Nick Mason – Nick Mason's Fictitious Sports (1981)

Another boot fair purchase (still sealed, 3 for a fiver), and the combination of Nick Mason, Pink Floyd's drummer and Robert Wyatt on vocals was too much for me to leave on the racks. I had no idea what to expect, but was aware of this album and that it wasn't regarded as a classic.

The reality is that this is really an album by Carla Bley, American jazz musician, who wrote all the songs on this album, and plays keyboards, with Mason drumming, producing and using his name to try to sell the album.

It opens with the frantic, disjointed Can't Get My Motor To Start, with vocals from Karen Kraft, which leaves this listener perplexed, but mildly amused, and there's some nice horn bits. I Was Wrong has Wyatt on vocals, and doesn't sound a million miles away from his own Soup Song. Again it's interesting, as is the Eastern tinged Siam, which benefits from some guitar work from Chris Spedding, and a Gary Windo sax middle section. Hot River feels like a more traditional rock number, without inspiring. There's a rock'n'roll feel with a big band break to Boo To You Too, a fun little song, but Do Ya? is a long dull effort, brightened only by a trumpet solo (Mike Mantler). Wervin' is another full band, jumpy piece, similar to the first song, but doesn't quite have the charm or humour, and final song I'm A Mineralist, a mysterious song, which goes on a little too long, saved only by a trombone / guitar thrash towards the end.

On the whole, this one gets the thumbs down from me. It feels just a bit too 'trying to be clever', and while a couple of tracks are quite interesting, it's a bit of a chore to listen to the whole thing, even at only 36 minutes.

Link to full album

2* - an interesting experiment. Sadly, many experiments don't succeed.