Dec 14

The Soft Machine

THE SOFT MACHINE
 
 
Soft Machine  were an English rock band from Canterbury, named after the book The Soft Machine by William S. Burroughs.  They were one of the central bands in the Canterbury scene, and helped pioneer the progressive rock genre.  Though they achieved little commercial success, they are considered by Allmusic to be “one of the more influential bands of their era, and certainly one of the most influential underground ones”.  (More from Wikipedia)
 
 
The Skywalkers learned about the 1960’s music scene through early Pink Floyd albums and the Soft Machine, and no doubt the rich musical heritage in their home country.  Their musical vision was to fuse garage and psychedelic music together, but always with a pop sensibility; as they put it in the interview:  “We like psychedelic music but it has to have a pop character as well.  Think of bands like the Electric Prunes, Love and Strawberry Alarm Clock, Tomorrow.  Our favorite years in music are 1966 and 1967, where garage and psychedelic music just came together.  Our favourite subgenre is Baroque Pop with artists like Billy Nicholls, Sagittarius, the Millennium and of course the Zombies.”  I would add to that list a rather under-appreciated American band called the Left Banke, who had a lovely hit song in 1967, “Walk Away Renee”. 
 
(January 2013)
 
*       *       *
 

Mick Farren’s early writing was for one of the first underground newspapers, International Times (later called IT after threats of litigation by The Times of London); he wrote articles for the newspaper and also edited IT for a period of time.  The newspaper was founded in November 1966 and was a mixture of rock music promotion, polemical journalism, and scandalous humor.  The London police repeatedly raided the newspaper’s office in an attempt to shut them down; IT responded by hosting a benefit rock concert called The 14 Hour Technicolor Dream in April 1967 featuring Pink Floyd, the Pretty Things, Savoy Brown, the Crazy World of Arthur Brown, Soft Machine, and the Move.

 

On two of his albums, there is a short interview with Mick Farren at the UFO Club, a legendary London scene where some of the earliest psychedelic rock bands like Pink Floyd and Soft Machine held court; it was only open for about a year in 1966-1967.  In the interview, Farren basically states that he is not a Marxist – he is simply stating that the society isn’t working, and that he is trying to create a world where “people can freely enjoy themselves”, but adds that “that is where the trouble started”. 

 
(March 2014/1)
 
*       *       *
 

Kim Fowley worked with the N’Betweens and produced one of their singles, “You Better Run” that was released in December 1966; this band later evolved into Slade.  Fowley also produced the flip side of the first single by the Soft Machine, “Feelin’ Reelin’ Squeelin’” that came out in early 1967.  Jimi Hendrix is rumored to have played rhythm guitar on the track; he was recording “Hey Joe” at the same studio. 

 

(January 2015/1)

 

Last edited: March 22, 2021