Soft Machine Gives Thanks to Jimi, Noel, and Mitch

(My expression of gratitude to Soft Machine for their Dadaist masterwork “Volume 2”)

Illustration for the play “Ubu Roi” by Afred Jarry, from the review “La Critique” (1894), National Gallery of Art (public domain)

And a special Thank You to Pierce McIntyre for Plethora of Pop and the “Thanks / Giving Challenge.”

Musicians occasionally acknowledge their debt to various influences, but how often do they write a musical “Thank you”?

In the song “Have You Ever Bean Grean?” from their second album, Soft Machine expresses their gratitude to the Jimi Hendrix Experience “for our exposure to the crowd.” Before playing on Hendrix’s 1968 concert U. S. tour (my memories of the performance here), Soft Machine (one of the first psychedelic bands, along with Pink Floyd) was known only in England from their pioneering live shows.

The “Thank You” Song

The footage in the YouTube video below is someone’s behind-the-scenes home movie of the Soft Machine / Jimi Hendrix 1968 concert tour — details to follow. The subtitled lyrics are a bit inaccurate, but the discrepancy’s not a really big deal.