Soft Machine-Esther's Nose Job-Holland Pop Festival 6-28-70

[mescaleros666]

the evil sound

[TerData]

I was there!

[nutteringski]

Awesome. My most played band, then a huge empty space, and then all the others. Proto jazz-rock. They themselves once called it "music of the mind". And this video is excellent in proving the point.

[teddyrugg]

The daddy's of jazz rock totally awesome

[MrFigueroa007]

Damn Robert's drumming is so tech. Such a jazzy drummer even though he came from a rock background. Better than keith moon.

[dantean]

@MrFigueroa007 That's b/c he learned drums from an American jazz player (whose name I forget at the moment) and was a major jazz-head throughout his formative years, listening to Elvin Jones, Max Roach, etc. It's really more accurate to say that he came from a jazz background before getting hooked on rock and pop. Because of this he's one of my 2 favorite rock drummers, for sure!

[dantean]

Here's what progressive music should have been, not "Prog" (most of it, anyway) and Fusion. Early Yes and early King Crimson, early Mahavishnu and Return to Forever--but that's it! Most of the rest can no longer be listened to. Prog died an early death under the weight of its own pretentions, Fusion from a pointless and hopelessly soulless athleticism. Soft Machine tho had everything: compositions, experimentation, soul, and soloing. What a crime what we all got stuck with instead.

[gianca60]

@dantean To put RTF and Yes in the seam "team" seems a little hazardous to me. Progressive had nothing to do with the "funk" that influenced so much Corea and friends.

[dantean]

@gianca60 All I meant was that those interested in music of weight in the post-60s rock era of the early 70s were listening to Prog and / Fusion--not that the two formed a "team" as you put it. I know that's what I was listening to. Today, I find a smattering of that music to rise above the level of self-cliche and "here's how many scales I've learned," while Soft Machine were not about that.Even when they gravitate closer to that in their later manifestations their compositions r memorable.

[gianca60]

@dantean I was listening the same music as you in the 70's. I have all the first RTF and mahavishnu records and my friends gave me the Yes and KC records to listen. I liked'em both in a different way. greetings.

[xTjPx]

this band has no equal,

thanks for this.

[psychedelicshalom34]

Mike Ratlegde = Hugo Carvana?!?

Soft Machine, pura classe... one of the greatest bands ever...

[tacomatic0]

nice! wish they could have played this during the day(it looks like it was played at night), 'cause its kinda dark on this video, so its somewhat hard to see at times. still, great video! Wyatt dominated that drum set on this one. Best band ever

[themightysrc]

Utterly brilliant. Thanks for posting such a stonking clip.

[jonsilence]

Very daring move for them in 70, but I never cared much for the horns/reeds. I want to hear Ratledge buzzing those bees! If I want jazz fusion I'll listen to Nucleus....

[stereom]

As for lyrics, I'm sure Wyatt wrote them, rather than Ratledge.

[stereom]

For those wondering about Esther, it's a clear cut Thomas Pynchon reference. Apparently he was Ratledge's favorite writer or something, and the title seems to derive from a chapter of one of the Pynchon's books. The section with lyrics on the studio version, called "Pig" seems to refer to Pig Bodine.

[threeby8887]

The book in question is _V_.

[stickpictures]

Virgins are boring/They should be grateful for the things they're ignoring...

Great stuff--I love the studio version too, Wyatt's lispy tenor. And one of the great drummers of all time before the accident.

[fusionphaze]

brilliant just brilliant !!!

[bbsuzi23]

The Allan Holdsworth period of Soft Machine is my personal favorite..this was a great band..experimental and tasteful at the same time..long live Soft Machine.

[psychedelicshalom34]

What great gig! Blew my mind! My fave SM record, although I love Kevin Ayers era...

[tonyfreejazz20]

Yeah...awesome.

[fatherfocus]

foooooooooooouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuur­rrrrrrrr

[KimKastekniv]

I've always loved these guys. I prefer the Kevin Ayers, UFO club era, but I am a sucker for Robert Wyatt.

[sym78]

Who is Esther :) ? It's not a tragic song so apparently her nosejob went well....

[glendonr]

Sadly the lyrics are missing from this live performance. Wish I had Vol. 4 again to send it to you. "Looking for that time wasted...time that could be spent completely/you've been wasted" (I think)...grwhitworth@hotmail. This was one of my fav. records.

[cokelalo]

andy summers played sometimes in soft machine...when?

[Menezperrin]

prior to the recording of volume 1 (1968)

[LdoOLdo]

soft machine : only best band all times !!!!

[pponi]

awsome!!! the clip i ever of suft machine!! and those are two of their favorite songs!! 10x for this!

[dazedandconfucious]

second best soft machine video on youtube, right behind the one entitled "composition based on three tunes". It was just recently posted. I was waiting for it and my dream came true! watch it people!

[kgordon855]

Elton Dean, the best ever, rip

[mikemckv]

It's something in the nature of a lullabye letter. Great. Lol

[adewolf]

Great stuff...all play excellently here...Thanks for posting.

[coulidanov]

soft machine rulez

robert wyatt is my god

[DoctorPatient]

what a treat! it's so good to hear and now, see, these guys, even if the video is a half second out of sync with the sound ... the reeds player isn't quite so annoying here, interestingly doubling Hopper's bass lines in spots ... thanks for posting!

[slayerized86]

YEAH! It's back! The best Soft Machine clip ever!

[dazedandconfucious]

you're a slayer fan, as well as a soft machine fan?

[slayerized86]

Yup. I'm a open minded dude, and I enjoy Soft Machine as much as I enjoy Slayer. Those two bands are actually my alltime favorite bands.

[dazedandconfucious]

cool. most slayer fans i know are some of the most narrow minded half wits i've ever met... good to see at least one of them looking beyond the horizon. there's hope yet i suppose. for that alone, i commend you.

[swans1997]

@slayerized86 Hell yeah, always a pleasure to see more open minded music listeners like yourself. I've always been that way. Who wants to listen to the same stuff all day? Boring people. I need my variety.