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Roxy Music singer Bryan Ferry and saxophonist Andy McKay have revisited their experiences of making second album For Your Pleasure – the last to feature Brian Eno. He left soon after the 1973 record was completed, leaving the remaining members to exploit the more complex and experimental direction they’d discovered.
Asked if it was obvious that the split was coming as a result of tensions between Eno and Ferry, McKay tells Mojo: “They got on fine in the studio. The problem was that Eno was very flamboyant. His stage presence was a kind of artistic statement.
“And some people saw him as the band’s figurehead, which was not helpful. I don’t think it was a big surprise that he left. It’s fairly obvious that ego and ambition played some part.”
Ferry adds: “We didn’t have any quarrels – sorry to disappoint you! I just remember that I’d put everything into the album and I felt totally drained. We’d finished the album on a high.”
He continues: “We wanted to do something that hadn’t been heard before; do something that had a point to it, even though we weren’t sure what that was. We had a battery of sounds to work with. Phil liked getting unusual sounds. Having Andy’s oboe in the band was beautiful – I loved that sound. Eno could conjure up a million different things. Paul was strong and powerful. We were like beat brothers.”
Asked about his own contribution, Ferry responds: “My piano playing was quirky and my singing was pretty odd. It got better with practice. On the first album, a lot of the keys were too high. On For Your Pleasure I found my way as a singer. I was more confident and not overthinking.”
McKay reflects: “During the early days, Bryan was quite reluctant to front the band. Though he always saw it as his band, he preferred the idea of singing while playing keyboards at the side of the stage.
“But we soon realised that in a venue with people shouting, and wanting a bit of rock’n’roll, you needed someone in the middle of the stage. For a while, it had been me and Phil, and to some extent Eno, though he was a bit tied to his keyboards too. So we pushed Bryan. We said, ‘You’ve got to do something that doesn’t require the keyboard – just stand and sing!’”
For Your Pleasure has just been reissued in an expanded deluxe edition in multiple formats. Prog said of the package: “Spilling secrets yet enhancing the mystique, this is a magnificent presentation of a masterpiece.”
