Kevin Ayers – All This Crazy Gift Of Time
Kevin Ayers – All This Crazy Gift Of Time
Format: 9CD – Blu-ray
Label: Esoteric – Cherry Red Records
Release: 2024
The Recordings 1969-1973
DELUXE 9 CD / 1 BLU-RAY LIMITED EDITION 10-INCH BY 10-INCH BOX SET OF THE COMPLETE RECORDINGS BY KEVIN AYERS FROM 1969 -1973. WITH 140 TRACKS NEWLY REMASTERED FROM THE ORIGINAL MASTER TAPES.
A founder member of SOFT MACHINE, Kevin embarked on a solo career in 1969, signing to EMI’s Harvest label and recording the album ‘JOY OF A TOY’ the same year. It is a mark of Kevin’s stature that his recordings during this period would feature contributions from notable musicians such as arranger and keyboard player DAVID BEDFORD, ROBERT WYATT, SYD BARRETT, MIKE OLDFIELD, LOL COXHILL, STEVE HILLAGE, ARCHIE LEGGET and more.
This boxed set includes all of the surviving BBC sessions and In Concert appearances recorded by Kevin during this period, including a previously unreleased John Peel concert from 1970 and other tracks featuring Soft Machine, Bridget St. John and Gong.
Other highlights include the inclusion of a complete set recorded at a Hyde Park Free concert in 1970, newly mixed and restored by Stephen W Tayler, previously unreleased session out-takes and a segment from a 1972 concert and a performance at London’s Queen Elizabeth Hall in 1973. Rounding off the set is a region free Blu-ray video disc which includes a series of live performances recorded for French television, along with two sessions for The Old Grey Whistle Test in 1972 and 1973 (with three previous unseen alternate performances from 1972) and the ‘Caribbean Moon’ promotional film. The set is completed with a 68-page illustrated book with a new essay.
Compiled with the full approval of Kevin Ayers’ estate and is a supreme tribute to a performer of whom John Peel once said; “Kevin Ayers’ talent is so acute you could perform major eye surgery with it”. This boxed set celebrates and confirms that talent.