Kevin Ayers
Whatevershebringswesing

THE REVIEW

I like to think that our hero, while attending the recording studio (Harvest, EMI's branch for "progressive" music), had listened to the development of the composition of "Atom Heart Mother" by the well-established (but at the time not much more than him, having already released two excellent works like "Joy of a Toy" and "Shooting at the Moon" besides his honorable service with the Soft Machine) label mates and wanted to either emulate that style or simply parody it. The fact is that the opening of this third album with a title (for us) incredibly complex is precisely in that vein, very epic and with plenty of orchestral support orchestrated by David Bedford (also the arranger for Tubular Bells) before quickly declining into the dream-like "Margaret", which fits with the first track like chalk and cheese, but immediately makes it clear that Kevin remains true to himself, following it up with the playful ditty "Oh My Song": a charleston revisited in the light of his sardonic nature, nothing trivial. Then it transitions to perhaps the most original track: the gloomy "Song from the Bottom of a Well" which could not be otherwise, a song that comes from the bottom of the elevator shaft in which the distorted guitar reproduces the "sound" of various mechanisms continuously coming and going.

Suddenly, with a classic shift (yet another) of mood, we move to the gentle title track, complete with a chorus accompanied on guitar by Mike Oldfield, already on the verge of carving out his place in Music History (within a few months "Tubular Bells" would be released) and, why not, old adventure buddy Robert Wyatt, who had already carved out his niche with Soft Machine. Just to wake us up, "Stranger in the Blue Suede Shoes" enters—a "classic" Ayers track where the notable keyboard contribution by David Bedford stands out. We have reached track number 7, and Kevin is already hinting at being a bit tired, having already committed himself accordingly; thus he proposes the sleepy "Champagne Cowboy Blues", where it seems to me that Oldfield also had his say from a compositional perspective, possibly even foreshadowing what he intended to do shortly after. Immediately after, Kevin bids farewell with his lullaby accompanied by Didier Malherbe's flute and a babbling brook, former Gong. In short, an ending completely opposite to the grand entry.

With "Whatevershebringswesing", the trilogy of Ayers' masterpieces at Harvest concludes; it's pointless to rank them as such is the quality and especially the variety of compositional styles deployed by our hero, the blonde genius from Canterbury. Sure, in the debut album there's "The Lady Rachel", his flagship song, but in its own right, "Whatevershebringswesing" turned out to be his greatest critical and commercial success, in short, there's an embarrassment of riches.

The version I have in hand is the one excellently remastered in 2003, with the addition of another version of "Stranger in the Blue Suede Shoes", no less exceptional than the original, and the 3 previously unreleased tracks that precede it appear far from fillers, including the amusing blues dedicated to the fake group of Mexican tourists.

My judgment cannot ignore the 5 stars that rightfully belong to the debut album; however, 4 stars seem a bit tight in light of the excellent recording quality of the version I've used and the certainly apt and original artwork. Overall, I want to round up those 4 and a half stars out of respect for the stellar cast that contributes to a frame-worthy album.