Ivor Cutler

Biography

Ivor Cutler (born Isadore Cutler, 15 January 1923 – 3 March 2006) was a Scottish poet, singer, musician, songwriter, artist and humorist. He became known for his regular performances on BBC radio, and in particular his numerous sessions recorded for John Peel's influential eponymous late-night radio programme (on BBC Radio 1), and later for Andy Kershaw's programme. He appeared in the Beatles' Magical Mystery Tour film in 1967, and on Neil Innes's television programmes. Cutler also wrote books for children and adults, and was a teacher at A. S. Neill's Summerhill School and for 30 years in inner-city schools in London.
In live performances Cutler would often accompany himself on a harmonium. Phyllis King appears on several of his records, and for several years was a part of his concerts. She usually read small phrases but also read a few short stories. The two starred in a BBC radio series, King Cutler, in which they performed their material jointly and singly. Cutler also collaborated with pianist Neil Ardley, singer Robert Wyatt, guitarist Fred Frith, and musicians David Toop and Steve Beresford.

Early life

Ivor Cutler was born on 15 January 1923 at 3 Ralston Drive, Govan, Glasgow, into a family of Ashkenazi Jewish origins.. He was the second son and the third of five children. His father Jack Moris Cutler was a draper and jeweller. He cited his childhood as the source of his artistic temperament, recalling a sense of displacement when his younger brother was born: "Without that I would not have been so screwed up as I am, and therefore not as creative." He was educated at the Shawlands Academy. In 1939 Cutler was evacuated to Annan. He joined the Royal Air Force as a navigator in 1942 but was soon grounded for "dreaminess" and worked as a storeman. He moved to London where he was employed by the Inner London Education Authority to teach music, dance, drama and poetry to 7-to-11-year-olds. Cutler's deeply held views on humanity meant he disliked corporal punishment and on leaving a teaching job he held in the 1950s he cut up his tawse and handed the pieces to the class.

Musical career

Cutler began writing songs and poetry in the late 1950s, making the first of many appearances on BBC radio on the Home Service, where he featured on the Monday Night at Home programme on 38 occasions between 1959 and 1963. He gained popularity playing songs where he would often accompany himself on either a piano or the harmonium, and this success led to the release of a series of records starting with 1959's Ivor Cutler of Y'Hup EP. Cutler appeared in the pop musical film It's All Over Town in 1964, and continued to make appearances on the BBC's programmes during the 1960s, and as a result of an appearance on the television show Late Night Line-Up, he was noticed by Paul McCartney, who invited Cutler to appear in the Beatles' Magical Mystery Tour film. In the film, Cutler plays would-be courier Buster Bloodvessel who becomes passionately attracted to Ringo Starr's Aunt Jessie. Following this film role, Cutler recorded an LP, Ludo (1967), produced by George Martin, and credited to the Ivor Cutler Trio, made up of Cutler with bassist Gill Lyons and percussionist Trevor Tomkins. The album, taking inspiration from trad jazz and boogie-woogie, sees Cutler playing the piano as well as his usual harmonium, and is considered the most traditionally musical of all his records. After its release Cutler continued to perform for BBC radio, recording the first of his sessions for John Peel in 1969. Cutler's work on Peel's shows would introduce him to successive generations of fans, and in the early 1990s, Cutler said, "Thanks to Peel, I gained a whole new audience, to the amazement of my older fans, who find themselves among 16-to-35s in theatres, and wonder where they came from."
In the 1970s, Neil Ardley had Cutler sing on his album A Symphony of Amaranths (1971), and former-Soft Machine drummer Robert Wyatt asked Cutler to play harmonium and sing on two of the tracks on his album Rock Bottom (1974). The collaboration with Wyatt led to Cutler being signed to Wyatt's record label Virgin Records, for whom Cutler recorded three albums in the mid-1970s: Dandruff×Dandruff1974 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 45 tracksA1Solo on Mbira (Bikembe) in 5:3 Time0:14A2Dad's Lapse0:19A3I Worn My Elbows2:06A4Hair Grips0:13A5I Believe in Bugs1:16A6Fremsley3:14A7Goozeberries and Bilberries1:02A8Time0:15A9I'm Walking to a Farm2:28A10The Railway Sleepers1:20A11Life in a Scotch Sitting Room, Vol. 2 ep.1.2:54A12Three Sisters0:44A13Baby Sits2:08A14Not Big Enough0:08A15A Barrel of Nails1:36B1Men0:10B2Trouble Trouble1:36B3I Love You0:10B4Vein Girl0:32B5Five Wise Saws0:44B6Life in a Scotch Sitting Room, Vol. 2 ep.1.3:09B7The Painful League0:59B8Piano Tuner Song A.D. 20001:17B9Self Knowledge0:22B10An Old Oak Tree1:11B11The Aimless Dawnrunner2:15B12Face Like a Lemon3:20B13A Bird0:35B14A Hole in My Toe1:27B15My Mother Has Two Red Lips0:20B16I Like Sitting0:29B17The Forgetful Fowl0:28B18If Everybody0:09B19For Sixpence0:44B20I Used to Lie in Bed0:21B21If All the Cornflakes0:31B22My Sock0:28B23When I Entered0:14B24Two Balls0:16B25Miss Velvetlips0:43B26Lean0:33B27Fur Coats0:35B28The Darkness0:45B29A Beautiful Woman0:19B30Making Tidy0:19 (1974), Velvet Donkey×Velvet Donkey1975 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 31 tracks1If Your Breasts0:092I Got No Common Sense0:343Useful Cat0:274Oho My Eyes1:305The Dirty Dinner3:346Yellow Fly1:377Mother's Love0:258The Meadows Go1:129Phonic Poem0:4710Life in a Scotch Sitting Room, Volume 2: EP. 23:4011Birdswing0:4912Nobody Knows1:5413Uneventful Day0:3114Little Black Buzzer1:5315Bread and Butter0:4316A Nuance0:3517Go and Sit Upon the Grass2:0918The Even Keel0:3719Pearly Gleam1:5420The Best Thing0:2221Life in a Scotch Sitting Room, Volume 2: EP. 73:3422Once Upon a Time0:4923There's Got to Be Something2:0124The Purposeful Culinary Implements1:1025Gee Amn't I Lucky1:3426The Curse2:0727I Think Very Deeply0:5428I, Slowly0:2429Sleepy Old Snake2:3330Titchy Digits0:3231The Stranger6:00 (1975) and Jammy Smears×Jammy Smears1976 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 31 tracksA1Bicarbonate of Chicken0:51A2Filcombe Cottage, Dorset0:23A3Squeeze Bees2:25A4The Turn0:31A5Life in a Scotch Sitting Room, Volume 2: EP. II3:55A6A Linnet0:25A7Jumping and Pecking0:44A8The Other Half0:46A9Beautiful Cosmos2:10A10The Path0:41A11Barabadabada1:02A12Big Jim3:01A13In the Chestnut Tree1:29A14Dust1:03A15Rubber Toy2:03A16Fistyman0:09B1Unexpected Join0:12B2A Wooden Tree2:14B3When I Stand on an Open Cart0:39B4High Is the Wind1:27B5The Surly Buddy4:17B6Pearly-Winged Fly0:41B7Garden Path at Filcombe0:40B8Paddington Town1:34B9Cage of Small Birds0:18B10Life in a Scotch Sitting Room, Volume 2: EP. 63:10B11Irk0:23B12Lemon Flower1:03B13Red Admiral0:48B14Everybody Got2:08B15The Wasted Call4:26 (1976). Each of these discs intersperses Cutler's poems and songs with readings by his performing companion Phyllis King. Wyatt would later cover Cutler's song "Go and Sit upon the Grass".
During the decade Cutler used his sessions for John Peel to introduce numerous episodes of his Life in a Scotch Sitting Room series, culminating in the 1978 album Life in a Scotch Sitting Room, Vol. 2, regarded as a particularly autobiographical work, on which Cutler recounts tales from his childhood amid an environment of exaggerated Scottishness. Cutler also produced the work as a book, which was published in 1984 with illustrations by Martin Honeysett.
Cutler contributed the track "Brooch Boat" to the cult 1980 album Miniatures, produced and edited by Morgan Fisher, which consisted entirely of one-minute-long recordings. In the 1980s, Rough Trade Records released three albums—Privilege×Privilege1983 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 38 tracksA1Sit Down1:07A2Use a Brick0:28A3Home Is the Sailor1:40A4For Practice0:39A5A Doughnut in My Hand2:02A6Fair's Fair0:50A7Killer Bee (Jungle Tip)0:57A8Whale Badge0:30A9Blue Bear0:58A10Creamy Pumpkins0:57A11Counting Song1:36A12My Darling0:52A13Life in a Scotch Sitting Room Vol.2 (Episode 15)2:58A14Mostly Tins0:50A15Tomato Brain0:53A16Bad Eye0:54A17Silent "S"0:40A18Halfway Through0:54A19Look at the Moon1:06B1Old Black Dog1:04B2The Gathering Doubt0:47B3Pussy on the Mat1:13B4Large & Puffy0:30B5People Run to the Edge1:45B6Country Door0:20B7Piranhas (Jungle Tip)1:06B8Brenda0:50B9I Love You but I Don't Know What I Mean1:11B10Breathing Regularly0:26B11Life in a Scotch Sitting Room Vol.2 (Episode 16)3:01B12Full of Goods0:51B13OK, I'll Count to 80:56B14Secret Drinker0:45B15Pass the Ball Jim (For John Peel)0:56B16Over You Go0:30B17Step It Out Lively, Boys1:44B18Uncut Moquette0:59B19Women of the World3:48 (1983), Prince Ivor×Prince Ivor1986 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 12 tracks · 2 discsDisc 1A1Silence17:30A2Ivor Cutler And... The Mermaid8:50B1Ivor Cutler And... The Mole9:25B2Ivor Cutler And A Barber5:01B3Ivor Cutler And The Paperseller6:05B4Ivor Cutler And A Storeman4:43Disc 2C1Ivor Cutler And... A Princess8:36C2A Miner Is Approached By Ivor Cutler5:09C3Ivor Cutler And... His Dad9:25D1A Sheet Metal Worker Is Approached By Ivor Cutler4:38D2Ivor Cutler And A Small Holder4:15D3Prince Ivor18:28 (1986) and Gruts×Gruts1986 · Studio album · SpokenwordSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 17 tracksA1I'm Happy (Song)A2Gruts For TeaA3A Red FlowerA4Shoplifters (Song)A5How To Make A FriendA6Fish FrightA7Darling, Will You Marry Me Twice (Song)A8Scratch My BackA9Egg MeatB10Mud (Song)B11Old Cups Of TeaB12The Judge's ParcelB13I Had A Little Boat (Song)B14The Hoorgi HouseB15A Steady JobB16In My Room There Sits A Box (Song)B17The Dirty Dinner (1986). Cutler also released the single "Women of the World×Women of the World1983 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 2 tracksAWomen of the World3:48BCounting Song1:36", recorded with Linda Hirst, through the label in 1983. In the 1990s, Creation Records released two new volumes of poems and spoken word work: A Wet Handle (1997) and A Flat Man (1998).

Books and poetry

Poetry and books for children were an important part of Cutler's literary output. There were crossovers, where parts of the public performances, albums, and books had the same name; the most notable and regular favourite at performances was Life in a Scotch Sitting Room, Volume 2, combining the book with the album.

Reception and legacy

Cutler was a noted eccentric, dressing in a distinctive style including plus-fours and hats adorned with many badges, travelling mainly by bicycle and often communicating by means of sticky labels printed with "Cutlerisms", one of which, "never knowingly understood" came to be applied by supporters and detractors alike (the latter phrase is a play on 'never knowingly undersold', which was for many years the slogan of the John Lewis Partnership). Others included "Kindly disregard", reserved for official correspondence, and "to remove this label take it off". The reception room of his home contained some pieces of ivory cutlery, a pun on his name. He was a member of the Noise Abatement Society and the Voluntary Euthanasia Society.
Composer, multi-instrumentalist and producer Jim O'Rourke covered Cutler's 1983 song "Women of the World×Women of the World1983 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 2 tracksAWomen of the World3:48BCounting Song1:36" on his album Eureka (1999). This song was also covered by Karine Polwart on her "Scottish Songbook" album. In October 2012 in Seattle, Washington, the Mark Morris Dance Group premiered a work entitled "Wooden Tree," featuring recordings of Cutler's renditions of his songs. In 2014 a new play, The Beautiful Cosmos of Ivor Cutler, a co-production by Vanishing Point and National Theatre of Scotland, was performed.
Cutler earned a faithful cult following. English radio host John Peel once remarked that Cutler was probably the only performer whose work had been featured on Radio 1, 2, 3 and 4.
He retired from performing in 2004, and died on 3 March 2006, from a stroke while in London.
Reflections upon his poetry, humour and legacy continued well after his death.

Compilations

1980 Brooch Boat Ivor's contribution to Morgan Fisher's Miniatures LP. A compilation of 51 one minute masterpieces by 51 different artists (Cherry Red)
2005 An Elpee and Two Epees (the Decca recordings)
2012 Essential Masters 1959-1961 (Comedy Classics, the Decca recordings in a different order)
2017 Gruts For Tea Again (Coda)

Video

2005 Looking for Truth with a Pin, and Cutler's Last Stand documentary and live performance (Claptrap)

Prose

Gruts (1962). Museum Press.
Cockadoodledon't!!! (1966). Dennis Dobson.
Life in a Scotch Sitting Room, Vol.2 (1984). Methuen. ISBN 0-413-73580-X
Gruts (1986). Methuen. ISBN 0-413-40810-8
Fremsley (1987). Methuen. ISBN 0-413-15540-4
Glasgow Dreamer (1990). Methuen. ISBN 0-413-73600-8
Life in a Scotch Sitting Room, Vol.2 (2022) ISBN 978-1-915428-00-4
GRUTS, AND OTHER WIRELESS MENU: Collected Radio Scripts (2023) ISBN 978-1-915428-01-1

Other

Befriend a Bacterium: Stickies by Ivor Cutler (1992). Pickpocket Books. ISBN 1-873422-11-3 (A collection of stickers that Cutler used to hand out to people).

DVD video

Looking for Truth with a Pin (BBC Four documentary, 2005)
"I'm going in a field" - musical performance/outtake on the Magical Mystery Tour Blu-ray. (2012)