Fourth
The first all-instrumental Soft Machine album and the last with Robert Wyatt.
Soft Machine, 1971
- Released
- February 1971
- Recorded
- autumn 1970
- Studio
- Olympic Studios, London
- Label
- CBS
- Producer
- Soft Machine
The cover shows the numeral 4, and in the United States the album was known as Four. It was the group's first all-instrumental record. Wyatt left afterwards, having already made a solo album, The End of an Ear, and he formed Matching Mole, a name that puns on the French for soft machine.
As on Third, some tracks add guests: Roy Babbington, Mark Charig, Nick Evans, Jimmy Hastings and Alan Skidmore. The BBC's Sid Smith heard an understated coolness in the blend of electric and acoustic sound, rated Teeth as equal to anything on Third, and described the four-part Virtually as proto-ambient jazz-rock over Hopper's fuzz bass.
Track listing
- Teeth9:12
- Kings and Queens5:00
- Fletcher's Blemish4:34
- Virtually Part 15:17
- Virtually Part 27:06
- Virtually Part 34:31
- Virtually Part 43:20
Personnel
- Elton Dean alto saxophone, saxello
- Mike Ratledge acoustic piano, Hohner Pianet, Lowrey organ
- Hugh Hopper bass guitar, fuzz bass
- Robert Wyatt drums
- Roy Babbington double bass
- Mark Charig cornet
- Nick Evans trombone
- Jimmy Hastings alto flute, bass clarinet
- Alan Skidmore tenor saxophone
More from Soft Machine
The Soft Machine (1968), Volume Two (1969), Third (1970), Fifth (1972), Bundles (1975)
Sources
- Fourth (album), Wikipedia
- Soft Machine, Fourth (UK CBS S 64280), Discogs
- Review of Soft Machine: Third / Fourth / Fifth / Six / Seven, BBC Music (2007)