| It is a collection of lots of Syd stuff. Some of which is of
good quality, some bad. There are a few common tracks which
I believe are the standard released versions (Emily, Candy
and a Currant Bun etc.) but some other rarer tracks of very
good quality - Scream Thy Last Scream, Vegetable Man, Lucy
Leave, King Bee. It also contains radio recordings of
Reaction in G and Stoned Alone. These are not of such good
quality. Also there is a few tracks of Syd supposedly during
his only live solo performance (1st June 1970 I think) where
he plays Baby Lemonade, Evervescing Elephant etc. but I'm
not sure about these. The quality is poor but it is
definately Syd, and it's definately live. The CD finnishes
with a recording of the backwards message from the Wall.
-ANONYMOUS
The live material on Magnesium Proverbs fits the description
of the Extravaganza '70 gig. The liner claims the recording
is from the Royal Festival Hall on 1 June 1970. -ANONYMOUS
The majority of the source notations are correct. However,
I think a few things should be pointed out in all fairness.
Here are my notes about each track:
1-2) These sound fantastic! By FAR the best quality
versions to appear anywhere. Each new Syd RoIO that has
appeared in the past year has contained these songs with
slightly better quality than the others. Let's hope this
trend continues! This disk contains a few pops and
crackles, but both songs are very listenable.
3) This puts the version on the Psychedelic Dungeon CD to
shame. There are a few pops, but not nearly so many as
before. Sadly, the actual difference between this mix and
the official one is minimal.
4,5) Yes, they were recorded on Feb 27, 1967, but there's
nothing terribly odd about that. They're simply the normal
45 versions of the songs, probably pinched from the Shine On
set or the CD Full of Secrets DJ disk.
6) Obviously recorded from vinyl, but which ? This
alternate mix is not amazingly different from the Piper
version. It's nice to have, but isn't the nicest part of
the disk.
7) This track is actually Pow R Toc H, some DJ's prattling,
and Astronomy Domine. That means that all of the following
track numbers will be out of synch with the track listing
above. The quality is quite good. There's some tape hiss,
but remarkably little.
8) The final of the "Look Of The Week" songs. This version
of Interstellar Overdrive is slightly muffled, a bit
rambling, but still a good listen. At the end of this track
is a snippet from an interview. It *might* be Paul
McCartney. I'm not a Beatles fanatic, so it might also be
someone else, but it certainly does sound like Paul.
9) The complete date and source of this track is July 23,
1967 at the Cosmopolitan Ballroom, Carlisle, Cumbria,
Scotland. Why the compilers chose to include this 30 second
version of "Reaction In G" and exclude the 4 minute version
of "Set The Controls.." is beyond me. However, again,
there's little tape hiss. Much better than my prior tapes
(although my prior tapes do contain StCftHotS)
[Actually, Carlisle (and Cumbria) is in England, but quite
near the Scottish border. This error presumably originates
with Jon Rosenberg ("A Journey Through Time & Space With
The Pink Floyd"), although I'm willing to be corrected
-- HEDONIST]
10) Stoned Alone = Reaction In G. This instrumental is
muffled and in monophonic sound. It's not amazingly fun to
listen to, but it is considerably better quality than what
I've heard before.
11) More moronic DJ ranting and an amazingly keen version of
Vegetable Man. There's little or no tape hiss or vinyl
distortion. If it weren't for the DJ's nonsense, I'd say
that this is the best version of VM to appear yet.
12) STLS is of sparkling quality. They may well have
snagged this one directly from the Psychedelic Dungeon
disk.
13) Apples & Oranges, as Arnold Layne and Candy and A
Currant Bun, is the traditional 45 version. Nothing
particularly amazing about it.
14,15&16) These are probably the best tracks on the disk, in
my humble opinion. The vocals are distorted, the tape hiss
is evident, and the guitar playing isn't the best. However,
setting all of these things aside, these are remarkable
tracks. The versions that I've had previously sound *MUCH*
worse. I've always been particularly fond of this session
for some reason. It's pretty clear that Syd's falling
apart, but he really tries to keep it all together. Like
always, the RoIO makers got the date wrong. The actual date
is February 1971. Also, for some unknown reason, they chose
to provide only 3 of the 4 songs Syd sang that night
(omitting Terrapin).
17-20) These tracks are from Syd's June 6, 1970 gig in
Olympia, London called "Extravaganza 70-Music and Fashion
Festival". (again the RoIO compiler got the date wrong)
The vocals are virtually impossible to make out until
Effervescing Elephant, where they are merely hard to make
out.
[After Effervescing Elephant you can hear someone, probably
an audience member, shout for the Mike to be turned up
because they "can't hear [his] voice". Nice to be able to
hear this at last! -- HEDONIST]
21) Several EMI outtakes of Clowns & Jugglers edited
together in a manner similar to that on the Vegetable Man
LP, "Clowns & Jugglers (1-3)". Good sound quality, but
fairly tame material.
22,23) The mono Jugband Blues... There are a few vinyl
pops, but it is different from the typical version. Very
nice.
24) The hidden message, played so you can understand it,
from the song "Empty Spaces". Kinda cool to finally hear
it.
Probably the most exciting find of them all, if it is
genuine, is the photo included with MP of Syd in his
garden. The photo is in color and shows a man that looks
almost exactly like Syd squatting in front of and under some
foliage with the sun shining across his face. Although the
photo clearly shows the face and is in color, I can't swear
to you that it really is Syd, because so few photos of Syd
(taken in the 1980's) have ever surfaced. -SCOTT
The version of Interstellar Overdrive is listed as track 9
on the CD box, but it is actually track 8 on the CD. The
previous two tracks, Pow R. Toch and Astronomy Domine, are
combined as one CD track.
The Source listing says that this is from the "Look of the
Week" show. However, this track is apparently from the UFO
club on the 20th of January, 1967.
The same recording appears on "Rhamadam: Syd Barrett and the
Dawn of Pink Floyd" (track 11) but it was taken from a
documentary shown on Granada TV. The Ramadam version is of
poorer quality with a narrators voice dubbed over the
music.
According to the list of "Pink Floyd TV Appearances", Paul
McCartney was interviewed for this documentary. That would
explain why the Magnesium Proverbs version of IO ends with
him talking. MWP
You can tell the original from the repress very easily. The
original has really sharp graphics on the back of the jewel
case, the label name is "Gold Standard" and is pressed on a
gold(?) CD. The original press was limited to 500 copies
(from I've heard from "the inside") and as I said before,
really really tough to find. The repress has a blurry copy
of the track listing from the original, and isn't pressed on
a gold. CD. -TIBIRD
I really like this one it is one of, if not my favorites. The
cracks and pops (from vinyl I assume) add charm to it. Very
listenable and quite a nice collection that represents Syd s
career . It has been said before about other ones, I know but.
. GET THIS CD !! It is a must, more so for fans fans of Syd, it
would have been nice for them to exclude some of the more
common ones and put stuff like Experiment and Candy and a
Current Bun w/original lyrics on this disc (yes they do exist).
Plus the live Syd songs that are on it are sweet !! Very nice I
would rate it as EX but some of the quality prevents it from
being as so.
- Jeff
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