| Softs | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | June 1976 | |||
| Recorded | January to March, 1976 at EMI Abbey Road Studios, London | |||
| Genre | Jazz rock [1] | |||
| Length | 44:55 | |||
| Label | Harvest | |||
| Producer | Soft Machine | |||
| Soft Machine chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [1] |
Softs is the ninth studio album by the jazz rock band Soft Machine, released in 1976. It is the final album to feature founding keyboardist Mike Ratledge, who appears on two tracks but left the group before the album was completed.
John Etheridge replaced Allan Holdsworth on guitar shortly after the release of the previous album, Bundles , and Alan Wakeman, cousin of Yes keyboardist Rick Wakeman, took over saxophone duties from Karl Jenkins. Karl would play keyboards exclusively from this point onward. During the recording of the album, the group's last remaining founding member, Mike Ratledge, left the band. Two tracks recorded while he was still with the band were included on the album, with him being credited as an additional musician on the back cover. Wakeman and bassist Roy Babbington left the group not long after the album was released, Wakeman having been a member for less than six months. [2]
All compositions by Karl Jenkins except where indicated.
Soft Machine are a British rock band from Canterbury formed in mid-1966 by Mike Ratledge, Robert Wyatt, Kevin Ayers and Daevid Allen. As a central band of the Canterbury scene, the group became one of the first British psychedelic acts and later moved into progressive rock and jazz fusion. Their varying line-ups have included former members such as Andy Summers, Hugh Hopper, Elton Dean, John Marshall, Karl Jenkins, Roy Babbington and Allan Holdsworth, and currently consists of John Etheridge, Theo Travis, Fred Thelonious Baker, and Asaf Sirkis.
Sir Karl William Pamp Jenkins,, HonFLSW is a Welsh multi-instrumentalist and composer. His best known works include the song "Adiemus", the Adiemus album series; Palladio; The Armed Man; his Requiem and his Stabat Mater (2008).
Volume Two is the second LP by The Soft Machine, released in 1969. The album combined humour, dada, psychedelia and jazz. In 2000 it was voted number 715 in Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums.
The Soft Machine is the debut album by the British psychedelic rock band Soft Machine, released in 1968. It is the group's only album to feature Kevin Ayers as a member.
Bundles is the eighth studio album by the jazz-rock band Soft Machine, released in 1975.
Six is the sixth studio album by the jazz rock band Soft Machine. Originally released in 1973 as a double LP, the first disc is a live album and the second disc is a studio album. This is the first album to feature Karl Jenkins as a member the group, replacing Elton Dean. Jenkins eventually became the de facto leader and main composer of the group following the departure of the last remaining original member, Mike Ratledge, in 1976.
Centipede were an English jazz/progressive rock/big band with more than 50 members, organized and led by the British free jazz pianist Keith Tippett. Formed in 1970, it brought together much of a generation of young British jazz and rock musicians from a number of bands, including Soft Machine, King Crimson, Nucleus and Blossom Toes.
Fourth is the fourth studio album by the rock band Soft Machine, released in 1971. The album is also titled Four or 4 in the USA.
Seven is the seventh studio album by the jazz rock band Soft Machine, released in 1973. Roy Babbington, who had previously contributed to Fourth (1971) and Fifth (1972) on double bass as a session musician, replaced Hugh Hopper on bass guitar, who left to begin a solo career. This line-up change meant more than half of Soft Machine was now former members of the band Nucleus.
Fifth, is the fifth studio album by the jazz rock band Soft Machine, released in 1972. In the US the album was identified on cover and label by number (5).
Michael Roland Ratledge is a British musician. A part of the Canterbury scene, he was a founding member of Soft Machine. He was the last founding member to leave the group, doing so in 1976.
Roy Babbington is an English rock and jazz bassist. He became well known for being a member of the Canterbury scene progressive rock band Soft Machine.
Alive & Well: Recorded in Paris is a (mostly) live album by the jazz rock band Soft Machine, released in 1978.
Land of Cockayne is the tenth studio album by the jazz rock band Soft Machine, released in 1981. Soft Machine had split in December 1978, with the name being resurrected as a studio-only project for the recording of this album in 1980. The title refers to the medieval land of plenty. It would be the last album released under the Soft Machine name until Hidden Details in 2018.
Wonderin' is a tribute album featuring jazz-funk cover versions of Stevie Wonder songs. It was recorded by the ad hoc band Rollercoaster made up of leading UK session and jazz musicians from British jazz-rock bands of the 1960s and 1970s such as Soft Machine, Blue Mink and Nucleus.
Burden of Proof is the sixth album by the Canterbury associated band Soft Machine Legacy and their third studio album, released on CD in March 2013. This was the last album to use the "Legacy" suffix before it was dropped in 2015. Soft Machine returned with Hidden Details in 2018 featuring the same line-up that recorded this album.
Hidden Details is the eleventh studio album by the jazz rock band Soft Machine, released in September 2018.
Steam is the fourth album by the Canterbury associated band Soft Machine Legacy and their second studio album, released on CD in 2007. This is the final Soft Machine project to feature bassist Hugh Hopper prior to his death in June 2009. He was replaced by Roy Babbington, Soft Machine member from 1973 to 1976. Babbington has previously replaced Hopper in Soft Machine-proper. Steam also marks the first appearance of Theo Travis in the group replacing Elton Dean who died in February 2006 at age 60.
Soft Machine are an English rock band from Canterbury formed in mid-1966. As a central band of the Canterbury scene, the group became one of the first British psychedelic acts and later moved into progressive rock and jazz fusion. Having known numerous line-ups, the band currently consists of John Etheridge (guitar), Theo Travis, Fred Baker (bass) and Asaf Sirkis (drums).
