It often amazes me how people much younger than I am managed to see the great ( and not so great ) sixties bands. How envious I am of people who got to see Cream, Hendrix or Syd Barrett in Pink Floyd. The reason I missed out on all those bands was because I was skint. Being at school, the only opportunity for money was by doing a Saturday job and that never appealed to me - weekends were for staying in bed and perhaps staggering up in time to listen to Top Gear in the afternoon. The scant pocket money I got just about afforded me an LP every month or so.

What a godsend then were the BBC 'In Concert' programmes! A stamped addressed envelope got a free gig. There were some drawbacks - usually the band's performance was slightly more subdued as the BBC officialdom took a dim view of flaming guitars being hurled across the stage.... One unexpected problem was that the commissionaires made you sit wherever they chose to put you. At my first 'In Concert' one of the Jobsworths positioned me so that my nose was a few inches from a speaker cabinet. It was a relief when the Third Ear Band came on and the loudest instrument was Glen Sweeney tapping gently away on the congas. The relief changed when the Edgar Broughton Band came on and blasted away at 'Psychopath' and 'Drop-out Boogie'. The noise was so incredible I felt I had two choices - really get into the music.... or die!!

Still, one of the great advantages of these gigs was that they enabled me to see Kevin Ayers for the first time at what was probably one of the Whole World's earlier outings. I had heard Kevin on the radio and had been immensely impressed with tracks like 'Stop This Train' and 'Lady Rachel'. The tickets for the Ayers gig said that there were going to be two other acts as well - Bridget St John and Al Stewart. This seemed rather a lot to cram into a one hour broadcast.

(The Purple Jumper recalls in an accompanying letter that this gig was sometime in the Spring of 1970 at which time Ayers was playing with Bridget St John as a duo at some gigs and with the Whole World at others -'Time Out' magazine described Ayers' situation as 'having his winter combinations on'. A CND benefit gig attended by The Jumper as far on as Easter 1971 was billed as an Ayers/ St John duo although the set culminated in a storming version of 'Did It Again' with Ginger Baker's African Drummers ).

When we arrived at the Paris Theatre we managed to dodge the commissionaires and sit a little further away from the speakers than we had been for the Broughtons. My view was obscured by a bald-headed man sitting in front of me. He looked a little elderly to be at a rock gig (!) - I was more surprised when he got up and began playing with the band. It was Lol Coxhill of course, playing soprano saxophone, though in my deep musical wisdom I thought he was playing a metal clarinet.

The first number began with Kevin on guitar and a callow youth on bass mouthing motor car noises down the microphone. If someone had told me that within a few years this youth was going to be a megastar I would not have believed them, but it was indeed Mike Oldfield... He looked slightle embarassed at being encouraged by Ayers to make 'Brrmm brmm' noises. This led into 'May I'. Not only was it not earsplittingly loud, it was also bloody good. 'Colores Para Dolores' and 'Clarence In Wonderland' followed. I had heard neither of these songs before but I was taken with the contrast between the free form passages - David Bedford playing guitar with a milk bottle and organ with a brick - and the sheer melodic wonderfulness of the tunes. I danced homewards after the show warbling 'Miss Juliet Kate Queen of the Moo-oo-oon'.....strange I never became a backing vocalist. (How the course of Rock music might have changed, eh Graham?! - Ed)

I then discovered one of the ways they were going to cram three acts into one hour was by doubling up the performers. Bridget St John came on and sang 'The Oyster and the Flying Fish' - she later duetted with Al Stewart as well. Ayers said that he and Bridget were singing jointly as their voices went together so well, and I for one was not going to disagree.

The Whole World , who had taken a backseat during 'Oyster', then came back on with a vengeance on the last number 'Why Are We Sleeping?'. It was the first time I had heard this brilliant song. Ayers and Oldfield had swapped instruments so that the latter could provide a blistering solo, reminiscent of Ratledge's organ break on 'Plus Belle Qu'un Poubelle'. I loved the way the chorus came in from the spoken verse line and that wonderful bellow 'Get out of my dream!'. After hearing the song at later Whole World gigs it became one of my all time favourites and I was mortified when it was not included on 'Shooting At The Moon'. It was later that my brother told me it had already been recorded and was on the Soft Machine's first album. I rushed out and bought the record but I confess none of the recorded versions ever seemed to capture the adrenalin-stirring majesty of the song when played live. ( I don't think many readers would disagree with this but will the drumming of Robert Wyatt on the Soft Machine recorded version ever be equalled? - Ed) That evening it was undoubtedly the highlight and though Bridget St John and Al Stewart both played good sets it was the beginning of my passion for Kevin Ayers.

Two final points. If anyone has a tape of this session I wouldn't half like to hear it. (None of these sessions with Bridget seem to have surfaced on the tapeswapping network so if anyone has any leads.....? Ed) Secondly, anyone who remembers the broadcast may not remember 'Colores'. That's because the BBC cut it, another way of squeezing three artists into one show.

GRAHAM 'PURPLE JUMPER' WESTON