Editing Soft Machine (section)

===Original run (1966–78)===
In mid 1966, [[Mike Ratledge]] (keyboards), [[Robert Wyatt]] (drums, vocals), [[Kevin Ayers]] (bass, vocals), [[Daevid Allen]] (guitar) and Larry Nowlin (guitar) formed Soft Machine, who were billed as The Soft Machine up to 1969 or 1970.<ref>{{Cite journal|title = Prom 26, Thursday 13 August at 10|date = 1970|journal = BBC Proms Prospectus}}</ref> Allen and Wyatt first played together in 1963 as part of the Daevid Allen Trio, and were occasionally accompanied by Ratledge. In 1964, Wyatt and Ayers were founding members of [[The Wilde Flowers]]; by 1966, they had both left that band and rejoined Allen to form the short-lived band Mister Head, which also included Nowlin.<ref>{{cite book |last=Bennett |first=Graham |title=Soft Machine: Out-Bloody-Rageous|date=2014|publisher=Syzygy|isbn=9-7-8-90-822792-0-7|pages=62–63}}</ref> The four members soon joined with Ratledge to form The Soft Machine.<ref>{{cite book |last=Bennett |first=Graham |title=Soft Machine: Out-Bloody-Rageous|date=2014|publisher=Syzygy|isbn=9-7-8-90-822792-0-7|page=70}}</ref> Ayers suggested the band's name, which comes from [[William S. Burroughs]]'s novel ''[[The Soft Machine]]'' (1961).<ref>{{cite book |last=Bennett |first=Graham |title=Soft Machine: Out-Bloody-Rageous|date=2014|publisher=Syzygy|isbn=9-7-8-90-822792-0-7|pages=70}}</ref> The band became a quartet when Nowlin departed in September 1966.<ref>{{cite book |last=Bennett |first=Graham |title=Soft Machine: Out-Bloody-Rageous|date=2014|publisher=Syzygy|isbn=9-7-8-90-822792-0-7|pages=80}}</ref>

During late 1966 and early 1967, the Soft Machine became involved in the early [[UK underground]] scene. Along with [[Pink Floyd]], they became one of the major resident bands at the [[UFO Club]], and played other London clubs like the [[Speakeasy Club|Speakeasy]] and [[Middle Earth (club)|Middle Earth]]. According to Wyatt, The Soft Machine received negative reactions when playing at venues other than these underground clubs; this led to their penchant for long tracks and segued tunes because continuously playing deprived their audiences  chances to boo them.<ref name=StumpHistDuf>{{cite book |last=Stump |first=Paul |title=The Music's All that Matters: A History of Progressive Rock |date=1997 |publisher=Quartet Books Limited |isbn=0-7043-8036-6 |pages=27–28}}</ref> In February 1967, the band released their first single "[[Love Makes Sweet Music]]" on [[Polydor Records]].<ref name="StumpHistDuf" />

In April 1967, the Soft Machine recorded nine demo songs with producer [[Giorgio Gomelsky]] in [[De Lane Lea Studios]]; due to a dispute over studio costs, these tracks were unreleased for several years.<ref>''Jet Propelled Photographs'' liner notes</ref> Polydor later released these demos in 1972 as ''Jet Propelled Photographs''.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hoffmann |first=Frank |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9GGTAgAAQBAJ&dq=jet+propelled+photographs&pg=PT1924 |title=Encyclopedia of Recorded Sound |date=2004-11-12 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-135-94949-5 |language=en |chapter=Soft Machine}}</ref> Later in 1967, the band began touring in mainland Europe, becoming especially popular in France.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.calyx-canterbury.fr/softmachine/chrono.html|title=Soft Machine-Chronology (1)|website=Calyx-canterbury.fr}}</ref> When returning from a tour of France in August, Allen, an Australian, was denied re-entry to the UK,<ref name="StumpHistDuf" /> so the group continued as a trio while Allen returned to Paris to form [[Gong (band)|Gong]].<ref>Allen, Daevid. ''Gong Dreaming 1''. SAF Publishing, 2007, p.76.</ref>

The Soft Machine, who shared the same management as [[the Jimi Hendrix Experience]], supported them on two North American tours during 1968.<ref name="calyx-chronology">{{cite web|url=http://www.calyx-canterbury.fr/softmachine/chrono.html |title=Soft Machine-Chronology |publisher=Canterbury Music website |access-date=2013-08-12}}</ref> The band signed to [[Probe Records]] and recorded their eponymous [[The Soft Machine (Soft Machine album)|first album]] in New York City in April at the end of the first tour, though it was not released until December. In London, guitarist [[Andy Summers]], later of [[the Police]], joined the Soft Machine. The band's new line-up began a US tour with some headlining shows before supporting Hendrix in August and September 1968. By the time the Hendrix tour began, Summers had been fired at Ayers' insistence.<ref>{{cite book|author=[[Andy Summers]]|title= One Train Later|publisher= Thomas Dunne Books|year= 2006|isbn=0-312-35914-4}}</ref> Ayers himself departed amicably after the final tour date at the Hollywood Bowl in September, and the Soft Machine disbanded. Wyatt stayed in the US to record solo demos while Ratledge returned to London and began composing.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hulloder.nl/rw-sms.html|title=The Soft Machine years with Robert Wyatt singing & drumming (1967–1969)|publisher=Hulloder, The Netherlands|access-date=20 March 2016|archive-date=24 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924031801/http://www.hulloder.nl/rw-sms.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>

In December 1968, to fulfil contractual obligations, Wyatt and Ratledge re-formed the Soft Machine with their former road manager [[Hugh Hopper]] replacing Ayers on bass. Hopper, like Ayers and Wyatt, was a founding member of The Wilde Flowers. In 1969, the Soft Machine recorded their second album ''[[Volume Two (The Soft Machine album)|Volume Two]]'' , which started a change to [[jazz fusion]]. The album fulfilled the band's contract with Probe and they signed with [[CBS Records International|CBS Records]] by the beginning of 1970. In May 1969, the Soft Machine played as the uncredited backing band on two tracks of ''[[The Madcap Laughs]]'', the debut solo album of Pink  Floyd's [[Syd Barrett]]. Shortly after the Barrett recording, Hopper's brother [[Brian Hopper]], another Wilde Flowers co-founder, joined the Soft Machine on saxophone. Around this time, the band recorded the soundtrack for a multimedia show called ''Spaced'', which ran in London for five days in mid 1969. The soundtrack was commercially released in 1996 by Cuneiform Records. In October 1969, following Brian Hopper's departure, the Soft Machine expanded to a septet; Wyatt, Ratledge and Hugh Hopper added a four-piece horn section composed of the saxophonists [[Elton Dean]] and [[Lyn Dobson]], cornet player [[Mark Charig]] and trombonist [[Nick Evans (trombonist)|Nick Evans]]. After two months, Charig and Evans departed the band.<ref>{{Cite web| title=NDR Jazz workshop – Hamburg, Germany 1973 CD + DVD | url=http://www.cuneiformrecords.com/press/Soft%20Machine_NDR_PR.pdf | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100919080828/http://cuneiformrecords.com/press/Soft%20Machine_NDR_PR.pdf | archive-date=2010-09-19}}</ref>

The quintet continued until March 1970, when Dobson departed. The remaining quartet recorded the double album ''[[Third (Soft Machine album)|Third]]'' (1970) and its single-album follow-up ''[[Fourth (album)|Fourth]]'' (1971). ''Third'' was mostly instrumental save for Wyatt's song "Moon in June", the last Soft Machine song to have lyrics. ''Third'' is unusual for its time in having each of the four sides feature one suite.<ref name=":0" /> ''Third'' has since become Soft Machine's biggest-selling album. From ''Fourth'' onwards, the band became completely instrumental on record, and then on stage following Wyatt's departure soon after the album's release. During this period, the band received unprecedented acclaim across Europe, and they became the first rock band to be invited to play in August 1970 at London's [[The Proms|Proms]] concert, and the show was broadcast live on UK national television.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cosmik.com/aa-may03/soft_works.html |title=Cosmik Debris Magazine Presents: The 21st Century Be-Bop Of Soft Works; an interview of Hugh Hopper – May 2003 |publisher=Cosmik.com |access-date=2013-08-12 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130504020043/http://www.cosmik.com/aa-may03/soft_works.html |archive-date=4 May 2013 }}</ref>

[[File:Konzert mit Soft Machine, Family, Yes, Man. Deutschlandhalle, März 1971.jpg|thumb|Ticket for a 1971 Soft Machine concert in the [[Deutschlandhalle]], West Berlin, supported by [[Family (band)|Family]], [[yes (band)|Yes]] and [[Man (band)|Man]].]]

After differences over the group's musical direction, Wyatt was fired<ref name="unterberger">[[Richie Unterberger|Unterberger, Richie]]: [http://www.furious.com/perfect/wyatt.html 1996 Robert Wyatt interview] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060429142312/http://www.furious.com/Perfect/wyatt.html |date=29 April 2006 }} at [http://www.furious.com/PERFECT/ Perfect Sound Forever] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080723025908/http://www.furious.com/PERFECT/ |date=23 July 2008 }} (online music magazine)</ref> in August 1971 and formed [[Matching Mole]] (a pun on "machine molle", French for "soft machine"; also said at the time to have been taken from stage lighting equipment "Matching Mole").<ref name=":0" /> He was briefly replaced by Australian drummer [[Phil Howard (musician)|Phil Howard]]. This line-up toured extensively in Europe during late 1971 and began the recording of their next album ''[[Fifth (Soft Machine album)|Fifth]]'', but further musical disagreements led to Howard's dismissal at the beginning of 1972, with the album being completed with his replacement, [[John Stanley Marshall|John Marshall]]. ''Fifth'' was released in 1972, with side one comprising tracks recorded with Howard and side two comprising tracks recorded with Marshall. Later that year, Dean left the band<ref name=":0" /> and was replaced by [[Karl Jenkins]], who also played keyboards in addition to saxophone. Both Marshall and Jenkins were former members of [[Ian Carr]]'s [[Nucleus (band)|Nucleus]]. The band's next album was a half-live half-studio double album ''[[Six (Soft Machine album)|Six]]'', released in early 1973.

After the release of ''Six'', Hopper left the band<ref name=":0" /> and was replaced by [[Roy Babbington]], another former Nucleus member. During this period, Jenkins began to take over as bandleader and main composer. After they released ''[[Seven (Soft Machine album)|Seven]]'' in late 1973, Soft Machine again switched record labels from CBS to [[Harvest Records]], a sub-label of [[EMI Records]]. At the end of 1973, another former Nucleus member [[Allan Holdsworth]] was added to the band, becoming their first guitarist since Andy Summers' brief tenure in 1968. Holdsworth played on the next album ''[[Bundles (album)|Bundles]]'' (1975) before leaving in early 1975. Holdsworth's replacement was [[John Etheridge]], and the saxophonist [[Alan Wakeman]], a cousin of [[Yes (band)|Yes]] keyboardist [[Rick Wakeman]], also joined at the beginning of 1976.<ref name=":0" /> The next album, ''[[Softs (album)|Softs]]'' (1976), was the first without Ratledge, the last-remaining original member of the band, who left in March 1976. Other members of Soft Machine during the late 1970s were the saxophonist [[Ray Warleigh]], the violinist [[Ric Sanders]], and the bassists [[Percy Jones (musician)|Percy Jones]] of [[Brand X]] and Steve Cook.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.calyx-canterbury.fr/mus/cook_steve.html |title=Steve Cook |publisher=The Canterbury Music website|date=1948-08-04 |access-date=2013-08-12}}</ref> During 1977, Soft Machine recorded the live album ''[[Alive & Well: Recorded in Paris]]'', which was released early the following year. In 1978, Soft Machine gave only one live performance, which was at the Sound & Musik Festival in [[Dortmund]], [[West Germany]], on 8 December, with a line-up of Marshall, Jenkins, Cook and Holdsworth.<ref name="calyx.perso.neuf.fr Soft Machine chronology 2"/><ref name=Bennett>{{cite book |last=Bennett |first=Graham |title=Soft Machine: Out-Bloody-Rageous|date=2014|publisher=Syzygy|isbn=9-7-8-90-822792-0-7|pages=344}}</ref> After this show, Soft Machine disbanded.