Author: Peter Podbrežnik
Artist: Wyatt, Robert
Label: Virgin Records
Released: 1974
Length: 39:31
Rating: 5/5
»Rock Bottom« is the most important album in the solo career of English progressive rock icon Robert Wyatt, who broke new ground in early British prog with Soft Machine and Matching Mole. By Wyatt’s own account, his solo career began with »Rock Bottom« and not with the free-jazz debut »The End of an Ear« (1970). And he’s dead right, because it was »Rock Bottom« that shot him into the ranks of hugely respected solo artists, and not just in the progressive rock world. Robert had plenty of famous friends who, despite the thoroughly non-commercial nature of most of his music, spread the word far and wide about his fascinating and innovative creative exploits.
»Rock Bottom« came out of the unexpected breakup of Wyatt’s band Matching Mole and his tragic accident, which marked him for life and tied him to a wheelchair for good after he fell out of a third-floor bathroom window during a wild birthday party at Gilli Smyth’s place (Gong). From then on he was paralyzed from the waist down, but that didn’t shake his will or stall his creative progress.
What’s more, that tragic event played a key role in Wyatt’s transformation into a serious solo artist, and it also marked his final break with alcoholism, after his friends and drinking buddies from the sixties, Jimi Hendrix and Jim Morrison, both died from it at the tender age of twenty-seven. From then on, Wyatt matured as a solo musician from one album to the next. Even though his state of mind while making the thoroughly melancholic »Rock Bottom« was anything but cheerful, there are no depressive moments and not a single lyric touching on his tragedy, which means he didn’t feel sorry for himself, but came out of the ordeal even stronger.
Some of the material on »Rock Bottom« was written earlier and intended for a third Matching Mole album that never happened, something fans of that cult band will spot right away. Production was handled by Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason, and it’s worth mentioning that Wyatt’s former band Soft Machine, together with Pink Floyd and a few other music icons, put on a benefit concert to raise money for Robert’s swiftest possible recovery. The most famous moment of that show was Robert’s cover of The Monkees hit »I’m a Beliver«, one of the rare commercial moments of his career.
Among the well-known names who were also Wyatt’s good friends, »Rock Bottom« features a young Mike Oldfield on guitar, RIO oddball Fred Frith (Henry Cow) on viola, longtime Soft Machine bassist Hugh Hopper, bassist/singer Richard Sinclair (Caravan, later Camel) and drummer Laurie Allan (Gong). The latter stepped in for Wyatt, who besides keyboards played most of the percussion and even slide guitar on the track »A Last Straw«, on the more demanding drum parts.
Just how different this album is from its predecessor, and how far Wyatt had come as a solo artist, is clear from the opening, melancholic and gloomy »Sea Song«, which sends a shiver down the listener’s spine at times while also filling them with the positive feelings radiating from Robert’s singing. Despite the sad nature of this piece, which would work perfectly as the soundtrack to some ghost horror flick, you can hear incredible optimism in Wyatt’s voice and a determination to get the creative wagon rolling again and haul himself up out of the pit. The master of vocal improvisation springs a surprise on »A Last Straw«, trying his hand at the slide guitar, completely out of character for him, and using it to deliver the key moment of this deeply moving, melancholic composition. The baritone narration of well-known Scottish comedian and poet Ivor Cutler marks both parts of the orchestrally spiced suite »Little Red Riding Hood Hit the Road«, which counts among the key, best moments of »Rock Bottom«. The album’s highly experimental streak climbs even higher on the interlinked, mostly instrumental tracks »Alfib« and »Alfie«, where the dark, melancholic atmosphere is shaped by furious jazz-rock improvisations with plenty of avant-garde touches. The continuation of »Little Red Riding Hood Hit the Road«, where the grim sound of the mellotron and Wyatt’s singing, tinged with an icy wheeze, hit you in the opening seconds, wins you over above all with Oldfield’s utterly unmistakable guitar soloing, which adds a touch of Celtic mysticism to the whole thing.
Wyatt’s ‘second birth’, both musically and personally, began with »Rock Bottom«, which still ranks among the best achievements of the so-called Canterbury scene and at the very top of Robert’s rich solo career. This musical visionary, wise to every trick in the book, had to hit bottom, and in the literal sense of the word, to rise up again and become one of the most respected solo artists in progressive rock. As a drummer, Mr. Wyatt no longer belonged to the Canterbury scene’s elite because of his disability, but as a songwriter and singer he reached a new level of maturity with »Rock Bottom« and kept his own distinctive take on progressive rock, without any commercial ventures worth mentioning, which is why he still enjoys considerable respect among fans of experimental music today.
Lineup
Robert Wyatt – vocals, keyboards, percussion, slide guitar (2)
Mike Oldfield – guitar (6)
Gary Windo – bass clarinet, tenor saxophone (5)
Ivor Cutler – voice (3 and 6), baritone concertina, harmonium (6)
Alfreda Benge – voice (5)
Mongezi Feza – trumpet (3)
Fred Frith – viola (6)
Hugh Hopper – bass guitar (2, 4 and 5)
Richard Sinclair – bass guitar (1, 3 and 6)
Laurie Allan – drums (2 and 6)
Production
Nick Mason
Track list
1. Sea Song (6:31)
2. A Last Straw (5:46)
3. Little Red Riding Hood Hit the Road (7:38)
4. Alifib (6:55)
5. Alife (6:31)
6. Little Red Robin Hood Hit the Road (6:08)
