''Shooting at the Moon'' is the second solo album of

Kevin Ayers Kevin Ayers (16 August 1944 – 18 February 2013) was an English singer-songwriter who was active in the English psychedelic music movement. Ayers was a founding member of the psychedelic band Soft Machine in the mid-1960s, and was closely assoc ...

, on

Harvest Records Harvest Records is a British-American record label belonging to Capitol Music Group, originally created by EMI in 1969. History Harvest Records was created by EMI in 1969 to market progressive rock music, and to compete with Philips' Vertigo ...

. David Ross Smith of

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

writes:

Background

In early 1970, Ayers assembled a band he called The Whole World to tour his debut LP ''

Joy of a Toy ''Joy of a Toy'' is the debut solo album of Kevin Ayers, a founding member of Soft Machine. He is accompanied on the LP by pianist and arranger David Bedford as well as his erstwhile Soft Machine colleagues Robert Wyatt and Mike Ratledge, and ...

'' that included a young

Mike Oldfield Mike may refer to: Animals * Mike (cat), cat and guardian of the British Museum * Mike the Headless Chicken, chicken that lived for 18 months after his head had been cut off * Mike (chimpanzee), a chimpanzee featured in several books and documen ...

David Bedford David Vickerman Bedford (4 August 1937 – 1 October 2011) was an English composer and musician. He wrote and played both popular and classical music. He was the brother of the conductor Steuart Bedford, the grandson of the composer, painter ...

Lol Coxhill George Lowen Coxhill (19 September 1932 – 10 July 2012) known professionally as Lol Coxhill, was an English free improvising saxophonist. He played soprano and sopranino saxophone. Biography Coxhill was born to George Compton Coxhill ...

, Mick Fincher, the folk singer Bridget St. John and

Robert Wyatt Robert Wyatt (born Robert Wyatt-Ellidge, 28 January 1945) is a retired English musician. A founding member of the influential Canterbury scene bands Soft Machine and Matching Mole, he was initially a kit drummer and singer before becoming para ...

. After a UK tour, Ayers took the Whole World into the studio to cut an LP, produced, like his debut, with

Peter Jenner Peter Julian Jenner (born 3 March 1943) is a British music manager and a record producer. Jenner, Andrew King and the original four members of Pink Floyd were partners in Blackhill Enterprises. Early career Peter Jenner is the son of Willia ...

. The line-up produced a heady mixture of ideas and experimentation with two distinctive styles emerging; carefree ballads like "Clarence in Wonderland" and "May I?" abutted the avant-garde experimentation of songs like "Reinhardt and Geraldine" and "Underwater". The album has since become a best seller in Ayers' catalogue. Although The Whole World disbanded shortly after the release, the nucleus of the group would contribute to Ayers next LP, ''

Whatevershebringswesing ''Whatevershebringswesing'' is the third solo album by Kevin Ayers, on Harvest Records. Background In 1971, Kevin Ayers started recording what would become his most acclaimed album, ''Whatevershebringswesing'' accompanied by members of Gong a ...

''. Ayers released a single of exclusive material at the time " Butterfly Dance" coupled with " Puis Je?" (a French-language version of “May I?”)

Gorky's Zygotic Mynci Gorky's Zygotic Mynci were a psychedelic folk and alternative rock band which formed in Carmarthen, Wales, in 1991. The group performed music in both Welsh and English, and they had eight Top 75 singles on the UK Singles Chart during their car ...

, who were big fans of Ayers, referred to ''Shooting at the Moon'' as "the best album ever made" in the sleeve notes to their 1994 album ''

Tatay ''Tatay'' is the second release and first full album by Gorky's Zygotic Mynci. It was released in 1994. Track listing #"Thema o Cartref" #"Beth Sy'n Digwydd i'r Fuwch" #"Tatay" #"Y Ffordd Oren" #"Gwres Prynhawn" #"Amsermaemaiyndod/cinema" #"O, C ...

''. In 1998, ''

The Wire ''The Wire'' is an American Crime film, crime drama Television show, television series created and primarily written by author and former police reporter David Simon. The series was broadcast by the cable network HBO in the United States. ''The ...

'' named ''Shooting at the Moon'' one of the "100 Records That Set The World On Fire (When No One Was Listening)".The Wire 100 Records That Set The World On Fire
/ref> It was voted number 943 in

Colin Larkin Colin Larkin (born 1949) is a British writer and entrepreneur. He founded, and was the editor-in-chief of, the ''Encyclopedia of Popular Music'', described by ''The Times'' as "the standard against which all others must be judged". Along wit ...

All Time Top 1000 Albums ''All Time Top 1000 Albums'' is a book by Colin Larkin, creator and editor of the ''Encyclopedia of Popular Music''. The book was first published by Guinness Publishing in 1994. The list presented is the result of over 200,000 votes cast by the ...

3rd Edition (2000). Harvest Records re-released the album on CD in 2003.

Track listing

All songs written by Kevin Ayers

Side one

# "May I?" – (4:01) # "Rheinhardt & Geraldine/Colores Para Dolores" – (5:41) # "Lunatics Lament" – (4:53) # "Pisser Dans un Violon" – (8:02)

Side two

# "The Oyster and the Flying Fish" – (2:37) # "Underwater" – (3:54) # "Clarence in Wonderland" – (2:06) # "Red Green and You Blue" – (3:52) # "Shooting at the Moon" – (5:53)

Track listing 2003 CD reissue

# "May I?" – 4:01 # "Rheinhardt & Geraldine/Colores Para Dolores" – 5:41 # "Lunatics Lament" – 4:53 # "Pisser Dans un Violon" – 8:02 # "The Oyster and the Flying Fish" – 2:37 # "Underwater" – 3:54 # "Clarence in Wonderland" – 2:06 # "Red Green and You Blue" – 3:52 # "Shooting at the Moon" – 5:53 # "Gemini Child" – 3:16 # "Puis Je?" – 3:41 # "Butterfly Dance" – 3:45 # "Jolie Madame" – 2:26 # "Hat" – 5:27

Personnel

Musicians

* Kevin Ayers –

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

, bass,

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

The Whole World

* David Bedford –

organ Organ may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a part of an organism Musical instruments * Organ (music), a family of keyboard musical instruments characterized by sustained tone ** Electronic organ, an electronic keyboard instrument ** Hammond ...

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

accordion Accordions (from 19th-century German ''Akkordeon'', from ''Akkord''—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a reed ...

marimbaphone The marimbaphone (not to be confused with the similarly named marimba) is an obsolete tuned percussion instrument, developed by the J.C. Deagan Company of Chicago, Illinois, U.S. in the early 20th century. The marimbaphone had either shallow steel ...

, guitar * Lol Coxhill –

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to pr ...

, zoblophone * Mike Oldfield – bass, guitar and vocal * Mick Fincher –

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...

, bottles & ashtrays * The Whole World Chorus –

backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are use ...

Additional musicians

* Bridget St. John – vocals ("The Oyster And The Flying Fish") * Robert Wyatt – vocals ("Colores Para Delores")

Technical

* Peter Jenner – producer * Peter Mews –

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the l ...

* Tom Fu – cover

References

*''I’m Just Moonlight’s Lost Disciple'' - ''Shooting at the Moon'' liner notes by Martin Wakeling (Harvest Sept 2006) *''Shooting at the Moon'' - original LP notes {{Authority control 1970 albums Kevin Ayers albums Harvest Records albums Albums produced by Kevin Ayers Albums produced by Peter Jenner