Deia (photo by Paolo Neoz)
I read today that the funeral of Kevin Ayers will be on what would have been on his 69th Birthday in Deia, Majorca. This was mentioned by his daughter Galen on the wonderful Ollie Hallsall Archive.
Galen said, “Dad’s final resting place will be in Deia, Mallorca Spain. He will be buried next to his musical collaborator and best friend Ollie Halsall. The private funeral will take place at sunset this 16th of August and will be followed by a public musical celebration of Kevin’s life. We all hope you will join us in this final dance. The musical acts are yet to be confirmed but the love being present is a surety. See you in August.”
I’m currently looking at flights to Majorca for that weekend.
We are there, flights booked, hotel booked, just need to get to Girona first!
Saw one and only gig in may 92 in Paris with Kevin and Ollie.
I’m happy saw him once in my life like I saw Nico, Lou and John a lot of times…
I’ll be there, seems all the hotels are booked at this time though,
including my personal favourite, and so anyone with accommodation tips for Deia, I’d be most grateful to you..
By the way, as this is a private funeral, does that mean we , the general public, are not invited ?
kind regards,
Jeremy Dunn/Berlin
Hi Jeremy, from what I have seen on Galen’s Facebook page, we the general public are not invited the private funeral but all are welcome to the musical celebration of Kevin’s life afterwards. I will have a quick check of the hotel we are staying in for vacancies and get back to you.
Jeremy we are stopping 3km outside Deia on the road to Valledemossa. They still seem to have some vacancies around the 16th so it might be worth a look. It is the
Hotel Apartamentos El Encinar
Carretera Valldemossa Deía, km 3,
07100 Valldemossa
Hi Rick,
Thankyou, I will follow this up..
I can imagine a full and distinguished crowd at this
very emotional event, but if you see someone with a green cord jacket,
then do say hello,
kind regards,
Jeremy
Jeremy, if you do end up stopping at the same hotel, let me know, maybe we can share a cab up to Deia or something? I look like I do here and my wife Susan looks like this.
Thanks Rick, the hotel is fully booked out, as are most reasonably priced hotels in and around Deia at this time, I’ll have to improvise, but I’ll have some old friends there, and maybe some new ones too ! See you…
Jeremy
Galen Ayers has asked everyone who is coming to Deia on the 16th to contact her and let her know at ;
kevinayersmusic@gmail.com
Thanks Jeremy, I actually emailed myself about a week ago, not heard anything back yet – have you?
Rick,
No, but I’m checking Galen’s facebook page everyday,
let me know if you see anything too, ok ?
Don’t forget the green jacket, corduroy, in 100 degress heat !
best,
Jeremy
Rick,
I’ve had a message back, I’m sure you have too,
still not sure though if the concert is in the amphitheatre
opposite Robert Graves old house, or in Sa Fonda ?
Would have thought Sa Fonda too small for this ?
All will be revealed..
best,
Jeremy
I did Jeremy, yes 🙂 Mine said Sa Fonda, I guess Galen knows the numbers to expect. It might be more of a select gathering than I imagined. Did she attach the poster? I was going to post it here, but I didn’t want to attract too much attention.
Rick,
No I didn’t see the poster but would like to !
See you on Friday, safe journey,
Jeremy
I sent you an email. I removed your address from your comment, so you don’t get spammed.
Really enjoyed reading all the articles about Kevin Ayers and discovering
new things about the great man.
As a lifelong fan of Kevin I was saddened by his death last year, although
he lives on through his music! He wil not be forgotten.
The Kevin Ayers Org seems like a really good way of exchanging news and
views so I’ve taken the opportunity to write something about Kevin.
I never met Kevin Ayers although I felt as if I’d known him since my early
teens when I first discovered his wonderful music.
He appeared exotic, bohemian and intriguing, a bright light to contrast the
rather dull and oppressive surroundings of South London.
Kevin’s unique blend of musical styles and witty, sardonic observations
made him very much an original artist and set him apart from mainstream music. He managed to combine light and dark atmospheres with effortless
ease, especially in the early albums which stand out as his most signicant works. The songs are beatifully written and played, full of sublety and detail,
which draw you into a mysterious musical sojourn. Joy of A Toy and
Shooting At The Moon are amongst my favorites and seem to best demonstrate his musical vision.
Kevin’s musical integrity was impeccable and counted on inspired callaborations, most importantly that of Ollie Halsall a gifted and very
underated guitarist who played with great range on most albums(check the
guitar on, Star). As Kevin once remarked, ”It was love at first solo”.
Ollie Halsall once said that were only two people he would play free for,
Randy Newman and Kevin Ayers. They enjoyed a long lasting friendship.
I was fortunate to see Kevin live, twice in London in the late seventies
and once in Barcelona in the nineties (with the Belgium outfit) he was a charismatic performer and all three concerts were spot on!
Kevin Ayers was always his own man, a wandering troubadour with a
relaxed, open minded approach to life. A romantic adventurer, in the Oscar Wilde, Lord Byron mould. He was never going tto bow to the fickle and mad
demands of the music business, despite the lure of fame and fortune which
he held within his grasp. He once remarkrd about show bizz that, ”they
dressed me up in silk suits and tried to turn me into a superstar, but it just
was’nt me”.
The Mediterranean ambience suited him better, away from the
hysteria of city life and the constant pursuit of money, a choice which I
also made some twenty years ago.
It’s true that Kevin had his upsets and disappoinments but I think his
warm spirit and humanity win through along with his sparkling wit, his elegant
charm and extraordinary songwriting skills. I believe his reputation will grow,
although never mainstream his contribution to modern music is unquestionable. He managed to do some great things with,”all this crazy gift
of time”, not only as a singer songwriter but also as a freedom lover determined to live life on his own terms.
If Kevin Ayers had a message which Ibelieve he did it could be summed
up in the lyric to his song, ‘ City Waltz’, ”Too much big business and too
little celebration”.
Ill raise a glass of wine to that one, Kevin!!
Cheers, Damon Bell