TCBOO: Robert Wyatt

this, I didn't know until today...

from allmusic.com

It was not long after his first solo release, End of an Ear, that Wyatt fell from an open window during a party, fracturing his back and permanently paralyzing him from the waist down. After months of painful recuperation, Wyatt re-emerged with the harrowing Rock Bottom (1974) and the bizarre Ruth Is Stranger Than Richard (1975), the former dealing explicitly with his post-accident life, the latter a series of surreal fables. And while the music on these records is trance-like and experimental, Wyatt shockingly recorded a straight version of the Monkees' "I'm a Believer" in 1974 that became a big British hit. Controversy ensued when the BBC's long-running weekly pop music program Top of the Pops refused to allow Wyatt to perform the song in his wheelchair. After a significant protest played out in the music trade papers, Wyatt did perform.

I agree, TCBOO

For me, it's gotta be 'Te Recuerdo Amanda' from the Work In Progress ep. The saddest voice in the world singing one of the saddest songs in the world...

incidentally, i do declare, "rock bottom" is my favorite album ever.

i think it's the combination of abject depression and whimsy that is so potent.... they flow in and out of each other almost imperceptibly.

For today anyhow. Short and sweet. But there too many innit.

for those of you who haven't heard Silence by Michael Mantler... oh god, what a low point for Robert Wyatt and everyone who worked on this album (like Jack Bruce). It's so terrible, it's hilariously terrible. There is one point, and hopefully I can find it all for you, where Wyatt talk sings a story about a girl and her dad who went off to war and she ends up roaming the streets...

http://www.amazon.com/No-Answer-Silence/dp/B0013XJKAE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=dmusic&qid=1230068728&sr=8-1 click the sound byte for track 7 on Silence

Lorax, do you like Wyatt's singing on an earlier Michael Mantler album, The Hapless Child? Edward Gorey lyrics suited Wyatt fine, I think.

anyone recommend an album to start with? I love "Sea Song" hugely.

Then Rock Bottom it is.

Rock Bottom then, obviously. Or Shleep. I was gonna nominate the EPs boxed set as an interesting spread/sampler of material but it costs a bleeding fortune used on Amazon and Ebay apparently so you might want to hunt around for cheaper alternatives. Also I am going to go and hide my copy.

is all the rest of the stuff as amazing as "sea song"?

It's not all like "Sea Song" but it shares a lot. His voice is the constant, obviously, which is a thing of amazement and beauty to me. The jazziness, the deliberateness of the tempo, the feeling that the song can go down an unexpected alley at any time, those things are there most of the time. In other words Yes I guess but I'm biased.

yeah I'm fairly sure I'm going to love this stuff

stay away from 'End of an Ear' unless you're a fanboy of his or you're a fan of experimental freejazzy things (of which i am both).

also Ruth is Stranger than Richard is kinda weird proggy.

my faves are Old Rottenhat, Schleep and Rock Bottom, in that order

"heaps of sheep," the first song on SHLEEP is so so so good

I like Ruth Is Stranger Than Richard, just listening on Spotify. I remembered a friend of a friend had it when I visited him in NYC a few years back.

If "Te Recuerdo Amanda" is on Spotify you should check it post-haste.

Heaps Of Sheeps!

my faves are probably Rock Bottom, the new one Comicopera, and that "Mid-80's" CD with all of Old Rottenhat plus EPs of the same era.

Comicopera is def good but I'm still processing it.

God bless the internet

http://plumedours.vox.com/library/audio/6a0100a7ecb132000e011018099f47860f.html

Pasta of Muppets! Oh my god you kill me, Noodle.

pastor of muppets would have been equally funny

Yes it would! Haha. I was trying to figure out if it was a Metallica reference anyway, but I don't think Noodle likes them (nor do I, really).

Shleep or Rock Bottom are my favorites. I remember when Schleep came out, it was just after college and I was listening to WFMU and I heard "A Sunday In Madrid" and it blew my mind. I was like, this sounds like Wyatt but I don't what this is. Then I went down to Kims and was like "is there a new Robert Wyatt record or something" and the guy was like "yeah, I just heard it on the radio, I can't wait for it, it comes out in 2 weeks" or whatever.

I'd like to also add my usual mention of the version of LIttle Red Riding Hood recorded by Wyatt with Henry Cow during the Henry Cow/Slapp Happy period as appears on the Henry Cow Concerts box, fucking Wyatt and Dagmar Krause singing harmonies backed by Henry Cow. AMAZING.

And today I pulled out Working Week's Vencerwemos, fake white british latin jazz music or whatever but with Wyatt and Tracey Thorn singing.

And I'll do my usual seconding of that track (the whole LP side, really). I couldn't really pick one, though.

As much as I love Wyatt, I've still got some holes in my collection.

If "Te Recuerdo Amanda" is on Spotify you should check it post-haste.

^^THIS. unutterably gorgeous cover

If "Te Recuerdo Amanda" is on Spotify you should check it post-haste.

^^THIS. unutterably gorgeous cover

OTM x 10

Also, his cover of Chic's "At last, I am free" is astounding.

Yes yes. He could have done nothing but covers as a solo artist and still been every bit as fantastic and loved.

^ why someone upthread mentioned getting the eps box set. tons of them on there.

chaki says this album is the tits. jazz band doing wyatt covers and him singing on a few of them
http://www.bbc.co.uk/music/reviews/nvqv

also, this is a weird one i have.
http://djagge.com/2009/02/12/robert-wyatt-with-the-swapo-singers/

i like the second song better than the first, but not sure if he's on it