'68 (album) explained

'68
Type:compilation
Artist:Robert Wyatt
Cover:RobertWyatt 68.jpg
Released:8 October 2013
Recorded:1968
Genre:Canterbury scene, jazz fusion
Length:46:57
Label:Cuneiform
Producer:Robert Wyatt
Prev Title:Radio Experiment Rome, February 1981
Prev Year:2009

68 is a compilation album by Robert Wyatt. It is composed of previously unreleased demos Wyatt recorded in 1968 at the end of a tour Soft Machine did with the Jimi Hendrix Experience in the United States.[1] It was released by Cuneiform Records in 2013.

After the tour, the Experience had given Wyatt access to their recording studios after hours, and he recorded these demos there. Hendrix played bass guitar on one of the recordings, "Slow Walkin' Talk". Some of the tracks were later reworked and used on several Soft Machine and Matching Mole albums.[1]

Release

68 was released on 8 October 2013 on LP in a limited edition, and on CD and digital. Three further limited edition LP pressings were released in 2014.[2]

Vinyl

CD

Digital

Reception

Writing at AllMusic, Thom Jurek said Cuneiform Records has "delivered a Holy Grail" with this album, considering that some of the recordings were believed lost, or not to have been made at all.[1] He said that the cleaning and remastering has produced an "excellent" sound, and he described the compilation as "All killer, no filler".[1]

In a review in PopMatters, Maria Schurr called 68 "especially edifying to Soft Machine die-hards", and a "great ... lost musical treasure". Rolling Stone called the album "By far one of the year's best releases".

Personnel

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Jurek . Thom . [{{Allmusic|class=album |id=68-mw0002571583 |pure_url=yes}} '68 ]. . 16 July 2014.
  2. Web site: Robert Wyatt – '68 (Master Release) . . 10 June 2022.