Different Every Time
The Authorised Biography of Robert Wyatt
Berkeley, CA : Soft Skull Press, [2015]
Format: Book
Description: 460 pages : illustrations, black and white ; 23 cm
Robert Wyatt started out as the drummer and singer for Soft Machine, who shared a residency at Middle Earth with Pink Floyd and toured America with the Jimi Hendrix Experience. He brought a jazz mindset to the 1960's rock scene, having honed his drumming skills in a shed at the end of Robert Graves' garden in Mallorica, Spain.
Wyatt's life took an abrupt turn in 1973, when he fell from a fourth-floor window at a party and was paralyzed from the waist down. He reinvented himself as a singer and composer with the extraordinary album Rock Bottom, which he followed with an idiosyncratic string of records that uniquely combine the personal and political.
Along the way, Robert has worked with the likes of Brian Eno, Bjork, Jerry Dammers, Charlie Haden, David Gilmour, Paul Weller and Hot Chip. Marcus O'Dair has talked to all of them--indeed anyone who has shaped, or been shaped by Wyatt over five decades. Different Every Time is the first biography of Robert Wyatt, and it was written with his full participation. It includes illustrations by Alfreda Benge and photographs from Robert's personal archive.
Wyatt's life took an abrupt turn in 1973, when he fell from a fourth-floor window at a party and was paralyzed from the waist down. He reinvented himself as a singer and composer with the extraordinary album Rock Bottom, which he followed with an idiosyncratic string of records that uniquely combine the personal and political.
Along the way, Robert has worked with the likes of Brian Eno, Bjork, Jerry Dammers, Charlie Haden, David Gilmour, Paul Weller and Hot Chip. Marcus O'Dair has talked to all of them--indeed anyone who has shaped, or been shaped by Wyatt over five decades. Different Every Time is the first biography of Robert Wyatt, and it was written with his full participation. It includes illustrations by Alfreda Benge and photographs from Robert's personal archive.
Contents:
Introduction / Jonathan Coe -- Side One: The drummer biped -- This is the first verse. George and Honor, London and Kent -- Memories. Deià and The Wilde Flowers -- Clarence in Wonderland. Mister Head and the Soft Machine -- Living is easy, here in New York state. Touring with Hendrix: the Softs implode in America -- ZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA. Volume Two and a Pataphysical introduction -- On a dilemma. Moon in June and upside-down jazz-rock -- At least I won't be shot for singing. The End of an Ear and moonlighting with The Whole World -- I may play on a drum. Matching Mole- and Robert meets Alfie -- Fighting for a socialist world. The Little Red Record and calling time on Matching Mole -- Folly Bololey. Venice and the fail -- Side Two: Ex machina. Different every time. Rock Bottom and marriage to Alfie -- I'm a believer. Drury Lane, Top of the Pops and Henry Crow -- Silence. Other people's records and the CPGB -- Foreign accents. The Rough Trade singles -- Diving for dear life. Shipbuilding and Work in Progress -- The age of self. Old Rottenhat: English as a foreign language -- CP Jeebies. Dondestan: Pataphysical postcards from Louth -- The winter of our discotheque. Shleep and the thaw after a very long winter -- Speechless, A moment in heaven on London's South Bank -- Hope can still feel pretty good. Cuckooland: ditties from the Fitties -- That look in your eyes. Comicopera and getting on the wagon -- What's new? The eight bars Robert got right.
Subjects:
Wyatt, Robert.
Musicians -- England -- Biography.
Drummers (Musicians) -- England -- Biography.
Wyatt, Robert.
Musicians -- England -- Biography.
Drummers (Musicians) -- England -- Biography.
ISBN:
9781593766160
Availability | |||
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Call Number | Location | Shelf Location | Status |
BIOGRAPHY Wyatt, Robert | Main (Downtown) | Third Level, Biography | In |
Includes bibliographical references (pages 414-433) and index.