Softs

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For softs as commodities, see Commodities.

Softs
Studio album by Soft Machine
Released	June 1976
Recorded	January to March, 1976 at EMI Abbey Road Studios, London
Genre	Jazz Fusion
Length	44:55
Label	Harvest
Producer	Soft Machine
Professional reviews
www.music.com progarchives.com All Music Guide link
Soft Machine chronology
Bundles (1975) Softs (1976) Alive & Well: Recorded in Paris (1978)

Softs is a 1976 album by the British psychedelic, progressive rock and jazz/fusion band Soft Machine who were one of the central bands in the Canterbury scene. [1] [2]

Allan Holdsworth left shortly after the release of "Bundles", and recommended fellow guitarist John Etheridge as a possible replacement. This proved satisfactory and in the summer of 1975 Soft Machine embarked on an ambitious, but ill-fated, package tour of European arenas with the likes of Caravan and the Mahavishnu Orchestra. From then on, the band's popularity waned as it failed to sustain the momentum initially gathered by its new orientation. Ratledge, the last remaining founding member, left in March 1976, leaving Soft Machine's reins in the hands of Jenkins and Marshall. "Softs" appeared later that year, with Alan Wakeman (the cousin of famous keyboard wizard Rick) on saxophone; a shortlived addition as he left after less than six months, to be replaced by a violin player, Ric Sanders. Babbington also left after a last appearance in Edinburgh, and was replaced first by Brand X's Percy Jones, and finally Steve Cook (ex-Gilgamesh/Mirage). The live album Alive & Well: Recorded in Paris (1978) documented a series of French gigs in July 1977. Soft Machine subsequently ground to a halt, performing its last gig in Bremen in December 1978.

from [3]

[edit] Track listing

1. "Aubade" – 1:49 (Karl Jenkins)
2. "Tale Of The Taliesin" – 7:15 (Karl Jenkins)
3. "Ban-Ban Caliban" – 9:19 (Karl Jenkins)
4. "Song Of Aeoius" – 4:29 (Karl Jenkins)
5. "Out Of Season" – 5:30 (Karl Jenkins)
6. "Second Bundle" – 2:35 (Karl Jenkins)
7. "Kayoo" – 3:25 (John Marshall)
8. "The Gamden Tandem" – 1:50 (John Etheridge, John Marshall)
9. "Nexus" – 0:47 (Karl Jenkins)
10. "One Over Eight" – 5:26 (Roy Babbington, John Etheridge, Karl Jenkins, John Marshall, Alan Wakeman)
11. "Etka" – 2:21 (Karl Jenkins)

[edit] Personnel

• Roy Babbington - bass
• John Etheridge - acoustic & electric guitars
• Karl Jenkins - keyboards
• John Marshall - drums, percussion
• Alan Wakeman - soprano and tenor saxes

with

• Mike Ratledge - synths on (3, 4)

[edit] References

• Soft Machine biography at www.progarchives.com
• Canterbury Scene definition at www.progarchives.com
• Discography at calyx.club.fr

v • d • e Soft Machine Kevin Ayers • Elton Dean • Hugh Hopper • Mike Ratledge • Robert Wyatt Daevid Allen • Roy Babbington • John Etheridge • Karl Jenkins • John Marshall Steve Cook • Marc Charig • Lyn Dobson • Nick Evans • Jimmy Hastings • Allan Holdsworth Brian Hopper • Ric Sanders • Alan Skidmore • Rab Spall • Andy Summers • Alan Wakeman Studio Albums The Soft Machine (1968) • Volume Two (1969) • Third (1970) • Fourth (1971) • Five (1972) • Six (1973) • Seven (1973) • Bundles (1975) • Softs (1976) • Land of Cockayne (1981) Singles "Love Makes Sweet Music" (1967) • "Joy of a Toy" (1968) Live Albums Alive & Well: Recorded in Paris (1978) • Live at the Proms 1970 (1988) • BBC Radio 1967-1971 (2003) • BBC Radio 1971-1974 (2003) • Soft Machine and Heavy Friends (2005) • Softstage (2005) Cuneiform albums Spaced (1996) • Virtually (1998) • Noisette (2000) • Backwards (2002) • Live in Paris (2004) • Grides (2006) • Middle Earth Masters (2006) Related articles Canterbury sound • Jazz fusion • The Wilde Flowers