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The Soft Machine｜Vinyl Monday

Abigail Devoe | June 4, 2026



Is it psychedelic? ✅
Is it prog-adjacent? ✅
Is it (almost) jazz fusion? ✅
Was it released in 1968? ✅
Is it a no-brainer for Vinyl Monday? ✅✅✅

Welcome (or welcome back) to Vinyl Monday! This is my series where I give the who/what/when/where/why and how I feel about classic albums in my collection. My thoughts on Canterbury players the Soft Machine’s scene-stealing, scene-starting self-titled debut (released 1968.) Subscribe for more Vinyl Monday!

Keep in touch:
Instagram: @abigaildevoe https://www.instagram.com/abigaildevoe/
My website: https://www.abigaildevoe.com
Patreon: www.patreon.com/abigaildevoe
Tiktok: www.tiktok.com/@abigaildevoe

I cohost the Dolls Podcast!: https://open.spotify.com/show/4JsH0rsXUNjgvFLIbwYgnK?si=798d0d6d67864c4e
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/unveiling-the-legends-dolls-of-the-60s-70s/id1749327932

Timestamps:

intro – 0:00
art/packaging/personnel – 1:50
The Soft Machine – 6:35
my thoughts – 25:52
thanks for watching! – 42:21

Music:
Intro Music: Yeah Yeah Yeah (Long) by Audionautix is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/…) Artist: http://audionautix.com/
Outtro Music: Ticket To Nowhere Man by Audionautix is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/…) Artist: http://audionautix.com/
Vinyl Monday logo by Callum: https://www.youtube.com/@clynaack

#vinyl #vinylcommunity #softmachine #pinkfloyd

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Written by Abigail Devoe

Comments

This post currently has 45 comments.

  4. @garygomes9851

    June 4, 2026 at 8:17 am

    There seems to be a bit of energy around Soft Machine lately-the current band released Thirteen in March April and is getting really great reviews and attention. (John Etheridge on guitar is the sole member of the group from the 70s. Superb guitarist!)

    One final thought-the Soft Machine formed when free jazz-minimalism (creating something over again) were tearing apart structures. The virtuosity was new! I love them because they reminded me of certain things but they can't be pigeon holed.

  5. @henrykujawa4427

    June 4, 2026 at 8:17 am

    Here's a group I have not yet ever heard even a single note by. But, I listened to your entire video just out of curiosity.

    Still hoping you cover MOVE by The Move. How about THOUGHTS OF EMERLIST DAVJACK by The Nice? (Keith Emerson!) So often, debut albums are more interesting before they start to expand or evolve whatever they're doing.

  7. @garygomes9851

    June 4, 2026 at 8:17 am

    I had a friend who passed away who was a wonderful bass player/composer who worked as a roadie for National Health, had a group set up with Alan Gowan, and later, Pip Pyle and Phil Miller. Sadly, because of Alan's death, and later, Pip Pyle and my friend's (Enrique Jardines), there was only one album, Smashing Icons by Absolute Zero that stands as documentation. This featured some unbelievable drumming from Pip. Recommended has it still, I think.

  8. @garygomes9851

    June 4, 2026 at 8:17 am

    Some comments-great job, but wanted to mention a few things as someone who had seen the album in stores in 1968, bought it as a cutout for about 2 dollars, and heard Third first.
    The first album was just left alone by Tom Wilson. Wyatt said Wilson was mainly calling women from the studio. Zappa actually wandered into the studio and Wyatt sings a snippet from Absolutely Free on the album (from the We're Only In It for the Money) on Hope for Happiness.
    In no addition to any of the albums I have do I hear a high pitched tone on Save Yourself. I will have to listen again; just lucky I guess.
    The lyrics are semi-realistic and at least Slightly Absurd, as in Lullabye Letter. That's pretty typical of this band’s lyrics. Wyatt himself can right a stunning love song (O Caroline) and so could Hugh Hopper (Memories). But A Certain Kind is unique in that it's happy. (Wyatt has had a pretty tough personal history-depression, a couple of suicide attempts before he broke his back and couldn't drum anymore in 1972, I believe.
    They ALWAYS had bad management through their early history. Mike Jeffries had a horrible reputation; their second manager wasn't really aggressive. But this group from 1968-1977 matched or exceed KC's entire innovative history.

  9. @NolalanD

    June 4, 2026 at 8:17 am

    I never knew any of this existed. Thanks! I mean, I had heard the name but I thought they were something totally different, and I knew nothing of the scene.

  13. @midwest6371

    June 4, 2026 at 8:17 am

    I always like watching your interesting, revealing and entertaining videos and the groups they're about. The Soft Machine definitely fits the bill. Regarding your claim that the trio version of the band made them the very first rock & roll trio comprised of just organ, bass and drums (said at 18:45) may well be true, but I believe The Nice beat them by two months. Your research may well be more extensive and better than mine. You perhaps used books while I primarily used online sources. Any source should be suspect and collaboration is called for. Doing so with books, to me, is much more credible than by dong so online. This is because online information can come from anyone – with less, if any, of a commitment compared to a person who has written/published an article, book, etc. – whether they know what they're talking about or not (and so many don't). Perhaps some viewers can provide some credible information on this. I haven't seen any comments about this below as of today. Anyway, this is another job well done.

  16. @Rolling_Ronnie

    June 4, 2026 at 8:17 am

    Favorite Canterbury Scene album would be In The Land Of Grey And Pink by Caravan, but everything Canterbury Scene ids great. Gong, Egg, Matching Mole, Hatfield & The North, National Health etc. etc. So much great music.

  24. @juniorchavesopicassodeyahu988

    June 4, 2026 at 8:17 am

    Imagine a parallel timeline where the 1960s magic remains frozen in time: a beautiful blend of Victorian nostalgia and the Age of Aquarius, rooted in hippy communal living, spirituality, UFOlogy, and free love, completely transcending traditional left-wing and right-wing politics

  25. @Snardbafulator

    June 4, 2026 at 8:17 am

    Your takes are great, Abby, so well-researched (your fashion thing is adorable but I can't comment much beyond that ;). As a 66-year-old lifetime proghead, though, I can't say I share your omnivorous love of psych music. I got the first Softs in late high school and although I knew it was crude, I also recognized the promise. Volume Two impressed me much more; here Soft Machine invents math rock. Hibou, Anemone and Bear is in 13/16. Incidentally, to a proghead, 25/4 is nothing. There's a traditional Bulgarian wedding dance in 33/16.

    Oh, and Leslie speaker cabinets had nothing to do with Mike Ratledge; that's a Hammond organ thing. Hammonds were almost universal in the Canterbury scene but Mike played a Lowrey Holiday Deluxe organ (a strange piece of furniture to be lugging on rock tours) and got his unique (if rather grotesque) keyboard fuzz by overdriving his Marshall stack (he disabled the organ's internal Leslie cabinet and ran straight into the Marshalls, rather than doing what most of the Hammond guys did and mic'ing the Leslie). That's why you get those weird, uncomfortable attack artifacts, especially on the first album.

    Dave Stewart and Dave Sinclair also eschewed the Leslie cabinet for their Hammonds but didn't just overdrive the Hiwatt input, they used custom effects circuitry and got the characteristic warm fuzz of the Canterbury organ sound, notably on Caravan's Nine Feet Underground, Khan, Egg, Hatfield and the North and National Health.

    I understand your historical / sociological approach, wanting to put the album in context, but in pure aesthetic terms, there's a lot of reasons to do a dedicated video on Dave Stewart's history. The music he's been involved with is a cut above and The Rotters' Club is an enduring masterpiece for the ages. There hasn't been a progrock suite ever written like Dave Stewart's Mumps.

  26. @johhnypissoff

    June 4, 2026 at 8:17 am

    Soft Machine 2 stands as the band's definitive masterpiece, perfectly balancing avant-garde jazz exploration with the quirky, psychedelic pop sensibilities of their Canterbury roots.

  28. @adambarker3130

    June 4, 2026 at 8:17 am

    3 or 4 years later, I went to see a very different Soft Machine (why?) at the Manchester Free Trade Hall. They said not a word and played four "pieces" from the brown album (IV?). It was boring as f*ck.

    While waiting in the bar for our heros, laughter drifted in during the support act. Curious, we wandered back into the hall and were greeted with the singalong song "Dead skunk in the middle of the road".

    Some genius had paired Loudon Wainwright III with the Soft Machine. Thank God, retrospectively. It was brilliant and hilarious, a great antidote to the SM's glum, smug jazz-rock.

  31. @michaelevans898

    June 4, 2026 at 8:17 am

    Sixties Art Major with a quick word — The Soft Machine's albums had a fairly wide-ranging bunch of buyers/listeners in my circle, who were generally aware of William Burroughs' novel — I would see various copies everywhere among houses who would often have Pink Floyd albums too. These numbers diminished after "Dark Side of the Moon," but there were a Helluva lot more copies of "Dark Side" around after 1973!

  36. @Chris-pe6pu

    June 4, 2026 at 8:17 am

    Experiencing Soft Machine live was character-building! I remember sitting cross-legged in a University hall having my ears attacked for rather a long time by rasping organ and rattling drums. But I absolutely adore Volume 2 with Robert's unique voice and tales of Canterbury life. Third was great too but that was enough Softs for me. Robert has made some fantastic albums since then and long may he continue!

  37. @garygomes9851

    June 4, 2026 at 8:17 am

    Abigail,
    It's a tough album to get into because the song structures were very unconventional. Other links that Soft Machine enjoyed were the Mothers, composer Terry Riley and Mike Oldfied. Kevin Ayers later developed links with Nico, Wyatt with Brian Eno, Carla Bley and Robert Fripp. Hugh Hopper collaborated with Stomu Yamash'ta.
    One mistake I think i heard was that the Wilde Flowers didn't gravitate to black music. In addition to jazz, they played James Brown and other popular r and b of the time. They didn't do the blues thing so many groups did, though.

  38. @IanBeabout

    June 4, 2026 at 8:17 am

    Our girl has “SM Vol 1 first pressing” money but not “most important Canterbury scene text” research money ?? I’m a little dubious …

    But that’s ok, I still enjoyed it and the research lines up with a lot of the stuff in the book ! The book does answer a few questions you had but I’ll leave it up to you to figure out which !! 🙂

  41. @andrewharris6841

    June 4, 2026 at 8:17 am

    The Softs remain faves, especially Third, along with their spin offs, spin offs of spin offs and friends of spin offs. My then gf lusted after Kevin Ayers big time but I couldn’t be jealous. Caravan, Henry Cow, Matching Mole and many more were on high rotation. Happy Times.

  43. @jasonnewby

    June 4, 2026 at 8:17 am

    I love this album though I didn't discover it until about 5 years ago. While most people say Third is their best I prefer the more psychedelic style of their debut. For Canterbury scene bands it's hard to beat Caravan though even harder for me to pick a favorite album as the run from If I Could Do it All Over Again to Girls Who Grow Plump is fantastic!. Also, love those crazy shoes/boots! Very cool thumbnail.

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