Joy Of A Toy

Kevin Ayers ‘Joy of A Toy’ 1969 Harvest, LP version

‘Joy of a Toy’ was Kevin Ayers’ first solo album. It was named after a Soft Machine track called ‘Joy of a Toy’ and the first track on this album is called ‘Joy Of A Toy Continued…’ The album contains tracks that went on to be some of Kevin’s most famous and most requested songs. A personal favourite of mine is ‘The Lady Rachel’ and if you were to buy the MP3 or CD version of ‘Joy of a Toy’ you are treated to three different versions of the song. ‘Girl On A Swing’ is also another classic tune that is simple, yet beautiful, and has been covered a few times by other bands including ‘The Ladybug Transistor’.

Kevin Ayers ‘Joy of a Toy’ 1969. Album design, inner gatefold

If you don’t own ‘Joy of a Toy’ already I would consider it a very important Kevin Ayers album that you need to have in your collection. It is readily available on CD and MP3 and if you look on eBay there are quite a few copies still available on vinyl too.

The following information is taken from the entry for ‘Joy of a Toy’ on Wikipedia.

Track listing

All tracks written by Kevin Ayers.

Side 1
“Joy of a Toy Continued” – 2:54
“Town Feeling” – 4:54
“The Clarietta Rag” – 3:20
“Girl on a Swing” – 2:49
“Song for Insane Times” – 4:00
Side 2
“Stop This Train (Again Doing It)” – 6:05
“Eleanor’s Cake (Which Ate Her)” – 2:53
“The Lady Rachel” – 5:17
“Oleh Oleh Bandu Bandong” – 5:35
“All This Crazy Gift of Time” – 3:57

Bonus tracks (2003 reissue)
“Religious Experience” [take 9] – 4:46 (“Singing a Song in the Morning”)
“The Lady Rachel” – 6:42 (extended first mix)
“Soon Soon Soon” – 3:23
“Religious Experience” [take 103] – 2:50 (“Singing a Song in the Morning”)
Featuring Syd Barrett[6]
“The Lady Rachael” – 4:51 (Single Version)
“Singing a Song in the Morning” – 2:52 (Single Version)

Personnel
Kevin Ayers / Guitars, Bass and Vocals
Robert Wyatt / Drums
David Bedford / Piano, Mellotron, Arranger
Mike Ratledge / Organ
Hugh Hopper / Bass (1 & 5)
Paul Buckmaster / Cello
Rob Tait / Drums (6 & 9)
Paul Minns / Oboe
Plus on “Religious Experience” / “Singing a Song in the Morning” :
Syd Barrett / Guitar (14)
Richard Sinclair / Bass
Richard Coughlan / Drums
David Sinclair / Organ
The Ladybirds / Backing vocals

Shortly after Barrett’s death, Kevin told Mojo magazine that when Barrett arrived at the studio: “….he was out-of-it….wasn’t able to tune his guitar or find the chords”. A third guitar is present on “Religious Experience” [take 103], most noticeably at 0:54-1:03, 1:37-1:42 and 2:34-2:51.