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Revisiting Pink Floyd (again)

 
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jefflewis



Joined: 21 Nov 2005
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PostPosted: Fri Oct 20, 2017 7:50 pm    Post subject: Revisiting Pink Floyd (again) Reply with quote

Going through another phase of revisiting Pink Floyd, after recently reading the Joe Boyd book White Bicycles (great book!), then I also started reading the Nick Mason autobiography, and also found a really cool old book about Pink Floyd from 1980, I found it used in a music shop in Dundee Scotland (Groucho's) on tour last month with the Burning Hell. So I really got a lot of Pink Floyd on the brain, and I started rediscovering certain live recordings, that I used to have on tape, now of course all these live bootleg recordings are on YouTube... I was researching a bootleg-list online, that lists every known Pink Floyd live recording, some really interesting stuff, especially when you hear them working on songs that have not been recorded yet. Interesting to hear the first live versions of songs, the first Embryo, the first Raving and Drooling, the first Us and Them, etc.
There's a live show on Youtube (audio only) with a LOT of weird versions, I think it's 1970 from Birmingham... it's the gig with the most rare songs in one Pink Floyd gig. Maybe Dav knows it?
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jefflewis



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PostPosted: Sat Dec 09, 2017 11:10 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Revisiting the same old bad-sound-quality bootleg of the lost early Roger Waters song, w/ Syd Barrett/Pink Floyd, "One in a Million", I haven't bothered listening to this in a long time, I had a tape of it in the 90s, it's not a great song and the sound quality is pretty bad, but it does show an interesting new direction that the band could have gone in.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vzO4XD6nymk

Dav, I'm sure you know this recording... but do you know if the Roger Waters "One in a Million" song is the same "lost Syd Barrett song" that I have seen referred to as "She Was a Millionaire"? It's probably the same song, it's unlikely that there would be two lost early Pink Floyd songs with the word million in the title (one written by Roger and one written by Syd???), but the song "One in a Million" that is on the Sept 13, 1967 bootleg live recording does not seem to include the words "She Was A Millionaire." Perhaps their discomfort with stardom and the music biz really DID cause them to write TWO songs with "million" in the title, if they were thinking a lot about stardom and wealth in 1967. As far as I can tell, the song "One in a Million" seems to have the lyrics "Would you like to be one in a million? Would you like to be one in five?" I assume the "five" are the five members of Pink Floyd? But that would have to be Rick, Nick, Roger, Syd and David... but David wasn't in the band yet in Sept 1967, so the band would have still been four people, right? It was only five people very briefly in early 1968 when Syd and David were both in together.

Anyway, I was reading a web post from 2004 where people list the "lost" recordings they would most want to hear, from any band, and one of the posts was this:

"the unreleased tracks Pink Floyd did with Syd Barrett after Piper at the Gates of Dawn was released. 10 tracks were laid down with Syd before he go the boot in early '68. Of these John Lathan and a backing track to an untitled Syd original have yet to be heard but they are definately still at EMI. Pictures of the tape boxes are in the Random Precision book and I'd give ANYTHING to hear them. For what it's worth the 10 post Piper PF tracks with Syd are as follows:

Set the Controls (on Saucerful)
Scream they Last Scream (pro quality copies easily available on bootlegs)
Untitled (an excerpt circulates but the complete track is unavailable)
Vegtable Man (pro quality copies eaisly available)
Remember a Day (on Saucerful)
Jugband Blues (on Saucerful)
In the Beechwoods (horrible quality off air versions of the studio track circulate, it's a great Syd original!)
John Latham (uncirculated track done at De Lane Lea)
Apples and Oranges (on Early Singles in mono)
Paintbox (on Early Singles)

A Syd original called She Was a Millionaire was done at the Piper sessions. By all accounts the track was strong enough to be considered as a single. Unfortunately, nearly all of the Piper multitracks and outtakes are long gone. Hopefully an outtake will turn up.... Chris"


It is certainly interesting to think about what A Saucerful of Secrets might have been like if it had been made with Syd still in charge, if he hadn't fallen apart by that time. I usually considered Saucerful to really be a post-Syd album, with only a couple of cross-over songs that were left over from the earlier Syd version of Pink Floyd, and I never thought about the fact that there really were ALMOST enough post-Piper songs recorded with Syd to create what would have been a quite different, and very amazing and unique, second album.

There is a wonderful comment on the Youtube page that I posted above, the Youtube posting of "She Was A Millionaire", this person writes:

"This 67/68-era Floyd was some weird shit as Roger Waters' darker style started to creep up on Syd's souring whimsy. Imagine a Saucerful of Secrets that was One in a Million, Vegetable Man, Scream Thy Last Scream, Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun, Reaction in G, Corporal Clegg, Apples & Oranges, Jugband Blues. It would have been brilliant. Dark, burnt out, vaguely cynical acid flashbacks. Psychedelia curdling into wasted fits of punk. The original line-up could have evolved into something amazing... But no use in spending too much time playing "what ifs". It's all happened."


I love that description. "Dark, burnt out, vaguely cynical acid flashbacks. Psychedelia curdling into wasted fits of punk. " What a cool dark acid-punk the Syd Barrett Pink Floyd could have been in 1968. As unique as Piper At the Gates of Dawn but totally different. Piper captured the bright positive hippy whimsy and color of 1967, the Syd version of Saucerful would have captured the frightening new world of 1968. Still psychedelic but not as open; more violent, an evocative nightmare instead of an evocative dream. Like White Light/White Heat, or Beggar's Banquet.
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Dav
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Location: Rennes, France

PostPosted: Sun Dec 10, 2017 9:10 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I think She was a millionnaire and one in a million are two different songs, she was a millionaire is supposed to be some sort of waltz.

I also wonder sometimes wha would have been pink floyd second LP with more Syd material, i agree that is would have sound something like white light white heat (compared to their respectives first LP)

I don't think that we will have more 67 lost recording as they released what they got on their latest boxset, for copyright reasons, i guess we would have some unreleased Syd stuff for the same reasons soon, at least i really hope we'll do!

I remember reading that Water refuses to have scream thy last scream and vegetable man on saucer cos it was "too dark and bleek". Both songs are sooooooo goooooood that it's a shame it wasn't on the LP.

I've read a really great article on pikn floyd career in Rock And Folk, a french magazine a couple of month ago, explaning how all their career was realted to Syd one way or another.

There are still some floyd holy grail somewhere : Have you got it yet? i really want to hear that one, and hear waters bitching as he don't get the joke, and what about the bags of tapes that Syd gave the hotel doorman back in early 70's? the Love you version that Syd played to Mick Rock on a 12 strings guitar.....i don't know if it's anywhere and will eventually pop out but as some people believe in heaven without really believing it really believe i will hear these someday, i'm off for a prayer now.
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Dav
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PostPosted: Sun Dec 10, 2017 9:50 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Jeff have you heard the boxset yet?

also here is a link to the website i like the most about Barrett, you might know it already but there are really tons of great article if you haven't browsed it yet, one of the lastest is about Gilmour and Waters sabotaging the madcap laughts, sort of connected to your post

http://www.sydbarrettpinkfloyd.com

Not related but someone just pointed out that Syd sings she took a long COOL look at me and not she took a long COLD look at me, once you know ityou can hear cold nomore, same with Madcat and madcap. Just like these kind of Syd stuff and the fact that after all these years people are still digging out cool stuff
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Dav
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PostPosted: Thu Dec 14, 2017 6:23 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I wish Gilmour hadn't play over Syd guitar on Set the control, possibly others, there has to be Syd's take somewhere...

I've been listening to the piper again after you post Jeff, and though that Lucifer Sam might be the greatest song ever recorded, weird stuff though, as i was listening to the lp on my headset with eyes closed Lucifer Sam made me go REM, that are supposed to happen during the dreaming phase of the sleep, it happened to me every single time , i felt my eye balls go up down left and right something i can't do on purpose.
anyway that song is so so so perfect, it actually is the song that got me into Syd Barrett in the first place.
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misshelenc



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PostPosted: Sat Dec 16, 2017 12:21 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Any flashes of being gay or paranoia?!
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PostPosted: Sat Dec 16, 2017 9:06 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

misshelenc wrote:
Any flashes of being gay or paranoia?!

Laughing ha!
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jefflewis



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PostPosted: Sat Dec 16, 2017 9:23 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

always!
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jefflewis



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PostPosted: Sat Dec 16, 2017 9:25 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I like that article about Gilmour and Waters sabotaging the Madcap Laughs album, makes a lot of sense, though it also could just be a classic case of just a crazy "conspiracy theory"!
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