Robert Wyatt - Slow Walkin' Talk
Slow Walkin' Talk is an early session track by Robert Wyatt that remained uncollected for years. He recorded it in California in '68, shortly after the initial disintegration of Soft Machine. It's a nice enough bluesy little number, and a good vocal. What makes this a real curiosity is the bass part, which was played by Jimi Hendrix on a borrowed instrument. When you get a convergence like that, you've got to celebrate it. Slow Walkin' Talk was eventually issued on the 1994 album Flotsam Jetsam.
I've got that Slow Walkin' Talkin' bit
That Slow Walkin' Talk.
Some say its laziness, that I'd better do some work
The cat, he sleeps the time around,
Black both night and day;
But when I try to do the same
They say: get walkin' on your way.
(get walkin' - slow talkin')
Me and my baby, we went out the other night.
Took my time so steadily - I thought that it was right.
I wondered why she looked around
At all the other guys;
But then she upped and left me
And I realised
It was my Slow Walkin' Talk.
(get walkin' - slow talkin')
I'm tired and I'm restless,
I never say a word.
People always stare at me,
I'm like a tortoise in their herd.
Had an education, learned to use a knife and fork,
But no government ever had
The economy of my Slow Walkin' Talk.
(get walkin' - slow talkin' etc.)