''Velvet Donkey'' is an
album
An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...
by
Ivor Cutler
Ivor Cutler (born Isadore Cutler, 15 January 1923 – 3 March 2006) was a Scottish poet, singer, musician, songwriter, artist and humorist. He became known for his regular performances on BBC radio, and in particular his numerous sessions recorde ...
, originally released in 1975 on
Virgin Records
Virgin Records is a record label owned by Universal Music Group. It originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman. It grew to be a worldwid ...
. Cutler is joined on the record by
Fred Frith
Jeremy Webster "Fred" Frith (born 17 February 1949) is an English multi-instrumentalist, composer, and improviser.
Probably best known for his guitar work, Frith first came to attention as one of the founding members of the English avant-rock ...
who plays
viola
The viola ( , also , ) is a string instrument that is bow (music), bowed, plucked, or played with varying techniques. Slightly larger than a violin, it has a lower and deeper sound. Since the 18th century, it has been the middle or alto voice of ...
on several tracks, and by
Phyllis King
Phyllis April King is a British poet. She appears and reads her material on Ivor Cutler's albums ''Dandruff'', ''Velvet Donkey'' and ''Jammy Smears''. King designed some of the Ivor Cutler album covers, and has published poetry and children's b ...
who reads six of her own
poem
Poetry (derived from the Greek ''poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings in ...
s and
short stories
A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest t ...
and is also credited with designing the album cover.
Track listing
All tracks written by Ivor Cutler except where noted
;Side one
#"If Your Breasts" – 0:09
#"I Got No Common Sense" – 0:34
#"Useful Cat" – 0:27 (King)
#"Oho My Eyes" – 1:30
#"The Dirty Dinner" – 3:34
#"Yellow Fly" – 1:37
#"Mother's Love" – 0:25 (King)
#"The Meadows Go" – 1:11
#"Phonic Poem" – 0:47
#"Life in a Scotch Sitting Room Vol. 2, Ep. 2" – 3:40
#"Birdswing" – 0:49
#"Nobody Knows" – 1:54
#"Uneventful Day" – 0:31 (King)
#"Little Black Buzzer" – 1:53
#"Bread and Butter" – 0:42
;Side two
#"A Nuance" – 0:35
#"Go and Sit upon the Grass" – 2:09
#"The Even Keel" – 0:37
#"Pearly Gleam" – 1:54
#"The Best Thing" – 0:22 (King)
#"Life in a Scotch Sitting Room Vol. 2, Ep. 7" – 3:34
#"Once upon a Time" – 0:49
#"There's Got to Be Something" – 2:01
#"The Purposeful Culinary Implements" – 1:10
#"Gee, Amn't I Lucky" – 1:34
#"The Curse" – 2:07
#"I Think Very Deeply" – 0:54
#"I, Slowly" – 0:23 (King)
#"Sleepy Old Snake" – 2:33
#"Titchy Digits" – 0:32
#"The Stranger" – 6:00 (King)
{{Authority control
Ivor Cutler albums
1975 albums
Virgin Records albums