Pink Floyd All the Songs
Page 7
AN UNPARDONABLE LACK OF TACT…
The producer of the Electric Prunes, whose song “Are You Lovin’ Me More (But Enjoying It Less)” was an inspiration to Syd, was Dave Hassinger. Then sound engineer at the legendary RCA Studios in Hollywood, Hassinger was thanked by his management in 1966 for involving himself in the career of the Prunes. It was also he who recorded the Rolling Stones’ immortal “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” in May 1965, however. An unpardonable lack of tact…
WITH OR WITHOUT THE ACCENT?
“Astronomy Dominé” was spelled correctly on the album The Piper at the Gates of Dawn. After that, the accent disappeared.
COVERS
There are more than twenty covers of “Astronomy Dominé,” recorded by artists as diverse as Gary Lucas, Voivod (a heavy metal version), Nash the Slash, and Kevin Blechdom (on the banjo!). David Gilmour himself included it in the set list of his tour Rattle That Lock world tour, as the opener for the second half of his concerts (2015–16).
Lucifer Sam
Syd Barrett / 3:08
Musicians
Syd Barrett: vocals, electric rhythm and lead guitar
Roger Waters: bass, bass with bow, backing vocals (?)
Rick Wright: organ, piano (?), backing vocals (?)
Nick Mason: drums, maracas or cabasa (?), timpani (?)
Recorded
Abbey Road Studios, London: April 12, 13, 17, 18, June 1, 12, 27, 29, July 5, 18, 1967 (Studio Three)
Technical Team
Producer: Norman Smith
Sound Engineers: Peter Bown, Malcolm Addey
Assistant Sound Engineers: Jeff Jarratt, Michael Sheady, Jerry Boys, Michael Stone, Graham Kirkby
Genesis
This song has its origins in the soundtrack for an animated film entitled The Life Story of Percy the Ratcatcher that Pink Floyd was planning to record. This was probably an adaptation of the seventeenth-century British fairy tale Dick Whittington and His Cat (the story of a poor orphan who grows prosperous thanks to the mouse- and rat-catching abilities of his feline friend, and a highly altruistic sea captain). The project (which had only been announced in the columns of NME) having failed to come to fruition, Percy the Ratcacher was then renamed “Lucifer Sam” by Pink Floyd. The most likely explanation is that Syd Barrett was inspired by Dick Whittington and His Cat to express his affection for his own cat: Siam cat/Always sitting by your side/Always sitting by your side/That cat’s something I can’t explain, he sings. As for Jennifer Gentle, a witch, this can perhaps be seen as an allusion to the fifteenth-century song “Riddles Wisely Expounded,” in which three pretty and intelligent sisters, Jennifer, Gentle, and Rosemaree, all love the same knight.
Other hypotheses also exist. Syd Barrett may be alluding to a psychodrama that played out in the Beaufort Street flat of his friends Sue Kingsford and Jock Findlay, where all kinds of drugs were available. One evening, a regular visitor there named Thai Sam (renamed Lucifer Sam in the song) gave acid to a certain Alan Marcuson, who was not expecting it and had a bad trip. Yet again, it could be about Peter Walker, the singer with the Purple Gang, who liked to call himself Lucifer, or even Jenny Spires, the girlfriend of the songwriter, who had no shortage of suitors at the time. Interviewed years later, she rejected the idea that she had been Barrett’s target: “Well, when I heard ‘Lucifer Sam,’ I didn’t really think much about it. Of course, I think it’s a wonderful song; I love it. It seems to have one foot in the past, musically, and one in the future. I was so used to hearing him sing and write songs and he had sent me poems and written songs to me in his letters, previously. Also, I knew the story of ‘Lucifer Sam’ and wasn’t surprised by it. He often said to me ‘You’re so gentle and I love talking to you,’ so it seemed normal, really.”20
What, then, is the listener to think? The answer may lie in something Syd Barrett himself has said: “It didn’t mean much to me at the time, but after three or four months, it began to assume a precise meaning.”17 The songwriter is alluding here to a bad acid trip during which paranoia made his Siamese cat appear to him as a bad omen…
Production
After the influence of the planets in “Astronomy Dominé,” Syd Barrett chose the musical world of the superhero for his wonderful “Lucifer Sam.” It is presumably the signature tune of the US television series Batman, composed in 1966 by the gifted Neal Hefti, that inspired the musical atmosphere and riff of this amazing track (which in turn must have caught the ear of John Lennon for his “Hey Bulldog” of 1968). However, other influences can also be detected, such as Traffic’s song “Paper Sun,” released in May 1967.
The first session was held on April 12. The musicians turned their attention to “Lucifer Sam” (then called “Percy the Ratcatcher”) after recording the overdubs for “Astronomy Dominé.” Getting the ensemble right proved difficult, and the session went on until 2:15 a.m. The track kicks off with Syd’s guitar and his superb riff reminiscent of the guitarist Dick Dale and numbers such as “Surf Beat” (1962). Once again it is with his Fender Esquire and the Binson Echorec that Syd obtains his highly distinctive sound. Roger Waters supports him with some very good work on bass, and Nick Mason delivers a fearsomely efficient drum part on his Premier kit, with much use of his ride cymbal and hi-hat. Rick Wright does not enter until the fourth bar, curiously bringing himself in on his Farfisa organ with the volume pedal (unless, that is, this effect was introduced during mixing). It took seven takes to obtain a satisfactory backing track. The next day, maracas were added (sounding more like a cabasa) which can clearly be heard in the intro and at the end of the track. Roger innovates by playing his Rickenbacker 4001 with a bow throughout the instrumental bridge from 1:31 to 1:58. The effect is striking and reinforces the Batman theme song quality of the arrangements. During this same section, Syd can be heard bending short phrases on his Fender in order to imitate the meowing of a cat! Rick brought the session to a close with numerous organ parts. It was not until April 18 that “Lucifer Sam” established itself as the definitive title. On June 1, Syd recorded his lead vocal, in all likelihood doubled by means of ADT, the miracle machine that spared John Lennon the trouble of all that fastidious doubling of his own voice. June 12 was dedicated to the addition of other guitars, vocals, and also—as David Parker has revealed—timps and a piano. However carefully one listens out for them, however, these two instruments seem to have been buried on the final version. Following some last guitar and voice overdubs recorded on June 27, the remaining sessions were given over to the various mixes.
Once again, Syd Barrett has proved his innate talent for writing little pop-rock gems. It is only a shame that “Lucifer Sam” wasn’t released as a single because it had all the makings of a hit.
COVERS
The band MGMT performed “Lucifer Sam” on the episode of Late Night with Jimmy Fallon devoted to Pink Floyd on September 28, 2011. This is one of the most covered of Syd’s songs, having given rise to more than thirty versions.
For Pink Floyd Addicts
Produced by Joe Boyd, the Purple Gang was recording their song “Granny Takes a Trip” at Sound Techniques studios at the same time that Pink Floyd was recording “Arnold Layne.”
The Floyd performed “Lucifer Sam” as an encore at the famous “Games for May” concert on May 12, 1967.
Matilda Mother
Syd Barrett / 3:09
Musicians
Syd Barrett: vocals, backing vocals, rhythm and lead guitar
Roger Waters: bass, backing vocals
Rick Wright: vocals, keyboards, backing vocals
Nick Mason: drums
Recorded
Abbey Road, London: February 21, 23, June 7, 29, July 18, 1967 (Studio Three)
Technical Team
Producer: Norman Smith
Sound Engineers: Peter Bown, Norman Smith, Malcolm Addey
Assistant Sound Engineers: Michael Sheady, Peter Mew, Michael Stone, Jeff Jarratt, Graham Kirkby
Genesis
“Matild
a Mother” reveals Syd Barrett’s fascination with children’s tales and songs. In this instance, he has drawn on the imagination of Hilaire Belloc, an Anglo-French writer best known for his Cautionary Tales for Children, among them that of Matilda, “who told lies, and was burned to death.” This is a tale that Syd’s mother read to him as a child in their loving Cambridge home…
Syd Barrett was so enamored of Belloc’s fable that in his initial draft of the song’s lyrics he reproduced entire lines from the original, especially in the refrain: And finding she was left alone/Went tiptoe to the Telephone/And summoned the Immediate Aid/Of London’s Noble Fire-Brigade. These phrases can be heard in the original version of the song, recorded on February 21, 1967. Barrett, Waters, Wright, and Mason did not for a second imagine that there could be the slightest problem with this. Against all expectations, however, when Andrew King asked Hilaire Belloc’s rights holders for permission to use extracts from the text of “Matilda,” the response was a firm refusal. “The iambic beat of Belloc totally fits the metre of the song. The Belloc estate weren’t keen at all, so Syd replaced the extracts.”18 In reality, what Syd Barrett did was write a new story, a highly poetic text that plunges us into the heart of European legend (Tolkien again!) and that, at the same time, evokes the songwriter’s childhood: a tale involving a king, a scarlet eagle with silver eyes, and a thousand mysterious riders. The final lines of the last verse allow no room for misunderstanding: And fairy stories held me high/On clouds of sunlight floating by.
Production
It was with “Matilda Mother” that Pink Floyd began recording The Piper at the Gates of Dawn. That Tuesday, February 21, the day of their very first session at Abbey Road—which would be followed by many more—was their baptism of fire. The studio had been booked for 11 p.m., a relatively unusual time for the team. “I simply remember the session because the circumstances were so odd,”10 recalls Michael Sheady, then assistant sound engineer. And Peter Bown, the chief engineer, has a perfect recollection of his first encounter with the group: “I went in number 3 studio where they were… and I opened the doors and I heard the sound and shit myself! I thought ‘My God!’ I’ve never heard anything like this in my life and I’ve got to record it!”10 In the end, despite the mutual trepidation, the session passed off more or less satisfactorily, ending at 6 a.m. The group needed six takes to get a definitive backing track in the can (duration at this stage: 3:55). The track begins with Rick’s organ, over which Roger plays an octave on his bass. Syd then comes in with arpeggios on his guitar. This produces a quasi-medieval sonority in perfect keeping with the words, a sound that it is tempting to think may have influenced King Crimson on their 1969 album In the Court of the Crimson King. The instrumental bridge is launched by Syd singing onomatopoeia (pow, shhh!) and apparently reinforcing his vocalizations by tapping his mic to obtain a percussive effect. Rick launches into a vaguely oriental-sounding organ solo supported by Nick’s drumming (fairly distant in the mix, if the truth be told), Roger’s bass, and Syd’s guitar. After a reprise of the last line, the track draws to a close with a relatively long coda (thirty seconds or so) whose atmosphere is not unlike the conclusion of the Beatles’ “I Want to Tell You” on the album Revolver. The time signature switches from four in a bar to three (3/4), and Rick takes a second organ solo while Roger goes into a frenzy on his Rickenbacker. Rick sings lead, at least in the first two verses and the refrains, which he shares with Syd. The latter takes care of the bridge and the last verse. This sharing of the lead vocal seems as over the top as it is inexplicable on a three-minute track.
The second session took place on February 23, with Norman Smith, exceptionally, at the console. This was for mono mixes that do not seem to have been used. It was not until June 7, a little over three months after the previous session, that the Floyd reworked the song. The purpose was to add the various backing vocals. As Peter Jenner explains: “Norman would go out in the studio and play piano for them to rehearse harmonies, because back then harmonies were very big through The Beatles and The Beach Boys.”10 The result is a success, and the voices of Rick, Syd, and Roger add to the pop feel of this track. June 29 was devoted to the various edits (with Jeff Jarratt, who is involved for the first time on this song), and the best one can say is that the edit at 1:58, presumably in order to shorten the track, is far from successful. The harmonies at the end of the bridge do not tie in with the beginning of the last verse, and the dynamics are different. This is a shame, because “Matilda Mother” is another great Floyd song in spite of the scarcity of covers to which it has—thus far—given rise. It was nevertheless an important inspiration for the track “Fireworks” on Blue Öyster Cult’s 1977 album Spectres.
On the compilation Masters of Rock, released in 1974, the title “Matilda Mother” is spelled with an h (“Mathilda”).
For Pink Floyd Addicts
Born at La Celle-Saint-Cloud in 1870, Hilaire Belloc emigrated to England two years later with his mother, following the suicide of his father, Louis Belloc. A fervent Catholic and a Liberal member of Parliament, Belloc owes his renown to his double talent as a polemicist (against H. G. Wells) and a poet (including Cautionary Tales for Children). Along with G. K. Chesterton, H. G. Wells, and George Bernard Shaw, he was one of the most famous writers of the Edwardian era. Hilaire Belloc died in 1953.
Flaming
Syd Barrett / 2:46
Musicians
Syd Barrett: vocals, twelve-string acoustic guitar, rhythm and lead guitar, backing vocals, miscellaneous sound effects
Roger Waters: bass, backing vocals, miscellaneous sound effects (including a slide whistle)
Rick Wright: organ, piano, backing vocals, miscellaneous sound effects
Nick Mason: drums, miscellaneous sound effects
Recorded
Abbey Road Studios, London: March 16, June 27, 29, 30, July 18, 1967 (Studio Three)
Technical Team
Producer: Norman Smith
Sound Engineers: Peter Bown, Norman Smith
Assistant Sound Engineers: Jeff Jarratt, Graham Kirkby
Genesis
It is possible that “Flaming” could be the definitive version of a song entitled “Snowing,” which proceeded no further than draft stage (in the form of a recording by Barrett and Waters). What is certain is that it offers a perfect illustration of Syd Barrett’s poetic approach, that is to say the revisiting of nursery rhymes through the lens of his psychedelic experiences. Alone in the clouds all blue/Lying on an eiderdown/Yippee! You can’t see me/But I can you: the first verse and the four that follow once again take us back to Syd’s childhood, to adolescent games and the green meadows of Cambridge, to an era before tragedy struck the family with the death of his father. At the same time, however, these lines also evoke the “mystical visions” and “cosmic vibrations” of which Allen Ginsberg speaks in his poem “America.” These succeed one another during a trip under the influence of a hallucinogenic drug, that is to say LSD, which for Aldous Huxley makes “this trivial world sublime” and renders the soul visible. Hence the song’s protagonist Sitting on a unicorn, and then a dandelion, and Travelling by telephone.
“Flaming” is the A-side (with “The Gnome” on the flip side) of a single that was released exclusively in the United States (on the Tower Records label on November 2, 1967) in order to promote Pink Floyd’s first US tour. This was in place of the single “Apples and Oranges”/“Paint Box,” which was reserved for the European market. The song failed to chart.
Production
The first take of “Flaming,” recorded on March 16, proved satisfactory. But it was not until June 27 that the group reworked it. This was also when the four tracks on the Studer J37 were transferred to a second tape recorder in order to free some space—in keeping with the technique favored by the staff at Abbey Road (roll on the 3M eight-track!). Following numerous overdubs, June 29 and 30 were reserved for editing and mixing, and on July 18 the stereo version was finalized.
“Flaming�
�� is typical of Syd Barrett’s universe. The colorful imagery of the words is complemented by musical arrangements that are at one with his psychedelic, romantic, sugar-coated, whimsical visions. Nick Mason recalls that Norman Smith had strongly encouraged the band members to stray off the beaten track and make use of the many and varied instruments that were available to them at Abbey Road. And so, against the background of an organ most probably played through a Leslie cabinet, the Floyd abandon themselves to multiple sound effects that are not always easy to identify. We hear the ticktock of a clock (possibly Mason on his snare drum), a slide whistle played by Waters (who makes another appearance at 0:39 with a magnificent cuckoo!), mouth noises, someone whistling… all of this clearly under the guidance of Norman Smith and Peter Bown, who contribute various Studio Three effects (phasing, compression, etc.). Keith Rowe of the group AMM has said that Syd Barrett had taken his inspiration from “Later During a Flaming Riviera Sunset” (on AMMMusic) for the intro to “Flaming” and possibly for the title of the song as well. There is a certain similarity between the two tracks, the same idea of sonic mist, but this is where the comparison ends. The AMM intro is full-on musical experimentation, while the Floyd’s evokes the atmosphere of a forest at night, pierced by the shrieks of owls or fantasy creatures. Waters’s bass, Wright’s organ, and Mason’s ride cymbal, played cross-stick, then make their entrance. The musical arrangements veer among psychedelia, carnival, and British pop. Barrett’s voice possesses a gentleness and an innocence that are in complete harmony with the poetry of his text, an effect reinforced by backing vocals from Wright and Waters that produce a highly colorful result. Syd’s voice is treated with ADT except in the third verse, in which he really does double himself.