Canterburied Sounds
 | This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. (April 2015) |
| Canterburied Sounds | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Compilation album by various | |
| Released | January 1998 |
| Genre | Canterbury scene |
| Length | 4:53:35 |
| Label | Voiceprint Records (VP201-204) |
Canterburied Sounds is a series of four CDs of archival Canterbury scene recordings compiled from the private collection of Brian Hopper. The set includes some of the earliest-known recordings of Caravan, Soft Machine, Robert Wyatt, and Wilde Flowers.
Editions
[edit]The first edition in 1998 was released as four separate CDs. In 2013 Voiceprint reissued the four discs in a single boxed set.
Cover
[edit]The cover watercolor painting of Canterbury Cathedral is by Leslie Hopper, father of Brian and Hugh Hopper. Other watercolors by Leslie Hopper have been featured on Hugh Hopper’s official website.[1] In 1978 Hugh and his father published a book of his church paintings.[2]
Tracks
[edit]The notes are excerpted from extensive comments on each track by Brian Hopper.
Volume 1: Canterburied Sounds
[edit]| Track | Title | Artist | Composer | Notes | Recording Date | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Feelin’, Reelin’, Squealin’ | Caravan | Kevin Ayers | "Recorded live at The Foundry in Jewry Lane, Canterbury immediately following the Caravan's second LP" | 1969 | 10:19 |
| 2 | Mummie | Robert Wyatt & Brian Hopper | Robert Wyatt & Brian Hopper | "An improvised duet of guitar & vocals, switching speeds on the tape recorder whilst recording" | late 1962/early 1963 | 4:31 |
| 3 | Da-Da-Dee/Bolivar Blues | Mike Ratledge & Robert Wyatt | unknown/Thelonious Monk | “piano & drums duet with some argument on the choice of key” | early 1963 | 11:56 |
| 4 | Orientasian | Brian Hopper & Robert Wyatt | Brian Hopper | "duet for my newly-acquired soprano sax and Robert Wyatt on electric guitar" | 1967/68 | 4:03 |
| 5 | You Really Got Me | Wilde Flowers | Ray Davies | "Early rehearsal of Wilde Flowers with probably the first-ever recording of Kevin Ayers singing" | summer 1964 | 3:53 |
| 6 | Thinking of You Baby | Wilde Flowers | Dave Clark | "We had to learn a repertoire of current, popular songs to get local gigs" | summer 1964 | 5:20 |
| 7 | Man in a Deaf Corner | Brian Hopper, Hugh Hopper, Mike Ratledge, & Robert Wyatt | Brian Hopper, Hugh Hopper, Mike Ratledge, & Robert Wyatt | "Part of a long and spontaneous improvisation, with Mike showing a heavy Cecil Taylor influence" | late 1962/early 1963 | 5:05 |
| 8 | If I Ever Leave You | Zobe | Brian Hopper | “From a live performance by my late sixties/early seventies band Zobe” | 1970 | 6:15 |
| 9 | Stop Me & Play One | Robert Wyatt & unknown guitarist | unknown | “No-one seems to be able to recall the name of the quirky guitarist — there were SO MANY musicians passing through” | 1963/1964 | 3:45 |
| 10 | Piano Standards 1 | Mike Ratledge | various | “Few people will have heard Mike play like this, but it does show the all-round musical experience that Mike had absorbed” | 1964 | 3:36 |
| 11 | Belsize Parked | Brian Hopper, Hugh Hopper, & Robert Wyatt | Brian Hopper, Hugh Hopper, & Robert Wyatt | “Wellington House provided the opportunity for us to ‘blow’ for hours and develop a rare musical intimacy” | late 1963/early 1964 | 9:19 |
| 12 | Summertime | Caravan | George Gershwin & Ira Gershwin | “Another ‘live at the Foundry’ gig with a number that was an early Caravan showcase” | 1969 | 7:16 |
Volume 2: All Roads Lead Back to Canterbury
[edit]| Track | Title | Artist | Composer | Notes | Recording Date | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Carazobe | Caravan & Zobe | John Larner, Pye Hastings & Brian Hopper | "Pye suggested several members of Zobe join in on an extended blow during a joint gig in East Kent" | 1970 | 16:19 |
| 2 | Instant Pussy | Robert Wyatt | Robert Wyatt | “Robert described this as his answer to Leonard Cohen!" | 1969 | 3:16 |
| 3 | Esther’s Nose Job | Soft Machine | Mike Ratledge | "Demo tape provided to me so I could work out the sax lines for Volume Two" | January 1969 | 9:33 |
| 4 | Moorish | Robert Wyatt & Brian Hopper | Robert Wyatt & Brian Hopper | "A semi-improvised piece with an Iberian feel, with Robert switching between piano, cornet and finally guitar" | late 1962/early 1963 | 8:33 |
| 5 | Summertime | Mike Ratledge & Robert Wyatt | George Gershwin & Ira Gershwin | "Another of several versions in my archive tapes" | early 1963 | 4:24 |
| 6 | Indian Rope Man | Zobe | Richie Havens | "The band had to rehearse a selection of covers to provide sufficient variety for live gigs — which were few and far between" | 1970 | 4:36 |
| 7 | Drum Solo | Robert Wyatt | Robert Wyatt | "Robert working out some interesting drum patterns — even at this comparatively early stage his drumming technique was impressive" | probably 1963 | 1:39 |
| 8 | Mirror For The Day | Pye Hastings | Pye Hastings | “Pye working out the orchestral string arrangements for Mirror For The Day” | 1973 | 1:26 |
| 9 | Love Song with Cello | Robert Wyatt plus others | Robert Wyatt | “Robert showing his seemingly endless versatility with an excursion on cello coupled with vocalisations” | 1963/1964 | 4:18 |
| 10 | As I Feel I Die | Caravan | Pye Hastings, Dave Sinclair, Richard Sinclair, & Richard Coughlan | “Another track from the Foundry gig in Canterbury” | 1969 | 4:45 |
| 11 | Where But For Caravan Would I | Caravan | Brian Hopper & Pye Hastings | “A song adapted from one of my early compositions entitled How Many Tears” | 1969 | 11:59 |
Volume 3: A Kinship of Sounds
[edit]| Track | Title | Artist | Composer | Notes | Recording Date | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Slow Walkin’ Talk | Robert Wyatt & Jimi Hendrix | Brian Hopper | “Robert was laying down demo tracks of organ, drum and vocal when Jimi wandering in and suggested doing the bass on Noel’s bass” | October 1968 | 3:02 |
| 2 | Frenetica | Mike Ratledge & Robert Wyatt | Mike Ratledge & Robert Wyatt | “A largely improvised piece in which Robert supplies plenty of drive” | 1963/1964 | 4:21 |
| 3 | Idle Chat | Mike Ratledge & Robert Wyatt | n.a. | “The tape remained running while Robert expounded enthusiastically about the style of the drummer of Peter Jay & the Jaywalkers, a popular group of the sixties” | 1963/1964 | 1:32 |
| 4 | 3/4 Blues Thing in F | Mike Ratledge & Robert Wyatt | Mike Ratledge & Robert Wyatt | “This is the number resulting from the previous deliberation” | 1963/1964 | 4:17 |
| 5 | More Idle Chat | Zobe | n.a. | “Another time when the tape was left running” | summer 1970 | 3:48 |
| 6 | The Pieman Cometh | Zobe | Brian Hopper | “Written at the end of the Wilde Flowers era, although never performed by them” | summer 1970 | 6:02 |
| 7 | Liu-Ba | Robert Wyatt, Brian Hopper, Hugh Hopper plus unknown guitarist | Brian Hopper, Hugh Hopper & Robert Wyatt | “Another session with the unknown guitarist, although there are suggestions it could be Daevid Allen” | 1963 | 8:36 |
| 8 | Kansas City/Rip It Up | Brian Hopper, Hugh Hopper & Pete Lawson | Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller/Richard Penniman | “These represent the earliest recordings on Canterburied Sounds — Hugh had only just purchased his first bass” | 1962 | 2:25 |
| 9 | That’s Alright Mama | Brian Hopper & Hugh Hopper | Arthur Crudup | “This is about the only recording of just Hugh and myself playing and singing together” | 1962 | 2:13 |
| 10 | Tanglewood Tails | Brian Hopper, Hugh Hopper & Robert Wyatt | Brian Hopper, Hugh Hopper & Robert Wyatt | “One of the more musically successful trio encounters — Robert is the drummer I always have a memory of” | 1963 | 16:02 |
| 11 | The Big Show/Central Park West/Songs | Zobe | Brian Hopper/John Coltrane/Brian Hopper | “Another rehearsal track, unfortunately one of the last made by the band” | 1970 | 16:43 |
| 12 | If I Could Do It All Over Again I’d Do It All Over You | Caravan | Pye Hastings, Richard Coughlan, Dave Sinclair & Richard Sinclair | “Yet another track from the Foundry gig, probably their most well-known number” | 1969 | 4:09 |
Volume 4: Canterbury Pre-Soft, Pre-Wild
[edit]| Track | Title | Artist | Composer | Notes | Recording Date | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Slow Walkin’ Talk | Zobe | Brian Hopper | “Another version from a Zobe rehearsal” | 1970 | 5:43 |
| 2 | Some-of-the-Time | Mike Ratledge, Brian Hopper, Robert Wyatt & unknown guitarist | Mike Ratledge, Brian Hopper & Robert Wyatt | “Thinly-veiled variations on Gershwin’s Summertime (again!)” | 1963/1964 | 14:45 |
| 3 | Ghosts | Robert Wyatt, Mike Ratledge & unknown guitarist | Albert Ayler | “More wild flourish from Mike in the Cecil Taylor mould” | 1963/1964 | 5:23 |
| 4 | With an Ear to the Ground You Can Make It | Caravan | Pye Hastings, Richard Coughlan, Dave Sinclair & Richard Sinclair | “Because they have not had sufficient time to rehearse it we are treated to a unique arrangement” | 1969 | 8:48 |
| 5 | Dalmore Rode | Brian Hopper & Robert Wyatt | Brian Hopper & Robert Wyatt | “Robert is heard extending even further the sonic capabilities of the cello” | 1963/1964 | 7:56 |
| 6 | Piano Standards 2 | Mike Ratledge | various | “Opening with a few Thelonious Monk tinged phrases, this is the second selection of piano standards” | 1964 | 3:13 |
| 7 | Johnny B. Goode | Wilde Flowers | Chuck Berry | “We leaned heavily on the Chuck Berry catalogue to boost our early repertoire” | 1964 | 3:10 |
| 8 | Cecilian | Brian Hopper, Hugh Hopper, Mike Ratledge & Robert Wyatt | Brian Hopper, Hugh Hopper, Mike Ratledge & Robert Wyatt | “Mike in his most intense Cecil Taylor style, with Hugh in his first recorded bass solo!” | late 1962 | 12:00 |
| 9 | Austin Cambridge | Caravan | Derek Austin | “The first recorded example of Geoff Richardson on viola” | late 1972 | 13:45 |
References
[edit]- ^ "Home". hugh-hopper.com.
- ^ H.C. & L.T. Hopper: Thirty Kent Churches, ISBN 0-9506394-0-0 – Great Stour Publications – limited edition 750 cop. – calligraphy and map: Leon Olin and Sylvia Gansford