Conjoining music, poetry with visual art was a logical step in the climate of the time and the early 70’s saw a variety of gigs by Lady June,writer, painter and eccentric, who in her travels around the Mediterranean had met Soft Machine’s Kevin Ayers and Daevid Allen in the burgeoning hippy scene of Mallorca. 1974 saw the first performances of her ‘Uppers and Downers’ show in Amsterdam. The poems from this would form the basis of ‘Linguistic Leprosy’ and eventually be published by Virgin Books in 1975, sell out, and go to a re-print. A creation of pooled talents unfettered by hype, personality or commercialism, the larger part of the music and production of the album fell to Kevin Ayers whose career was at its most commercially successful at the time. The gentle approach of ‘Linguistic Leprosy’, surrounded by his oldest friends, finds Ayers relaxed and enjoying himself. The diversity of June’s vocal delivery is matched throughout the album by a charming and eccentric array of musical soundscapes from the acoustic inputs of Kevin and Pip Pyle to the ambient electronica of Brian Eno (another member of the ACNE line-up – with John Cale and Nico – responsible for live release ‘June 1st 1974’) and David Vorhaus. Timeless beyond its genesis, the originality of this work together with its Canterbury connections have ensured the collectable status of “Lady June’s Linguistic Leprosy”.

More on the album courtesy of Julian Cope at Head Heritage