How far down the Canterbury Sound rabbit hole could I get in my teenage years?
Ladies and gentlemen, how about the two Steve Miller / Lol Coxhill albums.
Who? Miller, pianist, brother of Hatfield and the North's Phil Miller, had served a short sentence in Caravan, while Coxhill had worked with Kevin Ayers.
I'm pretty sure that I owned both Miller/Coxhill Coxhill/Miller (1973) and The Story So Far... / ...Oh Really (1974) on vinyl at some point, both originally issued on Virgin's budget Caroline label, and could persuade none of my friends that there was anything other than a series of squeaks in these free jazz experiments. But with older ears, I was prepared to try harder, and on seeing this album on EBay, reissued as a double by US label Cuneiform, I treated myself to an expensive import.
So, first half of the first of these albums (CD1) are mostly Miller compositions - Chocolate Field being a Jarrett sounding piano improvisation, with the sax coming in later. It's listenable background, but not amazing. One For You is more appealing, Miller's piano being joined by Phil Miller's guitar, Richard Sinclair on bass, and Pip Pyle on drums in an early version of Hatfield and the North. Portland Bill features much more of Coxhill's sax, and there's little or no melody.
Second half is mostly Coxhill compositions, opening with Will My Thirst Play Me Tricks / The Ant About To Be Crushed Ponders Not The Wherewithal Of Boot Leather, a 'free' composition whose only redeeming feature is its title. Similarly, Maggots, Bath 72 and Wimbledon Baths are atonal sax squawks, while the electric piano accompaniment on final track Gog Magog rescues it from a similar fate.
CD1 contains a few additional tracks, from Miller's previous band Delivery, and very early Hatfield and the North. Betty is a listenable, if uninspiring jam, God Song an early song Phil Miller wrote with Robert Wyatt, again is OK but a bit of a dirge, Richard Sinclair handling vocals. Bossa Nochance/Big Jobs are mostly ealry Hatfield recordings, without lyrics, of historical interest only, as is Big Jobs No 2 (where the chord structure is similar to the Hatfield version, even if the melody is different) and an instrumental reprise of God Song.
CD2 kicks off with live versions of Chocolate Field and One For You, just with Miller's piano, and sounding better for it. Again, the first half of this album are Miller compositions, either played alone, or with former Gong drummer, Laurie Allen, and they're nice, easy jazz listening. G Song is a lively piece, while F Bit is much more sombre and dark. Songs Of March, More G Songs and Does This follow a similar vein. But there's a fantastic peak in the album, with the really funky The Greatest Offshore Race In The World, a lovely piece, followed by Reprise For Those Who Prefer It Slower, which is, ...oh, work it out for yourself!
Tubercular Balls is a mercifully short percussion piece, followed by Soprano Derivativo, a sax piece, which segues into Apricot Jam, a bossa-nova romp written by Kevin Ayers and featuring Ayers and Robert Wyatt, amongst others. it's really fun and catchy. Oh Do I Like To Be Beside The Seaside is a long sax piece, replete with echo, which while lacking a discernable tune, works better than it ought, as does In Memoriam:Meister Ekhart, a long droning piece accompanied by church organ. We end the original with Coxhill telling the audience a piss-poor joke.
I say we end, but there is a bonus track - the 23 minute jam of Coxhill, Miller, Sinclair and Allen, Coo-Coo Ka-Chew. As it's a bonus, I'm under no obligation to listen to the whole thing. I lasted six minutes.
While I find much of this very hard listening, I have a residual fondness for these two albums as a part of my youth which I was able to keep just to myself (because everyone else hated it!), so I find it easy to focus on the really enjoyable bits.
3* - for the few diamonds hidden deep within these tunes
Comments