Pink Floyd - The Early Years 1965-1972 Box Set - Realiz/ation (Content, tracks, etc. ONLY!)

The quality of the live Stockholm recording is just amazing. Even the drums are in stereo! That's pretty amazing for an amateur live recording from 1967. Someone took their time, and knew what they were doing.

They wouldn't have performed without microphones, of course, and it sounds like some of the vocals we can hear are being picked up from PA speakers. I'd bet all four of them probably had microphones - Syd for leads, Rick for leads and harmonies, Roger for introductions and Set the Controls, and Nick for Scream Thy Last Scream. But they can't have all malfunctioned, especially if we're hearing some reflection back from the PA speakers. And surely if none of the microphones worked, someone would have tried to fix the situation during the show. So I bet the microphones worked.

So why aren't they on the tape? This was still a primitive era for live sound reinforcement. What if they had two mixers, or a separate PA for instruments and vocals? Seems weird that someone would go to the trouble of mic'ing the drums in stereo, but not bother to record the vocals.

Which makes me wonder, what if the vocals were recorded, from the other mixer or PA, on a separate as yet undiscovered reel?

Whatever happened, this concert is an appropriately baffling addition to Syd's legacy.

 

Totally agree with Ron. Pink Floyd is a pro-active corporation. At the end of the day I am extremely pleased with all of all their archival releases. Immersion through to Early Years. I believe Meddle 5.1 will get a release. All of the live albums and hopefully as Ron suggested an Animals box with 5.1 and live show(s) from 1977. In addition as Ron broke the news David is working with Andy on a live concert release this year hopefully similar to Gdansk for different formats.

 

It was reported on another forum that Andy's work with David's live Pompeii release was done. I also heard that it's unlikely that we'll see a 5.1 release of Animals this year. That's not to say that we won't see some form of release by the end of the year but I'm not sure if anything is planned at this time. It also looks like Gilmour is also working on his follow up to Rattle that Lock.

 

Since you bought it and watched it? Is the BluRay now fixed in the Individual Obfusc/ation Set?

Do you recall what the original problems were with the BluRay that came with Obfusc/ation in the Complete Box Set? I thought it was a problem reading the menu, or were there other issues actually playing the material on it?

 

I think the answer is perhaps more simple, ie that the gig was recorded with a stereo pair of microphones by the stage which picked up the instruments terrifically well via the backline, and maybe it was only the vocals which were going through the PA, given that the venue was a relatively small Jazz venue, and it was 1967. Maybe the recording mics were not positioned in front of the PA and therefore missed the vocals.

 

It's a great thing that this has been released as it does show just how extraordinary Syd was as a guitarist. There are plenty of live Hendrix discs, for example, to show what he was capable of. To have one with Syd in full flight in decent qualiy released cements his place in the pantheon of innovators.

 

Correct. Anders Lind who recorded the concert said in an interview that the vocal were very low first place. Secondly, the microphones were positioned between Roger and Syd making it even more difficult to capture the low vocals. "Earlier Anders Lind had explained that there was no such thing as a PA system back in '67, and there was no one mixing the sound. The sound came from the amps on stage and the signal from the vocal microphones were sent to a couple of small vocal amps. The sound was a result of each musician handling their own amp, and during the show the vocal amps would probably not be adjusted at all."

 

I don't think Nick sang that one live on stage.

 

I don't remember reading about any problems, and I am sorry to report that since I received it, I haven't had the time to sit diwn and watch it.

I will post when I do.

 

That would also explain why the well known lower quality Floyd boots from the Syd era (Copenhagen and Rotterdam from memory?) also suffer from poor to inaudible vocals...

 

Possibly. I asked because you said they were intended for the Syd comp.

 

Syd and Rick seemed to sing very softly and in a much less assertive way than Roger and David.

 

And this is why Reaction in Stockholm (G) is a holy grail. It had no vocals. So you have a previously unknown Syd Floyd jam, with them at their peak, in absolutely stunning quality. What an incredible find!

 

The intro to the Stockholm set always makes me laugh. P-I-N-K-F-L-O-Y-D! The MC was not aware of the almost sacred quality that name would have years later!

 

Anyone noticed that It Would Be So Nice is full of dropouts on Germin/Ation? I wonder why tape that isn't used so much since 1968 is in so bad shape

 

Barrett and Wright both did the job, singing in harmony. You have te BBC version as an example.

 

Hmm very interesting! Thanks! You can hear the vocal mics feedback at 3:09 of Reaction in G, and occasionally thereafter, so there must have been some sort of sound reinforcement for vocals. For the presentation of the tape back in 2010, they set up mannequins on stage, and the tape seems to verify the placement of the mannequins. The audio is presented from the perspective of the performers, which is kind of cool if you think about it. If there were really only two mics, one must have been between Roger and Syd and the other between Syd and Rick. I wonder if the vocal amps were sitting on the front of the stage, and if the two stage mics were above or behind the vocal amps. The MC may have been standing far enough back that he could be picked up by the stage mics.

 

Since Rick was sitting down, wouldn't he need his own ~ leaving the other for Syd & Roger to share? Or are you referring to the stage mics, rather than the vocal ones?

 

Finally got a chance to hear this all on streaming. Sound quality is great throughout!

As others have pointed out the Stockholm performance is quite a gem, even if the vocals are lacking. The highlights for me are Reaction In G, and the early version of Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun.

It's interesting to hear the other songs in a mostly instrumental form. I noticed the bass line in See Emily Play is quite similar to the Reaction In G bass line heard on other performances. Maybe it's just me, though.

The John Latham tracks aren't as interesting as I'd hope they'd be, but I'm glad they included them.

It's awesome to finally hear the original 1965 tracks as well.

 

Yeah, I did notice a drop or two towards the beginning. There's also one towards the beginning of Julia Dream.

The Interstellar Overdrive BBC recording sounds like it also suffers tape damage or it comes form a different source than the rest of the of the December 68 recordings. It's definitely not as bright/clear as Point Me At the Sky and Embryo.

Given the age of all of the content in the box, I'm surprised how much of it survived in outstanding quality. A few quirks here and there are totally acceptable.

 

I rather like the Pompeii mix. Art is subjective. Some bass boost, although the drums sound a bit muddy...

 

IO comes from fan's off-air recordings while Point Me & Embryo comes from official BBC Transcription Service disc sourced directly from BBC.

There's more than two drops in IWBSN

 

Thanks for the update Ron. It would be great if Nick was invited to play drums on a song from David's new project. I was disappointed Nick had no invite studio or live on Rattle That Lock I thought The Endless River project brought David and Nick closer.

 

The irony about the Stockholm recording sounding so incredible (my only complaint being the infuriating but, ultimately, harmless and easily fixable mastering error at the start of Pow R Toc H) is that professional soundboard (multi-track?) recordings were made at the same venue almost two years earlier for the two Ornette Coleman Golden Circle albums. I'm not complaining though. No doubt the Coleman recordings were done specifically for the albums. We just got lucky (almost half a century later) that someone went to the trouble of recording the Floyd so well that night.

As for the VM and STLS mix disagreements...I really don't see what's wrong with the mixes. Modern mixes are going to sound like modern mixes. My biggest gripe with VM is the song. I don't think it's that great a song. STLS, on the other hand, is an impressive piece of work.

 

I have taken my time to listen to the volumes and I say: What A Treasure!

To start with the 1965 tracks: sounds like the early Stones/Yardbirds/Small Faces/Who... I think it's Rado Klose singing in Remember Me; correct me if I'm wrong.

Nothing to say about the 1967 singles stuff - I've heard them many times before. Beechwoods, Scream and Vegetable sounds a bit trebly, but it's a difference between headphones and a stereo surround system...

The Stockholm gig is a "legal bootleg" - good performance but lacks in the vocals. (Off topic: Anders Lind, who recorded this concert, sits with recordings with Jimi Hendrix jamming with the drums/organ duo Hansson & Karlsson.) The John Latham recording sounds like an extended Interstellar Overdrive to me.

Why didn't they release the Amsterdam concert The Man and The Journey back in 1969? Instead they shelved it for more than 40 years! Unbelievable...

The Zabriskie Point stuff... I think they listened to the tracks and selected the best parts for this collection.

The Pompeii soundtrack... Good sound quality, a brutal bassline in "One of These Days" and a very excellent version of ASoS. Frankly, I don't miss the track "Mademoiselle Nobs"; when it comes to blues, I prefer Howlin' Wolf than Howlin' Dog.

So... The BBC stuff are very good indeed (even if I miss the BBC recordings during the Syd era... oh well, you can't have it all, can you?). I like the live recordings as the studio outtakes and I see The Early Years box as a complement to the Oh By the Way box set.

To be honest, I think I'm gonna download the Bonus Continu/ation discs to get the Syd-era BBC stuff.

Cheers, Floydians out there!