certainly see where you're coming from but "Soft tMachine I thinks personally are more distan cousins and more on a par with Spirit and in particular Caravan. Kevin Ayers for me is one of the most eclectic Guitar players I have ever had the pleasure of listening to.zooreeka,

You may be rite zoooreeka. Nobody can compare to King Crimson early 80's...;_)

Love this band

[Cleofizoid]

Jimi Hendrix saw there talent. Hell I saw there talent. These guys rate with King Crimson, Gong and early Genesis.

On a one to five I would rate a FOUR. I Can dance to it and it has a great beat.

It was subsquently found out that Cleofizoid has no dance steps and every thing he said sux, except for Jimi loves this band fro above.

[lexi41269]

i wonder if you look as stupid as you sound

[zooreeka]

Early 80;s.... Gaad No¡ That sounds a lot like the Fripp Eno Years.... Awful... Classic Crimson was way before that racket.... Court of The Crimson King and starless and Bible Black to name but 2. Greg lake, Adrian Bellew....

Great as that era of KC was I,d take early Genesis. ELP and Soft Machine anyday in preference. You might check out Rubber Riffs sometime - very addictive¡

[CitizenLain]

What's wrong with Fripp and Eno?

[drewr729]

FINALLY... I found what I was looking for!!!

[saytra123]

jazzy, bluessy, avant-garde, intellectual, psychedelic, pop, trippy....SF rules!

[MikeAdupont]

I really like that groove in faclift, overall I think this albums great because its one of the first and few of the time that were experimental and exiting without having to fall under that "hippie" stereotype.

[KrutoyPostowoy]

im glad i discovered this band.

[linkwaker007]

Esther's nosejob is in reference to Thomas Pynchon's "V".

[saytra123]

freaking awesome...love Wyatt drumkit...this music is trippy...

[kafkazepam]

fucking unisoni - but it sounds good - I must admit that

[spacemanbose]

Wyatt singing in the secnd part if the video is AWESOMELY INSANE

he was on acid i think

[bobgold]

To me the best band ever. They are genius!! Their music went really really far, in such an intelligent, emotional and psychedelic way. Definitely essential on a desert island ^^

[pipistrello64]

great band, thanks for this video!!!! listen to them since 1975!!!!

[lifonso63]

What the name of this song?

[zortotron]

the first song is called "Facelift", the second song (which starts with Robert Wyatt vocalising) is called "Esther's Nosejob".

[himtroy]

This is absolutely incredible

[spermysperms]

didn't know che guevara played bass!?

[oledapra]

very funny! (don't blow his cover idiot)

[nosorog91]

do you have any records of him?

[purodemarihuana]

che guevera its a great musician !

[aperisimo]

lol

[blues140555]

superb!!!

[chananwat]

It's full of high emotion,everything plays by heart!

[skinnynorris85]

soft machine was a good machinery for sure

[kyleinstereo]

Love this band. Wish there was more live footage of this particular track. Love it when they segue into Backwards.

[leonardo369]

This music is so OMG.

[thesnatch81]

yessssssssssssssssss........

[swans1997]

Bands like The Softs and Crimson, and Yes,Van Der Graaf, started me on the road to appreciation of jazz.

[JekyllBoote]

The second number (after "Facelift") is a kind of almost a capella paraphrase by Robert Wyatt of "Pig" from the Volume Two album (followed by a free-form interlude into the next song, whatever it might be - thought I caught a hint of "Out-bloody-rageous" in Hugh Hopper's bass towards the end of "Pig").

[kevinm4435]

so good

[KarmicJuggernaut]

THIS BAND IS SOOOOOO WONDERFUL!!!!!!!!!! I should be doing homework due later today.. INSTEAD I WILL WATCH SOFT MACHINE VIDEOS AGAIN !!!!!! HAHAHAHA love it!!!

[wookie72]

I grew up with punk, so I always thought of prog rock as the antithesis of cool. Now that I'm older, I can see that this is quite nice, it's almost jazz fusion.

[swans1997]

Yeah, but I don't how Soft Machine can be lumped in with bands like ELP or Yes or Genesis. I always thought punks were musically stupid anyway. I appreciate the asthetic, but musically to me, they were off about some things.

[wookie72]

Prog was really a marketing label. But yeah, there is a big difference between this and Rick Wakeman.

[swans1997]

Yeah, prog and punk were convienient marketing labels.Nowadays,punk is definitely a marketing label.

[wookie72]

Although you have to admit that some of the early punk was in its own way very exciting. There was a period from about 1976 through to 1980 where it was the most interesting stuff around (if you expand punk/new wave to include stuff like Talking Heads and their work with Eno, among others.)

[swans1997]

Oh sure, I like some of the bands of the day. I enjoy Wire, I like the pre-Death In June band Crisis,Pere Ubu,Cramps, the early punk and new wave period was great. It was the later trendy EMPTV, and nowadays that sucks.Big fan of Swans too as my username implies.Easy to remember ha ha.

[wookie72]

No argument there. The early punks used simplicity as a means to an end, not the end itself. The 90s and 00s era stuff - Blink 182, etc, are just willfully stupid, IMHO. And don't get me even started on Emo...

[swans1997]

Oh, man, one time I posted some derogatory comment about today's er, punk on the Starpulse forum and a couple days later I had some ten yr. old skater punk tell me, I didn't know a thing about punk! Ha Ha `scuse me dear, but, I saw X on tv back in 79, where the hell were you then,eh?

[PeerlessPeer]

Music is the architecture of sound. These guys are top architects.

[CadillacL]

Was born in '71 so didnt get to see them back in the day. I didn't even really know their music till a few months ago. AWESOME to witness this.

[Berleb]

wow thanks for that.I remember seeing this when i was 15 , one of the rare period of french tv airing "real" music not muzak

[Duenderelojero]

He looks like kurt cobain

[KarmicJuggernaut]

dont you mean cobain looks like him?  besides cobain shouldnt even be mentioned along with these great musicians. Robert Wyatt rules...

[1gQuintoEnnioTA]

grandi i soft machine che suoneranno il 5 aprile a Taranto con daevid allen!!!!!!! e io ci sarò!!!!

[DaedalusWolf]

From Third : The song's Facelift and I'm not sure for the second song

[birchwoodduckbill]

my dad was there in the audience

[plonsdrums]

Wyatt is awesome no matter what he does.

Amazing the way he improvises on 7/8 or 5/4 beat.

[botchbud]

it's awesome.

[fatherfocus]

dean and mike son verdaderon extraterrestres

soooooooooooft machine es la gran banda del segundo milenio

[Alejandrockero]

las voces son geniales, que buena música

[JarusYarus]

Cripes, lad. Why haven't I heard anything by this band before? Missing out, I was.

5'd.

[fabriciodeguillon]

LONG LIFE TO GENTLE GIANT!!!!!

SORRY

[midlocal]

ummm jazz fusion i think all roads go through miles

[RiverKief]

Soft Machine is on my fav.list since 1969 and I say: great thanks to people who put them into this wonderful tube.

[CadillacL]

Like an earlier post, I hadn't heard their music but, knew of them. This is some wild jazz-rock/fusion. I was born in'71 & never got to hear the great 60's bands live but, luckily at about age 15 I got tired of "top

40" & went to clasic rock. Anyway, Soft Machine is an amaziing band. Listen to that beautiful music.

[Sabrigiovanni]

Penso siano delle tracce vocali dal Primo album solista "The end of an ear" uscito proprio nel 1970...

[spacemanbose]

Someone can tell me what is Robert singing in the second half of the video???

[zoso1588]

I THINK IS "ESTHERS NOSE JOB"

[haterunner]

man i know Zappa is really great but isnt the only thing on earth. why do you(all) always need to make comparments; and always whith the most obvious thing that is in your playlists. man these guys start also a long time ago... have you ever heard about Canterbury? ... nevermind, go ahead

[canadianstudmuffin]

Ha ha! I did a search for Soft Machine (as I've never really heard them...just heard of them...) and this video on your page was the first thing to show up. Love the music....sort of like Zappa's "Hot Rats".....so I will check out more. Thanks! :)

[Zinston]

Precisely the same for me.

Great!

[stashdauber]

ha! you're everywhere! dre and i were over at jon teague's last night, and he spun "thirds" while he was cooking dinner. awesome stuff.

[jalopetos]

Spacemanbose

"wine , whisky, Southern Comfort and then ....window"

19andrew80

"Under the influence of Zappa !" ?????????????????????????????

J'ai eu la chance de voir Soft Machine avec Wyatt à la batterie en février ou mars 1970 .... période THIRD avec les cuivres. J'étais à deux pas de la scène , à trois mètres de Ratledge qui me tournait le dos , mais j'étais à l'extérieur. J'ai tout vu par ma petite fenêtre , mais je me les suis bien gelées.

[Allamistakeo]

Veinard !!!!!!!

[spacemanbose]

19andrew80...Zappa what???

[19andrew80]

Yer retarded for even posting a question such as this!!!

[19andrew80]

Sounds saturated under the influence of Zappa!

[MrGreenGenes]

I swear Zappa invented Jazz Fusion.

These guys are great.

[spacemanbose]

Even drunk, you can't fall from the third floor, fuck!

He was made...

[overtbacchus]

Kevin Ayers, i think one of the guitarists, has just released an album: The Unfairground. This guy has some groovy backstory, been more or less off the scene for many years. Album (?) could be well worth a listen. Or maybe someones already mentioned this......

[carlotta8]

meric, cest vraiment un bonheur de voir et d'entendre soft machine ,avec robert wayatt, merci

[spacemanbose]

QUESTION: someone told me that the the incident occurred to ROBERT

WYATT, which caused his leg paralization, was caused by a BAD ACID TRIP...

Is it TRUE???

[gidouille]

No, as I understand the story, it was at a birthday party for the late Lady June, Robert was really drunk, crawled out on a window ledge and fell 3 or 4 stories into a tree. He likely only survived at all due to his inebriated state.

[fusion07mp3]

Try Robert was way too drunk...tried to exit a party via a third floor downspout...and fell...a tragedy indeed.

[swans1997]

Yeah, he said he was in the bathroom with some girl and his wife was just outside the door, he tried to make his escape, ha ha.

[Rhemasonador]

Awesome flashback! So neat that you are over here as well Terry--will enjoy the rest of your videos--HUGE UPS--Andy

[airstreamed]

the nearest these got to hippioes were through wearing flares...great british prog jazz though great clip- thanks for this

check out Robert Wyatts solo stuff awesome