There is an awful lot of music on this nine CD and one Blu-Ray release. All of the following is released with lots of bonuses:
On CD 1“Joy of a Toy” (1969), the story goes that Ayers had decided to retire from music after a gruelling US tour with SOFT MACHINE, of whom he was a founding member, supporting the JIMI HENDRIX EXPERIENCE. To dissuade him, Hendrix gifted Ayers a Gibson J-200 guitar and the Harvest label invested in the production of Ayers’ first album which contained enduring estimable songs like ‘Girl on a Swing’ and ‘The Lady Rachel’, and on which he was supported by Soft Machine and keyboardist/ arranger David Bedford. CD2 is a live 1970 recording from a Hyde Park concert. CD 3 has “Shooting at the Moon”, which introduced a more experimental approach to the unconventional psych pop leanings of Ayers’ debut, with his new band The Whole World, which included MIKE OLDFIELD and saxophonist LOL COXHILL. Members of GONG appear on CD 4, a combination of BBC radio shows and concerts. CD 5 is Ayers’ third album “Whatevershebringswesing” which featured the distinctive voice of Robert Wyatt and a bass solo by Mike Oldfield on the title track; by contrast ‘Stranger in Blue Suede Shoes; would adopt a more traditional format and become a concert favourite.
CDs 6 & 7 have more BBC sessions while CD 8 has the final Harvest Years record “Bananamour” which included an 8-minute ‘psychoanalysis’ of NICO, ‘Decadence’, later covered by THE CHURCH, and ‘Oh! Wot A Dream’, a tribute to SYD BARRETT. CD 9 has a live 1973 concert at the Queen Elizabeth Hall while disc 10 is a Blu-Ray: ‘Video Vaults, 1970-73. And of course, Ayers’ hits that never were like ‘Singing a Song in the Morning’, ‘Butterfly Dance’ and the calypso reggae groove of ‘Caribbean Moon’ are all there in as comprehensive collection of music and visual memorabilia as any fan or interested party would ever need in a customarily lavish Esoteric presentation.
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