Kevin Ayers – Joy of a Toy
Kevin Ayers’s Joy of a Toy does its best to defy the pigeon-hole. Just how do you begin to describe it? Pastoral? Folk? Psychedelic? Progressive? Avant Garde?… Well it contains elements of all these things and more.
Released in 1969, the debut release from the ex-Soft Machine vocalist and bass player takes the title of one of his former group’s songs and opens a window onto a world that is uniquely English.
It kicks off with ‘Joy of a Toy Continued’, a jaunty little number – instrumental apart from some “la-la-la”-ing, the occasional comment and the briefest snippet of a verse – that does its best to convey the sheer pleasure one might have once felt when encountered by a shiny new toy. It then slips effortlessly into the altogether more aloof ‘Town Feeling’, a gentle tale of a quiet rural town, possibly harbouring a slightly darker undercurrent. The instrumentation gives it an overwhelmingly pastoral feel, like a country village fete, and it’s this rustic ambience that threads its way through the rest of the album – as well as random usage of the word “banana”.
It’s a very laidback affair, befitting of its folk roots, and Ayers’s bassline vocals serve perfectly in the role of slightly detached storyteller. It also features his former bandmates Robert Wyatt, Mike Ratledge and Hugh Hopper sticking their musical oars in on ‘Song for Insane Times’. However, it’s not the defining moment of Kevin Ayers’s progressive rock journey. That honour would have to wait for Whatevershebringswesing or even the excellent ‘Confessions of Doctor Dream’ suite from the album The Confessions of Dr. Dream and Other Stories.
Despite this, Joy of a Toy is still good stuff. The 2003 reissue is bolstered by a slightly thin selection of bonuses – three extra songs spread out to six, so to speak. These are two versions of the fairy-talesque ‘The Lady Rachel’, albeit superior orchestral arrangements to the album version, the dramatic ‘Soon Soon Soon’ and three alternate takes of ‘Religious Experience (Singing a Song in the Morning). The latter is a joyous celebration to be taken once in the morning and once again at night. It features the troubled Syd Barrett on guitar and backing vocals, although it’s difficult to pick him out in the mix with he and Ayers sharing similar voices and vocal styles. Ayers says in the last issue of Shindig! magazine that Barrett was there during the recording but “… already heading south”, so his contribution may be entirely negligible. However, one of the takes claims to have restored Barrett’s guitar to the mix.
Joy of a Toy is a splendid showcase for Ayers’s unique style, allowing us into the eclectic mind of a true English eccentric. Its prog, occasionally psychedelic manner, whether it be the horn-led breeziness of ‘Clarietta Rag’ or the downright bizarrity of ‘Oleh Oleh Bandu Bandong’ – allegedly based on a Malaysian folksong – is, as the title suggests, a joy to hear. Not his best, as already stated, but a good, strong debut that successfully courts the more tranquil pastures of folky, avant-garde progressive rock.
Joy of a Toy is reissued on the EMI/ Harvest label and available from Amazon.co.uk
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It appears if a lot of acid was also involved.
Lately, this has been my answer and conclusion to many a thing, and shall continue to be henceforth.
A noble solution, static old chap.