Ruth Is Stranger Than Richard
| Ruth Is Stranger Than Richard | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by Robert Wyatt | ||||
| Released | May 1975 | |||
| Recorded | October 1974 – March 1975 at The Manor Studio | |||
| Genre | Progressive rock | |||
| Length | 39:06 | |||
| Label | Virgin | |||
| Producer | Robert Wyatt | |||
| Robert Wyatt chronology | ||||
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| Professional ratings | |
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| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |
  link
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| Pitchfork Media | (7.7/10.0) link |
Ruth Is Stranger Than Richard is the third solo album by Robert Wyatt.
The follow-up to Rock Bottom, for which Wyatt had written all of the music and lyrics, Ruth... consisted of Wyatt's adaptations and arrangements of other people's music (either friends – Phil Manzanera, Fred Frith, Mongezi Feza, former Wilde Flowers bandmate Brian Hopper – or influences – Charlie Haden) with Wyatt adding his own lyrics in much the same way as he had done on Matching Mole's Little Red Record. Apart from "Sonia", recorded for the shelved "Yesterday Man" single in October 1974 (again with Nick Mason as producer), the entire album was recorded and mixed at Virgin's The Manor Studio with Wyatt himself handling production duties. Much of the album features Wyatt (on lead vocals and keyboards) backed by a "band" consisting of bassist Bill MacCormick, drummer Laurie Allan and saxophonists George Khan and Gary Windo, with Brian Eno adding his own idiosyncratic "anti-jazz" touch.
Two years earlier Wyatt had provided the hypnotic soundtrack to the experienental film Solar Flares by Arthur Johns. The nine-minute film, "a personal essay on colour effects", had been produced by Nick Mason and recorded at his home studio. Wyatt had been involved at an early stage and his music became an integral part of the project. The music itself would reappear on his 1975 album "in a more 'digestible' form".
The album contains several pieces which recall the complexity and despair of Rock Bottom, but much of the record echoes the relaxed, almost silly feel of earlier Wyatt efforts such as The End of an Ear or his work with Matching Mole. This becomes evident from the choice of title (a pun on "truth is stranger than fiction") onwards; the two sides of the original LP release were not labelled "Side A" and "Side B", but rather "Side Ruth" and "Side Richard" respectively.
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Wikipedia