Pink Floyd and The Incredible String Band.
Pink Floyd.
The album was released on the EMI Columbia label:
Side 1 opens with a Roger Waters composition called “Let There Be More Light”, and this is a brilliant intro to the LP. It is a staccato thing with a very insistent beat and lyrics which eerily repeat the last word of each line three times. It is instantly recognisable as Pink Floyd, but it is not Syd Barrett singing. In fact Roger Waters sings the verses with others joining in the harmonised refrains. There is a reference to “Lucy in the Sky”. Wonderful stuff.
Track 2 is “Remember A Day”, a much dreamier thing written by Rick Wright with him singing the lead vocal and the others again joining in the harmonised refrains. It will be recalled from the previous post that this song was recorded by Pink Floyd Mark 1, so Dave Gilmour does not feature on it at all.
Track 3 is Roger Waters’ first composition, the fantastic “Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Sun”. The lyrics are all taken from ancient Chinese poetry apart from the title, which comes from a science fiction novel called “Fireclown” by Michael Moorcock. So, there was not an original word in the whole thing, but it is still an absolute classic of a piece. A live version appears on “Umma Gumma”. It will also be recalled from the last post that somewhere in this song is a recording of Syd Barrett playing guitar.
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