Magick Brother

**Magick Brother** is the third studio album by Canterbury scene band Soft Machine, co-produced by Soft Machine and Peter Jenner. Apart from compilations and live releases, it is the only double album on their catalog, released on 14 October 1970 by Blackhill Records and distributed by Columbia. The album is considered a milestone and a definitive mark of the Canterbury scene genre, and it is the last album with Daevid Allen as a member, who would leave the group shortly after the release, forming Gong with his partner, Gilli Smyth.

Recorded in the turn of the decade, Magick Brother originated during the sessions of its predecessor, with a few outtakes being reused and reworked for the album. Tracks from the unreleased *The Garden of Love* sessions were integrated in the album too. This period was also remembered by the rift inside the band, particularly between Mike Ratledge and Daevid Allen. Part of the session musicians who helped Soft Machine in Exiled from Canterbury were assembled under the backing band The Whole World.

The experimentation taken in Magick Brother is far more broader than in its predecessor, alternating from complex suites such as *Rivmic Melodies* and *Esther's Nose Job* to more fast-forward and mainstream *Lunatics Lament* and *Clarice in Wonderland*, with general surrealistic lyricism from Kevin Ayers, Daevid Allen and Hugh Hopper, ranging from novelty music, existential philosophy and love. The concept of the album is refined by the songs set 'in the early morning and the late night of a Saturday'. It was regarded very influential by its contemporaries, such as Brian Eno, and later recognised by David Byrne as a key record to the composition of Talking Heads' *Remain in Light*.

The record was considered the Soft Machine's breakthrough in the United Kingdom by leading the UK Album Charts for three weeks, and number 39 in the US Billboard 200, being certified Gold. *Lunatics Lament* was the first single to be released, followed by *Pretty Miss Titty*. *We Know What You Mean* was the last song released as single, backed by *Moon in June*.

## Track listing

* I. "Hulloder"
* II. "Dada Was Here"
* III. "Thank You Pierrot Lunaire"
* IV. "Have You Ever Bean Green?"
* V. "Out of Tunes"

* a. "Fire Engine Passing with Bells Clanging"
* b. "Pig"
* c. "Orange Skin Food"
* d. "A Door Opens and Closes"
* e. "10:30 Returns to the Bedroom"

## Personnel

Soft Machine
* Kevin Ayers – vocals, backing vocals, guitars, bass guitar, melodica, harmonica
* Robert Wyatt – vocals, drums and percussion
* Daevid Allen – vocals, backing vocals, guitars, bass guitar
* Mike Ratledge – Lowrey Holiday De Luxe organ, Hammond organ, piano, hapsichord, flute
* Hugh Hopper – bass guitar, acoustic guitar

The Whole World
* Gilli Smyth – space whisper
* Elton Dean – alto saxophone, saxello
* Mike Oldfield – guitars, bass guitar, backing vocals
* Lol Coxhill – saxophone, zoblophone
* David Bedford – piano, organ, marimbaphone, accordion, arranger
* Brian Hopper – soprano and tenor saxophone
* Mick Fincher – percussion, bottles and ashtrays
* The Whole World Chorus – backing vocals

Additional personnel
* Paul Buckmaster – cello
* Rob Spall – violin
* Jeff Clyne – double bass
* Paul Minns – oboe
* The Ladybirds – backing vocals
* Earl Freeman – piano and contrabass
* Dieter Gewissler – bowed contrabass
* Barre Phillips – contrabass

Production
* Soft Machine – producer
* Peter Jenner – executive producer
* Peter Mew – engineer