Robert Wyatt - Was A Friend (2000)

Robert Wyatt first garnered notice as drummer for the Soft Machine, the most legitimately jazz-inspired English rock band of its day, sharing stages with among others Jimi Hendrix and Syd Barrett's Pink Floyd. After leaving Soft Machine he formed his own band Matching Mole (named after the French for Soft Machine - machine molle), and released a couple of well-respected albums in 1972. In 1973 tragedy struck, when he fell three stories from an open window and broke his back, confining him to a wheelchair for the rest of his life. A recuperating Wyatt determined to press forward and the event, by his own account, provided a catalyst both for personal maturity and a deepening of his approach to music. He released what he considers his first proper solo album, 'Rock Bottom', in 1974 and followed with releases of his own music every five or ten years. Throughout his career Wyatt has collaborated with other musicians extensively, and he continues to do so until this day, though at a slower pace than past years, and a large number of these collaborations were collected together on the 'Different Every Time Volume 2 - Benign Dictatorships' CD in 2014. However, this really only scratched the surface of the work that he has recorded with other artists, as none of the tracks on this album, and a following companion set, are on 'Different Every Time', just showing the huge number of artists who have clamoured to work with him over the years. We start with his contribution to Morgan Fisher's 'Miniatures' album, where artists offered pieces which only lasted about one minute, and then jump forward over a decade to 1993, when he collaborated with both Ultramarine on their album from that year, and also with Evan Parker on a track for the various artists compilation album 'Paul Haines, Darn It'. Three pieces with Millennium from 1995 close the disc, and slotted in there is also his work on Hugh Hopper's 'Was A Friend', which Hopper recorded in 1993 and then passed to Wyatt to add lyrics. Wyatt didn't feel like it, and so declined, leaving Hopper to add vocals by John Atkinson and release it under a different title on his 'Hooligan Romantic's album. Two years later Wyatt finally came up with some lyrics and a new melody line and recorded the song for Hopper's 'Parabolic Versions' release in 2000. The cover is based on 'A Robert Wyatt Construction Kit' by John O'Rourke.

Track listing

01 Rangers In The Night (...with Morgan Fisher, from 'Miniatures' 1980)
02 Curtsy (...with Evan Parker, from 'Paul Haines, Darn It' 1993)
03 Kingdom (...with Ultramarine, from 'United Kingdoms' 1993)
04 Happy Land (...with Ultramarine, from 'United Kingdoms' 1993)
05 Free Will And Testament (...with Kramer, from 'A Remark Hugh Made' 1994)
06 Was A Friend (...with Hugh Hopper, from 'Parabolic Versions' 2000)
07 Igor Mortis (...with Millennium, from 'A Civilised Word' 1995)
08 Erup Peru (...with Millennium, from 'A Civilised Word' 1995)
09 Another Great Victory (...with Millennium, from 'A Civilised Word' 1995)