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Soft MachineSofts

Label:

Harvest – SHSP 4056, Harvest – OC 062 · 97761

Format:

Vinyl, LP, Album

Country:

UK

Released:

Genre:

Jazz, Rock

Style:

Jazz-Rock, Fusion, Prog Rock

Tracklist

A1Aubade
A2The Tale Of Taliesin
A3Ban-Ban Caliban
SynthesizerMike Ratledge
A4Song Of Aeolus
SynthesizerMike Ratledge
B1Out Of Season
B2Second Bundle
B3Kayoo
Written-ByJohn Marshall
B4The Camden Tandem
B5Nexus
B6One Over The Eight
B7Etika
Written-ByJohn Etheridge
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Companies, etc.

  • Recorded AtAbbey Road Studios
  • Made ByGarrod & Lofthouse Ltd.
  • Printed ByGarrod & Lofthouse Ltd.
  • Phonographic Copyright ℗Soft Machine Music Ltd.
  • Copyright ©Soft Machine Publishing Company Limited

Credits

  • Acoustic Guitar, Electric GuitarJohn Etheridge
  • Art DirectionPeter Shepherd (2)
  • BassRoy Babbington
  • Drums, PercussionJohn Marshall
  • EngineerJohn Leckie
  • Executive-Producer, Design ConceptSean Murphy
  • Lacquer Cut ByHTM*
  • LetteringBrian Palmer (2)
  • Photography ByGuido Harari
  • Piano, Electric Piano, Upright Piano [Pianette], Synthesizer [String, Minimoog], Orchestrated ByKarl Jenkins
  • ProducerSoft Machine
  • Soprano Saxophone, Tenor SaxophoneAlan Wakeman
  • Tape OpPat Stapley
  • Written-ByKarl Jenkins (tracks: A1 to B2, B5, B6)

Notes

Original first UK release with a laminated, glossy cover by Garrod & Lofthouse Ltd.

The only difference to Softs is the printing on label B
Track B6: sleeve credits Alan Wakeman as writer for this track, but vinyl label does not.

Additional number on sleeve: OC 062 · 97761

Recorded at Abbey Road Recording Studios, Spring 1976.
Photography - (Milano).
Artwork - Michael Mann Studios, London.

(P) 1976 Soft Machine Music Ltd.
All Titles (C) of Soft Machine Pub. Co. Ltd. MCPS.

Harvest.
EMI Records Ltd. Hayes, Middlesex, England.
Made and printed in Great Britain.
7607 TM Garrod & Lofthouse Ltd.

Barcode and Other Identifiers

  • Rights Society: MCPS
  • Matrix / Runout (etched in runouts): HTM
  • Matrix / Runout (Runout A, stamped, variant 1): SHSP 4056 A-1 GA
  • Matrix / Runout (Runout B, stamped, variant 1): SHSP 4056 B-1 H
  • Matrix / Runout (Runout A, stamped, variant 2): SHSP 4056 A-1 GL
  • Matrix / Runout (Runout B, stamped, variant 2): SHSP 4056 B-3 M
  • Barcode (Runout A, stamped, variant 3): SHSP 4056 A-1 GL 1
  • Barcode (Runout B, stamped, variant 3): SHSP 4056 B-4 L 1

Other Versions (5 of 41)

View All
Title (Format)LabelCat#CountryYear
Recently Edited
Softs (LP, Album, Stereo)Atlantic50 290France1976
Recently Edited
Softs (LP, Album)Harvest, EMI Electrola1C 062-97 761Germany1976
Softs (LP, Album, Stereo)RCA, Neon (3)NEN 00022Italy1976
Recently Edited
Softs (LP, Album)HarvestSHSP 4056Australia1976
New Submission
Softs (Cassette, Album)Atlantic450290France1976

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Reviews

  • paul.wren.98's avatar
    paul.wren.98
    A very accessible album compared to most of their output.
    • Friedell's avatar
      Friedell
      Edited 7 years ago
      Personaly i would describe this more of a insider album. At the time it was released complex music like this was only mostly heard by weed heads with open ears and fat hifi gear. Well,personaly i fell in love with it the first time i heard it and im exactly
      still there now emotionaly 41 years later.
      • progfan97402's avatar
        progfan97402
        Way better than I expected it to be. True, the last true Soft Machine album was Bundles, because Mike Ratledge was still present, but by then he was the only original member left. With the next album, Softs, it's clear who is in control and that was Karl Jenkins. To me, post Robert Wyatt Soft Machine does not always get the most respect, many felt they became more of a generic fusion group, which I couldn't agree on. But without Mike Ratledge, it's basically the final nail on the coffin, at least with popular opinion. Yet when I hear it, I was simply amazed. With Allan Holdsworth out of the picture (he never sticks to one group or artist for long), they brought in John Etheridge, who really gave some super-fast guitar leads. Rick Wakeman's cousin Alan Wakeman provides sax, while Karl Jenkins sticks mainly to synths, but also saxes. I really love the approach they do here, at times the group is almost electronic, especially during those synth passages. There are some just unbelievably fast and intense passages white Etheridge playing guitar like there's no tomorrow, and same for John Marshall's drumming. I obviously didn't expect this to be another Third, and definitely not like the first two albums, and of course, you shouldn't expect the same as what the Soft Machine was doing 1968-70. I think if this was released as a Karl Jenkins solo album, rather than Soft Machine, I think it would get more respect. But the many progheads had jumped ship with Soft Machine long ago (about the time Robert Wyatt left), but fans of fusion certainly stayed on, and this is an (much better than I expected it to be) example.

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