Floyd 67-72

[chalkpie]

I've been sneaking in the PF catalog, but really specifically concentrating on the albums pre-Dark Side. The two albums that have really surprised me this time around: Saucerful of Secrets and Atom Heart Mother. I can't tell you how much I dig "Fat Old Sun", it has to be one of Floyd's prettiest tunes. Even my 12-year old daughter liked it when it was in the car. It's been many years since I spent some quality time with Ummagumma as well, but I have really been loving every album - they each offer something unique. The albums I am the least familiar with are More and Obscured by Clouds. Any thoughts on those two? Piper is still one of my favorites, if not my favorite tied with Meddle and Dark Side.

[progman1975]

Obscured is effin gorgeous!!!

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[Mister Triscuits]

I've said it before and I'll say it again: there's Syd's Floyd, and Roger's Floyd, and David's Floyd, but my favorite Floyd will always be that "in-between" period when they were Floyd's Floyd, a truly integral band with no dominant personality.

More is a distinctly minor work in the Floyd canon, but for me that gives it a special charm. As is typical of this period of Floyd, the music manages make the same journey a simultaneous exploration of the English countryside and outer space, but they do it more concisely than usual here.

Obscured by Clouds has never been one of my favorites, despite having some of the same low-key charm as More, but it does boast some really sweet songs, such as "Burning Bridges," "Wot's...Uh the Deal," and "Stay."

[progholio]

Definitely my favorite years but i can include WYWH and Animals, after that not so in love with them.

Meddle and Piper being favorites, really love Atom Heart Mother and the rest.

and damn is Ummagumma fun as hell when you haven't heard it in a while.

I've recently gained new respect for Dark Side, listened to it in it's entirety the night of the eclipse with a sense of new found glee. Prior to that i had kind of written it off since the radio killed it for me.

Radio also killed The Wall but even with the passage of time i just can't really get into it and after that, well.......

[mogrooves]

Floyd 67-72

The only Floyd for me....

[JKL2000]

Just want to make sure you're taking in some of the live tracks from this period, such as this, The Paris Cinema, London, September 30th, 1971:

[Mister Triscuits]

^Heh...the mirrored Meddle cover looks like an x-ray of a pelvis.

[chalkpie]

I still can't "see" the ear - what part of the ear is the dark/black part? I Just can't figure it out.

[Facelift]

IMO, Piper and Meddle are the top shelf. Saucer and the live disc of Ummagumma are keepers (the studio portion of Ummagumma is awful; failed experiments and various manner of non-songs). Atom Heart Mother is quite bad as well. The side-long suite is unlistenable, though Summer '68 was decent, and Fat Old Sun became a concert staple of the period. More and Obscured By Clouds are mixed bags with some good songs, some not-so-good songs, and a fair degree of "meh."

Had Pink Floyd broken up before Meddle, I think they'd be remembered today as something more than a footnote, but certainly less than legends; a bridge between psychedelia and progressive rock, and a band that struggled to find an identity after Syd Barrett left.

[JKL2000]

The dark part is the hole, the lighter part above that is that thing that comes out over your earhole. Down at the bottom below where the picture cuts off would be the earlobe. In the image above, only pay attention to one half, the left or right.

[Mister Triscuits]

I still can't "see" the ear - what part of the ear is the dark/black part? I Just can't figure it out.

That's the hole...this makes it easier to see:

[bill g]

Yeah this is my favorite period from Floyd. Both Obscured and More have some nice tunes, More has 'Cymbaline' which is lovely, and Obscured has 'Burning Bridges', 'Mudmen' and 'Stay'. These also have some misses. Meddle has always been my favorite.

[N_Singh]

The only Floyd for me....

Correction 1968-1972

[Paulrus]

I've said it before and I'll say it again: there's Syd's Floyd, and Roger's Floyd, and David's Floyd, but my favorite Floyd will always be that "in-between" period when they were Floyd's Floyd, a truly integral band with no dominant personality.

So true. I'm very fond of what they were doing post-Saucerful and pre-Obscured. 1969 was an especially fertile year of experimentation. Thank goodness they were allowed to go off in all those wacky directions (financed primarily by the French, it seems!)

I may have to spring for the 1970 Devi/ation box set just to get the KQED performances.

[ronmac]

I love everything, but my favorite period is 69-71. The Paris Theater recordings are desert island discs to me. Green is the Colour, Cymbaline, Careful with that Axe, Eugene, and of course Echoes. That stuff always blows me away.

Let's not forget "The Man and The Journey." So much great stuff from those years it's mind-boggling what they were doing.

[notallwhowander]

"Fat Old Sun" haunted me all spring and summer, that and "Green is the Color." Both are very pretty and evocative.

The whole pre-Darkside period is a wonderful period of "becoming." Many bands have a transitional record or two, Pink Floyd had glorious run of one transitional album after the next. While I'll never deny the power and the craft of the Rog years, it all sprung out of this fecund experimental phase. I like what Triscuits had to say about Floyd's Floyd. I find that this period has the most allure for me too.

[Udi Koomran]

Frankie More is essential
Do you know The Early Singles ?
Ummagumma ?
Embryo ?
Point Me In The Sky ?
The Narrow Way ?

[Frankh]

Ummagumma ?
The Narrow Way ?

...Pts. I, II & III...

Or, as I always thought of it

David Gilmour arriving.

The chorused vocals in pt. 3 are still among the loveliest I've ever heard, especially considering the mayhem preceding. And were Floyd ever as heavy as pt. 2?

Wonderfulness, thy name is The Narrow Way, and Ummagumma.

[Frankh]

...just now tumbling to Fat Old Sun? There is a version of this on the Remember That Night DVD that reduces me to shambles. A wreck. In that oh, so good way.

[Scrotum Scissor]

The first four and side 2 from AHM, plus some of Meddle. Never really liked Obscured.

Piper was a work of whimsy, natural brilliance. Nothing like it. Ummagumma is flawed but also highly enjoyable - especially Waters' and Gilmour's pieces. More has some fantastic stuff on it.

Music from 'The Body' should count as well. And the second Syd album.

And Marty Feldman's socks.

[happytheman]

I love everything, but my favorite period is 69-71. The Paris Theater recordings are desert island discs to me. Green is the Colour, Cymbaline, Careful with that Axe, Eugene, and of course Echoes. That stuff always blows me away.

Let's not forget "The Man and The Journey." So much great stuff from those years it's mind-boggling what they were doing.

Is this the one you speak of?

Pink Floyd
Paris Theatre
London, England
October 3, 1971

Ripped from "Secrets" silver bootleg

01. Embryo
02. Green is the Colour
03. Careful With That Axe, Eugene
04. Let There Be More Light
05. Murderistic Woman
06. Point Me At the Sky
07. The Narrow Way
08. Julia Dream
09. A Saucerful of Secrets
10. One of These Days
11. Echoes

[Casey]

Took me quite a while to figure out just exactly was on the cover of the Meddle album. I remember sitting in our family living room with the gatefold opened up on a chair opposite me and then, bam!, I see it.

Anyone hear the boot of a live version of The Narrow Way in which Gilmour butchers his own singing by going off key? It's so bad & he's having so much trouble trying to correct his mistake that he starts to laugh.

There are bits and pieces of Floyd I enjoy up to and including The Wall. I'm definitely not a fan of the short-song format. Give me 15-20 minutes of them jamming in space (Saucerful, Set the Controls, Astronomy, Echoes, etc.) and I'm in.

[chalkpie]

Frankie More is essential
Do you know The Early Singles ?
Ummagumma ?
Embryo ?
Point Me In The Sky ?
The Narrow Way ?

I'll check out More - heard it once maybe eons ago. I am very familiar with side one of Umma, side two not so much. I've always felt "bad" for not spending as much time with side two as I know I should have. I Love weird shit as you know, so its time for a revisit. Those other pieces you named - no. I know they are found on those recently released The Early Years sets, so I will listen to those pieces you named. Thanks man.

Like many, I was always a later Floyd fan, but always loved Piper and Meddle the most, but these other early albums are so wonderful.

Thanks for the posts guys.

[rcarlberg]

I'll check out More - heard it once maybe eons ago.

Don't forget the "Live At Pompeii" DVD -- IMO the very peak of this peak of their innovative period.

The DVD has both the original cut and the extended "director's cut" with a lot of extraneous stuff added. The short one is better.

[JJ88]

Yeah that 'Director's Cut' is garbage. Unfortunately the behind the scenes Abbey Road/interview footage is only included within that on the DVD. As noted, at least the shorter version on it has all the performance footage.