Kevin Ayers 'Unfairground' album

The founder of British psychedelia has returned with his strongest album ever accompanied and complimented by the musicians he inspired. The Unfairground, which is full of “bright, airy, deliciously skewed melodies (Simon Cosyns, The Sun), was recorded in Tucson Arizona; Brooklyn, New York, London and Glasgow. Receiving four stars from The Times’ Steve Jerbert, the songs on The Unfairground are described by Andy Gill of Uncut as “replete with the languid charm that has been Ayers’ stock in trade throughout his performance career; whatever the situation, Ayers amenability shines through, a wave of warmth that can lighten the heaviest soul.”

Kevin Ayers is one of rock's oddest and most likable enigmas. There are few artists who qualify more than this recluse for music’s highest accolades. He is the bridge between the psychedelia and the new sounds and sensibilities of Roxy Music, Eno and David Bowie on whom he was a primary influence. Launching Soft Machine in 1966 with Robert Wyatt, Daevid Allen and Mike Ratledge, Kevin Ayers has performed as a solo artist, working with noted musicians like Syd Barrett, Brian Eno, Mike Oldfield, Elton John, Lol Coxhill, Nico, Steve Hillage and John Cale.

Nick Kent recently cited Kevin Ayers and Syd Barrett as “the two most important British artists of the late sixties”, noting that “they defined and influenced how every act from Bowie to Roxy presented themselves”. Lured from his retreat in the South of France, by a battalion of admirers both old and young on this, his first album in over fifteen years, is heralded by Mike Barnes of Mojo as “a vintage harvest that stands comparison to his best work.” Kevin Ayers shines on this album and summons a new voice and honesty in the performances that stand now as the strongest he has ever committed to plastic, producing a “wave of warmth that can lighten the heaviest soul” (Uncut)

Kevin Ayers is one of the most significant and influential musicians of his generation. He has a distinctly unique sensibility, making ordinary lyrical subjects seem extraordinary with his rich low vocals, inventive wordplay, and bemused, relaxed attitude that belies the life of a poet and a bacchanalian lothario. Welcome to The Unfairground

press quotes
Q: **** “His best”
The Times: **** “Inspired”
Uncut: **** “Genius”
Mojo: **** “Gorgeous”
The Sun: ****1/2 “Musical rollercoaster”
The Sunday Times: **** “The Unsung Hero of Psychedelia”

biography
The pioneer of British psychedelia has returned to delight us with a most extraordinary album, accompanied and encouraged by the musicians he inspired. Kevin Ayers is one of rock's oddest and most likeable enigmas. There are few artists who qualify more than this recluse for music’s highest accolades. He is the bridge between the British psychedelia (which he helped create) and Roxy Music, Eno and David Bowie on whom he was a primary influence. He is also one of rock's more important innovators and one of the most significant and influential musicians of his generation. He has a unique sensibility, making ordinary lyrical subjects seem extraordinary with his rich low vocals, inventive wordplay, and bemused, relaxed attitude that belies the life of a poet and a bacchanalian lothario.

Born on 16 August 1944 in Herne Bay, Kent, Ayers was a founding member of the pioneering psychedelic band, Soft Machine, in the late 1960s, and was closely associated with the Canterbury scene. John Peel is quoted in his biography as saying that "Kevin Ayers' talent is so acute you could perform major eye surgery with it." In the past he worked with Syd Barrett, Brian Eno, Mike Oldfield, John Cale, Andy Summers, Ollie Halsall, Elton John and many others.Ayers is the son of BBC maverick producer Rowan Ayers, who created the BBC’s Old Grey Whistle Test before moving to Australian ABC. Following his parents' split and his mother's subsequent marriage to a British Civil Servant, Kevin spent most of his childhood in Malaysia. The tropical atmosphere and unpressured lifestyle had an impact, and one of the frustrating and endearing aspects of Ayers' career is that every time he seemed on the point of success, he would take off for some sunny spot where good wine and food were easily found.

Ayers returned to England at the age of twelve to attend boarding school, and in his early college years took up with the burgeoning musicians' scene in the Canterbury area. He was quickly drafted into the Wilde Flowers, a band that featured Robert Wyatt and Hugh Hopper as well as future members of Caravan. Ayers has stated in interviews that the primary reason he was asked to join was that he probably had the longest hair. However, this prompted him to start writing songs and singing.

The Wilde Flowers morphed into Soft Machine with the addition of keyboardist Mike Ratledge and guitarist Daevid Allen. Ayers switched to bass (and later both guitar and bass following Allen's departure from the group), and shared vocals with the drummer Robert Wyatt. The contrast between Ayers' baritone and Wyatt's reedy tenor, plus the freewheeling mix of rock and jazz influences, made for a memorable new sound that caught on quickly in the psychedelic 1960s. The band often shared stages (particularly at the UFO Club) with Syd Barrett's Pink Floyd.

After an exhausting and extensive tour of the United States opening for Jimi Hendrix, a weary Ayers sold his white Fender Jazz bass to Noel Redding and retreated to the beaches of Ibiza in Spain with Daevid Allen to recuperate. Before he went, however, Hendrix gave Ayers his Gibson J200 on the condition that he would continue writing songs. Ayers didn’t disappoint, writing his first album, Joy Of A Toy while there. The album was one of the first released on the fledgling Harvest label, along with Pink Floyd's releases. Joy of a Toy established Ayers as a force to watch, with music that varied from the circus march of the title cut to the pastoral "Girl on a Swing" and the ominous "Oleh Oleh Bandu Bandong", based on a Malaysian folksong. Many of the songs on this album remain in Ayers' live sets. Ayers' old mates from Soft Machine backed him, with the addition on some cuts of Rob Tait, sometime Gong drummer.

One interesting product of the Joy of a Toy sessions was the single, "Singing a Song in the Morning", early recordings of which featured participation from Syd Barrett. The lead guitar that appears on the final mix was often thought to have been played by Barrett, even appearing on various Barrett bootlegs, but Ayers has said that he played the solo, emulating Barrett's style. The 2004 CD reissue of Joy of a Toy includes a mix of this song featuring Barrett's guitar as a bonus track. A second album, Shooting at the Moon, soon followed. For this, Ayers assembled a band that he called The Whole World, which featured a teenage Mike Oldfield on bass and occasionally lead guitar, and avant-garde composer David Bedford on keyboards. Again Ayers came up with a batch of engaging songs interspersed with avant-garde instrumentals and a heavy dose of whimsy. The Whole World was reportedly an erratic band live, and Ayers was not cut out for life on the road touring. The band broke up after a short tour, with no hard feelings, as most of the musicians guested on Ayers' next album, Whatevershebringswesing, regarded as one of his best.

On the 1 June 1974, he headlined in a concert that was later released as a live album billed as Kevin Ayers, John Cale, Nico & Brian Eno. Mike Oldfield, by then having found fame with a string of solo recordings starting with Tubular Bells, played as well. The event was all the more remarkable for the fact that the night before John Cale had found Ayers in bed with his wife. He wrote the bile soaked paean to revenge ‘Guts’ about Ayers’ indiscretion; “The bugger in the short sleeves fucked my wife / did it quick and split.”

1974 was a watershed year for Ayers -- caught between becoming the superstar Island records thought he should be and his natural position in the underground, he became instrumental in providing other artists with access to a wider stage, most notably Lady June (June Campbell Cramer). The recording, titled Lady June's Linguistic Leprosy, made in a front room of Cramer's home in Vale Court, Maida Vale, was a collaboration that brought Lady June's spoken word poetry together with the music and voice of Ayers, aided and abetted by Brian Eno. Originally released on Ayers' own Banana Productions label (Virgin/Caroline C1509), it was reissued on compact disc in 1992. A most memorable track closes the album. Titled Touch-Downer it can best be described as the kind of answering-machine message that June might have left friends to announce her return to London Town after a long visit to Canterbury. The entire recording project and subsequent album release was underwritten by Ayers.

1974’s Confessions of Dr Dream is the most cohesive example of Ayersian philosophy – that moonlit netherworld between sleeping and wakefulness where tears and laughter unite within a single continuum. The album marked Ayers’ move to the more commercially-oriented Island record label – the production was expensive (£32,000) and the quality shows. Mike Oldfield returns from earlier days and the sublime Ollie Halsall makes his debut in a pact of brotherhood that would see him stand at Ayers side for the next 20 years. Tracks like ‘Didn’t Feel Lonely’, ‘Everybody’s Sometime Blues’ and the re-titled ‘Why Are We Sleeping’ are among Ayers’ most magnificent and enduring songs.

In 1976 Ayers released Yes, We Have No Mananas (So Get Your Mananas Today) - a lovely album that could almost stand as a set of ten perfect Ayers singles. Ayers was back with Harvest for a brief Silver Age – slightly more at ease with the slower EMI air of tradition than the pace, razzamatazz and unreal expectations of Island. Opening track ‘Star’ defines Ayers’ angst – the ceaseless wheel of dilemma that places the artist beneath a spotlight whose heat will eventually consume him.

From the same year came the compilation Odd Ditties, released on Harvest’s budget Heritage label. Still widely unavailable on CD (a Japanese import exists), this is a delicious salad of Harvest outtakes and B-sides that remains the personal and unerring favourite of many fans. These songs are fallen leaves by the roadside that still glow with the warmth of summer. The irony that such genius resides in songs once rejected is generally enjoyed as an essential part of Ayers’ appeal...

The late 70’s and 80’s saw Ayers as a self-imposed exile in warmer climes, a fugitive from changing musical fashions and a hostage to turbulent emotional circumstances. 1983’s Diamond Jack and the Queen of Pain was, perhaps, a low-point for Ayers. Indeed, losing control over his own music is still a sore point with Kevin today. The road back was marked with 1988’s prophetically titled Falling Up, a very consistent and professional record with a sympathetic mix that returns Kevin’s voice to the forefront. ‘Am I Really Marcel’ bares the soul of Ayers naked.

Despite the critical acclaim Falling Up received, Virgin Records’ promotion was halted on the album after Richard Branson caught Kevin sleeping with his wife. Kevin by this point had almost completely withdrawn from any public stage, a state of being further compounded by the sudden death of his musical partner Ollie Hassell. A lovely acoustic album recorded with Fairground Attraction surfaced in France. Some collaborations with Ayers fanatics Ultramarine and a concert tour with Liverpool's Wizards of Twiddly complete the 90's.

Which brings us to Kevin’s most recent outing; The Unfairground. In the late 90's Kevin was living the life of a recluse in the South of France. At a local art gallery he met and befriended American artist Tim Shepard. Shepard had studio space nearby providing a place and some company to hang out and share bottles of local wine. When asked by Shepard what he did Kevin responded vaguely with "I used to do music" and nothing more was said. Eventually Kevin started to show up with a guitar and by 2005 as the two had become close and firm friends, Ayers passed some new recordings onto Shepard, most taped on a cassette recorder at his kitchen table. The songs were by turns poignant, insightful and honest and Shepard deeply moved by what he heard started to wonder how he could let more people hear these songs.

Hooking up with London’s Lo-Max Records, Shepard found equal enthusiasm for the demos and as he made some tentative enquiries he discovered a hotbed of enthusiasm for Kevin’s work amongst the current generation of musicians. New York’s Ladybug Transistor set up rehearsals for a possible recording and Kevin flew out to New York with no little trepidation. When the rehearsals gelled, the entourage which had now swelled to include horn and string players flew out to Tucson, Arizona where the first sessions were recorded in a dusty hanger known as Wavelab Studios.

The results from the first sessions were very encouraging, so Shepard set about completing the album in the UK, where by now word had spread and a host of generous and enthusiastic musicians started gravitating to planet Ayers. Shepard remembered meeting Teenage Fanclub at a Go-Betweens concert and their unbridled enthusiasm for Ayers’ music and wrote a letter to singer, guitarist Norman Blake. Within a couple of weeks Ayers was in a Glasgow studio with Teenage Fanclub and a host of their like minded colleagues who had all assembled to work with their hero. Bill Wells from the Bill Wells trio rubbed shoulders with Euros Childs from Gorkys Zygotic Mynci. Frank Reader from the Trash Can Sinatras added his voice and provided a safe house for Kevin to return to each night.

Beloved ghosts from the past also visited the sessions. Robert Wyatt provided his eerie Wyattron in the poignant ‘Cold Shoulder’, Phil Manzanera flailed his axe on the brooding ‘Brainstorm’, Hugh Hopper from Soft Machine played bass on the title track and Bridget St. John, beloved of John Peel who signed her to his Dandelion records, duetted with Kevin on ‘Baby Come Home’, the first time they had sung together since 1970.

But the record belongs to the young musicians. The enthusiasm of performers from Gary Olson, to Norman Blake to Euros Childs and Candie Payne gave Ayers the platform to express what are without doubt some of the most profoundly moving songs he has ever committed to tape. Whether he is staring death in the face on ‘Only Heaven Knows’ or remembering the exuberance of futility on ‘Walk On Water’ or simply enjoying the inevitability of it all on ‘Run Run Run’. Ayers is speaking to you with an honesty, wit and empathy that few of his peers have ever managed. The Unfairground spans the generations, unifies the old and the new, pain and pleasure, hope and regret, life and death. It marries the brutality and beauty of truth. Welcome to the Unfairground.

discography
Joy Of A Toy Harvest 1969
Shooting At The Moon Harvest 1970
Whatevershebringswesing Harvest 1971
Bananamour Harvest 1973
Lady June’s Linguistic Leprosy Kevin Ayers & Brian Eno Virgin 1974
Confessions of Dr. Dream and Other Stories Island 1974
June 1, 1974 Kevin Ayers, Brian Eno, John Cale and Nico Island 1974
Sweet Deceiver Island 1975
Yes We Have No Mañanas Harvest 1976
Rainbow Takeaway Harvest 1978
That's What You Get Babe Harvest 1980
Diamond Jack and the Queen of Pain Charly 1983
Deja-Vu Blau 1984
As Close As You Think Illuminated 1986
Falling Up Virgin 1988
Still Life With Guitar Fnac 1992
The Unfairground Gigantic Records 2008

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Tracklisting

Kevin Ayers - Unfairground