Iconoclastic English songwriter and criminally underrated guitarist
Kevin Ayers
has been the subject of numerous compilations and reissues. None offer the documentary vision of
Esoteric
/
Cherry Red
on this nine-CD, single-Blu-ray/DVD box set.
All This Crazy Gift of Time: The Recordings 1969-1973
presents
Ayers
' first four
Harvest
studio albums --
Joy of a Toy
,
Shooting at the Moon
Whatevershebringswesing
, and
Bananamour
-- along with a wealth of previously unissued live and studio work -- and a region-free Blu-ray contains 13 previously unreleased live performances recorded for French TV, the BBC's Old Grey Whistle Test, and a promo film. Amidst the extant audio material is a disc containing a completely remastered, remixed version of
Live at Hyde Park July 1970
, an unreleased John Peel BBC concert, all surviving BBC sessions between 1970 and 1973, and a couple of interviews. The extra material is sequenced in chronological order and stitched to their respective albums.
left
Soft Machine
in 1968 after recording their eponymous avant-psych debut. He spent nearly two years relaxing in the Balearics. Upon return, he signed with
, an
EMI
-distributed label whose only other signings at the time were
Pink Floyd
Syd Barrett
.
appeared in December 1969, a month after
Floyd
's
Ummagumma
, and two before
Barrett
The Madcap Laughs
appears with
on disc one's "Religious Experience (Singing a Song in the Morning)." The album itself is one of his finest; it includes a nearly-nine-minute "While You Were Sleeping" collab with
.
For those who already own
, disc three's remixed version is worth replacing it for. It marks the first recorded live appearance of
Kevin Ayers and the Whole World
, his touring band that included 16-year old guitarist
Mike Oldfield
, pianist / arranger
David Bedford
, and saxophonist
Lol Coxhill
. Disc three contains the wildly eccentric, rocking
with five extant bonus cuts including the unissued "Hat" and "Jolie Madame." Disc four offers unreleased music from 1970's John Peel Concert, parts of a 1971 show with
Bridget St. John
, and seven BBC session cuts. Disc five's
is arguably the songwriter's finest album. Its eight bonus cuts include a demo of the title track and 1972 re-recordings of "All This Crazy Gift of Time" and "The Lady" from 1971 to 1973, as well as the entire 1972 Banana Follies in Concert. Disc eight is
expanded by bonus singles, an early mix of "Decadence," and unreleased live versions of "We Did it Again" and "Why Are We Sleeping?" The final audio disc contains a 1973 concert recorded during his contract transition from
to
Island
. Its final track is a concert version of "After the Show," his first
single.
All This Crazy Gift of Time
is packaged in a gorgeous, lavishly illustrated 10"x10" box with a 68-page booklet containing an insightful, compelling essay by editor, author, and economist
Michael Björn
. ~ Thom Jurek