Pink Floyd '1965' double 7" Black Friday 2015

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moom
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Re: Pink Floyd '1965' double 7" Black Friday 2015

Post by moom »

I never thought I'd believe it, but bath times can be thought-evoking :D
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Re: Pink Floyd '1965' double 7" Black Friday 2015

Post by Hadrian »

Thanks Felix Atagong, it all makes sense.
omeaeol wrote: it's common for long-running artists to have their latest outputs sound very much different than debuts
Try listening to "Lucy Leave" and "Louder than Words" in a row, Pink Floyd's first and last recorded song, circa 50 years apart (both contain Mason and Wright).
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Re: Pink Floyd '1965' double 7" Black Friday 2015

Post by Bigmanpigman »

'Brain Damage' review -

Pink Floyd 1965 - Their First Recordings reviewed

Written by Matt
Sunday, 06 December 2015
Pink Floyd 1965 - Their First Recordings
On occasion, Pink Floyd remind us just how they've got the power to surprise us. Over the last ten years, there's been a few examples, such as the Live 8 reunion (pigs clearly having flown in sufficient numbers to get the four of them back together again), the huge Why Pink Floyd campaign which started in 2011, giving us Immersion sets, with bonus material aplenty, and The Endless River, an album of material none of us thought would ever appear.
Just about a week ago, another big surprise happened: the stealth release of 1050 copies of Pink Floyd 1965 - Their First Recordings. Housed on two 7" singles, in a gatefold sleeve with a Po Powell design, these singles - featuring six songs recorded during that year - appeared in selected record stores with no fanfare or pre-notice. Rumour has it that record stores weren't even told who the single was by or what it was called, but just told they could order in a handful of copies of a rarity that would become clear on receipt.
The recordings were made when the band were still a five-piece, with Rado Klose on guitar, alongside Syd, Nick, Roger, and Richard. One of the tracks, Walk With Me Sydney, also includes Juliette Gale (later, Richard's first wife) on vocals. Andy Jackson did the mastering for vinyl of these tracks, and the sound quality is very good across all six tracks.
Having the good fortune to get my hands on a copy (and needless to say, eBay has been a friend to many in their attempts to get one of these!) I've been immersing myself in the music within. For those who are yet to hear the singles, my thoughts are below; the band's official Facebook page did note that "Pink Floyd hope to make them available in some physical form towards the end of next year" which is excellent news, particularly for those who are struggling to track one of these down.
So, let's go into some detail, on a track-by-track basis...
Record 1, Side A: Lucy Leave (Barrett) 2:53
The first of four Syd Barrett penned tracks on the compilation, and one that will be familiar to many fans. The two tracks bookending the set have been bootlegged a number of years ago, and so won't be such a surprise to fans to hear them, albeit in the best quality we've ever heard. At the time, the band were playing a lot of R&B flavoured songs, and this is a good example from the time.
A quite jaunty track, featuring a clear, and imploring Barrett vocal, it does hint a little to some of the material the band were to develop in the following year or so. Musically the band sounded well rehearsed and confident, and there's some nice guitar work. Richard's keyboards seem absent, or buried deep in the mix.
Record 1, Side B: Double O Bo (Barrett) 3:25
Some nice drum work from Nick kicks off this song about Bo Diddley as a private eye (yes, really!) but referring to him as a "double O" - more the secret agent territory of James Bond. Some lovely instrumentation in this, with Roger sounding like he is playing a double bass, and some fun guitar work too. Again no keyboards in evidence here.
Record 1, Side B: Remember Me (Barrett) 2:45
This track has the most un-Sydlike Syd vocal ever. With a throbbing keyboard motif running through the length of the song, Syd sings like an American blues or R&B vocalist, with only the end of lines dropping the accent a little for the real Syd to come through. One of the tracks which is far removed from what the band ended up doing a short while later.
Record 2, Side A: Walk With Me, Sydney (Waters) 3:11
Talking of un-Floyd like tracks, this one, written by Roger, is a perfect example, albeit in a completely different style to Remember Me. Sounding more like it should be in a mid-60s light entertainment show or film (maybe as a television show theme song?), it is an early example of Roger's liking for lists, with a range of ailments given as to why the titular star of the song wasn't able to go for the requested stroll, despite Juliette Gale's pleading (with Roger Waters harmonising with her)... A fun, fairly throwaway track and quite a departure from anything else in the Floyd's back catalogue.
Record 2, Side B: Butterfly (Barrett) 2:59
Quite an unusual track, it seems to be two separate songs in one. A fairly trite verse is married with a very Floyd-like chorus. "Listen all you girlies, even though I haven't met you gonna catch you soon in my butterfly net - you'd better watch out!" is the uninspiring vocal, leading to a short chorus featuring a great harmonisation that is more akin to late sixties Floyd, a nice keyboard solo from Richard and then that great chorus again. The trite verse then reappears, and some keyboard and bass noodling leads to the fade out.
Record 2, Side B: I'm A King Bee (Harpo) 3:07
The second of the two tracks potentially familiar to Floyd fans, is this bass heavy blues track, a cover of the Slim Harpo song. Some nice guitar work and a modicum of harmonica too, but again, Richard seems curiously absent from proceedings (unless he is the harmonica player?).
Pink Floyd 1965 - Their First Recordings single labels
There is a suggestion that, apart from anything else, the songs were released to renew copyright on them. There's apparently a 50-year rule over recorded material so by releasing them, it extends the copyright and stops others releasing it on unauthorised compilations. Some early Beatles recordings have suffered such a fate.
The release of these songs gives a fascinating insight into the early days of the band. They are all the more fascinating when one considers just six years later, the Floyd were working on The Dark Side of the Moon - such a huge contrast! Whilst the music gives few clues as to the future of the band, they are absorbing and intriguing slices of history - and we sincerely hope that they are properly released next year along with plenty more early recordings...Nick has occasionally talked about the prospects of an 'Early Years' box set in various interviews, and let's hope that comes to fruition.
In the meantime, we are sure there's a collective thanks from the Floyd community for the sudden, and definitely welcomed, release of these tracks, albeit on a pair of 7" singles which are proving very difficult to get hold of for many fans.
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Re: Pink Floyd '1965' double 7" Black Friday 2015

Post by Jimi Dean Barrett »

You Tube haven't uploaded anything for the unlucky who never got to get their hands on it.
But Daily Motion did! And under the cunning name of "Sigma Six".
Listen while you can, and I'm sold already on this gem!
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x3gxul ... dney_music
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Re: Pink Floyd '1965' double 7" Black Friday 2015

Post by Hadrian »

I really like the fact that this came out on its own, i.e. that they did not make people buy another large set with a lot of stuff that they already own in order to get those 6 new tracks. Back in 1992 I really wanted The Early Singles CD, and I abhorred the fact that I had to buy the Shine On set containing 7 albums which I already have in order to get what I am really interested in. The Early Singles CD should have been a standalone product, the whole thing felt like a rip-off.

Publishing this in 1050 copies out of unobtainium unfortunately took away all that credit. I assume that whatever comes next will be a 1965-1968 box-set, with this EP and some similar goodies packaged with the first two albums and all the early singles.
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Re: Pink Floyd '1965' double 7" Black Friday 2015

Post by omeaeol »

moom wrote: I was just thinking about that yesterday - all five classic Floyd members are key members to a bigger or lesser extent, but the most fundamental of them all was, imho, Wright; no matter the era, bar The Wall/The Final Cut, there was his keyboard wizardry very much touchable.
I agree completely. For instance, that is why e.g., the concert album (Is There Anybody Out There?) is better than the studio one: there is more Wright on this one. As for The Final Cut, even the brilliant guitar solos by Gilmour are unable to fill the huge void that Rick's absence created.
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Re: Pink Floyd '1965' double 7" Black Friday 2015

Post by omeaeol »

Hadrian wrote:I assume that whatever comes next will be a 1965-1968 box-set, with this EP and some similar goodies packaged with the first two albums and all the early singles.
Yes, it seems very logical. Then they should include the mono mix of Saucerful of Secrets as well. (After all, the Piper mono mix was released in two different CD sets.)
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Re: Pink Floyd '1965' double 7" Black Friday 2015

Post by brell »

omeaeol wrote:
moom wrote: I was just thinking about that yesterday - all five classic Floyd members are key members to a bigger or lesser extent, but the most fundamental of them all was, imho, Wright; no matter the era, bar The Wall/The Final Cut, there was his keyboard wizardry very much touchable.
I agree completely. For instance, that is why e.g., the concert album (Is There Anybody Out There?) is better than the studio one: there is more Wright on this one. As for The Final Cut, even the brilliant guitar solos by Gilmour are unable to fill the huge void that Rick's absence created.
Couldn't agree more with both of you.
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Re: Pink Floyd '1965' double 7" Black Friday 2015

Post by moom »

I like The Final cut (helped me through teen age) and always see it as some companion to The Wall, and since there are, like I said, plenty of other factors that make Pink floyd I can't think but think of it as a PF album (also a habit), but I can definitely hear what went with Richard.

Now, back to this specific release: I know that Rick could play sax and rhythm guitar, do any tracks feature either :) ?
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Re: Pink Floyd '1965' double 7" Black Friday 2015

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Bigmanpigman wrote: Record 1, Side B: Remember Me (Barrett) 2:45
This track has the most un-Sydlike Syd vocal ever. With a throbbing keyboard motif running through the length of the song, Syd sings like an American blues or R&B vocalist, with only the end of lines dropping the accent a little for the real Syd to come through. One of the tracks which is far removed from what the band ended up doing a short while later.
And yet incredibly he's pre-dated Mr Gumby from Monty Python by a good few years! :lol: Can't unhear it now. <.8.>
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Re: Pink Floyd '1965' double 7" Black Friday 2015

Post by moom »

Excellent review by BD's Matt, however I couldn't ever call the guitar work on King Bee "nice". I'd call it "lazy as hell".

As for Rick's "absence", my question stands:
moom wrote:I know that Rick could play sax and rhythm guitar, do any tracks feature either :) ?
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Re: Pink Floyd '1965' double 7" Black Friday 2015

Post by Salmonberry Compendia »

Hadrian wrote:"Lucy Leave" and "I'm A King Bee" came out in 1996 on a 3'' CD packaged with a book about Syd titled A Fish Out of Water. The tracks were credited to Architectural Abdabs. The title of the Barrett's song is misspelled, and I have no idea where that "in Blue Tights" bit came from. It is also a mystery how they acquired those tracks in the first place. The books seems like a legit product.
They were released earlier than that. In April 1992 I bought a CD imaginatively titled "Lucy Leave & Other Rarities" (The other rarities were things like Syd's BBC session and the tracks from Tonight Let's All Make Love In London.)
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Re: Pink Floyd '1965' double 7" Black Friday 2015

Post by newspaperflyhunting »

Hello everyone, new to the forum but a long time Pink Floyd fan.

Here's a review I wrote and posted on ProgArchives:

"Well, well, it's not often that you actually get to hear stuff of legend. Songs that were known by title only, whose very existence was uncertain, are suddenly (indeed) made available to the public by a band notorious for their complete unwillingness to open the vaults. Undoubtedly, this is a historical event, but is it a musical event as well?

Strangely enough, it is, to an extent. No-one in their right mind would claim that these songs are more that what they appear to be: tentative recordings made by a band in their formative stages. This alone, however, does not make them bad music. Generic, yes, but not bad. What we have here are rhythm'n'blues-based songs that reflect the spirit of the music scene of the mid-60's more than the true identity of the band. "Double O Bo" and "Remember Me" are the best examples of songs that stick to the r'n'b formula, not really trying to be anything else.

Is there NO Pink Floyd in the music, then? There is, but you need to listen carefully to actually spot it. First of all, the two tracks already known from bootlegs, "Lucy Leave" and "I'm a King Bee" contain some typical 'Barrettisms': in the way they are sung (especially "Lucy") and in some guitar licks ("King Bee"). The unusual slide bass on the latter is also a harbinger of more 'out there' things to come. "Butterfly" might be a generic r'n'b song as well, but the lyrics put it into the slightly disturbing territory (Fowles' "The Collector" and Steven Wilson's "Index" come to mind).

The most revelatory of the bunch, however, is "Walk with Me Sydney". This Waters-penned 'novelty song' is as hilarious as it is demented and shows that Barrett might not actually have been the sole genius behind the psychedelic Pink Floyd of 1966-68 that he is generally accepted as. The tracks suggest that he was indeed the prolific songwriter, but the bizarre elements in later songs might actually have come from the rest of the band, as the guitars are in fact the least psychedelic element on these tracks and both the four Barrett tracks here and his output from solo albums show how much he was immersed in the blues and rhythm'n'blues.

I can't imagine this being of interest to anyone else but fans and historians, but still the music is enjoyable and catchy enough to warrant at least a cursory listen.

Footnote: I wonder who plays bass and harmonica on "I'm a King Bee" and who signs "Remember Me"."
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Re: Pink Floyd '1965' double 7" Black Friday 2015

Post by Bigmanpigman »

From 'Brain Damage' -

Pink Floyd 1965 - Their First Recordings on iTunes
Written by Matt
Thursday, 31 December 2015
Pink Floyd 1965 - Their First Recordings
At the very end of November, Pink Floyd 1965 - Their First Recordings was quietly released to create a storm of shock and surprise amongst the Floyd community. The stealth release of 1050 copies, housed on two 7" singles, in a gatefold sleeve with a Po Powell design, brought the official release for the first time of six songs recorded during that year. It appeared in selected record stores with no fanfare or pre-notice. Rumour has it that record stores weren't even told who the single was by or what it was called, but just told they could order in a handful of copies of a rarity that would become clear on receipt.
The recordings were made when the band were still a five-piece, with Rado Klose on guitar, alongside Syd, Nick, Roger, and Richard. One of the tracks, Walk With Me Sydney, also includes Juliette Gale (later, Richard's first wife) on vocals. Andy Jackson did the mastering for vinyl of these tracks, and the sound quality is very good across all six tracks.
Naturally, these sold incredibly quickly and it is extremely unlikely (but not impossible) that any remain in record stores. However, for those who have missed out, an official digital release has just appeared on iTunes via http://fave.co/1NUyPiA, although possibly this is not yet in all country's iTunes as yet - but worth checking regularly if you want to purchase this and see just what set the Floyd community ablaze at the start of December...
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Re: Pink Floyd '1965' double 7" Black Friday 2015

Post by danielcaux »

Best Pink Floyd release from the past 15 years!! I'm more excited by this EP than by either The Endless River or the Rattle That Lock album! Gotta love "Walk With Me Sydney"!! It's so wacky and silly fun! And it was written by Roger "Mr. Gloom" Waters, which makes it even more awesome!!!

More releases like this please! [-D-]