Pink Floyd The Early Years 1965-1972 -Anticip/ation

Just putting this up here: Langford & Kerr (who?) cover Seabirds on the Moving Soundtracks compilation released in '91. The only known released cover, I think. Can't find any more info about the performers. For some reason the song is repeated three times.

 

Just reporting back having attended the YouTube live stream event in Kings Cross, London with Nick Mason. A fantastic fun event, with a few free drinks and nibbles available.

If you watched it online, there's not much else to report though the preview of the remastered 4.0 mix of Atom Heart Mother was fantastic - the choir was coming from behind you! Pompeii 5.1 was mixed as more of a traditional live mix and wasn’t as ‘engulfing’ as I’d hoped but I was sat to the left in the front row (watching back on the stream, I look rather dishevelled hahah!). I also loved the newly unearthed Ian Eames animation that accompanied Nothing Part 14.

I'm slightly gutted that I missed the opportunity to meet Nick Mason afterwards as he stayed to chat with fans at the bar. Instead, I was engrossed in a group discussion with a group of five fans and Andy Jackson and Andy Murray (from PF management). We talked about the set for around 20 minutes. Some nuggets that you will hopefully appreciate:

• Nothing Part 14 is from a 2 track stereo mix down. No multis survive. AJ knew nothing about the early Echoes with alternate lyrics that was featured on the BBC Record Producers documentary a few years ago. (more on this later)
• Madamoiselle Nobs was remixed in 5.1 but the band didn’t want it included!
• AJ stated that the three tracks from 1972 Brighton Dome show features on the DSOTM Immersion set are the only surviving tracks in the archive. Another fan mentioned the Breathe recording from Classic Albums but he knew nothing about it. He wouldn’t be pressed on the topic (in a very polite way).
• Montreux 1970 is a stereo recording and they had no idea if it was direct from the desk or captured by onstage mics. AJ mentioned RonToon by name and confirmed that Ron had listened to confirm this was not previously circulated.
• Regarding the decision to remix OBC, AJ stated that they had access to the multitracks (16 tracks) and they all felt it would benefit from a remix as it was made in a rush. I commented on how wonderful Childhood’s End sounded - in particular the drums. AJ said there was some rather odd recording techniques for the drums on that album - for some songs, drums were on one track (mono), others in stereo. He mentioned that it was poorly engineered and it was difficult achieving good sound for the remix but I think he did an admirable job.
• He said that the fixing the off-air BBC tracks was challenging. At this point AM joined the conversation and essentially said if the track wasn’t of a releasable standard it wasn’t included.
• AM said that they’d received a lot of negative comments from fans saying ‘you haven’t included this’ etc and then went on to single out Seabirds. AM said that the track labelled as Seabirds was labelled as such on the original tape box. They didn’t change the name as this was how it was labelled and if they asked the band, they'd probably have no clue what they were talking about (i.e. if he phoned Nick up to ask “we’ve found a track labelled ‘x’ is that right? what should it be called?' the response would be muted). AJ had previously stated that the multitrack for More were missing (should have been caught by the live stream as it was part of his speech). During our discussion he speculated that this may have been an alternative attempt at fitting the particular mood required by the film. When asked by another fan about the 1976 songbook which features the lyrics, AM went on to say they located a tape with a Roger vocal but it was inaudible (he didn't indicate if this was the same as featured in the film More).
• AM mentioned visiting the BBC tape archive where they were able to take 96/24 transfers and he would take a photo of the tape box. AJ would then sit and listen to them (sometimes nothing was on them that was relevant - AJ mentioned old radio plays). AM also mentioned the old Britannia Row tape collection from which a lot of material was salvaged.
• AM then went on to mention Nothing Parts 1 to 24. He suggested that there were multiple surviving multitrack tapes (he indicated these were the same as featured in the Record Producers documentary when someone referenced them). He said that he had intended to include these when the project was in development and these tapes were lying about. However, Endless River took over and when the project received the final green light in December 2015, things moved so fast that this was forgotten.
• AM also added that the Continu/ation disc was intended to mop up stuff and it was quite full. However, he said the only two things that were dropped were an alternate remix of Free Four with different lyrics that AJ prepared when remixing the album (is this new information?). He said it was too jarring to include it at the end of the OBC disc. He also mentioned that Roger Waters had given permission to include Give Birth To a Smile from the Body soundtrack. But time constraints prevented this.
• With respect to some of the omissions, AM said if fans have access to things that the archive may not have, they are always keen to hear.
• For the Committee songs, AM said that that only two tracks were included as these were the only ones easily obtainable from the film soundtrack itself and were not obscured by narration. He joked that he wanted to call one of them ‘Do you play bridge?’ in reference to a line from the film but the band were not keen on this.
• With regards to the price of the box, AM said that it is expensive, but its also ‘bloody expensive’ to make. It will be limited but not to the point it will sell out before Christmas. He said that once it’s gone (he estimated March/April 2017), then its unlikely to be repressed and it will be the individual releases that will replace them. He said that he accepts fans will be unhappy about the decisions but was keen to stress that you can wait for the individual releases so if you’re a Syd fan, buy the first few sets, if you want OBC, buy that set.

And with that, I think thats the bulk of the discussion and sorry, AFAIK no one asked about the 5.1 mix of OBC. Happy to answer any questions or clarify the above. I must say it was some fantastic insight from AJ and AM (who were both very open) that I was grateful to hear and I appreciated their time - we must have come across as sad devotees asking such questions.

 

I'm in the UK and got the box early and have been ripping the discs to my PC. The Pompeii audio CD has 6 tracks but tracks 1 and 6 are two different versions of Careful With That Axe, Eugene. Track 1 is 6.45 mins and track 6 is 6.06 mins.

The actual tracks / timings are -
1. CWTAE 6.45
2. Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Sun 10.35
3. One Of These Days 5.50
4. A Saucerful Of Secrets 12.49
5. Echoes 24.56
6. CWTAE 6.06

As I mentioned a few pages ago there is no reference to the Pompeii audio CD anywhere in the book, no tracklisting or artwork (photos and info are sparse in every book actually). The Obfusc/ation book where the Pompeii CD was housed only has the details and tracklisting of the OBC 2016 remix, which should have been there in it's place.

 

Fascinating! Maybe someday for the Nothing parts...

I do believe Free Four has different lyrics in the actual film, so perhaps that is what was being used for that remix? Maybe it's included as part of the film (and can be extracted from it!) Maybe Roger will decide to commission an expanded Music From The Body album.

 

Little question, anyone knows what font was used for the box set, especially on the Cre/ation front cover? Looks like 'American Typewriter' but much thinner.

 

Thank you so much for this, it was very insightful
Sounds like there's quite some leftovers, I wonder what will become of those? Dare we hope for something more in the future?

 

How cool!So when you say no multis exist that means for Nothing 14 and not for Meddle because there would be no 5.1 if there was no multis,also any more info on what years they transfered the BBC from tape?68 and up maybe?I read somewhere in this massive thread the the 71 show was a clone of the BBC CD that stations play.

 

I was just PM'd by a fellow SH member that the DVD and Blu-rays from the The Early Years 1965-1972 will be available separately in the future. Is there any specific information and or links for those discs? Thanks !

 

Oh my god, thanks so much for these hot informations! Glad you were there, hope you had a great time!
Wow, most of the Brighton Dome recordings are lost? That's really sad to hear...
Would be great to hear the rest of the 'Nothing' sessions in the future. Hope Andy Jackson will have time for that someday.
And hey, looks like the 'Seabirds' problem is solved.

 

So Nick says they cleaned up individual frames of film,so this is a good sign that some stuff may appear in true 1080P on the Blu rays.

 

That sounds interesting! Hope this is legit news.

 

I've just seen the unboxing segment of the video. Not very impressive, I must say.
If there is any Grateful Dead fan in here, he will perfectly understand when I say that this box ain't no porch crusher at all!
Anyway, I'm getting it because of the contents. I can't wait to immerse in all that music and footage.

 

Thanks for posting all of this info. And I had to laugh when I saw this.
Andy told me the same thing about Seabirds and that's why I've attempted to put a spin on it. My guess is that the original track is gone or on that auctioned reel under some collector's bed.

And FYI, the only song they had on that Montreux tape was AHM.

 

They must be referring to the individual boxes being released next year.

 

Nothing part 14, as featured on the box comes from a two track stereo tape according to Andy Jackson.

Not sure about the Meddle multis but Andy Murray suggested the tapes exist for all of the Nothings (parts 1 to 24).

 

I hope this means they will release a package of just the audio also. Individual audio sets, in modest packaging for low prices.

 

Of course I was. I'm surprised at the number of people this info. has gotten past, in the last 4 months.
The individual releases are exactly what I'm waiting for.
.

 

I heard the two Montreux performances were recorded by EMI. Does that mean the record company tried to release this as a live album back in 1971 or so?

 

Any links or specific information on the individual box sets? Thanks !

 

I want my boxset. I'm fed up with 2016 and this week in particular. I want my boxset and I want it NOW.

I'm done with anticipa/tion - I need distrac/tion.

 

Not much info previously. Just the release time: Early 2017.

 

I can't wait anymore as well. I just need some Money from the N/ation.^^

 

They probably won't be announced until next year. The information on each individual box can be found on this pdf. The only thing that wont be included is the big memorabilia (at the bottom of the box), the 45s, and the CONTINU/ATION box. Should be on sale by next March.

http://www.pinkfloyd.com/news/pdfs/Complete_Early_Years_Box_Track_Listing.pdf

I don't know if this has ever been verified. Even Glenn's new book doesn't mention anything about an official recording. I know that there were open reel recordings made for each show but that was recorded by a private collector. I bought some of the master reels from him a while back.

 

Thank you both for that information !

 

July 29th : Pink Floyd The Early Years 1965-1972 -Anticip/ation » Apparently, you forgot !