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Louder
Louder
Entertainment
Max Bell

"I felt out of place. That group didn't have much musical merit and I thought it was crap": The oddball career of Kevin Ayers, quintessential English songwriter

Kevin Ayers Jimi Hendrix Soft Machine Syd Barrett Robert Wyatt Brian Eno David Bowie Robert Graves Classic Rock Daevid Allen
Kevin Ayers ruffling his own hair: studio portrait, 1973.

In 2008, Soft Machine founder and much-travelled cult troubadour Kevin Ayers released Songs For Insane Times, highlighting nearly 40 years of solo recordings. He also talked to Classic Rock about touring with Hendrix, influencing Bowie, and joining one of rock's most bizarre supergroups.

When we meet in his manager’s flat in West London, Kevin Ayers greets me with: “The last time we met I believe I corrupted you.”

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