A Can of Bees

A Can of Bees
Studio album by The Soft Boys
Released	24 April 1979
Recorded	August–November 1978
Studio	Spaceward Studios, Cambridge
Genre	Post-punk
Length	40:46
Label	Two Crabs CLAW 1001 (original UK release)
Producer	Spaceward
The Soft Boys chronology
A Can of Bees (1979) Underwater Moonlight (1980)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]
Alternative Rock	5/10 [2]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music	[3]
The Great Rock Discography	7/10 [4]
Indiana Daily Student	B [5]
MusicHound Rock	3/5 [6]
The New Rolling Stone Album Guide	[7]
Pitchfork	7.5/10 [8]
Popmatters	8/10 [9]

A Can of Bees is the 1979 debut album by English rock band The Soft Boys. The album was reissued in 1984 with a different track listing on the second side. ^[10] Both versions of Side 2 appear on the CD reissue first put out by Two Crabs in 1990, subsequently reissued by Rykodisc in 1992, and Yep Roc in 2010. ^[11]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Robyn Hitchcock, except where noted

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Give It to the Soft Boys"		1:57
2.	"The Pig Worker"		4:30
3.	"Human Music"		4:30
4.	"Leppo and the Jooves"		5:27
5.	"The Rat's Prayer"		3:19
6.	"Do the Chisel"		3:03
7.	"Sandra's Having Her Brain Out"		3:47
8.	"The Return of the Sacred Crab"		2:54
9.	"Cold Turkey" (Live)	John Lennon	4:17
10.	"School Dinner Blues" (Live)		2:26
11.	"Wading Through a Ventilator" (Live)		4:08

1984 reissue track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Give It to the Soft Boys"		1:57
2.	"The Pigworker"		4:29
3.	"Human Music"		4:31
4.	"Leppo & The Jooves"		5:29
5.	"The Rats Prayer"		3:19
6.	"Do the Chisel"		3:03
7.	"Sandra's Having Her Brain Out"		3:39
8.	"Fatman's Son"		2:38
9.	"(I Want to Be An) Anglepoise Lamp" (Live)		2:51
10.	"Ugly Nora" (Live)		3:05
11.	"Cold Turkey"	John Lennon	4:16

1992 CD reissue track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Give It to the Soft Boys"		1:57
2.	"The Pig Worker"		4:30
3.	"Human Music"		4:30
4.	"Leppo and the Jooves"		5:27
5.	"The Rat's Prayer"		3:19
6.	"Do the Chisel"		3:03
7.	"Sandra's Having Her Brain Out"		3:47
8.	"The Return of the Sacred Crab"		2:54
9.	"Cold Turkey" (Live)	John Lennon	4:17
10.	"School Dinner Blues" (Live)		2:26
11.	"Wading Through a Ventilator" (Live)		4:08
12.	"Leppo & The Jooves"		5:29
13.	"Sandra's Having Her Brain Out"		3:39
14.	"School Dinner Blues"		2:14
15.	"Fatman's Son"		2:38
16.	"(I Want to Be An) Anglepoise Lamp" (Live)		2:51
17.	"Ugly Nora" (Live)		3:05

^[12]

Personnel

• Robyn Hitchcock  – guitar, vocals
• Kimberley Rew  – guitar
• Jim Melton – harmonica, percussion
• Gerry Hale  – violin
• Andy Metcalfe  – bass
• Morris Windsor – drums

Technical

• Mike Kemp – engineer

References

1. https://www.allmusic.com/album/r76684
2. Thompson, Dave (11 February 2000). "Alternative rock". San Francisco : Miller Freeman Books; Berkeley, CA : Distributed to the book trade in the U.S. and Canada by Publishers Group West; Milwaukee, WI : Distributed to the music trade in the U.S. and Canada by Hal Leonard Publishing – via Internet Archive.
3. Larkin, Colin (11 February 1998). "The encyclopedia of popular music". London : Macmillan – via Internet Archive.
4. Strong, M. C. (Martin Charles) (11 February 2004). "The great rock discography". New York : Canongate U.S. – via Internet Archive.
5. "The Soft Boys "A Can of Bees" and "Underwater Moonlight" Album Reviews". Indiana Daily Student.
6. "MusicHound rock : the essential album guide". Detroit : Visible Ink Press. 11 February 1996 – via Internet Archive.
7. Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (Christian David) (11 February 2004). "The new Rolling Stone album guide". New York : Simon & Schuster – via Internet Archive.
8. "The Soft Boys: A Can of Bees / Underwater Moonlight". Pitchfork.
9. "The Soft Boys: A Can of Bees / Underwater Moonlight, PopMatters". 14 November 2010.
10. "Soft Boys, The - A Can Of Bees (Vinyl, LP, Album) at Discogs". Discogs.com. Retrieved 9 February 2012.
11. Christopher, James. "A Can of Bees - The Soft Boys". AllMusic. Retrieved 9 February 2012.
12. "Can of Bees: Soft Boys: Music". Amazon.com. Retrieved 9 February 2012.

The Soft Boys album 'A Can of Bees' was released in 1980 by Aura Records (AUL 709).