Musical Rarities, Part XI: Two from Floyd

Finished another 4,500+ mile trip west of the Rio Grande somewhat over a week ago. And longtime readers probably know what’s next: yeah, I’m about to wax semi- ignorant eloquent regarding some music that helped pass the time on the road. (smile)

Here are two tunes from Pink Floyd I listened to on the trip that I thought TAH readers might enjoy. The first is truly a blast from the far past – in multiple versions. It’s from the band’s “classic lineup” period (after their first leader, Syd Barrett, left the band due to personality issues very likely brought on by “excessive use of heavy chemicals.”) It first appeared on the band’s 1971 album “Meddle”, where it was the introductory track.

The tune IMO marks the beginning of the band’s post-Barrett classic period. (The band’s first post-Barrett release, “A Saucerful of Secrets” isn’t entirely post-Barrett; it contains one Barrett composition, and Barrett also plays guitar on a second track. The studio portions of the second and third albums by the band released after Barrett’s departure – “Ummagumma” and “Atom Heart Mother” – though commercially successful have been later been called unworthy by members of the band. Finally, their 1969 release “More” was a film soundtrack vice a normal studio album.) IMO it is the first example of the distinct musical style the band employed throughout the 1970s, resulting in what are now regarded as some of the finest progressive rock albums ever made (“Dark Side of the Moon”, “Wish You Were Here”, “Animals”, and “The Wall” – although IMO “Animals” suffers in comparison with the other three).

The tune is a rarity in several respects. First, it has a double-tracked bass riff – both Waters and Gilmour played bass guitar on the tune. Second, the bass riff was processed using time delay, producing the distinctive “quarter-eighth-quarter-eighth” note pattern. Third, the tune features one of the few examples (and possibly the only example) of the band’s drummer, Nick Mason, providing lead vocals – though his original spoken vocal was done in falsetto, then was modified for the recorded version by both ring modulation and half-speed playback to produce a menacing effect. Fourth: the apparently violent spoken lyric was something of an inside joke by the band, aimed at a then-popular BBC disk jockey who exasperated many by babbling incessantly vice doing his job of playing music (see this linked Wikipedia article for details).

Finally, the song has the distinction of being the only Pink Floyd to be performed and recorded live at an ancient Roman amphitheater in Pompeii (yes, that Pompeii) twice – separated by an interval of roughly 45 years. Pink Floyd performed and recorded the tune there for their “Live from Pompeii” film in 1971. David Gilmour then performed and recorded the song in the same venue for his film and CD of the same name in 2016. Videos for both are included below – along with an IMO exceptional version from Pink Floyd’s “Delicate Sound of Thunder” tour DVD that was recorded in mid-1988.

 

 

 

 

The 1988 video from “Delicate Sound of Thunder” – the second one above – also contains another inside joke by the band. It was recorded during or perhaps shortly after the band’s rather messy legal wranglings with its second former leader – Roger Waters – after Waters’ departure from the band. (Waters objected to the remaining members continuing on as Pink Floyd and tried to stop them from doing so via legal action. He failed.) When Pink Floyd used the famous “flying pig” image from the Pink Floyd album “Animals” in their stage show to support their first post-Waters album, Waters claimed copyright infringement regarding the use of that image.

As a result of Waters’ objection, the band altered the version of the flying pig used in their stage show. They did so by adding tusks and also adding . . . well, let’s just say there wasn’t any doubt whatsoever that this new version of the Pink Floyd flying pig was a boar. (smile)

. . .

The second tune is an instrumental originally released on the band’s post-Waters album “A Momentary Lapse of Reason” in 1987. This version is live, from their “Delicate Sound of Thunder” CD/DVD/BluRay set (the 2019 remix). I consider it somewhat of a rarity because even though it was the B-side to one of their singles (“Learning to Fly”) I can honestly say I’ve never heard it on the radio.

Like the band’s background singers for that tour (they’re on the clip), the tune is also IMO absolutely gorgeous. I’d personally rate it as one of the band’s finest instrumental pieces, perhaps even their absolute best such tune. Enjoy.

 

(Note: The source video above consists of three tunes that segue into each other seamlessly; “Terminal Frost” starts at approximately 1:35. The video above is the longer source clip, set to start at that point.

However, while I’ve figured out how to embed a Youtube clip so that it begins at a particular playback time, I haven’t yet “broken the code” regarding how to embed one so that it stops at a given point in playback. The vocal beginning at about 7:53 in the above video isn’t a part of “Terminal Frost”; it’s technically another tune.

If you want to listen to the entire clip, start the clip and then simply put your cursor over the frame; a movable time slider and playback controls will then appear. Then simply slide the time slider left to 0:00 and release it to play the entire clip from the beginning.)

 

FWIW: the saxophonist on the tune is a fellow named Scott Page. His background is also rather interesting – he’s a bit more than your average talented session musician. See the link at his name if you’re interested.

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OK, that’s it for now. In another nod to the band:

“Home, home again
I like to be here when I can . . . . “

Category: Pointless blather, Who knows