KEVIN AYERS AND THE WHOLE WORLD 12 November 1970

The PURPLE JUMPER recalls a Benefit Gig in aid of LEPRA, the Leprosy Relief Association

I must have seen Kevin Ayers play more than twenty times in as many years but undoubtedly one of the best gigs I saw him play was on the 12 November 1970 at the London Lyceum. It was with the Whole World, the most intelligent, original and humorous band that I have ever seen. I had already seen the Whole World twice before, once at a BBC In Concert with Bridget St John and Al Stewart (three acts crammed into one hour!) and once again at Hyde Park free festival with Pink Floyd, Roy Harper, Edgar Broughton and Formerly Fat Harry but this was the night that confirmed Kevin Ayers as one of the greatest.

Ayers hit the stage about 11.30. We had already seen Trees play their brand of folk rock - a minor connection with Ayers is that their bass player, Bias Boshell, would later crop up on 'Sweet Deceiver' playing piano (another connection is that the 'Garden Of Jane Delawney' track is utterly celestial in my scale of Music Destined for Immortality). Bridget St John had played a good set in spite of being so nervous that she nearly dropped her guitar. The highlight of the set for me was when Kevin came on and sang backing vocals on 'If You've Got Money'. He played on and produced that song for her on vinyl too. Rare Bird played a reasonable set, distinguished by their two keyboard/ drums/ bass line-up and their refusal to play their one hit 'Sympathy'. Just prior to the Whole World, Pete Atkin had played some of his songs, the sardonic and maybe too witty lyrics provided by Clive James. It had been an enjoyable evening upto then but the best was yet to come.

Kevin started off with 'May I'. I still think the Whole World played the definitive version of this song. Much as I liked Ollie Halsall's guitar on later performances, Lol Coxhill's sax solo is superb and he played it well this night. The song was played more economically in those days and was shorn of its long introduction. As Ayers came on stage with the band there was no need for the continued repetition of the opening chords that heralded his arrival at later concerts. Next there was 'Clarence In Wonderland', the pre-reggae version, complete with the 'Underwater' free-form segment in the middle - I never did understand why the song was so severely truncated both in its album form on 'Shooting At The Moon' and again on its reincarnation as 'Connie On A Rubber Band'. Live, the juxtaposition between its tuneful lyricism and the dreamy chaos of the instrumental passage gave it great appeal.

'Colores Para Dolores' followed. Due to time constraints, the coda 'Brown is the colour of skin etc' was omitted. Again, a powerful song contrasted with an avant-garde instrumental break. During this break the band retired to the back of the stage for cigarettes while Lol Coxhill produced some of the most unusual burps, giggles and swoops from his soprano sax. Dressed in a trench coat, Lol looked for all the world like a bald-headed private detective wrestling with a paralysed python as his movements paralleled the spiky anarchy of his music.

Now it's apology time for my befuddled memory. Robert Wyatt joined Ayers in what Kevin announced was an old number. As I was unfamiliar at that time with early Soft Machine I cannot tell whether they played something off the first Softs album or from the Gromelsky demos. All I remember was that they read the lyrics from a sheet of paper and that the backing was supplied by David Bedford on piano.

Next came one of those moments no other band would dare attempt. Kevin introduced a Scottish bagpipe player and a young dancer. Much to the delight of the audience they played a brief set of jigs and reels while the dancer went through her paces and the band took a back seat.

Ayers and the Whole World then returned with their tour-de-force 'Why Are We Sleeping'. Kevin asked if the women in the audience would get up and dance and many obliged. Ayers and Oldfield had swapped instruments so that the latter could give some of his melodic yet razor edged lead guitar playing. The drama of this number following the country dancing routine made it seem all the more exciting. In the instrumental break Coxhill sang 'Pretty little girl, come a-waltzing in the woods with me.' The contrast with the cool banality of Coxhill's voice made the following last verse more menacing and exciting. The concert finished with a rousing series of 'Why, why, why, why are we sleeping?' refrains while the audience danced.

There were many calls for an encore but the Lyceum was so strict and it was so late they would not let one take place. I missed the last train home but I wouldn't have missed one minute of seeing the best band in the world.

GRAHAM WESTON - THE PURPLE JUMPER

first published in WAWS #2, Feb 93