Author: Peter Podbrežnik
Artist: Wyatt, Robert
Label: CBS
Released: 1970
Duration: 46:69
Rating: 4/5
Cult English musician Robert Wyatt kicked off his turbulent, many-layered solo career while still a member of progressive rock icons Soft Machine. His debut »The End of an Ear« came out while Soft Machine were on a creative break and Wyatt needed a new outlet for his wild musical fantasies. »The End of an Ear« was a seriously experimental project, heavy on free jazz and avant-garde, and instead of lyrics it featured Wyatt’s vocal improvisations, which often sound like the chanting of some Celtic druid and which actually became one of his trademarks. In every respect it was quite different from his later albums, and even for Soft Machine fans, whose band had by then entered its own most experimental phase, it was a pretty tough listen.
When it comes to difficulty and structural complexity, within the world of rock music only Frank Zappa’s early albums and some feats of the later avant-garde RIO scene come close to »The End of an Ear«. You could say it was one of the first harbingers of the RIO scene. There’s honestly not a trace of rock on this record, except maybe the signature Hammond organ sound that was so typical of countless rock outfits in the early seventies. Dissonant vocals, weird improvisations and effects, fractured rhythms and chaotic wind arrangements mark most of the pieces here. Even a lover of eclectic music needs a good dose of patience, but over time the ambient brilliance of most of the »The End of an Ear« pieces reveals itself, and they mostly sound extremely dark, though not depressing.
Besides his avant-garde vocal improvisations, Wyatt also took care of drums and keyboards, and among others he got help from his Soft Machine buddy Elton Dean on alto sax, Mark Charig on cornet (best known for his work with King Crimson) and Dave Sinclair (Caravan), who later joined Robert’s short-lived band Matching Mole.
The opening and closing free jazz orgies are takes on the two-part composition »Las Vegas Tango«, originally by Gil Evans. Whoever manages to push through that Evans cover will gradually fall for the rest of the album too, like the chaotic free jazz minestrone »To Mark Everywhere«, dedicated to Robert’s half-brother Mark Ellidge. Most pieces on the album carry a dedication to Wyatt’s friends or musical collaborators right in the title.
»To Saintly Bridget« throws in some whistling on top of the bizarre wind meanders in the background, and at times it feels like die-hard socialist Wyatt is mocking the whole world. His bizarrely playful sense of composition also shows on »To Oz Alien Daevyd and Gilly«, the next crazy stage of free jazz disconnection. His friendship with the Gong ‘stoners’ cost Robert dearly, though of course they were not in the least to blame that in 1973, at Gilli Smyth’s birthday party, he fell out of a fourth-floor window in an alcoholic haze.
Robert’s fascinating drumming chops are perhaps most obvious on »To Nick Everyone«, where, improvising amid grotesque wind outbursts, he eventually gets completely ‘tangled up’ in his own drum kit. Among the most interesting and, let’s say, slightly more accessible feats on »The End of an Ear« is »To Caravan and Brother Jim«, dedicated to Robert’s friends from the cult band Caravan and their longtime collaborator and occasional member Jimmy Hastings.
Even in the adventurous world of progressive rock, there aren’t many records that can match the complexity and avant-garde spirit of albums like Wyatt’s free jazz debut »The End of an Ear«. Even on release, it demanded double the attention and patience from Soft Machine followers who were used to all kinds of weirdness, but it was richly rewarded in the end, since the album brings something new with every listen and reveals sonic details you hadn’t heard before. Still, for those ‘delicate souls’ without the stomach for free jazz as an entry point into Wyatt’s solo career, one of his later studio efforts is the safer recommendation. As mentioned, Robert later drifted away from the world of free jazz, and on his next solo album »Rock Bottom« (1974), made after the breakup of Matching Mole and after the tragic accident that left him paralyzed, he shaped a completely personal approach with plenty of influences from the Canterbury scene of progressive rock.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mlcrB1K9PII
Lineup
Robert Wyatt – vocalizations, drums, piano, organ, keyboards, harmonica
GUEST MUSICIANS:
Mark Ellidge – piano
David Sinclair – organ
Mark Charig – cornet
Elton Dean – alto saxophone
Neville Whitehead – bass guitar
Cyrille Ayers – percussion
Production
Robert Wyatt
Tracklist
1. Las Vegas Tango Part 1 (Repeat) (8:13)
2. To Mark Everywhere (2:26)
3. To Saintly Bridget (2:22)
4. To Oz Alian Daevid and Gilly (2:09)
5. To Nick Everyone (9:15)
6. To Caravan and Brother Jim (5:22)
7. To the Old World (Thank You for the Use of Your Body, Goodbye) (3:18)
8. To Carla Marsha and Caroline (For Making Everything Beautifuller) (2:47)
9. Las Vegas Tango Part 1 (11:07)
