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Pink Floyd: Ummagumma

 A l b u m   D e t a i l s


Label: EMI Records
Released: 1969.10.25
Time:
 55:33
Category: Pop/Rock
Producer(s): Norman Smith, Pink Floyd
Rating: ******.... (6/10)
Media type: CD
Web address: www.pinkfloyd.com
Appears with: David Gilmour, Roger Waters, Richard Wright
Purchase date: 1999
Price in €: 8,99



 S o n g s ,   T r a c k s


[1] Sysyphus, Part 1 (R.Waters) - 1:08
[2] Sysyphus, Part 2 (R.Waters) - 3:25
[3] Sysyphus, Part 3 (R.Waters) - 1:48
[4] Sysyphus, Part 4 (R.Waters) - 6:56
[5] Grantchester Meadows (R.Waters) - 7:28
[6] Several Species of Small Furry Animals Gathered Together in a Cave An (R.Waters) - 4:57
[7] Narrow Way, Part 1 (D.Gilmour) - 3:29
[8] Narrow Way, Part 2 (D.Gilmour) - 2:53
[9] Narrow Way, Part 3 (D.Gilmour) - 5:52
[10] Grand Vizier's Garden Party: Enterance, Part 1 (N.Mason) - 0:59
[11] Grand Vizier's Garden Party: Entertainment, Part 2 (N.Mason) - 7:06
[12] Grand Vizier's Garden Party: Exit, Part 3 (N.Mason) - 0:40

 A r t i s t s ,   P e r s o n n e l


ROGER WATERS - Bass Guitar, Vocals
NICK MASON - Percussion, Drums
RICHARD WRIGHT - Keyboards, Vocals
DAVID GILMOUR - Guitar, Vocals

BRIAN HUMPRIES - Engineer
PETER MEW - Engineer
HIPGNOSYS - Design, Photography
E. JANUARY - Design

 C o m m e n t s ,   N o t e s


1987 CD Capitol C2-46404
1969 LP Harvest 388
1995 CD EMI 46404 8
1990 LP Capitol 388
1987 CS Capitol C4-46404

Recorded at: The live part was recorded at 3 live venues - Bromley Technical College, Bromley Common, Kent (April 26th, 1969); Mothers, Erdington, Birmingham, Warwickshire (April 27th, 1969); and College of Commerce, Manchester, Lancashire (May 2nd, 1969).



A double album, divided into live and studio discs. The live disc did a lot to put them on the map as figureheads of the international background, with precise, well-recorded versions of four of their most interesting early lengthy opuses ("Astronomy Domine," "Careful with That Axe, Eugene," "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun," "A Saucerful of Secrets"). "Astronomy Domine," though performed minus its writer and original vocalist (Syd Barrett), could be said to surpass the original studio version (from Piper at the Gates of Dawn) in spookiness and drawn-out intensity. The studio disc allowed each of the four members one or two lengthy compositions, with variable results. The attempts at avant-garde experimentalism were unimpressive and have dated badly, but Roger Waters' "Grantchester Meadows," by contrast, is a lovely ballad, and one of their best early songs.

Richie Unterberger - All Music Guide
© 1992 - 2001 AEC One Stop Group, Inc.



Released in 1969, Ummagumma represents where the influence of departed founding songwriter Syd Barrett began to fade in favor of the rather less whimsical and pastoral visions of Roger Waters. Ummagumma is a double album, divided into live and studio halves. The live cuts--"Astronomy Domine," "Careful with That Axe, Eugene," "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun," and "A Saucerful of Secrets"--established the Floyd's predilection for gloomily atmospheric and faintly preposterous sci-fi bombast that would turn them into such a successful stage act. The kindest that may be said of the studio compositions--by and large interminable avant-prog rambles in search of the lost chord--is that they haven't dated terribly well.

Andrew Mueller -  Amazon.com



Als "wichtigstes Album der britischen Popmusik im Jahre 1969" (Sounds) erschien mit dem vierten Werk Pink Floyds ein Doppel-Album, dessen erste Hälfte aus vier live-Versionen bekannter Stücke bestand, während Teil zwei eine Art Werkschau der vier Londoner darstellte. Von den Kritikern als schwer verdaulich eingestuft, konnte sich dieses interessante Stück Musik immerhin auf Platz sechs der britischen und Platz 25 der deutschen LP-Charts schwingen und war selbst in den USA noch in den Top-Hundred.

Inhaltlich betrachtet handelt es sich hier um zwei völlig verschiedene Scheiben. Die vier live vorgetragenen Stücke, mittlerweile allesamt Klassiker des Psychedelic-Rock -- darunter eine sehr außergewöhnlich vorgetragene Version von "Careful With That Axe, Eugene" -- bestechen durch ihre Intensität und ihre Spährenhaftigkeit, die dennoch spannend bleibt, Psychedelic der allerersten Klasse, trotzdem noch verständlich.

Etwas schwieriger gestaltet sich Nummer zwei: Zwölf Stücke bzw. Geräusche. Jeder der Vier durfte sich kompositorisch zu einem Konzept austoben, was Erstaunliches zur Folge hatte. Zum Großteil war das Ergebnis experimentell und verwirrend, es finden sich unzusammenhängende Geräuschkulissen mit teilweise dumpfen Hintergründen, Musikfetzen und manchmal sogar Rhythmus, mehr E- als U-Musik. Herausgenommen seien die zwei Kompositionen von Roger Waters, der später fast alle Lieder schrieb. Mit "Grantchester Meadows" gelang ihm ein wunderschönes Gitarrenstück, das sieben Minuten entspannt wie ein warmer Sommersonntag dahinplätschert, um dann in einen aberwitzigen elektronischen Zoo zu münden. Für jeden Fan natürlich Teil der Sammlung, als erstes Pink Floyd-Album im Regal jedoch nur hartgesotten Experimentierfreudigen zu empfehlen.

Felix von Vietsch - Amazon.de



Apparently this double disc - an obligatory purchase for all hipsters on its release in 1969 - isn't too highly regarded by the Floyd themselves these days ("Ummagumma - what a disaster!", Roger Waters is said to have remarked); but it's one of the most adventurous mainstream rock ventures of all time, and certainly the Floyd's best stab at being avant-garde.

As with the original LP, the CD set is divided into two discs. The first contains the live album of four old favourites, recorded at favoured Floyd venues of the time, with studio overdubs added later. The sparkling version of "Astronomy Domine" and a chilling "Careful With That Axe, Eugene" (the first of many Floyd tracks about insanity) are particularly outstanding, and helped cement the Floyd's status as cult superstars. Each group member was given half a vinyl side to experiment with (doing it all by himself, including lyrics, playing, etc) in the second disc -- the studio one. It is said that Nick Mason probably cheated as the flute is most likely played by his wife.

The original intention of the band was to include those live songs as a sort of "farewell" gesture. They would release the live versions, and then stop playing them. However with the popularity of the album, the public kept wanting to hear the songs from Ummagumma Live, and so they stayed in their set lists.

A version of "Interstellar Overdrive" was also recorded and mixed with the intention of being included on the album, but was eventually not included. John Peel received an acetate of it, which he liked very much, but this was stolen. What happened to it is unknown.

Nick Mason: "This was absolutely not a band album. The live stuff sounds incredibly antiquated now, although the fact of Pink Floyd playing at Mothers in Birmingham was considered a bit of an event at the time. We were looking for new ways of constructing an album, although I think what this demonstrates is that our sum is always better than the parts. EMI was very hidebound in those days. It was still run by guys in white coats. I was prevented from editing my own tapes by a studio manager who told me I wasn't a union member."

David Gilmour: "I'd never written anything before. I just went into the studio and started waffling about, tacking bits and pieces together. I rang up Roger at one point to ask him to write me some lyrics. He just said, No."

"Ummagumma" was a slang term for knockin' boots. (Knockin' boots of course being a slang term for doing the Wild Thang; which is, of course, slang for having sex.) Of course, Rock and Roll was a slang term for -- you get the picture. So, looked at that way, the album "Ummagumma" could simply mean "Rock and Roll." (From David Schuetz and Steven Dobbs)

On some album cover pressings, the album seen leaning on the wall is the soundtrack to "Gigi." It was deleted in US pressings due to copyright ownership problems. The US pressing had a "Special Buy" label on the cover. Also, the last "reflection" in the wall is of the cover to "A Saucerful of Secrets".

The picture on the back is taken at Biggin Hill airfield. The roadies on the picture are Alan Stiles (the same referred to in Atom Heart Mother's "Alan's Psychedelic Breakfast") and Pete Watts. The "Jude" listed alongside Waters is Judy Trim, Roger's first wife.

The song "Several Species of Small Furry Animals Gathered Together in a Cave and Grooving With a Pict" was done all by Roger Waters himself. The weird sounds are obtained by playing human voices back at various speeds, whereas the drumming sounds are created by Water drumming with his hands on his body and a table (or something similar). A "pict" is a member of a possibly non-Celtic people who once occupied Great Britain, carried on continual border wars with the Romans, and about the ninth century became amalgamated with the Scots. There is are still discussions as far as what is said during the song.

On Rick Wright's "Sysyphus" you can hear the opening melody of "Silent Night, Holy Night". Sysyphus, more commonly spelled as 'Sisyphus,' was a figure of Greek mythology who was punished by being made to roll a rock up a hill for all eternity.

www.pinkfloydfan.net
 

 L y r i c s


Sysyphus Part 1

Instrumental


Sysyphus Part 2

Instrumental


Sysyphus Part 3

Instrumental


Sysyphus Part 4

Instrumental


Grantchester Meadows

Icy wind of night, be gone.
This is not your domain.
In the sky a bird was heard to cry.
Misty morning whisperings and gentle stirring sounds
Belied a deathly silence that lay all around.
Hear the lark and harken to the barking of the dog fox gone to ground.
See the splashing of the kingfisher flashing to the water.
And a river of green is sliding unseen beneath the trees,
Laughing as it passes through the endless summer making for the sea.

In the lazy water meadow
I lay me down.
All around me,
Golden sunflakes settle on the ground,
Basking in the sunshine of a by gone afternoon,
Bringing sounds of yesterday into this city room.
Hear the lark and harken to the barking of the dog fox gone to ground.
See the splashing of the kingfisher flashing to the water.
And a river of green is sliding unseen beneath the trees,
Laughing as it passes through the endless summer making for the sea.

In the lazy water meadow
I lay me down.
All around me,
Golden sunflakes covering the ground,
Basking in the sunshine of a by gone afternoon,
Bringing sounds of yesterday into my city room.
Hear the lark and harken to the barking of the dog fox gone to ground.
See the splashing of the kingfisher flashing to the water.
And a river of green is sliding unseen beneath the trees,
Laughing as it passes through the endless summer making for the sea.


Several Species of Small Furry Animals Gathered Togetherin a Cave and Grooving with a Pict

Instrumental


The Narrow Way Part 1

Instrumental


The Narrow Way Part 2

Instrumental


The Narrow Way Part 3

Following the path as it leads towards the Darkness in the North
Weary strangers' faces show their sympathy
They've seen that hope before
And if you want to stay for a little bit
Rest your aching limbs for a little bit
Before you the night is beckoning
And you know you can't delay
You hear the night birds calling you
But you can't touch the restless sky
Close your aching eyes beyond your name
Mist is swelling, creatures crawling,
Hear the roar get louder in your ears
You know the folly was your own
But the force behind can't conquer all your fears
And if you want to stay for a little bit
Rest your aching limbs for a little bit
Before you the night is beckoning
And you know you can't delay
You hear the night birds calling you
But you can't touch the restless sky
Close your aching eyes beyond your name

Throw your thoughts back many years
To the time when there was life in every morning
Perhaps a day will come
When the nights will be as on that morning
And if you want to stay for a little bit
Rest your aching limbs for a little bit
Before you the night is beckoning
And you know you can't delay
You hear the night birds calling you
But you can't touch the restless sky
Close your aching eyes beyond your name


The Vizier's Garden Party Part 1 - Entrance

Instrumental


The Vizier's Garden Party Part 2 - Entertainment

Instrumental


The Vizier's Garden Party Part 3 - Exit

Instrumental

 M P 3   S a m p l e s


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