On the occasion of his 75th birthday I am posting
a poem written in 1975 for Robert Wyatt, a small
tribute to one of the best drummers and innovative creative
geniuses in music for more than 50 years.
Thank you Robert! And Happy Birthday!
~ nightpoet ~
Digitally enhanced image created from an original photo (credit unknown) of the Soft Machine in concert taken in April 1968. (l. to r. {partially in photo} Mike Ratledge, Robert Wyatt and Kevin Ayers). They opened the show for The Jimi Hendrix Experience at The Dome in Virginia Beach, Virginia. .
© 2020 nightpoet all rights reserved
I have been wanting to send this poem to Robert for 45 years but never really wanted to bother him. Dave Larder, who manages Robert’s Facebook page was kind enough to forward it to him yesterday. Robert replied, “that poem is, in my opinion, BRILLIANT. Really…” Wow! I am so honoured. Thank you Robert, and thank you Dave for sending it him…
“When I lost the use of my hi-hat and bass drum legs, I became basically a singer. I was a drummer who did a bit of singing, and then I became a singer who did a bit of percussion. I would like to think that the singer is the butterfly, and the drummer was just the little grub in the ground, working to become a caterpillar” ~ Robert Wyatt