''Third'' is the third studio album by the

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

band

Soft Machine Soft Machine are a British rock band from Canterbury formed in mid-1966 by Mike Ratledge (keyboards, 1966–1976), Robert Wyatt (drums, vocals, 1966–1971), Kevin Ayers (bass, guitar, vocals, 1966–1968) and Daevid Allen (guitar, 1966–196 ...

, originally released in 1970 as a

double LP A double album (or double record) is an audio album that spans two units of the primary medium in which it is sold, typically either records or compact disc. A double album is usually, though not always, released as such because the recording i ...

, with each side of the original vinyl consisting of a single suite without individual track titles. ''Third'' marks the most major of Soft Machine's several shifts in musical genre over their career, completing their transition from

psychedelic music Psychedelic music (sometimes called psychedelia) is a wide range of popular music styles and genres influenced by 1960s psychedelia, a subculture of people who used psychedelic drugs such as LSD, psilocybin mushrooms, mescaline, and cannabis to ...

to jazz, and is a significant milestone of the

Canterbury scene The Canterbury scene (or Canterbury sound) was a musical scene centred on the town of Canterbury, Kent, England during the late 1960s and early 1970s. Associated with progressive rock, the term describes a loosely-defined, improvisational styl ...

. It was their first album with saxophonist

Elton Dean Elton Dean (28 October 1945 – 8 February 2006) was an English jazz musician who performed on alto saxophone, saxello (a variant of the soprano saxophone) and occasionally keyboards. Part of the Canterbury scene, he featured in, among ot ...

Lyn Dobson Lyn Dobson (born 22 June 1939 in Bedford) is an English musician, noted as a jazz-rock flautist and saxophonist. He appeared with Georgie Fame and the Blue Flames and Manfred Mann in the mid-1960s, and then with Soft Machine and Keef Hartley, as w ...

appears on saxophone and flute on "Facelift", recorded while he was a full member of the band (then a quintet), although he is credited as an additional performer.

Jimmy Hastings James Brian Gordon Hastings (born 12 May 1938) is a British musician associated with the Canterbury scene who plays saxophones, flute and clarinet. Hastings was born in Aberdeen, Scotland. He has played with his brother Pye Hastings in Caravan, ...

(brother of

Pye Hastings Julian Frederick Gordon 'Pye' Hastings (born 21 January 1947 in Tomnavoulin, Banffshire, Scotland) is a British musician. Born in Scotland and raised in Canterbury, Kent, he is the guitarist and vocalist of the Canterbury scene band Caravan and b ...

from Caravan) makes substantial contributions on flute and clarinet on "Slightly All the Time", free-jazz violinist Rab Spall (then a bandmate of Wyatt's in the part-time ensemble Amazing Band) is heard on the coda to "Moon in June", and Nick Evans (a member of the band during its short-lived septet incarnation) makes brief appearances on trombone in "Slightly All the Time" and "Out-Bloody-Rageous".

Recording

The original release of ''Third'' had an unpolished sound quality, including

tape hiss Tape or Tapes may refer to: Material A long, narrow, thin strip of material (see also Ribbon (disambiguation): Adhesive tapes * Adhesive tape, any of many varieties of backing materials coated with an adhesive *Athletic tape, pressure-sensiti ...

on the live recordings and abrupt editing. "Slightly All the Time" and "Out-Bloody-Rageous" are the most straightforward tracks on the album, representing the jazz-rock sound that would be explored further on subsequent albums. * "Facelift" is the most radical track. The version on the album was recorded live at the

Fairfield Halls Fairfield Halls is an arts, entertainment and conference centre in Croydon, London, England, which opened in 1962 and contains a theatre and gallery, and a large concert hall regularly used for BBC television, radio and orchestral recordings. Fa ...

, Croydon, 4 January 1970 (the first by the quintet version of the band), with a brief section from the Mothers Club, Birmingham, 11 January 1970, and some recordings from the 1969 ''Spaced'' project. While a large part of the finished product is essentially a live recording, parts involve tape collage and speeding up, slowing down, looping and backwards playing of tapes, the ending being the most memorable part, where two different treatments of the same basic riff (one from the live concert, the other, at double speed, from ''Spaced'') are heard simultaneously, backwards. At the time of the 5-piece line-up, "Facelift" was typically expanded with solo improvisations and showcases by Lyn Dobson on flute, vocals and harmonica. * "Slightly All the Time" is a medley of different instrumental pieces, including Ratledge's "Backwards" and Hopper's "Noisette". "Backwards" later appeared on fellow

Canterbury Scene The Canterbury scene (or Canterbury sound) was a musical scene centred on the town of Canterbury, Kent, England during the late 1960s and early 1970s. Associated with progressive rock, the term describes a loosely-defined, improvisational styl ...

band Caravan's 1973 album ''

For Girls Who Grow Plump in the Night ''For Girls Who Grow Plump in the Night'' is the fifth studio album released by the Canterbury scene band Caravan. Richard Sinclair and Steve Miller left the band prior to the recording of this album. They were replaced by John G. Perry and ...

'', as part of the "A-Hunting We Shall Go" medley. * "Moon in June" is the last song with lyrics that Soft Machine recorded, and their last look back to their progressive rock, pre-jazz sound. The song is in three parts. The first is a pastiche of vocal themes delivered in a

stream of consciousness In literary criticism, stream of consciousness is a narrative mode or method that attempts "to depict the multitudinous thoughts and feelings which pass through the mind" of a narrator. The term was coined by Daniel Oliver (physician), Daniel Ol ...

which varied in live performances. Wyatt plays all the instruments in this section. The lyrics borrow from Soft Machine's earlier "That's How Much I Need You Now" and "You Don't Remember", but largely from new vignettes recorded in a demo by Wyatt in October 1968 while on holiday in New York state. An excerpt from a different demo of Part 1, recorded in November 1968, was included on Robert Wyatt's 2001 ''Flotsam Jetsam'' archive compilation. The second part features the whole band, and is an instrumental similar to other jazz-rock pieces on the album. The third is a

drone Drone most commonly refers to: * Drone (bee), a male bee, from an unfertilized egg * Unmanned aerial vehicle * Unmanned surface vehicle, watercraft * Unmanned underwater vehicle or underwater drone Drone, drones or The Drones may also refer to: ...

featuring Wyatt and violinist Rab Spall; Spall's part was recorded separately and was sped up and slowed down to make the violin fit the beats of the music. This section also features Wyatt

scat singing In vocal jazz, scat singing is vocal improvisation with wordless vocables, nonsense syllables or without words at all. In scat singing, the singer improvises melodies and rhythms using the voice as an instrument rather than a speaking medium. ...

uncredited renditions of two

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 ...

songs: "

Singing a Song in the Morning "Singing a Song in the Morning" (originally titled "Religious Experience") was the first solo single released by Kevin Ayers, one of the founding members of the band Soft Machine. It was issued three months after Ayers' debut solo LP ''Joy of a ...

" and "Hat Song". A demo of the second and third parts was recorded in Spring 1969, which was spliced onto the October 1968 demo to be included on Soft Machine's 2002 ''Backwards'' archival release. A live recording from 24 May 1970 in London was released on ''Backwards'', containing a shortened version of parts 2 and 3. A pre-''Third'' performance that includes a shortened instrumental Part 1 was recorded live at the Fairfield Halls concert and appears on Soft Machine's 2000 ''Noisette'' archive release. * "Out-Bloody-Rageous", the final song on the album, is an instrumental composed by Ratledge, and contains a number of

tape loop In music, tape loops are loops of magnetic tape used to create repetitive, rhythmic musical patterns or dense layers of sound when played on a tape recorder. Originating in the 1940s with the work of Pierre Schaeffer, they were used among cont ...

s inspired by the work of

Terry Riley Terrence Mitchell "Terry" Riley (born June 24, 1935) is an American composer and performing musician best known as a pioneer of the minimalist school of composition. Influenced by jazz and Indian classical music, his music became notable for it ...

. Its name inspired the names of the 2005 Soft Machine biography ''Soft Machine: Out-Bloody-Rageous'', and a 2 CD anthology from 2005 entitled ''Out-Bloody-Rageous An Anthology 1967–1973''.

Reception

According to Paul Stump's ''The Music's All that Matters: A History of Progressive Rock'', ''Third'' was "unanimously acclaimed as the band's zenith." A retrospective review in ''

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 ...

'' praised the exotic instrumentation and fusion of genres, and concluded, "Not exactly rock, ''Third'' nonetheless pushed the boundaries of rock into areas previously unexplored, and it managed to do so without sounding self-indulgent. A better introduction to the group is either of the first two records, but once introduced, this is the place to go." In the Q &

Mojo Mojo may refer to: * Mojo (African-American culture), a magical charm bag used in voodoo Arts, entertainment and media Film and television * MOJO HD, an American television network * ''Mojo'' (play), by Jez Butterworth, made into a 1997 film * ' ...

Classic Special Edition ''Pink Floyd & The Story of Prog Rock'' (2005), the album came #20 in its list of "40 Cosmic Rock Albums".

Reissues

In 2007, the album was re-issued on CD by

Sony BMG Sony BMG Music Entertainment was an American record company owned as a 50–50 joint venture between Sony Corporation of America and Bertelsmann. The venture's successor, the revived Sony Music, is wholly owned by Sony, following their buyout o ...

with a second disc comprising a complete live album, ''Live at the Proms 1970'', which had been previously released by a small independent company called Reckless Records in 1988. This album was recorded at The BBC Proms in the

Royal Albert Hall The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London. One of the UK's most treasured and distinctive buildings, it is held in trust for the nation and managed by a registered charity which receives no govern ...

BBC Proms archive
/ref> on 13 August 1970. The band's performance, in the second half, following the

BBC Symphony Orchestra The BBC Symphony Orchestra (BBC SO) is a British orchestra based in London. Founded in 1930, it was the first permanent salaried orchestra in London, and is the only one of the city's five major symphony orchestras not to be self-governing. T ...

in the first, marked the first time that a popular-music band played at the classical festival. The disparity of Soft Machine's concert as compared to the hall's usual fare is explained by Robert Wyatt on the Reckless album's liner notes:

We was invited by
Tim Souster Tim Souster (29 January 1943 – 1 March 1994) was a British composer and writer on music, best known for his electronic music output. Biography Education Born Timothy Andrew James Souster in Bletchley, Buckinghamshire, Souster was educated ...
, who had an evening using the hall to do what he liked with. I believe he'd heard our second LP, asked us on the strength of that. He discovered us on the way to discovering
Motown Motown Records is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. It was founded by Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on June 7, 1958, and incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau of ''moto ...
. Via
the Who The Who are an English rock band formed in London in 1964. Their classic lineup consisted of lead singer Roger Daltrey, guitarist and singer Pete Townshend, bass guitarist and singer John Entwistle, and drummer Keith Moon. They are considered ...
, I think. Anyway it was brave of him to invite us despite the withering contempt of the posh music establishment. Before our bit, I went out the back for a quick fag and then the doorman didn't want to let me back in. "I've got to play in there", I said. "You must be kidding, son", he said, "they only have proper music in there". Not that night they didn't. :''Robert Wyatt, album liner notes''

"Esther's Nose Job" on the bonus disc originally appeared on '' Volume Two'', and no longer includes its cacophonous introduction, but adds a new section, "Pigling Bland", which appeared as a track on its own on the group's '' Fifth'' album a few years later. This version does not contain the lyrics found in the original, but it does include some scat singing from Wyatt. All three pieces on the bonus disc are performed as one continuous suite. (The original vinyl edition had a fade-out and fade-in of the drum solo connecting the second and third pieces, as was necessary for a two-sided LP.) Both discs were re-mastered for the re-issue, improving the sound quality significantly.

Track listing

Original edition

#"Facelift" (

Hugh Hopper Hugh Colin Hopper (29 April 1945 – 7 June 2009) was a British progressive rock and jazz fusion bass guitarist. He was a prominent member of the Canterbury scene, as a member of Soft Machine and other bands. Biography Early career Starting in ...

) – 18:45 #"Slightly All the Time" (

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 ...

) – 18:12 #: Including: "Noisette" (Hopper), "Backwards" (Ratledge) and "Noisette Reprise" (Hopper) #"Moon in June" ( Robert Wyatt) – 19:08 #"Out-Bloody-Rageous" (Ratledge) – 19:10

Bonus disc from 2007 CD re-issue

#"Out-Bloody-Rageous" (Ratledge) – 11:54 #"Facelift" (Hopper) – 11:22 #"Esther's Nose Job" – 15:39 ##"Pig" (Ratledge) ##"Orange Skin Food" (Ratledge) ##"A Door Opens and Closes" (Ratledge) ##"Pigling Bland" (Ratledge) ##"10:30 Returns to the Bedroom" (Ratledge/Hopper/Wyatt)

Personnel

;Soft Machine *

–

alto saxophone The alto saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments. Saxophones were invented by Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax in the 1840s and patented in 1846. The alto saxophone is pitched in E, smaller than the B tenor ...

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

(all but 3) *

–

Hohner Pianet The Hohner Pianet is a type of electro-mechanical piano built by the Hohner company of Trossingen, West Germany and designed by Ernst Zacharias. The Pianet was a variant of his earlier reed-based Hohner electric piano, the Cembalet, which, like ...

Lowrey organ The Lowrey organ is an electronic organ named for its developer, Frederick C. Lowrey (1871–1955), a Chicago-based industrialist and entrepreneur. Lowrey's first commercially successful full-sized electronic organ, the Model S Spinet or '' ...

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 ...

–

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

* Robert Wyatt –

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 ...

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 ...

(3), plus on 3 (uncredited):

Hammond organ The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert and first manufactured in 1935. Multiple models have been produced, most of which use sliding drawbars to vary sounds. Until 1975, Hammond organs generated s ...

Mellotron The Mellotron is an electro-mechanical musical instrument developed in Birmingham, England, in 1963. It is played by pressing its keys, each of which pushes a length of magnetic tape against a capstan, which pulls it across a playback head. A ...

, Hohner Pianet, piano, bass ;Additional personnel *

–

flute The flute is a family of classical music instrument in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, meaning they make sound by vibrating a column of air. However, unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is a reedless ...

soprano saxophone The soprano saxophone is a higher-register variety of the saxophone, a woodwind instrument invented in the 1840s. The soprano is the third-smallest member of the saxophone family, which consists (from smallest to largest) of the soprillo, sop ...

(1) (though a full member of the band when playing (live) the track #1) *

– flute,

bass clarinet The bass clarinet is a musical instrument of the clarinet family. Like the more common soprano B clarinet, it is usually pitched in B (meaning it is a transposing instrument on which a written C sounds as B), but it plays notes an octave bel ...

(2, 4) * Nick Evans –

trombone The trombone (german: Posaune, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the Brass instrument, brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's vibrating lips cause the Standing wave, air column ...

(2, 4) * Rab Spall –

violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...

(3)

References

External links

Soft Machine – ''Third'' (1970) album releases & credits
at

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Soft Machine – ''Third'' (1970) album to be listened
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Album online
on

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a radio channel of

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Third (Soft Machine Album) Soft Machine albums 1970 albums Albums recorded at IBC Studios Columbia Records albums