Soft Machine - Slightly All The Time (Recordings 1970-1974) Soft Machine
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One of the most influential progressive rock bands of the late ‘60s / early ‘70s, Soft Machine’s initial line-up was Robert Wyatt (drums, vocals), Kevin Ayers (bass, guitar, vocals), Daevid Allen (guitar) and Mike Ratledge (organ). They emerged from the UK underground in 1967, featuring prominently at epoch-making London venues such as the UFO Club and Middle Earth to establish a powerful reputation over the next decade with a series of accomplished albums and some innovative concert performances (notably in the UK and France) and with a support slot on the Jimi Hendrix Experience US tours throughout 1968.
After two albums for ABC/Probe – The Soft Machine and Volume Two – they signed to CBS/Columbia with a line-up consisting of Wyatt, Ratledge, saxophonist Elton Dean and bassist Hugh Hopper, releasing their most successful long player, Third, in 1970. This was followed by four more albums during a period of significant acclaim across Europe, and a frequently evolving line-up.
Soft Machine disbanded in 1978, apart from the occasional reunion, before being relaunched as Soft Machine Legacy in 2004, touring extensively and making many more albums. Since 2016 they have been known simply as Soft Machine and in March this year the current line-up issued their latest album, Thirteen. They will be playing live across the UK and Europe for the rest of the year and well into 2027, including festivals and club dates in Italy, The Netherlands, Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Hungary.
This extensive boxed set presents the story of the most vital, influential period in the Soft Machine story. Centred around their five CBS albums, all remastered from the original ¼” tapes and including the discovery of an entirely different and previously unreleased set of recordings of their Fifth album, it also contains all of their extant BBC sessions (some have been released before, decades ago, these are the complete performances for the first time) and a significant amount of previously unavailable audio-visual, full concert recordings from Europe (UK/France/Belgium/Germany).
Packaged in a sturdy 12” x 12” slipcase, with a hardback book featuring many rare photographs and extensive notes by journalist and author Sid Smith, progressive rock fans (who buy detailed boxed sets like this in large quantities), will delight in this comprehensive examination of one the great names in the genre.
Track List
CD 1:
“Third”
Released in June 1970
1. Facelift
2. Slightly All the Time
3. Moon in June
4. Out-Bloody-Rageous
CD 2:
London – May 1970
1. Facelift
2. Moon in June
3. Esther’s Nose Job
CD 3:
BBC Radio Sessions 1970
1. Slightly All the Time
2. Out-Bloody-Rageous
3. Eamonn Andrews
BBC Session - 4th May 1970
1. Facelift
2. Esther’s Nose Job
BBC Radio 1 “In Concert” – 31st May 1970
1. Virtually
2. Fletcher’s Blemish
BBC Radio 1 session – 15th December 1970
CD 4:
The Promenade Concert
Royal Albert Hall 13th August 1970
Recorded and broadcast by BBC Radio Three
1. Out-Bloody-Rageous
2. Facelift
3. Esther’s Nose Job
4. Pig
5. Orange Skin Food
6. A Door Opens and Closes
7. Pigling Bland
8. 10:30 Returns to the Bedroom
CD 5:
“Fourth”
Released in February 1971
1. Teeth
2. Kings and Queens
3. Fletcher’s Blemish
4. Virtually Part 1
5. Virtually Part 2
6. Virtually Part 3
7. Virtually Part 4
CD 6:
BBC Radio 1 In Concert
11th March 1971
1. Blind Badger
2. Neo Caliban Grides
3. Out-Bloody-Rageous
4. Eamonn Andrews
5. All White
6. Kings and Queens
7. Teeth
8. Pigling Bland
9. Returns to the Bedroom
10. Slightly All the Time
11. Noisette
CD 7:
Gondel Filmkunsttheater, Bremen, Germany
23rd March 1971
Radio Bremen concert
License from Radio Bremen / Studio Hamburg – OneGate Media
1. Facelift
2. Virtually
3. Slightly All the Time
4. Fletcher’s Blemish
5. Neo-Caliban Grides
6. Out-Bloody-Rageous
7. Eamonn Andrews
8. All White
9. Kings and Queens
10. Teeth
11. Pigling Bland
CD 8:
BBC Radio sessions 1971
BBC Radio 1 session – 1st June 1971
1. Neo-Caliban Grides
2. Dedicated to You But You Weren’t Listening
3. Eamonn Andrews / All White
BBC Radio 1 session – 15th November 1971
1. As If
2. Drop
3. Welcome to Frillsville
BBC Radio 1 session – 11th July 1972
1. Fanfare
2. All White
3. M C
4. Drop
CD 9:
“Fifth”
Released in July 1972
1. All White
2. Drop
3. M C
4. As If
5. L B O
6. Pigling Bland
7. Bone
Bonus tracks
The Alternative Fifth Sessions
1. As If
2. Untitled Blow
3. Pigling Bland
4. (coda) Esther’s Nose Job
5. All White (Take Two)
6. As If
7. Drum Solo
8. Pigling Bland
CD 10
BBC Radio 1 In Concert
20 July 1972
1. Fanfare
2. All White
3. Slightly All the Time
4. M C
5. Drop
6. Stumble
7. L.B.O.
8. As If
9. Riff
10. Gesolreut
CD 11:
“Six”
Released in February 1973
The live record:
1. Fanfare
2. All White
3. Between
4. Riff I
5. 37 ½
6. Gesolreut
7. E.P.V.
8. Lefty
9. Stumble
10. 5 from 13 (for Phil Seamen with Love & Thanks)
11. Riff II
The studio record:
1. The Soft Weed Factor
2. Stanley Stamp’s Gibbon Album (for B.O.)
3. Chloe and the Pirates
4. 1983
CD 12:
“Seven”
Released in October 1973
1. Nettle Bed
2. Carol Ann
3. Day’s Eye
4. Bone Fire
5. Tarabos
6. D.I.S.
7. Snodland
8. Penny Hitch
9. Block
10. Down the Road
11. The German Lesson
12. The French Lesson
CD 13:
BBC Sessions 1973 – 1974
BBC Radio 1 John Peel session – 20th November 1973
1. Stanley Stamps Gibbon Album
2. Hazard Profile (Part 1)
3. Sinepost
4. Down the Road
BBC Radio 3 Jazz in Britain session – 26th August 1974
1. North Point
2. The Man Who Waved at Trains
3. Hazard Profile (Parts 1 – 4)
CD 14:
Montreux Festival
4th July 1974
1. Hazard Profile
2. The Floating World
3. Ealing Comedy
4. Bundles
5. Land of the Bag Snake
6. Joint
7. The Man Who Waved at Trains
8. Peff
9. The Man Who Waved at Trains (reprise)
10. LBO
11. Riff II
12. Lefty
13. Penny Hitch (coda)
Disc 15 – Blu-ray video
The Video vaults 1970 - 1971
Theatre de la Musique, Paris
2nd March 1970
Recorded for French television – LICENSED FROM INA FRANCE
1. Eamonn Andrews
2. Backwards
3. Mousetrap
4. Out-Bloody-Rageous
5. Facelift
6. Vocal improvisation
7. Esther’s Nose Job / Pigling Bland
Pop Deux
12 December 1970
The Recording of Soft Machine Fourth - LICENSED FROM INA
BBC TV – Anatomy of Pop
10th January 1971
1. Neo-Caliban Grides
Theatre 140, Brussels
14th January 1971
Filmed for “Pop Shop” – Belgian TV – LICENSED FROM SONUMA BELGIUM
1. Improvisation
2. Neo-Caliban Grides
3. Out-Bloody-Rageous
4. Kings and Queens
5. Teeth
6. Pigling Bland
7. Esther’s Nose Job (excerpt)
8. ….It’s Nothing
9. Mousetrap
10. Noisette
Disc 16 – Blu-ray video
The Video vaults 1971 – 1975
‘Beat Club’ Radio Bremen TV Session
23rd March 1971
Licensed from Radio Bremen / Studio Hamburg – OneGate Media
1. Neo-Caliban Grides
2. Out-Bloody-Rageous
3. Vocal improvisation
4. Eamonn Andrews / All White
Berliner Jazztage Philharmonichalle, West Berlin
7th November 1971
Licensed from ARDPLus GmbH
1. Neo Caliban Grides
2. Slightly All The Time
3. Drop
4. M C
5. Out-Bloody-Rageous
6. As If
7. Dark Swing
8. Pigling Bland
9. Esther’s Nose Job (Outro)
Filmed 5th November 1972 at CBS Studios, London
for “Emission Rockenstock”
Broadcast 30th January 1973 ORTF French Television
Licensed from INA
1. The Soft Weed Factor
2. LBO
3. Gesolreut
BBC TV – FULL HOUSE
17th February 1973
Soft Machine interviews and the band perform
1. Gesolreut
2. Fanfare / All White
Disc 17 – Blu-ray video
The Video Vaults 1973 – 1974
Soft Machine & Friends ‘Jazz Workshop’
Congresszentrum, Hamburg, Germany on May 17, 1973
Licensed from Radio Bremen / Studio Hamburg – OneGate Media
1. Fanfare
2. All White
3. Link 1
4. The Soft Weed Factor
5. Link 2
6. 37 ½
7. Link 3
8. Riff
9. Stanley Stamps Gibbon Album
10. Chloe and the Pirates
11. Gesolreut
12. E.P.V.
13. Link 4
14. Stumble
15. One Across
16. Riff II
Bataclan, Paris
29th May 1973
Broadcast on “Pop Deux” – French TV 30th June 1973
Licensed from INA
1. Riff / Down The Road
2. Gesolreut / Chloe And The Pirates
Montreux Jazz Festival
4th July 1974
Licensed from Universal Music Operations
1. Hazard Profile
2. The Floating World
3. Ealing Comedy
4. Bundles
5. Land of the Bag Snake
6. Joint
7. The Man Who Waved at Trains
8. Peff
9. The Man Who Waved at Trains (reprise)
10. LBO
11. Riff II
12. Lefty
13. Penny Hitch (coda)
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