Pink Floyd and The Incredible String Band.
Pink Floyd.
There are only two Pink Floyd albums on which Syd Barrett appears as a full member of the band, this first LP being the main one of them. The other is I think much well less known, and we shall come to it in a few posts time. Moreover, he does take solo vocals on one track on the second album, on which the group is for the first of several times wholly unidentified. The basic fact remains, however, that after its 1960s singles and this first LP, Syd Barrett ceased to be a member of Pink Floyd; this album is his “genuine” swansong, and he stars in it.
The record kicks off with the magnificent “Astronomy Domine”, which is a timeless classic of “progressive rock”.
“Lime and limpet green the sound surrounds the icy water underground…Neptune, Titan, stars can frighten”.
Two years after Syd had gone, the band still included this one in their live set, and indeed a longer version is also Track 1 of the live set of” Umma Gumma”, which we shall come to in a few weeks.
Track 2 is “Lucifer Sam”. This is a spaced out song about a cat, and typical of the rockier pieces on the record. The whole effect is very much down to Syd Barrett, who looked like this at the time:
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