The solo debut of Kevin Ayers, originally released in 1969 on the Harvest label after his departure from The Soft Machine, was the start of a brilliant and unique career. Joy Of A Toy is one of the greatest examples of late 60s music opening up to new influences and experiences. The result is an adventurous yet accessible masterpiece by a musician free of any artistic constraints.
In 1968, after an US tour with The Jimi Hendrix Experience, The Soft Machine’s founding member Kevin Ayers decided to leave the band. Unsure about their artistic direction, worn out by an exhausting schedule and reluctant to become another part of the music business, he sold his bass to Noel Redding and moved to Ibiza. However, soon after he started writing the songs that would make up his first solo LP, Joy Of A Toy…

Although there are those who nail their spirals to Vertigo as the prog label of choice, EMI’s Harvest certainly vies with it for pole position. With Harvest, the detail was everything. Loaded with the bizarre, striking and the strange, turns abounded like the Third Ear Band, Kevin Ayers and The Greatest Show On Earth. From the bad acid of Edgar Broughton’s There’s No Vibrations, But Wait through the squiffy majesty of Dave Mason’s You Shouldn’t Have Took More Than You Gave, to Be- Bop Deluxe’s future pop of Jet Silver and the Dolls Of Venus, this collection is impressive and nostalgic – its very lack of a house style providing its consistency.

Bananamour is ripe with Kevin Ayers' most mature and accessible compositions to date. Ayers grounded himself in a newly formed trio for his follow-up to Whatevershebringswesing. With bassist Archie Leggett and drummer Eddie Sparrow at the hub, Ayers selected guest artists for a handful of the tracks: Whole World colleague Dave Bedford ("Beware of the Dog"), Gong's new guitarist Steve Hillage ("Shouting in a Bucket Blues"), and former Soft Machine mates Robert Wyatt ("Hymn") and Mike Ratledge ("Interview"). "Interview" is easily one of the album's strongest, most original tunes, charged with a rugged, positively electrifying guitar sound courtesy of Ayers and psychedelic organ flourishes by Ratledge. And "Shouting in a Bucket Blues" is Ayers' inspired pop/blues groove…

Kevin Ayers is one of Rock's most important innovators, helping to launch Soft Machine, as their original bassist/vocalist, and later working with noted progressive musicians like Mike Oldfield and Steve Hillage. This 2 CD set of BBC radio sessions, compiled with the help of Kevin Ayers, tracks Kevin's discography from 1970 (when his band included his former Soft Machine friends) through to 1976. Featured here are several previously unissued recordings, including the earliest surviving example of Kevin's post-Soft Machine output. Among the musicians featured with Ayers on this compilation include Robert Wyatt, Mike Oldfield, Mike Ratledge, Andy Summers, Hugh Hopper, Lol Coxhill, David Bedford, Elton Dean, Archie Leggett, Ollie Halsall & Zoot Money.