Pink Floyd: The Best Of 1968 - 1972
I was listening to the studio disc of Ummagumma for the first time and I thought to myself that there's only two real SONGS on this album. What they should do to satisfy the mildly curious is release a Best Of that only covers the post Barrett, pre Dark Side era.
So I made this list and would like to hear feedback on it. I don't know the singles they released like "Point Me At The Sky" so I haven't included them. And "Jugband Blues" is not eligible for inclusion.
It is intended to last the length of a single CD.
1. "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun" (Roger Waters) - 5:28
2. "Cirrus Minor" (Roger Waters) - 5:18
3. "The Nile Song" (Waters) - 3:26
4. "Careful with That Axe, Eugene" (David Gilmour/Roger Waters/Rick Wright/Nick Mason) - 5:45
5. "Grantchester Meadows" (Waters) - 7:26
6. "Fat Old Sun" (David Gilmour) - 5:24
7. "If" (Roger Waters) - 4:31
8. "One of These Days" (David Gilmour, Nick Mason, Roger Waters, Rick Wright) - 5:57
9. "Echoes" (David Gilmour, Nick Mason, Roger Waters, Rick Wright) - 23:29
10. "Wot's... Uh the Deal" (David Gilmour/Roger Waters) - 5:08
11. "Free Four" (Roger Waters) - 4:15
If I go ahead and create this as a MP3 playlist for myself then I would delete "One of These Days" as it's already covered by the Echoes Best Of and instead I would replace it with "San Tropez" (Roger Waters) - 3:43 which is a track I am very fond of.
Also personally I would prefer to delete "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun" and replace it with "The Gold It's in the..." (David Gilmour/Roger Waters) - 3:07. I never liked "Set the Controls" but I am aware it's a fan favourite.
Also any suggestions for a title for the Best Of? And is a mixed up non-chronological order better? Would the shorter 16 minute 2001 version of "Echoes" be better so you could fit another song onto the CD?
NOTE: To create your own list I recommend pasting the song titles from Wikipedia so you get the lengths as well.
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Title suggestion: Anderson Council
On the left, Pink Anderson and on the right, Floyd Coucil.
I think you nailed it.
Good suggestion. I'll go with it.
"Pink Floyd - Anderson Council: The Best Of 1968-1972".
I would even use their pictures in a psychedelic collage for the cover.
Is that really Pink Anderson?
Crikey.
And is it true that they never met?
I think you almost nailed it there.
I can't fault your listing except to canvas for the inclusion of Seamus at the expense of The Nile Song.
You have to stick with the proper version of Echoes; it's the law.
Seamus?
The only memorable thing about Seamus is that a Floyd fanzine voted it the worst song they ever recorded. Although it's not that bad, it certainly isn't that good either.
Shows how much store
you can set by "Fanzines", doesn't it?
It's a personal favourite, so I don't give a flying about any Fanzine vote.
Great selection...
...can't argue too much with it. I think it's fascinating to hear the albums of this period; they are almost always passed over, even by the band themselves, but I'd take this material over most of the stuff they did in the 80s and 90s (which only fitfully sparked, in my opinion). There is some right old twaddle on them (parts of the Atom Heart Mother suite and 'Alan's Psychedelic Breakfast', various tracks from the studio side of 'Ummagumma') but there's a real warmth and pastoral quality to the music.
Glad to see you chose 'Grantchester Meadows'. Have to confess, I don't much like the studio disc of 'Ummagumma' either (the live one is amazing, though) but this is its saving grace- a beautiful song.
The Pink Floyd back catalogue must be the most poorly represented in rock, for my money- the only release which has treated the fans with any kind of respect was that 3-disc 'Piper' set last year which was beautifully done and bodes well for the future. Thus far, they have made no attempt at an archive collection, yet they have a fascinating backlog of unreleased material, whether it be outtakes or live recordings.
'Grantchester Meadows'
Indeed.
Hear the lark and harken to the barking of the dog fox, gone to ground.
Album reissues
Read http://www.stylusmagazine.com/articles/weekly_article/imperfect-sound-fo... and http://www.stylusmagazine.com/articles/soulseeking/imperfect-sound-forev... for some interesting articles about CD sound quality.
I think the reason they haven't been remastered is because some people consider modern remastering to be inferior to what was done back in 1994?
Great find.
The first link articulates well what I hate about MP3s:
"An art critic wouldn't evaluate a painting based on a black & white Xerox, and while some people will be up in arms saying it's not the same thing with music, I disagree—MP3s lose colour, space, and depth, all of which can affect your relationship with a song."
Spot on.
Forgot the singles...
...'Point Me At The Sky' and 'It Would Be So Nice' aren't that great, you aren't missing much! The B-sides to both, 'Careful With That Axe Eugene' and 'Julia Dream', are far, far superior to those tracks which are basically faux-Syd Barrett numbers to these ears.
I made it
Took much longer than I expected but I made the Best Of, which I have titled "Anderson Council: The Best Of 1968-1972". Some alterations have been made. I have removed "Echoes" simply because it's a track I hear on a semi-regular basis anyway, so I thought I would instead favour tracks I rarely listen to.
I discussed the list with someone and he suggested "Let There Be More Light" and tracks 4 - 6. I'm unfamiliar with the "More" tracks so I've no idea how well chosen they are.
"Fearless" has been added to get the running time up to 74.41. Also note that "Careful with That Axe, Eugene" is now the live version from Ummagumma.
1. "Let There Be More Light" (Roger Waters) - 5:38
2. "Cirrus Minor" (Roger Waters) - 5:18
3. "The Nile Song" (Waters) - 3:26
4. "Green Is the Colour" (Waters) - 2:58
5. "Crying Song" (Waters) - 3:33
6. "Cymbaline" (Waters) - 4:50
7. "Careful with That Axe, Eugene" (Live) (Roger Waters, Rick Wright, David Gilmour, Nick Mason) - 8:50
8. "Grantchester Meadows" (Waters) - 7:26
9. "Fat Old Sun" (David Gilmour) - 5:24
10. "If" (Roger Waters) - 4:31
11. "San Tropez" (Roger Waters) - 3:43
12. "Fearless" (David Gilmour, Roger Waters) - 6:08
13. "Wot's... Uh the Deal" (David Gilmour/Roger Waters) - 5:08
14. "The Gold It's in the..." (David Gilmour/Roger Waters) - 3:07
15. "Free Four" (Roger Waters) - 4:15
My original list is probably better, but as it's just for my own listening I have crafted it to my own idiosyncratic tastes. If you plan to make a playlist I would suggest using my original list.
I'll listen to it tomorrow and update you on the results.
Update
I've now listened to my Best Of and I'm fairly happy with it, although "Cirrus Minor" doesn't seem to fit well as track 2 so I'm going to delete it. I can't think of anything to replace it with (I listen to "Meddle" as an album quite a bit so I don't feel a need to cover it extensively with more tracks).
If I was making the Best Of for others this is how I would do it:
1. "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun" (Roger Waters) - 5:28
2. "The Nile Song" (Waters) - 3:26
3. "Cymbaline" (Waters) - 4:50
4. "Careful with That Axe, Eugene" (Live) (Roger Waters, Rick Wright, David Gilmour, Nick Mason) - 8:50
5. "Grantchester Meadows" (Waters) - 7:26
6. "Fat Old Sun" (David Gilmour) - 5:24
7. "If" (Roger Waters) - 4:31
8. "Echoes" (David Gilmour, Nick Mason, Roger Waters, Rick Wright) - 23:29
9. "Wot's... Uh the Deal" (David Gilmour/Roger Waters) - 5:08
10. "The Gold It's in the..." (David Gilmour/Roger Waters) - 3:07
11. "Free Four" (Roger Waters) - 4:15
Should come to about 76 minutes.
I removed "One Of These Days" which I think most people would miss but I feel "Echoes" covers the "Meddle" album extensively all on its own. And personally I would prefer "Let There Be More Light" instead of "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun".
The person who suggested "Let There Be More Light" thinks Placebo ripped off its riff for the song "Taste In Men".
Cymbaline
Is a great call. Lyrically it's one of the most interesting from the period. "Apprehension creeping like a tube train up my spine".
Songs
Excellent choice, I would find space for Biding my time somewhere in there, an excellent song.
"Biding My Time"
I've added "Biding My Time" between "Cymbaline" and "Careful With That Axe, Eugene" on my version without "Echoes". Unfortunately I don't know when it was recorded, although I read that it was performed live in 1969 so I assume it's best to put it in between the albums "More" and "Ummagumma".
I suggest calling it...
"Oh s**t, what are we going to do now?! Our songwriter's incapacitated and we're going to have to noodle aimlessly for a few years until Waters gets his act together."
The list one last time
I've listened to both versions of my Best Of quite a lot in such a short space of time. I'm very happy with both of them.
The version without "Echoes":
1. "Let There Be More Light" (from Saucerful of Secrets) - 5:38
Not a good song but it does have an interesting bass riff. It's either this or "Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Sun" as I need a song from the underwhelming Saucerful of Secrets album. "Set The Controls" is a well regarded song but personally I don't like it that much, and it's already available on the Echoes 2CD Best Of.
2. "The Nile Song" (from More or Relics) - 3:26
A very enjoyable thrashing heavy metal track. Has high curiosity value and it's one of the few genuinely good songs they recorded during this era.
3. "Green Is the Colour" (from More) - 2:58
Laid back song so it contrasts well with "The Nile Song". Nothing remarkable and it's only here for the sake of it, and because More is a overlooked album so this track is probably rarely heard by even fans of this period.
4. "Crying Song" (from More) - 3:33
Nothing remarkable and it's only here for the sake of it, and because More is a overlooked album.
5. "Cymbaline" (from More) - 4:50
A good song. Interesting lyrics.
6. "Biding My Time" (from Relics) - 5:18
A good song and has rarity value as it's only available on the Relics compilation.
7. "Careful with That Axe, Eugene" (Live) (from Ummagumma) - 8:50
A fan favourite. This live recording is much better than the studio version available on the Relics compilation. Also has the added bonus of getting a song from the Ummagumma live disc onto this Best Of.
8. "Grantchester Meadows" (from Ummagumma) - 7:26
It's only here as I want one track to cover the Ummagumma studio album. This is the best track (in fact it's the only option) from a bad collection of "songs".
9. "Fat Old Sun" (from Atom Heart Mother) - 5:24
A fan favourite and Gilmour talks highly of it. Gilmour said it was a companion piece to "Grantchester Meadows" so I've sequenced them back to back. Personally I don't much like this song and instead I would favour "Summer 68" from Atom Heart Mother.
10. "If" (from Atom Heart Mother) - 4:31
An okay song; and the lyrics deal with madness so it points the way towards Dark Side Of The Moon.
11. "San Tropez" (from Meddle) - 3:43
I listen to the Meddle album a lot so I don't feel a need to put many tracks from it on this Best Of. Also the two obvious highlights ("Echoes" and "One Of These Days") are both featured on the Echoes 2CD Best Of. I really like the jazzy "San Tropez". It might be album filler, but it's fun and enjoyable.
12. "Fearless" (from Meddle) - 6:08
It was either this or "Pillow Of Winds". "Fearless" won as it feels more substantial.
13. "Wot's... Uh the Deal" (from Obscured by Clouds) - 5:08
The Obscured by Clouds album is pretty decent and has a quite a few good songs on it. This has a nice piano riff on it that is untypically of Pink Floyd.
14. "The Gold It's in the..." (from Obscured by Clouds) - 3:07
A good rock song.
15. "Free Four" (from Obscured by Clouds) - 4:15
A very good song and the lyrics deal with madness, war and the passage of time; making it the perfect closing track as it points the listener towards Dark Side Of The Moon which is the next album they recorded.
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The version with "Echoes":
1. "Let There Be More Light" (from Saucerful of Secrets) - 5:38
2. "The Nile Song" (from More or Relics) - 3:26
3. "Cymbaline" (from More) - 4:50
It's a good song (better than "Green Is the Colour" and "Crying Song" from the same album). It's obscurity also makes it a refreshing track as it's such an unexpected choice on this version of the Best Of.
4. "Careful with That Axe, Eugene" (Live) (from Ummagumma) - 8:50
5. "Grantchester Meadows" (from Ummagumma) - 7:26
6. "Fat Old Sun" (from Atom Heart Mother) - 5:24
7. "If" (from Atom Heart Mother) - 4:31
8. "Echoes" (full length version from Meddle) - 23:43
This track is the only new song from the list above. By adding it to the Best Of I had to delete "Green Is the Colour", "Crying Song", "Biding My Time", "San Tropez" and "Fearless". "Echoes" covers the Meddle album so extensively that "San Tropez" and "Fearless" will not be missed.
9. "Wot's... Uh the Deal" (from Obscured by Clouds) - 5:08
10. "The Gold It's in the..." (from Obscured by Clouds) - 3:07
11. "Free Four" (from Obscured by Clouds) - 4:15
I've kept all three tracks from Obscured by Clouds as they are all good (certainly more worthy of inclusion than tracks 1, 5 and 6).
Anyone know a good image I can download on the internet that would be appropriate for this Best Of?