Ivor Cutler: A Life Outside the Sitting Room

by Bruce Lindsay

Ivor A Life Outside the Sitting Room is the first biography of one of post-war Britain's most recognisable authors, poets and performers. Mr Cutler (as he preferred to be known) wrote and recorded some of the most unusual and memorable songs and poems in British popular culture, including the hilarious and unsettling 'Life in a Scotch Sitting Room' series. Described by fans and commentators as an outsider because of his eccentric behaviour on and off stage, in many ways he was an insider, working for thirty years as a primary school teacher, gathering a body of fans from the heart of the cultural and social establishment, and regularly appearing on mainstream media. He was one of the first - if not the first - performers to appear on BBC radio 1, 2, 3 and 4 and famously recorded more John Peel sessions than any other act except The Fall. This book is based on evidence from official documents, print and broadcast media; archive interviews with Ivor Cutler, his close friends and family, fans and collaborators; and new interviews with fans, friends and fellow performers. Contributors include musical and acting collaborators who have never been interviewed about their experiences with Mr Cutler.

Genres: Biography, Music

270 pages, Hardcover

Published January 15, 2023

About the author

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Reviews

[Graham · Rating 4 out of 5]

Scottish humorist Ivor Cutler was the missing link between Edward Lear and Franz Kafka. A prolific miniaturist Cutler’s songs, poems and (very) short stories were at once delightfully silly and strangely disquieting. If this was nonsense it was nonsense with a confrontational edge; absurdism in the Camusian sense. A performer of singular eccentricity, dressed in plus-fours and a bewildering succession of hats, he accompanied himself on a wheezing and clicking harmonium, while conveying an air of unparalleled lugubriousness.

The term cult artist might have been invented expressly for him (Cutler regarded it is a compliment until he realised that, in showbiz, it’s a euphemism for failure) but Bruce Lindsay’s well-researched biography impressed on me that, for a cult artist, Cutler enjoyed a surprising ubiquity in British cultural life. The range of contexts in which he appeared was diverse and he slipped with unusual ease between the streams of elite and popular culture. Perhaps because he didn’t really fit anywhere he seemed to fit almost everywhere.

He even became a sort of honorary rock star due to his appearance as the characteristically unsmiling Buster Bloodvessel in the Beatles Magical Mystery Tour film and subsequent championing by DJ John Peel. He appeared with the likes of Soft Machine, Camel, Van Morrison, Curved Air and was adored by several generations of rock fans. This was fine irony given that Cutler detested rock music and noisy things in general. A member of the Noise Abatement Society he must be the only performer in history who has ever asked the audience to ‘applaud quietly’.

Lindsay’s book provides a comprehensive overview of Cutler’s career and insight into his creative methods. He often wrote during the night in the interstices of sleep and this might account for the direct line to his subconscious evident in his work. He’s also very strong on Cutler’s Jewish Glaswegian background and, although the private man remains ultimately enigmatic, you get the impression of a curious combination of the intensely shy and attention-seeking. This is an informative and warm portrait of a unique talent.

[Lyn Lockwood · Rating 5 out of 5]

Everyone should have some Ivor Cutler in their life, a unique and magical poet and performer. Bruce's book tells his fascinating story with empathy and humour.

[Alan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Being a fan of Ivor Cutler since the late 70s, through John Peel of course, I have long desired there to be a biography, and I specifically wished for one on the occasion of Ivor's death, so I'm pleased that this is available. Not so much of a biography, though, it is more of an overview of his career, with a few biographical details interspersed. Even so, a very good read.

[Keen Reader · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 Stars!

“The most exciting thing some people do is die, thank god for eccentrics,” Spike Milligan once said, and eccentric is surely one of the most overused and misunderstood descriptions foisted upon anyone who is not strictly orthodox to the point of vanilla. But we do know that Cutler was unpredictable, uncompromising, a contrarian and okay then…a bit of an eccentric.

Like Spike Milligan and the Goons in the 50s and Vivian Stanshall and the Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band in the 60s, Cutler was very much part of the emerging alternative comedy scene in Britain, though unlike many within that wider realm, Cutler wasn’t a product of the elite English private school system, he hailed from working class Scotland and so his music and poetry came very much with a distinctive regional flavour and its emphasis on the west of Scotland vernacular made it stand out from the often over polished RP tones of his contemporaries.

One of the inescapable truths about Cutler’s output, is just how dark and unsettling so much of his work is, something frightening or disturbing always seems to be lying in wait just around the next line or in the next song, and it can take the form of a sudden jarring laugh or some terrible crime or unforeseen accident, which keeps you on edge, but also makes his work so compelling and at times refreshing too.

This book does a decent job of covering his childhood, his origins in the southside of Glasgow which very little is known about, beyond some sketchy broad outlines, but it’s enough to give us a flavour and Lindsay has an agreeable voice and maintains a steady rhythm to the telling of his life, though at times he seems to get a little carried away with minor details, like his forensic examination of family members and dynamics within some of the stories etc, but that will have its audience too.

Some additions/corrections the author may wish to make to future editions…Ivor appears at the start introducing the promo video for Aztec Camera’s “Oblivious” from 1983. And the Glasgow suburb of Newton Mearns is never written as all one word.

[Alastair · Rating 5 out of 5]

A well-researched and refreshingly factual account of the life of Mr Cutler.

[Ralph · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent readable account of the great man

[Simon Blackman · Rating 3 out of 5]

A rather forensic biography, good in parts, but only for fans.