Soft Machine

A key moment in the Canterbury band’s history came when the future Gong mastermind made contact with his former collaborator in 1966

When Kevin Ayers, Robert Wyatt and Mike Ratledge created the Canterbury scene via Soft Machine’s first record, they’d already split up

Theo Travis on tempting fate, revisiting a tradition, being the best-tempered line-up since the beginning in 1966, and adding a posthumous appearance by co-founder Daevid Allen

The violinist’s post Curved Air band only lasted two years, but released three compelling albums in that time, and set his colleagues on course for prog greatness

Punk might have been on the rise but Rush, Genesis, Jon Anderson, Van der Graaf Generator, Kansas, Alan Parsons, Camel and Soft Machine released records that became all-time greats. But which one is your favourite – and why?

Their 1970 debut album, deliberately featuring no guitars at all, was inspired by the Canterbury band’s approach and Frank Zappa’s public persona – and it attained iconic status

The seeds of The Wilde Flowers have taken root all around the world. Here are just a handful of 21st-century musicians taking inspiration from the 60s and 70s