Kevin Ayers
Whatevershebringswesing

THE REVIEW

I like to think that our hero, while visiting the recording studio (Harvest, EMI's branch for "progressive" music), had listened to the development of the composition of "Atom Heart Mother" by the prestigious (but at the time, not much more prestigious than him, already having two excellent works like "Joy of a Toy" and "Shooting at the Moon" aside from his honorable service with the Soft Machine) label mates and wanted to take up their style or simply mimic it. The fact is that the debut of this third album with a (to us) incredibly complicated title is in that same vein, very epic and with a supporting orchestra whose arrangement is by David Bedford (also the author of the arrangement for Tubular Bells). It quickly transitions into a dreamlike "Margaret" which fits with the first track like chalk and cheese but immediately makes it clear that Kevin remains true to himself, following up with the playful little song "Oh my Song": a charleston revisited in light of his sardonic nature, not an insignificant feat. Then we move to perhaps the most original track: the very dark "Song from the Bottom of a Well" which could not be otherwise, a song that comes from the bottom of the elevator shaft where the distorted guitar reproduces the "sound" of the various mechanisms continuously going up and down.

Suddenly and with a classic change (yet another) of mood, we switch to the gentle title track, complete with choir accompanied on guitar by Mike Oldfield, who was already on the brink of carving out his place in Music History (in just a few months "Tubular Bells" would be released) and why not, by the old companion in adventures Robert Wyatt who had already carved his niche with the Soft Machine. Just perfect to wake us up then comes "Stranger in the Blue Suede Shoes," a "classic" Ayers track where David Bedford's notable contribution on keyboards stands out. We've reached track number 7, and Kevin already lets us know he's a bit tired of having put in proper effort, hence he offers the sleepy "Champagne Cowboy Blues" where, it seems to me, Oldfield too had his say from a compositional perspective, maybe even hinting at what he intended to do soon after. Right thereafter, Kevin bows out with his lullaby complete with waterfall sounds in the background of Didier Malherbe, ex-Gong's, flute. In short, an ending exactly opposite to the grand entrance.

With "Qualsiasicosa(lei)ciportanoicantiamo," Ayers' trilogy of masterpieces at Harvest comes to an end. It’s pointless to rank them considering the quality and especially the variety of composition styles our hero, the blond prodigy from Canterbury, brought to the table. Certainly, the debut album has "The Lady Rachel," his flagship, but for its part, "Whatevershebringswesing" turned out to be his greatest success in terms of both criticism and sales, so one is spoilt for choice.

The version I have on hand is the one excellently remastered in 2003, with the addition of another version of "Stranger in the Blue Suede Shoes," which is in no way inferior to the original, and the three previously unreleased tracks preceding it that are far from just fillers, with a charming blues dedicated to a fake group of Mexican tourists.

My judgment cannot disregard the 5 stars that rightfully belong to the debut album, but 4 stars seem a bit too tight in light of the excellent technical quality of the recording of the version I've used and the certainly fitting and original graphics. So, I want to round up those 4 and a half stars out of respect for the stellar cast contributing to a frame-worthy album.