From the late 1960s to the mid-70s, Soft Machine forged a career as trailblazers of an unusual blend of psychedelic, rock and jazz-fusion music, expressive of the rich and turbulent cultural cross-currents of their era. Mike Ratledge, who has died aged 81, was the driving force of the group during that period, through his groundbreaking work as composer, keyboard player and studio experimentalist. With his thick moustache, dark glasses and curtains of long hair, Ratledge also projected an image of impenetrable cool. The NME journalist Ian MacDonald described him as “tall, super-intelligent, forceful, self-possessed, and altogether daunting”.
Soft Machine formed in Canterbury, Kent in 1966, and their career began to take off when they moved to London and played gigs at the UFO Club in Tottenham Court Road alongside the fledgling Pink Floyd. They acquired a manager, Mike Jeffries, who with his partner Chas Chandler also managed Jimi Hendrix. Soft Machine were invited to support Hendrix on his American tour in 1968, a gruelling two-part campaign which took them to such venues as the Chicago Opera House, Madison Square Garden, New York, and, for the finale, the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles.
