The third movement comprises two parts: “Storm Signal” from 7:07 and “Celestial Voices” from 8:30. “Storm Signal” is based on Rick Wright’s Hammond organ, the keyboard player establishing a very dark and sinister atmosphere, accompanied only by chimes that seem to quiver in the wind. The link with the preceding sequence is achieved via a more or less indefinable transition, a kind of electromagnetic storm, hence the title “Storm Signal.” “Celestial Voices” is announced by a guitar sound obtained in all likelihood using the whammy bar of Gilmour’s Telecaster (at 8:26). The mood is serene and collected, the harmonies melodic. Here the organ and bass dominate, with string sounds played by Wright on the Mellotron and choirs of angels (most likely a combination of the Mellotron and Floyd vocals) suggesting a sense of redemption. Finally, the guitarist’s Fender (played slide with Echorec) contributes a somewhat mellow feel. The sky clearing after the battle, in a sense, and this is also how Waters defined the piece in an interview, although without it being entirely clear whether or not this was his idea of a joke…
“A Saucerful of Secrets” is an astonishing piece for more than one reason. First of all it is more musique concrète than rock; secondly, the members of the Floyd reveal a maturity that is remarkable for their age; and finally, their concept is utterly visionary because although they were inspired by more “serious” works (John Cage, Stockhausen, Pierre Henry), “A Saucerful of Secrets” can be regarded as the prototype for English progressive music. The four musicians threw themselves heart and soul into a work whose importance they no doubt sensed, but without grasping the full implications, motivated as they were by a desire for innovation and sonic experimentation, as Nick Mason explains: “All of us wanted to be involved all the time, so creating a percussion sound would find Roger holding the cymbal, David moving the microphone closer, Rick adjusting the height, and me delivering the coup de grâce.”5
For Pink Floyd Addicts
Rick Wright would adapt the finale of “A Saucerful of Secrets” (“Celestial Voices”) reasonably faithfully in “Cirrus Minor” (More, 1969), and also, in a vaguely similar spirit, in “The Mortality Sequence” (the first version of “The Great Gig in the Sky” on The Dark Side of the Moon). “Celestial Voices” also formed the concluding part of the suite The Man and the Journey, a concept developed by the group in 1969 to transform concerts into a sequence of works, either familiar or unfamiliar, based on a common theme.
On the first versions of the album, David Gilmour’s surname was spelled Gilmore.
IN YOUR HEADPHONES
The very last chord (B major) of the final movement seems to be the result of a rather abrupt edit (at 11:44)…
For Pink Floyd Addicts
Pink Floyd performed an initial version of “A Saucerful of Secrets,” then called “The Massed Gadgets of Hercules,” on John Peel’s Top Gear sessions for the BBC, recorded on June 25, 1968.
See-Saw
Rick Wright / 4:37
Musicians
David Gilmour: acoustic guitar, electric rhythm and lead guitar, backing vocals (?)
Rick Wright: vocals, organ, piano, Mellotron, xylophone, backing vocals (?)
Roger Waters: bass, backing vocals (?)
Nick Mason: drums, percussion
Recorded
Abbey Road Studios, London: January 24–25, 31, February 1, April 22–23, 26, May 3, 1968 (Studio Two, Studio Three, Room 53)
Technical Team
Producer: Norman Smith
Sound Engineers: Ken Scott, Peter Bown (?), Martin Benge, Peter Mew
Assistant Sound Engineers: John Barrett, John Smith, Richard Langham
Genesis
Although this song by Rick Wright may seem to describe a troubled sibling relationship, it is most likely about childhood and adolescence in a more general sense. This is also a subject that the Pink Floyd songwriter and keyboard player dealt with in “Remember a Day.” Childhood and adolescence: two words so often equated with insouciance. The scenario is a brother and sister going on walks in the peaceful English countryside, walks that lead to the public park or down to the river. The songwriter looks back nostalgically at the fun they had throwing stones and playing on the seesaw: She goes up while he goes down. However, the feeling of happiness is ephemeral, for She grows up for another man and he’s down, sings Rick Wright.
Some commentators have suggested that Rick Wright wrote “See-Saw” while he was living with Syd Barrett in Richmond. The main character in the song could thus be Syd himself, who made the acquaintance of his teenage sweetheart, Libby Gausden, in a children’s playground. “We met on Jesus Green. There was a huge open-air swimming pool there which we all had membership of and we’d all swim from April to September to get our money’s worth. Outside was a kids’ playground. I was on the seesaw with somebody when he came up to me. He was very handsome. A bit spotty but lovely looking.”42
Production
In this song, Rick Wright demonstrates that he shares not only Syd Barrett’s fondness for seesaws, but also his keen sense of melody. In spite of its rather elaborate structure, “See-Saw” is a pop song in the best sense of the term. The first sessions were held on January 24 and 25, 1968 in EMI’s prestigious Studio Two (the studio generally reserved for the Beatles), and it was not until day two that the group recorded its best take. As Syd Barrett was no longer present, it is David Gilmour playing the two guitar parts in the intro, the first on acoustic rhythm (the Levin LT 18) and the second on electric (the Fender Telecaster, which he uses for both rhythm and lead, its sound strongly colored by both the Binson Echorec and his Vox wah-wah). Nick Mason chooses to accompany him with brushes and, as can be heard in the opening bar, uses a very rapid echo with his strokes on the snare drum. Mason does not restrict himself to the drum kit, however, and numerous other percussion instruments can also be heard, such as a triangle (for example at 1:50, albeit not in time!), a tambourine (from 2:33), and maracas in the coda (around 4:01). There also seems to be a gong at the end of the instrumental break (listen at 0:41). Roger Waters delivers a pretty dark-hued bass line that nevertheless has a reasonably melodic role within the ensemble. As for Rick Wright, the keyboard player busies himself with the Farfisa organ, the acoustic piano, the Mellotron MK2 (with a string sound), and the xylophone, which comes to the fore at 1:44. It is also Rick who sings lead vocal, his gentle voice so characteristic of the Floyd sound of the early period. Abundant, very Beach Boys–style backing vocals add to the melodiousness of the song, in particular in the refrains (1:50).
The third song to be written by Rick Wright for the group, after “Paint Box” and “Remember a Day,” “See-Saw” cannot exactly be described as his masterpiece, but it nevertheless gives a hint of his writing style and melodic feel that would subsequently assert themselves. On September 15, 2008, the day Rick Wright died, David Gilmour said of his friend: “He was gentle, unassuming and private but his soulful voice and playing were vital, magical components of our most recognised Pink Floyd sound.”43And “See-Saw” provides a perfect example of that.
For Pink Floyd Addicts
The working title of “See-Saw” was “The Most Boring Song I’ve Ever Heard, Bar Two,” which speaks volumes about the group’s opinion of it. Of course, this may simply have been a case of tongue-in-cheek humor!
Jugband Blues
Syd Barrett / 3:00
Musicians
Syd Barrett: vocals, acoustic guitar, electric lead guitar, backing vocals (?)
Roger Waters: bass, backing vocals (?)
Rick Wright: keyboards (?), recorder (?), backing vocals (?)
Nick Mason: drums
Unidentified musicians: Salvation Army brass band, kazoo, castanets
Recorded
De Lane Lea Studios, London: October 9–11, 19, 1967; May 8, 1968 (?)
Technical Team
Producer: Norman Smith
Sound Engineers: Michael Weighell, M. Cooper (?)
Genesis
“Jugband Blues” is
the last song to be written and sung by Syd Barrett as a member of Pink Floyd. In it he gives remarkable poetic expression to both his descent into schizophrenia and his bond (or, on the contrary, the discord) with the other members of the group. The first verse is laden with meaning: It’s awfully considerate of you to think of me here/And I’m most obliged to you for making it clear/That I’m not here. In other words, Barrett is thanking Waters, Wright, and Mason for considering him a member of the group still, even if he is no longer present mentally or physically.
In the second verse, relations reach the point of no return. And I’m grateful that you threw away my old shoes: the songwriter engages in sardonic humor in order to express his regret at no longer occupying a position at the heart of the group, which is the reason he didn’t know the moon could be so big nor so blue. And this humor gives way to disenchantment, if not resentment: And I don’t care if nothing is mine/And I don’t care if I’m nervous with you. All that remains for Syd Barrett, then, is to do his loving in the winter, while asking himself, what exactly is a joke?
Production
“Jugband Blues” was recorded at De Lane Lea Studios in October 1967, the same day as Rick Wright’s “Remember a Day” and Barrett’s “Vegetable Man,” another of the guitarist’s songs that would fail to make it onto the album. October 9, 10, and 11 were most probably reserved for cutting the base track and vocals. “Jugband Blues” has no intro: the songwriter launches straight into the first verse. He sings with his characteristic nonchalance, his timbre simultaneously benevolent and detached, and his voice accentuated by a relatively strong delay. He accompanies himself on his Levin LT 18 (which he doubles), while Roger Waters is on his Rickenbacker 4001 and Nick Mason is on his Premier kit. Rick Wright, apparently not at the keyboard, may well be playing the recorder that can be heard from the beginning. Like most of Syd’s songs, this is a pop number with simple backing harmonies (from 0:17), that incorporates a sequence of sonic experimentation.
Following a colorful second section incorporating a kazoo and castanets (from 0:39), “Jugband Blues” cedes center stage to a brass band. In The Remarkable Roger Barrett, a 2006 documentary about Syd Barrett, Norman Smith describes in some detail how this brass band section came into being: “To the end of this title, I said to Syd, ‘You know, Syd, I really fancy some extra orchestrations going on this title.’ So he said, ‘Oh yeah,’ and I said, ‘I hear like a brass band.’ So he said, ‘Oh yeah… a Salvation Army Band.’—‘Why a Salvation Army Band?’—‘I don’t know, really… but I think I can hear that, a Salvation Army Band on it!’”45 Surprised, Norman complied with his wishes and gathered together between twelve and fifteen musicians, whom he recruited with some difficulty. On the day of the recording, most likely October 19, Norman got them settled in the studio to wait for the songwriter, who was late. When Syd finally made his appearance after half an hour or so, Norman immediately asked him what he wanted the brass band to play. “Just let them do what they like, just anything,”5 he replied. Disconcerted, the producer protested that “we couldn’t really do that because nobody would know where they were,” adding, in Nick Mason’s account, that in the end, “that’s how it had to happen.”5 At this, Syd left the studio, leaving poor Norman to realize the songwriter’s ideas by himself. As a seasoned musician, the producer finally decided to write out some chord charts so that the band could record its part. It seems that a recording with no instructions, in keeping with Syd’s wishes, was also cut, but in the end it was Norman’s arranged version that was used. Barry Miles maintains that when asking for the brass band to play anything it liked, Syd was thinking of the completely unscripted orchestral sections in the Beatles’ “A Day in the Life,” which had greatly intrigued him.
But this by no means brings “Jugband Blues” to a close as the brass band is followed by an experimental sequence. This is launched by a series of off-the-wall chanted la la las (from 1:24) announcing a harrowing, unrealistic, hallucinatory atmosphere created by Syd on his Telecaster (which he plays with Echorec and Zippo). The brass band then returns and throws off all restraint. There is a certain similarity between what the band plays here and the intro to the future “Atom Heart Mother” of 1970 (between 0:30 and 1:25). After this section is brought to an abrupt stop (2:22), Syd’s voice and acoustic guitar are faded in for what would be the final four lines he sings for Pink Floyd. This verse is highly poignant, above all in the way the songwriter concludes his song, wondering: And what exactly is a joke?
Syd Barrett, Peter Jenner, and Andrew King wanted to make this the group’s next single, but everyone else, including Norman Smith, was against it. In the end, “Apples and Oranges” was chosen instead. Andrew King looks back at this decision: “Jugband Blues… which I always wanted to be a single… I mean maybe it was just too… near the knuckle, too close, too revealing and embarrassing. Great song… of a man totally cracking up.”10
For Pink Floyd Addicts
A video for “Jugband Blues” was shot at the end of 1967 (date and location unknown). In it, Syd, with a somber, melancholy air, can be seen surrounded by his bandmates, who do not exactly look cheerful either, with Waters blowing into a tuba and Wright into a trombone.
Jug bands go back to the very origins of the blues in Memphis, when musicians would play traditional instruments (such as guitar and banjo) as well as objects diverted from their primary function, such as jugs and washboards, in ensembles. The most famous band of this kind was Will Shade’s Memphis Jug Band.
1968
It Would Be
So Nice /
Julia Dream
SINGLE
RELEASE DATE
United Kingdom: April 13, 1968 (April 19 according to some sources)
Label: Columbia Records
RECORD NUMBER: DB 8401
It Would Be So Nice
Richard Wright / 3:44
Musicians
David Gilmour: acoustic guitar, electric rhythm and lead guitar, backing vocals (?)
Rick Wright: vocals, backing vocals, keyboards, recorder (?), vibraphone (?)
Roger Waters: bass, backing vocals
Nick Mason: drums, percussion
Recorded
Abbey Road Studios, London: February 13, March 5, 13, 21, April 1–3, 1968 (Studios Two and Three, Room 25)
Technical Team
Producer: Norman Smith
Sound Engineers: Peter Bown (?), Ken Scott, Phil McDonald
Assistant Sound Engineers: John Smith, Michael Sheady, Richard Langham, John Barrett
Genesis
This composition by Rick Wright (originally called “It Should Be So Nice”) could almost be a celebration of everyday English life: starting the morning with breakfast and the newspaper, followed by some very British anxiety over the weather. But this would be far too pragmatic for Pink Floyd, who, with their first album in particular, took us by the hand and led us into the realm of fairies and gnomes. And true to form, at the end of the song Wright talks of a dream that sends them reeling to a distant place. He also mentions a meeting. To whom is he referring? We are forced to use our imagination because the songwriter provides no leads…
“It Would Be So Nice” comes as quite a surprise from Pink Floyd. Despite the fact that Roger Waters, David Gilmour, Rick Wright, and Nick Mason were in the process of recording their cosmic, progressive album A Saucerful of Secrets, this song sounds thoroughly pop, somewhat in the manner of the Beach Boys in the United States or beat groups such as the Hollies, the Searchers, and Herman’s Hermits in the United Kingdom. In his book The Dark Side of the Moon: The Making of the Pink Floyd Masterpiece, author John Harris harks back to this song: “The first recorded work they released in the wake of his [Syd Barrett’s] exit was Rick Wright’s almost unbearably whimsical ‘It Would Be So Nice,’ a single whose lightweight strain of pop-psychedelia […] rendered it a non-event that failed to trouble the British charts.”4 Again in Harris’s book, Roger Waters admits that he does not like the way “It Wou
ld Be So Nice” is sung. “A lousy record,”3 he adds, while Nick Mason goes even further, calling it a “fucking awful”44 single.
Released as a single on April 13, 1968, “It Would Be So Nice” disappeared. Since then it has been included on The Best of Pink Floyd (1970), Masters of Rock (1974), and the Early Singles bonus disc in the box set Shine On (1992).
Production
Listening to “It Would Be So Nice,” one cannot help wondering whether this really is Pink Floyd. The extent to which the group does not sound like itself is disconcerting. The single is no more and no less than a pop song, one devoid of the precious, unique craziness of Syd Barrett. It has to be said that Syd, who until this point had been the only member of the group to provide his bandmates with brilliant and original singles, is sorely missed. Rick Wright takes on the task of replacing him, and tries to re-create his universe complete with its sugary pop side. He accomplishes his task without question on the pop score, but not on the level of Syd Barrett… Where Barrett succeeded in making his tunes simple and vital, Wright settles for flat imitation. The track is not completely without merit, but whereas it would have benefited from being performed by a pop group, played by the Floyd—it is beyond comprehension.
The first session was held on February 13 in EMI’s Studio Two. The group cut two takes before redoing everything on March 5, this time in Studio Three, when they settled for the eleventh take. March 13 and 21 were reserved for the various overdubs, in particular of the vocals.
Pink Floyd All the Songs Page 15
