In 1968, after an US tour with The Jimi Hendrix Experience, The Soft Machine’s founding member Kevin Ayers decided to leave the band. Unsure about their artistic direction, worn out by an exhausting schedule and reluctant to become another part of the music business, he sold his bass to Noel Redding and moved to Ibiza. However, soon after he started writing the songs that would make up his first solo LP, Joy Of A Toy. His departure from The Soft Machine had been amicable and Robert Wyatt, Mike Ratledge and Hugh Hopper all took part in the recordings at Abbey Road in July 1969. The resulting album meanders in and out of its own affecting mood, taking wonderful pop, folk, psych and prog turns during its course. It starts with the joyful, circus-like title track and veers from the gentle beauty of ‘Girl On A Swing’ and pastoral gems like ‘Eleanor´s Cake (Which Ate Her)’ to ominous, experimental moments like ‘Oleh Oleh Bandu Bandong’, based on a Malaysian traditional song, and the driving jam of ‘Stop This Train’. It also features ‘The Lady Rachel’, a beautifully arranged track with a haunting atmosphere and one of Ayers’ most representative tracks.