Canterburied Sounds, Vol.s 1-4
Canterburied Sounds, Vol.s 1-4 is a set 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
The first CD edition in 1998 included four separate CDs; in 2013 Voiceprint released the four CDs in a single edition, gathering in a single booklet all the notes by Brian Hopper.
Cover
The cover 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. In 1978 Hugh and his father published a book of his church paintings.[1]
Tracks
All notes reported in the following tables are taken from the 2013 edition booklet.
Volume 1: Canterburied Sounds
Track | Title | Artist | Composer | Notes | 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’’ (booklet page 10) | 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’’ (booklet page 10) | 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” (booklet page 10) | 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’’ (booklet page 10/11) | 1967/68 | 4:03 |
5 | You Really Got Me | Wilde Flowers | Ray Davies of The Kinks | ‘’Early rehearsal of Wilde Flowers with probably the first-ever recording of Kevin Ayers singing’’ (booklet page 11) | 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’’ (booklet page 11) | 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’’ (booklet page 11) | 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” (booklet page 11) | 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” (booklet page 12) | 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” (booklet page 12) | 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” (booklet page 12) | 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” (booklet page 13) | 1969 | 7:16 |
Volume 2: All Roads Lead Back to Canterbury
Volume 3: A Kinship of Sounds
Track | Title | Artist | Composer | Notes | 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” (booklet page 15) | 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” (booklet page 15) | 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” (booklet page 16) | 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” (booklet page 16) | 1963/1964 | 4:17 |
5 | More Idle Chat | Zobe | n.a. | “Another time when the tape was left running” (booklet page 16) | 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” (booklet page 16) | 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” (booklet page 17) | 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” (booklet page 17) | 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” (booklet page 17-18) | 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” (booklet page 18) | 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” (booklet page 18) | 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” (booklet page 18) | 1969 | 4:09 |
Volume 4: Canterbury Pre-Soft, Pre-Wild
Track | Title | Artist | Composer | Notes | Date | Length |
1 | Slow Walkin’ Talk | Zobe | Brian Hopper | “Another version from a Zobe rehearsal” (booklet page 20) | 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!)” (booklet page 20) | 1963/1964 | 14:45 |
3 | Ghosts | Robert Wyatt, Mike Ratledge & unknown guitarist | Albert Ayler | “More wild flourish from Mike in the Cecil Taylor mould” (booklet page 20) | 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” (booklet page 20) | 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” (booklet page 21) | 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” (booklet page 21) | 1964 | 3:13 |
7 | Johnny B Goode | Wilde Flowers | Chuck Berry | “We leaned heavily on the Chuck Berry catalogue to boost our early repertoire” (booklet page 21) | 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!” (booklet page 21-22) | late 1962 | 12:00 |
9 | Austin Cambridge | Caravan | Derek Austin | “The first recorded example of Geoff Richardson on viola” (booklet page 22) | late 1972 | 13:45 |
References
- ↑ 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
External links