Black Flag (1978-1985) – 5 Fan Albums

For those not in the know, fan albums are the attempts of me and many others to take songs and put them on an album, typically they’re made to improve upon something, such as an existing album or to take non-album tracks and put them on an album.

Black Flag is a band that started off with a lot of recordings and not a lot of albums. Eventually they stabilized with few strays and a lot of albums. It seemed like a fun challenge to sort this all out despite not being terribly fond of the band. The product of the early tracks is an album I’m calling Nervous Breakdown. It contains every unique track pre-Damaged, not including anything re-recorded later. Surprisingly, the result is a shockingly short twenty minutes. Due to a lot of historically relevant alternate versions being left on the chopping block, I made an album of those alternates. There’s enough recordings between these two to make three full LPs. In between Damaged and My War are more alternates and four unique cuts. I decided to make a very short EP and a fuller alternate version album. Finally, two 1985 EPs are combined to create a disparate album, but not anymore than the official My War or Family Man. Minuteflag is left as an EP due to it being a collab with Minutemen and thus it’s own thing. Also, the alternate versions albums haven’t been listened to and were merely ordered in as close to recording date as possible.

In parentheses is the release a track came from.

Black Flag – Nervous Breakdown (1981) – YouTube, Spotify

TRACKLISTING

SIDE A

1. “Nervous Breakdown” (Nervous Breakdown) (Recorded January 1978)
2. “Fix Me” (Nervous Breakdown) (Recorded January 1978)
3. “I’ve Had It” (Nervous Breakdown) (Recorded January 1978)
4. “Wasted” (Nervous Breakdown) (Recorded January 1978)
5. “Clocked In” (EWB track 13) (Recorded October-November 1979)
6. “My Rules” (EWB track 14) (Recorded October-November 1979)
7. “Jealous Again” (Jealous Again) (Recorded October-November 1979)

SIDE B

1. “Revenge” (Jealous Again) (Recorded November 1979 or April 1980)
2. “White Minority” (Jealous Again) (Recorded November 1979 or April 1980)
3. “No Values” (Jealous Again) (Recorded November 1979 or April 1980)
4. “You Bet We’ve Got Something Against You!” (Jealous Again) (Recorded November 1979 or April 1980)
5. “Louie Louie” (Louie Louie single) (Recorded January 1981)
6. “I’ve Heard It Before” (Six Pack) (Recorded April-May 1981)
7. “American Waste” (Six Pack) (Recorded April-May 1981)
8. “Machine” (Chunks) (Recorded April-May 1981)

PERSONNEL

• Keith Morris – lead vocals (tracks 1-4)
• Greg Ginn – lead guitar (tracks 1-15)
• Chuck Dukowski – bass (tracks 1-15)
• Brian Migdol – drums (tracks 1-4)
• Ron Reyes – lead vocals (tracks 5-11)
• Robo – drums (tracks 5-15)
• Dez Cadena – lead vocals (tracks 12-15)

Black Flag – Everything Went Black (1978-1981) (1981) – YouTube

TRACKLISTING

1. “Gimme Gimme Gimme” (EWB track 1) (Recorded January 1978)
2. “I Don’t Care” (EWB track 2) (Recorded January 1978)
3. “White Minority” (EWB track 3) (Recorded January 1978)
4. “No Values” (EWB track 4) (Recorded January 1978)
5. “Revenge” (EWB track 5) (Recorded October 1979)
6. “Depression” (EWB track 6) (Recorded October 1979)
7. “Clocked In” (EWB track 7) (Recorded October 1979)
8. “Police Story” (EWB track 8) (Recorded October 1979)
9. “Wasted” (EWB track 9) (Recorded October 1979)
10. “Depression” (EWB track 11) (Recorded October-November 1979)
11. “Police Story” (EWB track 12) (Recorded October-November 1979)
12. “Jealous Again” (EWB track 15) (Recorded October-November 1979)
13. “Police Story” (EWB track 16) (Recorded October-November 1979)
14. “Clocked In” (Cracks In The Sidewalk (see note) (Recorded October-November 1979)
15. “Gimme Gimme Gimme” (EWB track 10) (Recorded November 1979 or April 1980)
16. “Damaged I” (EWB track 17) (Recorded August 1980)
17. “Louie Louie” (EWB track 18) (Recorded January 1981)
18. “No More” (EWB track 19) (Recorded January 1981)
19. “Damaged I” (Louie Louie single) (Recorded January 1981)
20. “Room 13” (EWB track 20) (Recorded April-May 1981)
21. “Depression” (EWB track 21) (Recorded April-May 1981)
22. “Damaged II” (EWB track 22) (Recorded April-May 1981)
23. “Padded Cell” (EWB track 23) (Recorded April-May 1981)
24. “Gimme Gimme Gimme” (EWB track 24) (Recorded April-May 1981)
25. “Spray Paint” (Licorice Pizza And More… bootleg) (Recorded April-May 1981)
26. “Police Story” (Let Them Eat Jellybeans) (Recorded April-May 1981)
27. “Six Pack” (Six Pack) (Recorded April-May 1981)

PERSONNEL

• Keith Morris – lead vocals (tracks 1-9)
• Greg Ginn – lead guitar (tracks 1-27)
• Chuck Dukowski – bass (tracks 1-27)
• Brian Migdol – drums (tracks 1-4)
• Robo – drums (tracks 5-27)
• Ron Reyes – lead vocals (tracks 10-11, 15)
• Dez Cadena – lead vocals (tracks 12-27)

Black Flag – Damaged (1981) – YouTube, Spotify

Black Flag – What Can You Believe (1982) – YouTube (Tracks either from the TV Party EP or the 1982 Demos compilation)

TRACKLISTING

SIDE A

1. “I’ve Got to Run”
2. “My Rules”

SIDE B

1. “What Can You Believe”
2. “Yes, I Know”

PERSONNEL

• Henry Rollins – lead vocals (tracks 1-4)
• Greg Ginn – lead guitar (tracks 1-4)
• Dez Cadena – rhythm guitar, vocals (tracks 1-4)
• Chuck Dukowski – bass (tracks 1-4)
• Bill Stevenson – drums (tracks 1-2)
• Chuck Biscuits – drums (tracks 3-4)

Black Flag – 1982 (1982) – YouTube (Tracks either from the TV Party EP or the 1982 Demos compilation)

1. “TV Party”
2. “Slip It In”
3. “Modern Man”
4. “My War”
5. “Black Coffee”
6. “Beat My Head Against the Wall”
7. “Can’t Decide”
8. “I Love You”
9. “Nothing Left Inside/Scream”

PERSONNEL

• Henry Rollins – lead vocals (tracks 1-9)
• Greg Ginn – lead guitar (tracks 1-9)
• Dez Cadena – rhythm guitar, vocals (tracks 1-9)
• Chuck Dukowski – bass (tracks 1-9)
• Emil Johnson – drums (track 1)
• Chuck Biscuits – drums (tracks 2-9)

Black Flag – My War (1984) – YouTube, Spotify

Black Flag – Family Man (1984) – YouTube, Spotify

Black Flag – Slip It In (1984) – YouTube, Spotify

Black Flag – Live ‘84 (1984) – YouTube, Spotify

Black Flag – 1984 Radio Tokyo – YouTube

Black Flag – Loose Nut (1985) – YouTube, Spotify

Black Flag – I Can See You (1985) – YouTube, Spotify (Tracks either from the The Process of Weeding Out EP or the I Can See You EP. All apparently recorded March 1985.)

TRACKLISTING

SIDE A

1. “Your Last Affront”
2. “Screw the Law”
3. “The Process of Weeding Out”

SIDE B

1. “Southern Rise”
2. “I Can See You”
3. “Kickin’ & Stickin’”
4. “Out of This World”
5. “You Let Me Down”

PERSONNEL

• Henry Rollins – lead vocals (tracks 5-8)
• Greg Ginn – lead guitar (tracks 1-8)
• Kira Roessler – bass (tracks 1-8)
• Bill Stevenson – drums (tracks 1-8)

Black Flag – In My Head (1985) – YouTube, Spotify

Black Flag – Minuteflag (1986) – YouTube, Spotify

Black Flag – Who’s Got the 10½? (1986) – YouTube, Spotify

Black Flag – What The… (2013) – YouTube, Spotify

This is a passion of mine and if one person likes what I do, I’ll feel honored. I like suggestions on what artist to cover next, so if you know of one you’d like me to look at, feel free to suggest ‘em!

My Attempt To Be As Accurate As Possible For A Stars Fan Album Series (& Alt History Story)

For those not in the know, fan albums are the attempts of me and many others to take songs and put them on an album, typically they’re made to improve upon something, such as an existing album or to take non-album tracks and put them on an album.

Various people, including myself, that have tried to resurrect Syd Barrett’s lost band for at least an album have had to make severe liberties. While I cannot avoid those, this project attempts to be as accurate as possible. My currently unfinished other project more so embraces how absurd this “band” could become due to the nature of the recordings we have.

I was attracted to a certain story on alternatehistory.com by someone named Massacote. Seeing as Barrett had a proper output that is also distinct from Pink Floyd from 1968-1972, this project moves the band back from forming in 1972 to 1969 and ultimately dissolving in 1972. My idea was, what would the output look like if the group still formed in 1972? Thus, any material released by these members before 1972 will not be included, as it would’ve been already released mainly as solo albums. At the same time, I wanted these albums to coexist with Massacote’s project, so this could basically represent a reunion. Note: Massacote’s project does use material from the early solo albums. You can essentially pick which timeline you want this to follow from.

Most of the tracks I’m covering are essentially one person’s solo work. Still, I think there’s enough cohesion to make them interesting listens. Also, these tracks at least at the time were unloved, so you could imagine that if the band was working together at this time, they might have been pleased to have some place to gather all these little oddities. This creates the issue that it would’ve taken until 1977 to get a studio album out by them considering how little there is to work with. It is nice that a few of the cuts here do feature collaboration between Stars members, so it’s not as solo-y as it could be.

The real band’s bassist, Jack Monck, had such little presence in available recordings that Massacote replaced him with Steve Took. The purist in me feels weird about this, especially because the actual Took seemed to basically never play bass. My resolve is to retcon the story. Monck may have left before the group’s first album, but he soon rejoined as just a helper. We can also say there are various bassists on the albums. Took would stay on to service other roles. While Took was never a Star in real life, he was friends with and worked with the members, so it’s not hard to believe he would’ve been involved, especially as we’re really scraping together a presence for Syd Barrett. Maybe he’d be used in lieu of more prominent Syd? The fourth and final album in the Massacote series actually features Monck a healthy amount, so we can say before that fourth album he once again was an official member. With the three albums I did, he is still official. There are some other minor retcons.

Lastly, while the first three Massacote albums all use recordings that were on solo albums or are otherwise unusable, the fourth, Live Extracts: Six Hour Technicolor Dream, doesn’t overlap and its material was recorded and given an imagined release in 1972. Thus, we can say that it is the first album in the universe where the band started in 1972.

Here is a link to Massacote’s telling: https://www.alternatehistory.com/forum/threads/rock-albums-from-alternate-timelines.369850/page-14

Without further ado:

After the Live Extracts project, everyone was excited to keep going other than Syd Barrett, who seemed tired and demoralized, especially after hearing bad reviews. Despite how uncommon they were, they caused him to be more reclusive. Long-term members Steve Took, Twink, and Jack Monck were unwilling to continue without him. Newer singer Bruce Paine was more excited to do more, especially another live album. He was voted out. Barrett was extremely awkward in the studio, but more comfortable in either informal jam sessions or live. Thus, Paine got his way. The material was not as fruitful as anyone hoped, as Barrett was unreliable. With the help of outtakes, the album was completed.

“I’m starting to understand why [Pink] Floyd fired him.” – Bruce Paine, 1972

STARS – L.A TO LONDON BOOGIE

TRACKLISTING

SIDE A

1. “Sea Cruise” (Six Hour Technicolour Dream Cambridge 1972)
2. “Baby Lemonade” (Sounds of the Seventies)
3. “L.A To London Boogie” (Six Hour Technicolour Dream Cambridge 1972)
4. “Ice” (Six Hour Technicolour Dream Cambridge 1972)
5. “Dominoes” (Sounds of the Seventies)
6. “Nadine” (Six Hour Technicolour Dream Cambridge 1972)

SIDE B

1. “The Snake” (Pink Fairies John Peel Session)
2. “Drinkin’ That Wine” (Six Hour Technicolour Dream Cambridge 1972)
3. “Sweet Little Angel” (Six Hour Technicolour Dream Cambridge 1972)
4. “Love Song” (Sounds of the Seventies)

L.A to London Boogie was released to mixed reviews. This caused Barrett to become somewhat nervous and upset that he quit the band and wouldn’t come back. Seeing as the three remaining original members were unwilling to continue without Barrett, Paine left for other groups. Twink and Took continued to work on ideas and record tracks, either for a hopeful Barrett reunion or their own duo album; they weren’t satisfied and got caught up in other bands. Every now and then, they would give another shot at things, sometimes with Monck.

In 1974, primarily after the recent hits by Pink Floyd and T. Rex, interest renewed in those bands and its members. Various artists cited Stars as an influence. Thus, Polydor sought to get the band back together to make more records. Twink and Took agreed if they could get Barrett and Monck agreed on that condition and that he could get some of his songs included, as he failed to get them out as a solo artist. After checking in on Barrett, the members agreed they should wait a little longer. When approached in late 1965, Barrett seemed reluctant, but was a little more interested after a jam session with the other members. Still, Barrett was unwilling to commit to the degree everyone hoped for. This included not writing new songs, claiming he hadn’t done so in many years.

Barrett recorded guitar for the others, often separately from them, but he did provide unfinished recordings of him with Pink Floyd, which were finished by the other Stars often without him. For this album and the next, Barrett more enthusiastically contributed his paintings to be album covers. Despite how many recordings were started years prior, Flophouse Blues was praised for how cohesive it is. Still, it was considered behind the times, despite about half the album having been written shortly before production. The then current members of Pink Floyd demanded to not be credited, as they weren’t satisfied with their original contributions. Stars agreed. It is often a point of debate which elements were by Floyd and which were redone by Stars.

STARS – FLOPHOUSE BLUES

TRACKLISTING

SIDE A

1. “Flophouse Blues (In The Mountain Grill)” (Steve Took – Crazy Diamond)
2. “I Wanna Be Free” (The Rings)
3. “Four Letter Words” (Jack Monck – Inside The Whale)
4. “Automobile” (The Rings)
5. “Butterfly” (Pink Floyd)
6. “Leaden Day” (Jack Monck – Inside The Whale)

SIDE B

1. “Teenage Rebel” (The Rings Rehearsal Tapes)
2. “Syd’s Wine” (Steve Took – Crazy Diamond)
3. “Double O Bo” (Pink Floyd)
4. “I Wanna Get High” (The Rings Rehearsal Tapes)
5. “Lanky (Part One)” (Syd Barrett – Opel)
6. “Flophouse Blues (Reprise)” (Steve Took – Crazy Diamond)

For their next record, the band attempted to be more current, embracing more punk, while not abandoning their roots. Ironically, the lead track was “Do It ‘77”, though the album ultimately wasn’t released until 1978. While the band wanted to keep going, Barrett was so disinterested that it seemed wiser to quit while they were ahead, while still first finishing the album. Some stray guitar tracks performed by Barrett were found or recorded anew. While those demos were criticized by many, with one person calling it “Junk”, they were liked by Stars. They overdubbed it and thought it made for the perfect final chapter of the group.

STARS – VEGETABLE MEN

TRACKLISTING

SIDE A

1. “Do It ‘77” (Twink And The Fairies)
2. “Lucky Charm” (Steve Took – Crazy Diamond)
3. “Back On The Train” (1st Version) (Jack Monck – Inside The Whale)
4. “Enter The Diamonds” (Twink And The Fairies)
5. “Vegetable Man” (2010 Mix) (Pink Floyd)
6. “Blues For Ray” (1st Version) (Jack Monck – Inside The Whale)
7. “Psychedelic Punkeroo” (Twink And The Fairies)

SIDE B

1. “Molecular Lucky Charm” (Steve Took – Crazy Diamond)
2. “Junk” (Syd Barrett 1974 recordings by Richard Hall)

Though Vegetable Men received mixed reviews and less than stellar commercial success, it and the band’s other albums gained massive cult followings and were considered underappreciated classics. The group spoke highly of their time, especially being pleased with it being a wakeup call they should work to get Barrett some help.

“We loved Syd. He was the soul of the band and we didn’t want to lose that. Floyd’s song about him hit us like a ton of bricks and we just knew we had to be there for him.” – Twink, 2005

LINKS

1. Lean Out Your Window (1970) – YouTube
2. Beautiful Deceiver (1971) – YouTube
3. Uncle Harry’s Last Freak Out (1972) – YouTube

Below Is All That Is Canon To The Started In 1972 Timeline

1. Live Extracts: Six Hour Technicolor Dream (1972) – YouTube
2. L.A to London Boogie (1973) – YouTube
3. Flophouse Blues (1977) – YouTube
4. Vegetable Men (1978) – YouTube

This is a passion of mine and if one person likes what I do, I’ll feel honored. I like suggestions on what artist to cover next, so if you know of one you’d like me to look at, feel free to suggest ‘em!

The Monks – Three Fan Albums

For those not in the know, fan albums are the attempts of me and many others to take songs and put them on an album, typically they’re made to improve upon something, such as an existing album or to take non-album tracks and put them on an album.

The Monks are generally known and defined by their one and only LP, as if nothing else was ever made. While that’s not far from the truth, there is a little more they did. That material is consistently less hard hitting than the famous album. The group are still surprisingly strong at infusing psychedelia and pop, with the drumming a particular highlight. That being said, these aren’t must-listen recordings by any means. While The Sonics managed to get almost a second full length worth of hard edged tracks, and all the way to a third of very quality work, these stray Monks would almost best be described as a different band. If you like the famous Black Monk Time and want more of it, you should go to other bands with a proto-punk style, as Black is all you’ll get from the Monk pot. If you want decent rock tunes and interesting alternate versions of songs, then here you go, what is essentially another group.

These two album names were apparently considered to be the names of potential follow-up albums. I don’t think they’re great titles, especially because of the change in sound for one and the same songs of the other, but I thought it was cute to do. If albums of new material had come out under those names, it probably wouldn’t have been like what’s below, with album-only tracks that were never recorded.

The three “fan albums” are Silver Monk Time, which details demos and live cuts of what’s on Black and also… Gold Monk Time, which features no overlapping songs with Black. The third are stray “modern” recordings by members of the band. Just for fun, also included is the live reunion album and more solo projects, as well as a list of what exists, but I couldn’t find.

THE MONKS – SILVER MONK TIME

TRACKLISTING

SIDE A

1. “Boys Are Boys (1964)”
2. “Monk Time”
3. “Love Came Tumblin’ Down”
4. “Space Age”
5. “We Do Wie Du”
6. “Boys Are Boys (1965)”
7. “Pretty Suzanne”
8. “Higgle-Dy Piggle-Dy”

SIDE B

1. “Oh, How To Do Now (1965)”
2. “I Hate You”
3. “Boys Are Boys (1966)”
4. “Oh, How To Do Now (1966)”
5. “Complication”
6. “I Can’t Get Over You”
7. “Cuckoo”

THE MONKS – GOLD MONK TIME

TRACKLISTING

SIDE A

1. “Monk Chant”
2. “I Can’t Get Over You”
3. “Cuckoo”
4. “Love Can Tame the Wild”
5. “He Went Down to the Sea”
6. “Pretty Suzanne”

SIDE B

1. “Hushie Pushie”
2. “There She Walks”
3. “Julia”
4. “P.O. Box 3291”
5. “I Need U Shatzi”
6. “Yellow Grass”
7. “I’m Watching You”

GARY BURGER & DAVE DAY – IT IS CHARLES TIME

TRACKLISTING

SIDE A

1. The Spectors – “Oh, How To Do Now” (1993)
2. Alec Empire & Gary Burger – “Monk Time” (2006)
3. The Fall & Gary Burger – “Higgle-Dy Piggle-Dy” (2006)
4. The Havletones & Dave Day – “That’s My Girl” (2006)

SIDE B

1. Charles Paul Wilp & The Monks – “It Is Charles Time” (2006)
2. Faust & Gary Burger – “Beware (The Transatlantic Feedback)” (2006)
3. Gary Burger – “I Feel Fine” (2013)

LINKS

1. The Monks – Black Monk Time (1966) – Spotify, YouTube
2. The Monks – Silver Monk Time (1966) – YouTube, Spotify (Incomplete)
3. The Monks – Gold Monk Time (1967) – Spotify, YouTube
4. Minnesoda, Featuring Eddie Shaw – Minnesoda (1972) – YouTube
5. Lightning, Featuring Eddie Shaw – “William Tell Overture (The Lone Ranger Theme)” (1975) – Spotify, YouTube
6. The Monks – Let’s Start a Beat – Live from Cavestomp (2000) – Spotify, YouTube
7. Gary Burger & Dave Day – It Is Charles Time (2013) – Spotify, YouTube
8. Eddie Shaw & The Hydraulic Pigeons – Jass In Six Pieces (2013) – Spotify, YouTube
9. Gary Burger – BurgerMONK 2010 (2016) – Spotify, YouTube

MISSING RECORDINGS

1. Dave Day – “I Want The Right To Be Free” (1979)
2. Dave Day – “G.I. Blues” (1979)
3. Dave Day – “Application For Your Love” (1985)
4. Dave Day – “Stars Shining In The Night” (1985)
5. Gary Burger – What’s Your Limit (1992)
6. Dave Day – Having A Party With Dave Havlicek (1994)
7. Dave Day – “I Want The Right To Be Free” (1997)
8. Dave Day – “Don’t Ha Ha” (1997)

THE MONKS ARE

• Gary Burger – lead guitar, lead vocals, tambourine
• Larry Clark – organ, backing vocals, piano, tambourine
• Dave Day – banjo, rhythm guitar, banjo guitar, tambourine, backing vocals
• Roger Johnston – drums, backing vocals
• Eddie Shaw – bass guitar, backing vocals, trumpet, brass instruments

This is a passion of mine and if one person likes what I do, I’ll feel honored. I like suggestions on what artist to cover next, so if you know of one you’d like me to look at, feel free to suggest ‘em!

Pink Floyd 1971-1977 Stray Tracks Review

Pink Floyd 1973

Pink Floyd released the equivalent of one album a year in the years 1967, 1968, and 1970. They did the equivalent of three in 1969. They were managing similar amounts of material in the first three mentioned years as 1969, but just not releasing a lot of it, or at least not on their main albums. This changed in 1971. For starters, they started putting more time in developing what got on their albums and the albums became more acclaimed and culturally significant. Thus, you’d think that the strays would be at least very solid, especially considering how few there were. Note that a few times I had so little to say that I wrote on more than one track at once.

“Pink Blues” aka “Blues”

This is one of the more concentrated pieces, having very good interplaying. The power and energy causes “Blues” to continuously build momentum.

“Corrosion in the Pink Room”

Has some pleasant atmosphere, but is very unfocused. It features some of the band’s trademarks, creepy keyboard, stuttering cymbals designed to create a large backing, and Roger’s vocalizing. These tropes are a little too stale for the track’s good. The keys aren’t too bad, though.

“Mortality Sequence” & ““La Vallee” – Instrumental”

These are amusing enough experiments, but do feel like a joke. There’s a lot of nonsense sounds, like AI generated Pink Floyd. The section without the vocalizing on Mortality isn’t too bad.

“The Hard Way”

A pleasant and extremely incomplete experiment. “The Hard Way” has a nice groove and diversity in sound, but doesn’t go anywhere. Wouldn’t be bad on a noise album, but not so much on a Floyd one, except for one problem. Despite being so short, it’s pretty repetitive.

“On The Run (outtake)” & “The Travel Sequence”

These are fun, but once again directionless and feeling like no one knows what’s going on. They have an infectious sense of fun and rhythm, so they’re worth listening to, but were rightfully not put on an album.

“pink floyd unreleased track 1973” (4:14) aka “Flanger”

This sounds like a test. “Hey Nick, play a little so we can see if the recorder is working.” Still, a little drumming isn’t the worst thing in the world. This is like the Pink Floyd version of the Beach Boys track, “Denny’s Drums”.

“Mexico 70”

Can’t believe how many of these tracks have random noises in them. There’s some nice guitar noodling, but it goes on forever doing the same thing. It’s easy to imagine this could’ve been worked on more and included on an album. Maybe on Wish You Were Here to demonstrate Syd going mad? Faneditors, get on that.

“Wine Glasses”

This is pretty, but inessential on its own. Of course, it would be used to great effect on “Shine On You Crazy Diamond” in a better form.

“You’ve Got To Be Crazy”

Roger’s vocal is really flat, sounding like a demo. Of course that can be forgiven due to this obviously being a work-in-progress not intended for release. The playing isn’t too bad, though falters in some ways. That’s something that could be fixed with more rehearsing. Lyrics like “Sometimes it seems as if I’m just being used” are way too heavy handed. The released version on Animals is very solid.

“Raving and Drooling”

This one starts with what sounds like the Doctor Who theme. This track is especially fun due to the punk-esque nature of its riffs and intensity.

“Message From The Sheep (Field Recording)”

Just some sheep baaing.

“Drift Away Blues”

This takes a little from “Pink Blues”. David gets to show off a little with his guitar playing, with a little bit of fun moments for Rick and Nick, but as previously stated it’s something that should’ve been incorporated in a more rehearsed and fleshed out album if at all. The aforementioned “Pink Blues” is better due to being short and sweet.

OVERVIEW

Despite being known for their innovation, Pink Floyd often got stuck in formulas. Fortunately, that stuff generally got unreleased around the start of the early 70s, with much better material properly getting on the albums. A super fan should listen to these tracks just for the sake of it, but a casual fan can live without what amounts to mostly live fiddling. Still, there are a few gems.

Syd Barrett 1970 Stray Tracks Review

Green Onions

February 24th, 1970 Show for Top Gear

It’s fascinating hearing the acoustic and tap percussion versions of these band or folk tracks. The “Baby Lemonade” vocal is very psychedelic and warm. “Effervescing Elephant” comes off lighter without other instruments. “Gigolo Aunt” is especially interesting because of the different instrumental ending. The guitar sound and percussion perfectly match the tone of “Terrapin”, better than the album version. The instrumental portion manages to feel more intimate. “Two Of A Kind” has all these benefits, plus it’s got no other known version. It makes you wish a whole album was done like this. This warm sound makes this the greatest set of Syd Barrett live recordings available.

“Baby Lemonade (Take 1 – February 26th, 1970)”

An effective version of the track, though not as good as the album version. The singing could be better.

“Baby Lemonade (Take 1 – Alt Mix – February 26th, 1970)”

This is better than last one, as the double-tracked vocals are replaced with single-tracked and a little ambiance. It does go on a little long.

“Maisie (Take 1 – February 26th, 1970)”

Essentially just a few seconds of guitar playing.

“Maisie (Take 2 – Alt Mix – February 26th, 1970)”

Just seems like a more rough around the edges version of the album version, almost like it’s a rehearsal. It’s only really worthwhile for those really interested in hearing these stages of development.

“Waving My Arms in the Air” and “I Never Lied to You (Both Take 1 – February 27th, 1970)”

Very haunting guitar and vocal, especially the “No one in the land, no one” part.

“Gigolo Aunt (Take 9 – February 27th, 1970)”

Clearly different guitar and vocals from on the Barrett album, here more washed out. It’s pretty fun.

“Bob Dylan Blues (February 1970)”

This shows off the playful and worldly folk artist inside Syd, with upbeat singing and plenty of enthusiasm. This was written in 1965, which explains the “youthfulness” compared to his more melancholic lyrics. His singing is beautiful.

“Birdie Hop (Take 1 – Jenner ’74 Mix – June 5th, 1970)”

Really unintentionally creepy vocal and guitar. The sound quality makes it hard to appreciate.

“Birdie Hop (Demo – June 5th, 1970)”

This sounds about the same, though in better quality.

“Rats (Take 1 – Chatter – June 5th, 1970)” and “Wined and Dined (Takes 1 and 2 – Chatter – June 5th, 1970)”

As always, these chatter recordings are not as interesting as they could be, due to being relatively monotonous. Syd calls rats his “fetish”.

“Rats (Demo – June 5th, 1970)”, “Wined and Dined (Demo – June 5th, 1970)”, and “Effervescing Elephant” (Take 2 – July 14th, 1970)”

The folk versions of band tracks are consistently enjoyable.

June 6th, 1970 Show at the Olympia Exhibition Hall, London, England

The guitar on “Terrapin” has a lot of passion, it’s a shame the vocals are hard to hear. As an instrumental, the track goes on a little too long. The guitar is also often more intense, like when it rocks out on “Gigolo Aunt”. It’s easy to imagine Floyd versions of solo Syd, with more powerful playing and improvisation. “Effervescing Elephant” is a strange choice for this show, especially as something other than the first or last song. It’s a step away from being a quick acoustic guitar number, here married to some rocking band tunes. It’s fun hearing this version of “Octopus” that can rock out, though sound quality is as always a limitation. Fortunately, it does have more audible vocals. This show is interesting for it being Floyd-ish, but it’s too difficult to hear to get much out of it.

“Milky Way (Take 5 – June 7th, 1970)”

Not one of the best unreleased tracks, though it does still have the elements that make Syd great, just not as in full effect or utilized as well as they sometimes are.

“Milky Way (Take 5 – Jenner ’74 Mix – June 7th, 1970)”

This sounds very similar production-wise, though it’s a little lower quality.

“Love Song (Take 1 – July 14th, 1970)”

There’s more quietness and shyness, making this track haunting. This is a more depressing number, especially with how the guitar bangs out notes.

“Dominoes (Take 1 – July 14th, 1970)”

Doesn’t go anywhere, essentially a flubbed take.

“Dominoes (Take 2 – July 14th, 1970)”

There is still the added “insecure vocal”, which is not best on the album, but it’s great to have it here in the bonus tracks. The “time goes by” line is a favorite part, emphasizing how sad Syd sounds. He also does the Annette Hanshaw “That’s all.”

“Dolly Rocker (Take 1 – July 14th, 1970)”

It’d be interesting to hear a band version of this, as it seems made for the insecure folk style. The lyrics are fun. Syd wakes up a little with the “ocean” line, showing the innocence in his voice.

“Let’s Split (Take 1 – July 14th, 1970)”

This is one of the weakest available Syd songs, feeling very incomplete. It has plenty of potential to be great, as it does have good elements; it’s just noticeably less polished than album tracks or tracks like “Dolly Rocker”. Fortunately there are fan versions that remove the flubs.

“It Is Obvious (Takes 2, 3, and 5 – July 17th, 1970)”

Take 3 seems designed for a band version, with a deepened voice that seems designed to shout over a drummer! Take 2 is more of a typical folk rendition. Take 5 is the most interesting, with Syd trying to have a warm vocal, as if to evoke how you’d sing to a small child. Based on his state, it’s slightly unsettling, but in a good way.

“Word Song (Take 1 – July 17th, 1970)”

Syd also seems to be going for that “for a child” voice, but not as much. Possibly unintentionally, he is mostly emotionless. The guitar fills in for parts where you’d expect singing, which makes for a cool effect.

“Word Song (Take 1 – Jenner ’74 Mix – July 21st, 1970)”

Very similar to the other version, though the guitar sounds a little different, as if made louder, possibly to try to make it a “guitar song”, instead of a “singing song”.

“In The Beechwoods – Milky Way (Mash-up)” by Doctor Robert

These two tracks fit together surprisingly well. “Milky Way” was probably the intended lyrics for Beechwoods. The more I listen, the less they seem awkward together. That being said, Syd’s 1970 folk vocal doesn’t match up perfectly, though well enough for repeat listens and for this to be my favorite version of “Milky Way”.

“Let’s Split” Edit to Remove Errors

While some of the awkward elements are still present, like the “work in progress” guitar playing, and thus this still feels like a very rough version of the song, the edits for cohesion make it a little easier to appreciate it, especially with the whistling finishing off the tune nicely.

Syd Barrett 1968-1969 Stray Tracks Review

Syd in 1969

“Silas Lang (Take 1 – May 6th, 1968)”

As is practically always the case, the guitar work is fantastic, with some particularly favorite guitar work at the beginning. The guitar playing sounds like it’s being sent from space. Later, it’s surprising for some drums and sax to break out of nowhere. The track meanders in some ways, like when Syd is basically playing the same note, but it’s overall pretty funny.

“Lanky (Part One) (Take 1 – May 14th, 1968)”

The psychedelic percussion is entrancing. This is a playful cut that doesn’t feel its length, a glorious runaround.

“Lanky (Part Two) (Take 1 – May 14th, 1968)”

Apparently this is just an excerpt of the percussion on “Rhamadam” and it feels like it. It’s a hundred seconds of nice percussion jamming, but it’s so bare bones that it seems designed to fit in a longer piece, which it probably was.

“Golden Hair (Take 1) (Three Different Ones) (“Instrumental version” from Opel comp – May 14th, 1968, Dry Mix – May 14th, 1968, and Gareth Cousins ’88 Mix – May 28th, 1968)

Not bad if you’re interested in hearing the individual elements of a song, but they fail at being their own thing, sounding like a work in progress. Listening to these different versions got progressively more and more irritating, due to the repetitiveness.

“Late Night (Instrumental) (Take 2 – May 28th, 1968)”

While this is similarly dry and incomplete, you can at least now more easily appreciate the quality guitar playing and drumming. The “Inside me I feel” part is especially good, due to how much the instruments pop.

“Golden Hair (Take 5 – June 8th, 1968)”

The more childlike and exposed vocal performance is so interesting.

“Swan Lee (Take 5 – Malcolm Jones Alt Mix – June 8th, 1968)”

The guitar playing is a lot poorer here than on the proper track.

“Swan Lee (Take 5 – Backing Track – June 20th, 1968)”

This track being more fully realized makes it quite entrancing in its own right.

“Clowns and Jugglers (Octopus) (Take 1 w/chatter – July 20th, 1968)”

Sounds very rough around the edges, with the guitars stabbing out. For that, it’s inferior to other versions.

“Clowns and Jugglers (Octopus) (Take 1 – July 20th, 1968)”

The guitar and vocals don’t blend well. Syd’s voice awkwardly transitions to and fro the “Isn’t it good to be lost in the woods?” part. 

“Clowns and Jugglers (Octopus) (Take 2 – July 20th, 1968)”

It’s great hearing this by a proficient band like Soft Machine, especially with keyboards now present. That keyboard does add a little more to the unsettling nature, banging along. The vocal seems too unrehearsed, while it is basically perfect on the proper album version. The keys added to the album version would perhaps make for the ultimate “Octopus”.

“Swan Lee (Take 5 Excerpt – April 10th, 1969)”

There’s something brilliantly creepy about this, but the guitar playing could be better.

“Opel (Take 9 Chatter – April 11th, 1969)”

A bit of nothing from a recording session.

“Opel (Take 9 – Jenner ’74 Mix and Opel version – April 11th, 1969)”

This is one of Syd’s many masterpieces. The vocals perfectly portray passion and Syd’s divorced nature from other people. The lyrics blend his poetic wordiness with the more direct representations of his emotional state beautifully. The guitar is light and ethereal, while hauntingly marching on in the back of the piece. The Jenner mix just seems like a lower sound quality version of the Opel release.

“Opel (Orchestral Backing)”

This is a fan mix that I found amusing enough to cover. This makes me wish this was in high quality, preferably with Rick Wright on piano. What we get is some beautifully sonic piano and orchestra, with the violins especially good.

“It’s No Good Trying (Take 5 – April 11th, 1969)”

An effective folk version of this magnetic cut.

“Love You (Take 1 – Jones Mix – April 11th, 1969)”

More than most other folk tracks, this feels like Syd is in the same room as you, running through a track passionately. This is by far the most electrifying and well-constructed alternate version of this classic.

“Love You (Take 1 – Opel version – April 11th, 1969)”

This doesn’t sound anything like the bootleg “Jones mix”. This one feels much more rushed. Thus, I suspect one or both aren’t actually take 1.

“Love You (Take 2 – Jones Mix – April 11th, 1969)”

This one is still enjoyable, but seems less rehearsed.

“Love You (Take 3 – April 11th, 1969)”

Syd sounds tired and depressed. The track really doesn’t seem to work when he sounds as out of it as he does here.

“Rhamadam” (2010 Mix – Possibly Recorded April 23rd, 1969)”

The jazzy bass and drums are very solid. The instruments groove extremely well together. The piece is so warm and approachable that it doesn’t feel its twenty minute length. Especially with the hi-hat, this feels jazz inspired, which recalls some of Pink Floyd’s early recordings. A motor sound showcases the experimental Syd. With the keys, it feels a little like the Residents.

“Swan Lee (Silas Lang) (Take 9 – April 11th, 1969 (Further Overdubs Added April 25th, 1969))”

A great unnerving track with more striking guitar playing and vocals.

“Clowns and Jugglers (Octopus) (Take 2 – May 3rd, 1969)”

This amusingly adds a little funk to this song.

“Octopus (Takes 1 and 2 – June 12th, 1969)”

While take one is flubbed, take two is a moody and striking folk version of the track. There’s a slightly comical vocal on the “Isn’t it good?” part, but it adds an aura of weirdness to it that is likable. We even get some new lyrics.

“Octopus (Take 11 Excerpt – Rough Mix – June 12th, 1969)”

This just sounds like the official version of the track.

“Just Before You Disappear”

Chipmunk Syd. I have a soft spot for this sped up version of Octopus. Not sure why it exists, but it’s novel.

“Golden Hair (Take 6 – June 12th, 1969)”

An initially striking version of the track that loses appeal due to the points that feel like Syd trying to learn the song.

“Long Gone (Take 2 – July 26th, 1969)”

Very good guitar playing, but rough singing.

“Dark Globe (Take 1 Choral – Jenner ’74 Echo Mix & Jones ’87 Dry Mix – July 26th, 1969)

The very fun backing vocals give a new flavor to the track. The vocals on the Jones mix are not layered together as well.

“She Took a Long Cold Look at Me (Take 4 – July 26th, 1969)”

This more youthful vocal makes for an interesting experiment, but it’s not nearly as impactful as the studio album version.

“She Took A Long Cold Look (Take 5 – Jones ’87 Dry Mix – July 26th, 1969)

Obviously a beautiful track, but it basically just is the studio album version.

“Wouldn’t You Miss Me (Dark Globe) (Take 1 – July 26th, 1969)”

This track with Syd’s cold vocal gives such a different and strong vibe that this is one of the crown jewels of alternate versions of Syd songs. The album version feels like a breakdown, while this is trying to avoid that breakdown. Still, it’s not as good as the album version.

“Religious Experience (Take 10 – OOPS Mix – December 18th, 1969)”

While Syd Barrett recorded with the Soft Machine, it was the post-Kevin Ayers line-up. Now, he’s recording with Ayers himself! Note that this is more of an Ayers track with Syd being a guest. This “take 10” version is best left to bootlegs, as it’s very difficult to hear the singing.

“Singing a Song in the Morning aka Religious Experience (Take 103 – December 18th, 1969)”

Despite how repetitive it is, this cut doesn’t get old. There’s such a warm feeling to the “loving jam session at a campfire” vibe, with more and more people joining in.

Pink Floyd December 1969-1970 Stray Tracks Review

“Who’s For Soccer?”

1970 yielded some fantastic songs for Pink Floyd (and especially for Syd Barrett, but that’s for another day). They have quite a lot of leftovers, possibly due to working on the Zabriskie Point movie and expecting a vinyl release that never came. Hopefully these weren’t too close to how they were supposed to sound, as much of what’s here is forgettable and ill-thought out. That would be more acceptable if these were barely getting off the ground. There’s a track like “Come in Number 51, Your Time Is Up”, which actually got released and seems like just a less cohesive or well-worked version of “Careful with That Axe, Eugene”. There was already a released studio and live version. They couldn’t have put in another? 51 seems like a highlight reel of bits of Eugene. “On the Highway” is a particular favorite outtake, which wasn’t released at the time.

There are many inconsequential jams, which seem to have missed being fully realized. If recorders were more common in the early 60s-1967 version of the band, maybe we’d get stuff like this, pleasant noodling? “Alan’s Blues” is one, showcasing a more traditional rock guitar solo. As much can be said for “Just Another Twelve Bar”. “Love Scene (Version 5)” is when the noodling got more tiresome (don’t listen to these all in one sitting), with it going on with “Love Scene (Version 6)”. “Libest Spacement Monitor” and “More Blues” have some good interplay, like between the guitar and keyboard, but are inconsequential.

“Oenone” just seems like someone, probably Richard Wright, playing around with sounds for possible use of backing a song. “Love Scene (Version 4)” is a pleasant keyboard number. It might not be so bad to have on in the background. “The Violent Sequence”, aka “Us and Them (Richard Wright Demo)” is another track of that sort. While this is definitely on the right track, it feels incomplete and poorly performed, like Rick was just testing out ideas. Of course, this would later become a very nice and finished song.

“Country Song” is more finished-sounding, but like one of the throwaways from an album like More. The vocal is very weak, as if everyone’s sick of it. “Richard Are You Ready Yet?” is too low quality to make out much. It’s not even really a song, strange it’s considered one by fans. “Instrumental Improvisations 1, 2, 3” is incoherent playing and vocalizing. It might’ve been fun to be playing there, but not so much to listen to.

Some of the better tracks include “Rain in the Country”. It has a great light guitar sound, though it goes on forever, not being very interesting beyond the beginning. As much can be said for “Heart Beat, Pig Meat”. The repetitive percussion is at first very captivating, being quite unique. The rhythm and beat are reasonably sharp, though the novelty soon wears off. “Embryo (From Picnic – A Breath of Fresh Air)” feels low effort, like a computer generated Pink Floyd song. It has that whisper voice, the drum tapping in the background, and things of that sort. In terms of how good it is, it’s dead average.

“Long Blues” has a good groove and doesn’t quite feel its length, but it lacks a certain spark, like a drive to keep you invested. “Fingal’s Cave” is one of the finest tracks here. It has a good otherworldly quality to it. That being said, what’s with the moaning and sex noises? They’re really uncomfortable. There’s a four minute version that’s just some atmospheric sounds and a much punchier two minute version, which is by far the best, getting to the point of this little jam. The reason this article starts in December 1969 is because I forgot to include “The Merry Xmas Song” last time. It’s very funny, like the sort of novelty track that sometimes is on 60s rock records. Nick has some joy in his voice and in general everyone seems to be having a good time. It’s hard not to love. We got a Pink Floyd Christmas song!

OVERVIEW

What is or isn’t worthwhile here is up to the individual. Personally, the Syd band did no wrong, even with their live instrumentals. He had a certain spark. If you feel that way about this lineup, you might love everything here. If not, a lot of this is tedious, but ‘tis the nature of these rare recordings.

Pink Floyd – Atom Heart Mother (1970) Review

Atom Heart Mother marks another change in direction for Pink Floyd. A Saucerful of Secrets uses the episodic nature of Syd Barrett’s albums, More seems based in Barrett’s proclivity for the powerfully simple (which Barrett mainly explored in his solo career), Ummagumma is the big experimental epics, and in 1970 is this record that details some slightly folkier stuff and more composed epics (which ties to the many times when Syd picked up an acoustic guitar). Does it work?

The opening of “Atom Heart Mother Suite” sounds like a theme to a superhero movie. The main riff of the track is not bad, making for a nice catchy few seconds. Throughout, the band gets little moments to shine, like David Gilmour’s slow solos. You can imagine those parts were written for something else. There is the gaping issue that this thing just goes on forever. It also wants to be more than it’s not, featuring an out-of-place choir that is jarring when put next to Floyd-esque sounds. There’s even some sound effects, some of which sound like a building being demolished. What does this have to do with anything? That segment also is far too long. There’s some good bits at the end, like the cello and drums combo. This piece might’ve worked at five minutes at the most, but that’d be pushing it. Every false ending just makes you want it to end more.

The track transitions well into “If”, a somber guitar ballad sung by Roger Waters. While his vocals are usually lacking, he makes use of that rough exterior for a track about someone who seems insensitive and coarse. There are great little classical guitar riffs and a deceptively simple nature. Unlike a track like “Jugband Blues”, it doesn’t escalate that much, which is perhaps a little unsettling as you’d expect it to more. The lyrics pack a mean punch, “If I go insane, please don’t put your wires in my brain.” That particular lyric really caught me off guard the first time I heard this song. While there’s little decent competition, “If” is the best Pink Floyd song in between A Piper at the Gates of Dawn and The Dark Side of the Moon, except for Jugband. It’s such a wicked little novelty.

“Summer ‘68” is a little messy, but it’s got a free spirit and some highlights. The reference to the Atom Heart Mother Suite is a bit much. The vocals and keys seem like they’re trying to imitate the beautiful quietness of “If”. They’re alright. The poppier bits work better, as that seems to be what the song overall wants. The “bah”s are very Zombies-like. I used to like this track more and still overall do, it’s just not so consistent. David Gilmour’s vocal is heavenly on “Fat Old Sun”, as is his guitar playing and the other instruments. The three middle tracks feel like they were to be part of a typical album that needed to be released as soon as possible, so the length was filled out with two film soundtrack pieces. Speaking of which, the final track… “Alan’s Psychedelic Breakfast” is such a bad idea it’s surprising it actually got made. It’s got a little nice guitar noodling, but overall goes nowhere. It’s too busy scoring someone’s breakfast! Even the good parts are inconsequential, to put it mildly. This track feels like some scraps from when they were recording the suite for side-a.

OVERVIEW

While Atom Heart Mother only really has two great songs and fails to match the solid twenty minutes on Saucerful and Gumma, having more like fifteen, the middle track is still quite solid and the other two have good elements. That’s more than can be said for those two albums. With a little more thought, this could’ve been much better. An example would be to remove Breakfast and “Echoes” from Meddle, alter Suite and Summer to be shorter, and make the remainder one folk-adjacent album. Meddle will later continue some of the sounds here, essentially being a better version of this oddity.

Pink Floyd – A Saucerful of Secrets (1968) Review

A Saucerful of Secrets has a big issue of feeling like a compilation, lacking its own identity. We get three Roger Waters tracks that suit his style, a giant band track that destroys any possible flow, two quaint Richard Wright numbers that don’t mesh with the Waters-domination, and more strangely a Syd Barrett song tacked on at the end. This is all after last album’s Syd-domination. It’s as if Waters, Wright, and Barrett all did solo albums and one-three of each were pulled for this. Considering the various quality outtakes, they could’ve made something more consistent. In terms of the songs on their own merits, they’re a mixed bag.

The album starts strong with the funky bass opening, with the other instruments coming in for a quick freakout. David Gilmour’s vocal on “Let There Be More Light” is reasonably pleasant and imposing, Rick and Roger’s on the verses is just ridiculous, coming off a little goofy. The track overall goes in predictable directions, and seems to want to make a bolder impression than it actually can. “Remember a Day” feels like a trip to the past, like it could’ve been an outtake from their first album… and it is! It seems to strive to be a pleasant filler track, with some keyboard tapping by Richard Wright and light guitar by Syd Barrett. That particular gruesome twosome always had a way to liven up the band’s recordings, and here is no exception. Its psychedelic touches are sometimes a little silly, but this little trip is still well produced and managed.

“Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun” is the Roger Waters epic. This avant-garde work has many little sounds and touches, flourishing in expressing itself through celestas and timpanis and overall feeling like a trip to the sun. “Corporal Clegg” seems like an attempt to be everything. There’s a shot at melodic-style vocals, coarser vocals, wild instrumentation, light instrumentation, not wanting to stay focused on an idea. The lyrics aren’t too bad. A favorite is, “Corporal Clegg received his medal in a dream.” There’s also the infamous kazoo, which is extremely lovable due to how over the top it is. That being said, that and other developments here seem like they should be backing a song about a carnival, not an anti-war song. A contrast isn’t really painted, due to the aforementioned issue of eclecticism. That kazoo demands attention away from the lyrics or anything that might’ve been an intended focus. It’s now “the Kazoo song”.

“A Saucerful of Secrets” shows the band flexing their creative muscles with a series of instrumentals that showcase various instruments and ideas, without overusing any. Rick’s keyboard is a favorite (especially at the end), as is the drums underlining a freakout. There was a thorough concept to this track. If there wasn’t, you might imagine the group throwing extra elements in in an attempt to make it “bigger”. “See-Saw” has every trope in the book for psychedelic ballads, including a singer that sounds bored out of their mind.

“Jugband Blues” is the last Barrett-penned track for Floyd. It features reflexive lyrics about his disillusionment with the other bandmates. The backing track demonstrates this, with the drumming sometimes bashing away like a nervous tick. While there are many instruments awkwardly playing together, they aren’t overdone. The awkwardness serves to make this strangely captivating and melodic, and they fit with the lyrics of someone feeling slightly crazy. One highlight is when the vocal “La-la-la”s break into that collage, with that vocal eventually taking over. The brass returns, playing something that could pass as a quaint marching song, but subtly off, making it near-disturbing. They’re cut off early, being replaced with the hollow and removed voice of Syd, like he’s exhausted and upset by a lack of purpose. The lyrics as a whole paint a picture of someone trying to be normal on a surface level, but cracking under internal pressures. “And the sea isn’t green and I love the queen.”

OVERVIEW

The difference between tracks like Remember and Sun vs. Light and See-Saw is the former has a natural chemistry between the band and instrumentation that suggests passion in the details, “Where do we put this or that element?” The others almost seem like computer generated psychedelia. Take the crammed in vocals on Light for example. The three tracks with Syd on them fare much better. This album as a whole would’ve been more cohesive with the unused Syd songs included. In fact, due to the emotional nature and unique execution of Jugband, it is for my money the greatest Pink Floyd song ever.

Pink Floyd 1968-1969 Stray Tracks Review

Pink Floyd in 1968

It seems that of the first two years of the Gilmour era of Pink Floyd, the main available material consists of… A Saucerful of Secrets, More, Ummagumma, The Early Years 1965–1972, live boots, and what will be discussed below. That’s not to say I’ve certainly discovered everything, but this is an attempt to.

Some may notice that with my discussions of Syd Barrett stray tracks, I essentially scrape the bottom of the barrel, while this one is much lighter. The reason for that is because I don’t have the same affection and closeness with the Gilmour-era and wouldn’t be interested in something like listening to similar live recordings over and over. I want the more exceptional or unique things, such as tracks that are reasonably different from what’s covered above.

“The Committee” is such a playful bit of music, featuring the band jamming around with some different ideas. The warm ballad of Part 8 is made with the emotional drums and keys. Two parts of this soundtrack were officially released as “Music from The Committee No. 1 & 2”. The nine part version works better as one fifteen minute piece of music, instead of these two disparate parts. “Baby Blue Shuffle in D Major” stylistically fits with “The Committee”, featuring guitar playing that sounds like a sunrise on a slightly rainy day. Pieces like these could pass for a concept album about a psychedelic walk in the woods. The keyboard on Part 4 of The Committee could be the wind or the rain. The bass thumping on Part 5 could be the sound of some critters. An understandable criticism is that some of this material isn’t original, at least to the type that is interested in these oddities, but they still work really well here.

“Blues”, while being a little too long, is a similarly fun runaround. It sometimes seemed the group were limiting themselves when staying so close to psychedelia. Them doing some mildly twisted blues feels so refreshing, with the instruments feeling like the band is having fun. “Instrumental Improvisation” from The Sounds of Change is some less interesting noodling, seeming randomized and like something no one cared much about. “Keep Smiling People” seems like it’d be a nice track to hear in decent quality. It’s hard to appreciate as is. It might’ve worked as an atmosphere-builder or backing track.

A booted track called “”More” – Outtakes” features some interesting fly on the wall audio from the sessions for– you guessed it, More. It’s a reasonably decent oddity. It’s not a song, so don’t listen to it expecting that. There are some excerpts. “Seabirds” (there are multiple versions of this track, I’m referring to a version in the film, but not on the soundtrack) sounds like a really nice ballad. Low quality plagues it from even being listenable. There’s some nice silky vocals from David. A bootleg of “Teatime” is literally the band drinking tea. The fact this is something fans have culled and now I’m listening to nothing happening is truly something to behold. “Moonhead” sounds like a score to a moon landing. It’s quite a novel track, though sound quality once again really holds it back. It could’ve been great in better condition. There’s something to be said for the available version, essentially that it’s a good spacey jam. “US Radio advertisement for Ummagumma” is pretty funny.

OVERVIEW

Due to the quality of the studio albums of this time, it stands to reason the group wasn’t overflowing with good ideas, thus it makes sense there would be a lack of material leftover. Still, there are some gems here and some of it deserved to be released at the time, at the very least in place of some of what we did get.

In March 2022, I compiled some of these tracks into an album. Click here for that: https://thefilmediary.wordpress.com/2022/03/30/pink-floyd-my-beautiful-flying-machine-bright-lights-1968-fan-albums/