'68 (album)

Last updated

'68
RobertWyatt 68.jpg
Compilation album by
Released8 October 2013
Recorded1968
Genre Canterbury scene, jazz fusion
Length46:57
Label Cuneiform
Producer Robert Wyatt
Robert Wyatt chronology
Radio Experiment Rome, February 1981
(2009)
'68
(2013)

'68 is a compilation album by Robert Wyatt. It is composed of previously unreleased demos Wyatt recorded in 1968 at the end of a tour Soft Machine did with the Jimi Hendrix Experience in the United States. [1] It was released by Cuneiform Records in 2013.

Contents

After the tour, the Experience had given Wyatt access to their recording studios after hours, and he recorded these demos there. Hendrix played bass guitar on one of the recordings, "Slow Walkin' Talk". Some of the tracks were later reworked and used on several Soft Machine and Matching Mole albums. [1]

Release

'68 was released on 8 October 2013 on LP in a limited edition, and on CD and digital. Three further limited edition LP pressings were released in 2014. [2]

Vinyl

CD

Digital

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [1]
PopMatters Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [3]
Rolling Stone Favourable [4]
Tom Hull B+ ( Five Pointed Star Solid.svg Five Pointed Star Solid.svg Five Pointed Star Solid.svg ) [5]

Writing at AllMusic, Thom Jurek said Cuneiform Records has "delivered a Holy Grail" with this album, considering that some of the recordings were believed lost, or not to have been made at all. [1] He said that the cleaning and remastering has produced an "excellent" sound, and he described the compilation as "All killer, no filler". [1]

In a review in PopMatters, Maria Schurr called '68 "especially edifying to Soft Machine die-hards", and a "great ... lost musical treasure". [3] Rolling Stone called the album "By far one of the year's best releases". [4]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Robert Wyatt, except where noted.

No.TitleLength
1."Chelsa" (Daevid Allen, [lower-alpha 1] Wyatt)5:00
2."Rivmic Melodies"18:19
3."Slow Walkin' Talk" (Brian Hopper)3:02
4."Moon in June"20:36

Personnel

Notes

  1. The lyrics for "Chelsa" were wrongly credited to Kevin Ayers in the liner notes; they were written by Daevid Allen. [6]

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Jurek, Thom. "'68". AllMusic . Retrieved 16 July 2014.
  2. "Robert Wyatt – '68 (Master Release)". Discogs . Retrieved 10 June 2022.
  3. 1 2 Schurr, Maria (6 March 2014). "Robert Wyatt: '68". PopMatters . Retrieved 16 July 2014.
  4. 1 2 "Robert Wyatt: '68 (Cuneiform)". Rolling Stone . Retrieved 16 July 2014.
  5. Hull, Tom (December 2013). "Recycled Goods (#115)". A Consumer Guide to the Trailing Edge. Tom Hull. Retrieved 20 June 2020.
  6. "Robert Wyatt – '68". Discogs . Retrieved 10 June 2022.