''The Confessions of Dr. Dream and Other Stories'' is the fifth studio album by

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 ...

. Ayers moved to

Island Records Island Records is a multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It was founded in 1959 by Chris Blackwell, Graeme Goodall, and Leslie Kong in Jamaica, and was eventually sold to PolyGram in 1989. Island and A&M Records, anoth ...

for this release which employed a vast array of session musicians. The album also marked the arrival of

Patto Patto were an English rock band, formed in London in 1970. Founded by vocalist Mike Patto, their lineup was taken from Timebox, consisting of vocalist Patto, guitarist and vibraphone player Ollie Halsall, bassist Clive Griffiths and drummer ...

guitarist

Ollie Halsall Peter John "Ollie" Halsall (14 March 1949 – 29 May 1992) was an English guitarist best known for his role in the Rutles, the bands Timebox, Patto and Boxer, and for his contribution to the music of Kevin Ayers. He is also notable as one of t ...

, who would become a constant musical partner for Ayers. Other notable musicians are ex-

King Crimson King Crimson are a progressive rock band formed in 1968 in London, England. The band draws inspiration from a wide variety of music, incorporating elements of classical, jazz, folk, heavy metal, gamelan, industrial, electronic, experime ...

drummer

Michael Giles Michael Rex Giles (born 1 March 1942) is an English drummer, percussionist, and vocalist, best known as one of the co-founders of King Crimson in 1969. Prior to the formation of King Crimson, he was part of the eccentric pop trio Giles, Giles a ...

, and

Steve Nye Steve Nye is an English music producer for several artists. Career Nye started out as a tape op at AIR Studios in London in 1971, where producer Rupert Hine discovered him. There he got into engineering (and later producing) many well-known a ...

and

Simon Jeffes Simon Harry Piers Jeffes (19 February 1949 – 11 December 1997) was an English classically trained guitarist, composer and arranger. He formed, and was the primary performer of, the Penguin Cafe Orchestra. He was the composer of the ballet ''Sti ...

of the

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. The album was critically acclaimed on release with the ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...

Nick Kent Nick Kent (born 24 December 1951) is a British rock critic best known for his writing for the ''NME'' in the 1970s, and his books ''The Dark Stuff'' (1994) and ''Apathy for the Devil'' (2010). Early life Kent, the son of a former Abbey Road Stu ...

describing it as "Ayers' most formidable recorded work to date". The album features many of Ayers' most accessible songs and arrangements.''Business As Usual'' by Steve Peacock (Sounds May 25, 1974)

Track listing

All tracks composed by Kevin Ayers

Personnel

Musicians

– guitars, vocals; piano & organ (track 7a) * Mark Warner – electric guitar (tracks 1, 3, 5, 7d), acoustic guitar (tracks 2, 7a) * Sam Mitchell – electric guitar (tracks 1, 3-4) *

– electric guitar solo (track 3) * Cal Batchelor – electric guitar (track 4) *

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 ...

– electric guitar solo (track 4) * John Perry – bass (tracks 1-3, 5) * John Gustafson – bass (track 7b) * Trevor Jones – bass (track 7c) *

– drums (tracks 1-3, 5, 7) * The G'Deevy Ensemble – percussion (track 1) *

Ray Cooper Raymond Cooper (born 19 September 1947) is an English musician who has worked as a session and road-tour percussionist. During his career, Cooper has worked and toured with numerous musically diverse bands and artists including Elton John (as ...

– percussion (tracks 2, 7c) * Henry Crallan – piano (track 4) *

Rupert Hine Rupert Neville Hine (21 September 1947 – 4 June 2020) was an English musician, songwriter and record producer. He produced albums for artists including Rush, Kevin Ayers, Tina Turner, Howard Jones, Saga, the Fixx, Bob Geldof, Thompson Twins ...

– keyboards (tracks 5-7) * Mike Moran – piano (track 5) *

– organ (track 5), electric piano (track 7b) *

Mike Ratledge Michael Roland Ratledge (born 6 May 1943) is a British musician. A part of the Canterbury scene, he was a founding member of Soft Machine. He was the last founding member to leave the group, doing so in 1976. Biography and career Ratledge was ...

– organ (track 7c) *

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 ...

– alto saxophone (track 5) *

Nico Naftiran Intertrade Company Société à responsabilité limitée#In Switzerland, limited (NICO) is a Switzerland, Swiss-based subsidiary of the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC). NICO is a general contractor for the oil and gas industry. NIOC bu ...

– vocals (track 7a) *

Doris Troy Doris Troy (born Doris Elaine Higginsen; January 6, 1937 – February 16, 2004) was an American R&B singer and songwriter, known to her many fans as "Mama Soul". Her biggest hit was " Just One Look", a top 10 hit in 1963. Life and career She ...

Rosetta Hightower Rosetta Jeanette Hightower (23 June 1944 – 2 August 2014) was an American singer and the lead singer of the 1960s girl group The Orlons. She was born in Philadelphia. As lead singer of The Orlons, the Orlons recorded several Top 10 U.S. hits ...

, Joanne Williams – backing vocals (tracks 1, 3) * Sean Milligan – backing vocals (track 2) * Hulloo Choir – backing vocals (tracks 5, 7d)

Technical

– producer *

John Punter John Punter (born 27 January 1949) is a former English record producer and recording engineer. He has worked with many bands and musicians, such as Japan, Procol Harum, Roxy Music, Doctors of Madness, Sad Café and Slade. His career in music spann ...

–

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 ...

– engineer * Gerry Leitch, Sean Milligan – assistant engineer *

– additional brass arrangements * George Smith, James Wedge –

illustration An illustration is a decoration, interpretation or visual explanation of a text, concept or process, designed for integration in print and digital published media, such as posters, flyers, magazines, books, teaching materials, animations, vid ...

Notes

References

* ''Let's Drink some Wine and Have a Good Time'' by Kenneth Ansell (ZigZag 46, 1974) * Album Review by Nick Kent (NME May 18, 1974) * ''Business As Usual'' by Steve Peacock (Sounds May 25, 1974) * ''Ayers and Graces'' by Nick Kent (NME Dec 7, 1974) * Original LP sleevenotes {{DEFAULTSORT:Confessions of Dr. Dream and Other Stories 1974 albums Kevin Ayers albums Albums produced by Rupert Hine Island Records albums