Robert Wyatt: Classic or Dud?

Interesting record, though, End Of An Ear; it's like an extended avant-scat variation on Gil Evans' "Las Vegas Tango."

-- Donnie Smith The Quiz Kid (what_d...) (webmail), September 17th, 2004 5:02 AM. (later) (link)

i can see our "interpretations" being complementary, more or less. but i'm reluctant to describe this album as being "about" any one thing, especially something as cliché as "learning to laugh again." i don't think the album has a narrative per se, or an obvious forward progression. or at least i've never chosen to hear it that way.

I agree that's not Oldfield on that track, but it's definitely Oldfield on the final track 'Little Red Robin Hood Hit the Road', the huge soaring melodic line that turns into the 'can't you see them?' riff. One of my favorite moments of recorded sound in the history of our world etc.

Oldfield is credited as a musician on the back cover of the original vinyl, but I suspect Oldfield's saying he wrote that entire solo, the melody and riff, and deserved a co-authoring credit for the entire track (I would be obliged if you could find his exact complaint)... the riff is nearly identical to one of the sections of 'Ommadawn'. I still see it as more of a break in the middle of Wyatt's song, but it is certainly Oldfield's solo that pushes it over the top.

YES

Wow...I'm lovin' it like a Mickey D's fruit walnut salad...

Really cool droney, crazy ol' man EZ listening prog or something....it's DEFINITELY something...that's for sure....Sea Song is just a heartbreaking love song...."Your madness fits in nicely with my own" is such a sweet like....I love the big droney songs called Little Red Robin Hood....

Great organ sounds....bewitching record.

That's Ivor Cutler and that's how Ivor Cutler sounds

ah cool...that makes me feel better about it...I thought it was Wyatt copping an accent for some reason....

Weird time for a revive, though -- I had a dream last night where I was playing "Sea Song" and my brother came in and said, "What the fuck is this crap? He sounds horrible!" and I was harping on about how he sounded better than any of The Beatles and how a lot of people think Green Gartside sounds a lot like him. I thought the discussion actually happened when I woke up until I remembered that he spent the night over at a friend's house.

i own the whole rbt wyatt discography, except for that 'solar flares' thing which i need to get and i guess the best-of which would be redundant. there's nothing bad in it. though i don't listen to 'dondestan' very much, i admit.

i have almost everything also, and i think my favorite is an ep that was put out as Nothing Can Stop Us Now, with a few extra tracks on the reissue.

my 2 oddities are the downloaded peel session where he performs with Slapp Happy and a 12 w/ UK faux-latin new pop types Weekend where he duets w/ Tracey Thorn.

Definitely Classic.

Check "The End of An Ear"!

How about if someone was extremely drunk and was trying to tell a joke that involved mimicking a Scottish and / or Jamaican accent, but wasn't actually very good at different accents?

I believe this sort of confusion is particularly common with Welsh and Indian accents.

Robert Wyatt? Classic, obv.

Best records best to least for me: Rock Bottom, Soft Machine vols. 1 & 2, Shleep, Dondestan (either mix), Ruth is Stranger than Richard, Old Rottenhat, Matching Mole, Cuckooland (enjoyed it but the cheap keyboards are starting to bug me - Leonard Cohen syndrome). I don't listen to Rock Bottom very often at all, because it's such a charged object for me; it'd be like having the Koh-I-Noor diamond lying around as a paperweight.

End of an Ear is a prog-jazz record which I enjoyed, but it has hardly any vocals on it. Solar Flares Burn for You is an odds-and-ends compilation which is notable for some Rock Bottom demos and 'Little Child' which is one step away from being Lil' Markie.

i hardly ever listen to Little Red Record, but the cover is GREAT. doesn't it have a terry riley homage on it?

first Matching Mole album holds up though... the second side "wyatt-discovers-the-mellotron" is drony and fantastic

Frith says he was signed up to join Matching Mole for their third album. But then, the accident.

do you know of this single i mentioned upthread where he's playing w/south african musicians? i never picked it up and now i kick myself.

Oh, I've got that... it's "The Wind Of Change", credited to Wyatt and the SWAPO singers. It's bright and jolly and swingy and catchy.

and a 12 w/ UK faux-latin new pop types Weekend where he duets w/ Tracey Thorn.

Ah yes, got that as well. "Venceremos" is the title - though it's actually a three-way performance between Wyatt, Thorn and Claudia Figueroa. It was Working Week's debut single; their second, "Storm Of Light", featuring Julie Tippetts (aka Driscoll) on vocals, is also outstanding.

Another good rarity is Wyatt's cover of Chris Andrews' "Yesterday Man", which was scheduled as a follow-up to "I'm A Believer" but never released. Instead, it appeared (in 1975) on a cheapo Virgin 2LP sampler called V. I also like his performance of Soft Machine's "Memories" on Daevid Allen's Banana Moon, and his harmony vocals on Kevin Ayers' "Hymn" and "Whatevershebringswesing".

"Free Will And Testament", featuring Paul Weller, remains the last 7" single I bought (not counting second-hand stuff).