Page 33 - the NOISE June 2014

at the home studio, circa 2008 deaN Chalkley aRChives
wasn’t going to be him. The life force inside Robert wyatt broadcast the command to his body: heal. Heal.
On november 4, 1973, two benefit shows were held to raise money for wyatt’s mount- ing hospital bills. The headliners were Pink Floyd and soft Machine; the emcee was John Peel. wyatt was not yet well enough to perform but he did turn up at each show to thank everybody. Over 10,000 pounds were raised.
earlier that year, entrepreneur Richard Branson had launched Virgin Records. The in- dependent label’s first release was Mike Old- field’s Tubular Bells, a 40 minute composition stretched over two sides. To everyone’s sur- prise, it was a huge hit in Britain and America, especially after its introduction was used as the main theme of the popular horror film The Exorcist. Oldfield easily landed old mate wyatt a deal with the fledgling label.
Pink Floyd drummer nick Mason had never produced a record before, but he had observed others doing it. when Robert wy- att asked him to turn the knobs for his next LP, Mason couldn’t refuse. On June 1, 1974, wyatt returned to performing. He sang and played hand percussion at a benefit concert in London with Kevin Ayers, John Cale, Brian eno and nico. An album was later released.
By mid-summer 1974, wyatt’s record was done. The title Rock Bottom was a double entendre, referring both to Robert’s post- accident mental state and Alfreda’s firm pos- terior. Ms. Benge also provided the cover art.
no one could have predicted the man had anything such as this inside him. The first somber chords of “sea song” set the scene: hellishly unnerving and gloriously uplift- ing, the depths of Hades and the heights of Paradise and everything in between. The al- bum’s lyrics, when they could be deciphered through the murk, were mostly about wy- att’s muse.
When you’re drunk You’re terrific When you’re drunk
by ToNy ballz
I like you mostly late at night
You’re quite alright
Your madness fits in nicely with my own **
During side 2’s “Alifib/Alfie” medley, wyatt whispers/scats his lady’s pet name over and over before bursting into nonsensical baby talk while saxophonist Gary windo blows his tenor like a small child slowly being stran- gled:
Alfie my larder
Alfie my larder
Not nit not nit no not Nit nit foley baloley **
The effect is not comic, but creepy. The whole mess ends with Alfreda providing a short rebuttal.
The album’s centerpiece is “Little Red Rid- ing Hood Hit the Road,” a densely layered repetitive drone shifting between 9/8 and 4/4 and resembling the current Krautrock of neu! and Can. At the precise midway point, the track begins rolling backward as the whole song folds in on itself.
Rock Bottom stands alone. It resembles no other record of the time or anything else in its creator’s catalog. It is a look inside a man facing a reality he’d never thought twice about. One doesn’t even need to un- derstand the words being sung to feel the album’s emotional pull. with his distinctive drumming out of the way, the spotlight is on wyatt’s amazing voice. Producer Mason treats it like any other instrument in the mix. At times, the mesmerized listener will think,
“what is that, a guitar? A horn?” before real- izing it is a human being. wyatt sings words, wordless words, gibberish words, words that resemble a wah-wah guitar, and sometimes he just opens his throat and goes AAHHH- HHH! and it’s the most heavenly sound on earth or elsewhere.
On July 26, 1974, the same day as Rock Bot- tom’s release, Alfreda Benge added wyatt’s name to hers.
| Tony ballz makes no bones about his collection. music@thenoise.us
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