Ivor Cutler (1923-2006)

1. 5. 2007 | Rubriky: Články,Lives,Multilingual

[by Ken Hunt, London] His claim to inclusion here may seem droll, but the poet, songwriter, teacher, Noise Abatement Society mainman and so-called but very eccentrically sane, Ivor Cutler deserves homage more than an obituary for his surrealistic pillow folksongs. Born on 15 January 1923 close to the Ibrox Stadium in Glasgow of Jewish, Eastern European stock, he died aged 83 on 3 March 2006. Renting at one point a flat from Gerry Sharpe upstairs at Topic Records’ headquarters in Nassington Road in the Hampstead district or headlining an important, early gig in Martin Carthy’s very early career in Ealing, west London remain at best footnotes. Maybe you know him as one of the company the Beatles’ 1967 Magical Mystery Tour in the character of Buster Bloodvessel or from his recordings from the late 1950s through to Robert Wyatt’s Rock Bottom (1973) or A Flat Man, his Oasis spin-off album. Instead of the usual obituary fare, on this occasion please permit a serving of gnomic Cutlerisms. Beginning with, “Never knowingly understood”. Or “A fly crouching in a sandwich cannot comprehend why it has become more than ordinarily vulnerable.” And the zenist “Imperfection is an end; perfection is only an aim.”