Ruth Is Stranger Than Richard
Encyclopedia
Background
The follow-up to Rock BottomRock Bottom (album)
-Personnel:*Robert Wyatt - Vocals, Keyboards, Percussion, Slide Guitar *Mike Oldfield - Guitar *Gary Windo - Bass Clarinet, Tenor Sax *Ivor Cutler - Voice , Baritone Concertina *Alfreda Benge - Voice *Mongezi Feza - Trumpets...
, for which Wyatt had written all of the music and lyrics, Ruth... consisted of Wyatt's adaptations and arrangements of other people's music (either friends - Phil Manzanera
Phil Manzanera
Phil Manzanera is a musician and record producer. He is the lead guitarist with Roxy Music. In 2006 Manzanera co-produced David Gilmour's album On An Island and played in Gilmour's band for tours in Europe and North America...
, Fred Frith
Fred Frith
Fred Frith is an English multi-instrumentalist, composer and improvisor.Probably best known for his guitar work, Frith first came to attention as one of the founding members of the English avant-rock group Henry Cow. Frith was also a member of Art Bears, Massacre and Skeleton Crew...
, Mongezi Feza
Mongezi Feza
Mongezi Feza was a South African jazz trumpet player and flautist.-Biography:Feza was born in Queenstown, South Africa in 1945. A member of The Blue Notes, he left South Africa in 1964 and settled in Europe, living in London and Copenhagen. As a trumpeter, his influences included hard bopper...
, former Wilde Flowers
Wilde Flowers
The Wilde Flowers were a popular music group based in the vicinity of Canterbury, England. The group was active between 1964 and 1967 but never released any records during its existence; however it led to the formation of two other groups that became well-known and influential: Soft Machine and...
bandmate Brian Hopper
Brian Hopper
Brian Hopper is a British guitarist and saxophonist, and older brother of the late bassist Hugh Hopper. With Hugh, he was a member in the early Canterbury scene band Wilde Flowers. He also played saxophone on Soft Machine's album Volume Two...
- or influences - Charlie Haden
Charlie Haden
Charles Edward Haden is an American jazz musician. He is a double bassist, probably best known for his long association with saxophonist Ornette Coleman...
) with Wyatt adding his own lyrics in much the same way as he'd done on Matching Mole
Matching Mole
Matching Mole was a short-lived UK progressive rock band from the Canterbury scene best known for the song "O Caroline". Robert Wyatt formed the band in October 1971 after he left Soft Machine and recorded his first solo album The End of an Ear...
's Little Red Record. Apart from "Sonia", recorded for the shelved "Yesterday Man" single in October 1974 (again with Nick Mason
Nick Mason
Nicholas Berkeley "Nick" Mason is an English drummer and songwriter, best known for his work with Pink Floyd. He was the only constant member of the band since its formation in 1965...
as producer), the entire album was recorded and mixed at Virgin's The Manor Studio
The Manor Studio
The Manor Studio was a recording studio in the manor house at the village of Shipton-on-Cherwell in Oxfordshire, England, north of the city of Oxford. It was the first residential recording studio in the UK...
with Wyatt himself handling production duties. Much of the album features Wyatt (on lead vocals and keyboards) backed by a "band" consisting of bassist Bill MacCormick
Bill MacCormick
Bill MacCormick is an English bassist and vocalist. He was a member of the bands Quiet Sun with Phil Manzanera, brother Ian MacCormick and others; Matching Mole with Robert Wyatt and others; 801 with Manzanera, Brian Eno and others; and Random Hold...
, drummer Laurie Allan
Laurie Allan
Laurie Allan is an English drummer, best known for stints in Delivery and Gong. He has also played with Robert Wyatt, for example on his albums Rock Bottom and Ruth Is Stranger Than Richard....
and saxophonists George Khan and Gary Windo
Gary Windo
Gary Windo was a jazz tenor saxophonist.He came from a musical family in England and by age six took up drums and accordion, then guitar at 12, and finally saxophone at 17. He lived in the United States in the 1960s, but returned to England in 1969...
, with Brian Eno
Brian Eno
Brian Peter George St. John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno , commonly known as Brian Eno or simply as Eno , is an English musician, composer, record producer, singer and visual artist, known as one of the principal innovators of ambient music.Eno studied at Colchester Institute art school in Essex,...
adding his own idiosyncratic "anti-jazz" touch.
Concept
The album contains several pieces which recall the complexity and despair of Rock Bottom, but much of the record echoes the relaxed, almost silly feel of earlier Wyatt efforts such as The End of an EarThe End of an Ear
The End of an Ear is the debut solo album by Soft Machine's Robert Wyatt.-Background:It was recorded in August 1970, while on a leave of absence from Soft Machine . Containing mostly free jazz and experimental music, with no lyrics , it is an unusual album...
or his work with Matching Mole
Matching Mole
Matching Mole was a short-lived UK progressive rock band from the Canterbury scene best known for the song "O Caroline". Robert Wyatt formed the band in October 1971 after he left Soft Machine and recorded his first solo album The End of an Ear...
. This becomes evident from the choice of title (a pun on "truth is stranger than fiction") onwards; the two sides of the original LP release were not labeled "Side A" and "Side B", but rather "Side Ruth" and "Side Richard" respectively.
The songs on Side Ruth all have more traditional structures; the rollicking "Soup Song" (derived from the Wilde Flowers
Wilde Flowers
The Wilde Flowers were a popular music group based in the vicinity of Canterbury, England. The group was active between 1964 and 1967 but never released any records during its existence; however it led to the formation of two other groups that became well-known and influential: Soft Machine and...
song "Slow Walking Talk", of which Wyatt had recorded a version with Jimi Hendrix
Jimi Hendrix
James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix was an American guitarist and singer-songwriter...
) has the air of a pub singalong. The remaining songs are all covers or collaborations; the lengthy Mongezi Feza
Mongezi Feza
Mongezi Feza was a South African jazz trumpet player and flautist.-Biography:Feza was born in Queenstown, South Africa in 1945. A member of The Blue Notes, he left South Africa in 1964 and settled in Europe, living in London and Copenhagen. As a trumpeter, his influences included hard bopper...
trumpet piece "Sonia", featuring a guest appearance by Feza himself (as do a number of other songs on the album) in the last year of his life, "Team Spirit" (written with Phil Manzanera
Phil Manzanera
Phil Manzanera is a musician and record producer. He is the lead guitarist with Roxy Music. In 2006 Manzanera co-produced David Gilmour's album On An Island and played in Gilmour's band for tours in Europe and North America...
, who would record the same song on his album Diamond Head (album)
Diamond Head (album)
Diamond Head is the first solo album by Phil Manzanera, issued in 1975. It was originally issued in the UK on Island and in US on Atco...
under the title "Frontera") and a cover of "Song for Che" by Charlie Haden
Charlie Haden
Charles Edward Haden is an American jazz musician. He is a double bassist, probably best known for his long association with saxophonist Ornette Coleman...
round off the album.
The three "serious" pieces on Side Richard - the beautiful ballad "Solar Flares", "5 Black Notes And 1 White Note" (a funeral instrumental, supposedly a cover of Jacques Offenbach
Jacques Offenbach
Jacques Offenbach was a Prussian-born French composer, cellist and impresario. He is remembered for his nearly 100 operettas of the 1850s–1870s and his uncompleted opera The Tales of Hoffmann. He was a powerful influence on later composers of the operetta genre, particularly Johann Strauss, Jr....
's Barcarolle from The Tales of Hoffmann, which degenerates into a series of noises somewhere between free jazz
Free jazz
Free jazz is an approach to jazz music that was first developed in the 1950s and 1960s. Though the music produced by free jazz pioneers varied widely, the common feature was a dissatisfaction with the limitations of bebop, hard bop, and modal jazz, which had developed in the 1940s and 1950s...
and electronic noise) and the piano-led Rock Bottom-esque Fred Frith collaboration "Muddy Mouth"—with a series of brief, nonsensical interludes featuring only sparse piano accompaniment and some very strange high-pitched yelping vocals under the collective title "Muddy Mouse".
Reception
Ruth Is Stranger Than Richard was released in May 1975. Unlike its predecessor Rock Bottom, it received a mixed critical and public response; not counting 1982's Nothing Can Stop Us (which brought together a series of previously released single A and B sides, most of which were cover versions), Ruth... would be Wyatt's last solo studio album until 1985's Old RottenhatOld Rottenhat
Old Rottenhat is the fifth studio album by Robert Wyatt. It was released in 1985. In 1993 it was reissued in its entirety as part of the CD Mid-Eighties.All instruments and voices provided by Robert Wyatt...
.
Side Ruth
- (Ru1) "Soup Song" (Brian HopperBrian HopperBrian Hopper is a British guitarist and saxophonist, and older brother of the late bassist Hugh Hopper. With Hugh, he was a member in the early Canterbury scene band Wilde Flowers. He also played saxophone on Soft Machine's album Volume Two...
, Robert Wyatt) – 4:03 - (Ru2) "Sonia" (Mongezi FezaMongezi FezaMongezi Feza was a South African jazz trumpet player and flautist.-Biography:Feza was born in Queenstown, South Africa in 1945. A member of The Blue Notes, he left South Africa in 1964 and settled in Europe, living in London and Copenhagen. As a trumpeter, his influences included hard bopper...
) – 4:18 - (Ru3) "Team Spirit" (Bill MacCormickBill MacCormickBill MacCormick is an English bassist and vocalist. He was a member of the bands Quiet Sun with Phil Manzanera, brother Ian MacCormick and others; Matching Mole with Robert Wyatt and others; 801 with Manzanera, Brian Eno and others; and Random Hold...
, Phil ManzaneraPhil ManzaneraPhil Manzanera is a musician and record producer. He is the lead guitarist with Roxy Music. In 2006 Manzanera co-produced David Gilmour's album On An Island and played in Gilmour's band for tours in Europe and North America...
, Robert Wyatt) – 8:33 - (Ru4) "Song For Che" (Charlie HadenCharlie HadenCharles Edward Haden is an American jazz musician. He is a double bassist, probably best known for his long association with saxophonist Ornette Coleman...
) – 3:42
Side Richard
- (Ri1) "Muddy Mouse (a)" (Fred Frith, Robert Wyatt) – 0:49
- (Ri2) "Solar Flares" (Robert Wyatt) – 5:36
- (Ri3) "Muddy Mouse (b)" (Fred Frith, Robert Wyatt) – 0:50
- (Ri4) "5 Black Notes And 1 White Note" (OffenbachJacques OffenbachJacques Offenbach was a Prussian-born French composer, cellist and impresario. He is remembered for his nearly 100 operettas of the 1850s–1870s and his uncompleted opera The Tales of Hoffmann. He was a powerful influence on later composers of the operetta genre, particularly Johann Strauss, Jr....
arr. Robert Wyatt) – 5:00 - (Ri5) "Muddy Mouse (c) Which In Turn Leads To Muddy Mouth" (Fred Frith, Robert Wyatt) – 6:15
Personnel
- Robert WyattRobert WyattRobert Wyatt is an English musician, and founding member of the influential Canterbury scene band Soft Machine, with a long and distinguished solo career...
- vocals, piano, imitation electric piano (Ri4), organ (Ri2), drums (Ru2, Ri2) - Brian EnoBrian EnoBrian Peter George St. John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno , commonly known as Brian Eno or simply as Eno , is an English musician, composer, record producer, singer and visual artist, known as one of the principal innovators of ambient music.Eno studied at Colchester Institute art school in Essex,...
- guitar (Ri4), synthesizer (Ri4), direct inject anti-jazz ray gun (Ru3) - Gary WindoGary WindoGary Windo was a jazz tenor saxophonist.He came from a musical family in England and by age six took up drums and accordion, then guitar at 12, and finally saxophone at 17. He lived in the United States in the 1960s, but returned to England in 1969...
- bass clarinet (Ri2, Ru2), tenor saxophone (Ri4, Ru1, Ru3, Ru4), alto saxophone (Ri4, Ru2, Ru4) - Nisar Ahmad "George" Khan - tenor saxophone (Ri4, Ru4), baritone saxophone (Ru1, Ru4)
- Mongezi FezaMongezi FezaMongezi Feza was a South African jazz trumpet player and flautist.-Biography:Feza was born in Queenstown, South Africa in 1945. A member of The Blue Notes, he left South Africa in 1964 and settled in Europe, living in London and Copenhagen. As a trumpeter, his influences included hard bopper...
- trumpet (Ru2) - Fred FrithFred FrithFred Frith is an English multi-instrumentalist, composer and improvisor.Probably best known for his guitar work, Frith first came to attention as one of the founding members of the English avant-rock group Henry Cow. Frith was also a member of Art Bears, Massacre and Skeleton Crew...
- piano (Ri1, Ri3, Ri5) - Bill MacCormickBill MacCormickBill MacCormick is an English bassist and vocalist. He was a member of the bands Quiet Sun with Phil Manzanera, brother Ian MacCormick and others; Matching Mole with Robert Wyatt and others; 801 with Manzanera, Brian Eno and others; and Random Hold...
- bass guitar (Ri2, Ri4, Ru1, Ru3, Ru4) - John GreavesJohn Greaves (musician)John Greaves is a British bass guitarist and composer, best known as a member of Henry Cow and his collaborative albums with Peter Blegvad...
- bass guitar (Ru2) - Laurie AllanLaurie AllanLaurie Allan is an English drummer, best known for stints in Delivery and Gong. He has also played with Robert Wyatt, for example on his albums Rock Bottom and Ruth Is Stranger Than Richard....
- drums (Ri4, Ru1, Ru3, Ru4)
Album Cover
The distinctive and slightly disturbing artwork for the cover of the album was by Wyatt's wife Alfreda BengeAlfreda Benge
Alfreda Benge is a lyricist and illustrator. She has been married to musician Robert Wyatt since 1974. She has contributed lyrics to many of his compositions, and has written lyrics for French musician/producer Bertrand Burgalat, and for Brazilian singer Monica Vasconcelos.Benge studied and worked...
.