English rock band

Soft Machine

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Intro

English rock band

Genres

Progressive rock Rock music Psychedelic rock Progressive rock Psychedelic rock Canterbury scene Jazz rock

Record Labels

ABC Records Columbia Records

Music

News

Members, past and present

Mike Ratledge

Robert Wyatt

Kevin Ayers

Daevid Allen

Roy Babbington

Theo Travis

Soft Machine are an English rock band from Canterbury formed in mid-1966 by Robert Wyatt (drums, vocals, 1966–71), Kevin Ayers (bass, guitar, vocals, 1966–68), Daevid Allen (guitar, 1966–67), and Mike Ratledge (organ, 1966–76). As a central band of the Canterbury scene, the group became one of the first British psychedelic acts and later moved into progressive rock and jazz fusion. Their varying line-ups have included former members such as Hugh Hopper (bass, 1969–1973), Elton Dean (saxophone, 1969-1972), and Andy Summers (guitar, 1968), and currently consists of John Marshall (drums), Roy Babbington (bass), John Etheridge (guitar), and Theo Travis (saxophone, flutes, keyboards)

Though they achieved little commercial success, the Soft Machine are considered by critics to have been influential in rock music. Dave Lynch at AllMusic called them "one of the more influential bands of their era, and certainly one of the most influential underground ones". The group were named after the novel The Soft Machine by William S. Burroughs.