Mike Ratledge, RIP

Mike Ratledge, the original organist in Soft Machine, has died aged 81. I can't write very much about him because I was never able to find out very much about his life.

He played on the only SM album that I own, 'Fourth', and had one composition on it, the opening 'Teeth'. I bought this in 1971 when I saw SM twice. Looking back, I don't know how I latched onto this album, as I didn't like any other work of theirs enough to purchase. I probably heard 'Teeth' on the radio and was suitably impressed; I very much like the second side of the album (composed by Hugh Hopper) and often have tried in vain to find something similar to this.

I remember seeing Ratledge on a television programme - possibly 'The South Bank Show' if it was running in 1971/2 - where Ratledge explained that there weren't many effects available for the organ, or at least, for his organ. He displayed the use of the fuzz box along with some other device that could lower all the notes played by one semitone.

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