| Times from CD player.
Tracks 1 - 14 and 17 appear on the LP Roio Steel Breeze.
Tracks 15, 16 and 20 appear on the Roio LP Feed Your Head.
Tracks 18 and 19 are songs that Dave Gilmour recorded with
Jokers Wild.
These songs come from the Steel Breeze RoiO and from the
Feed Your Head RoIO too. I was also MAJORLY bummed and not
a little annoyed that most of the songs are cut off before
the end....I'm not sure how I feel about this, but the
general consensus seems to be that Syd actually wasn't on
Singing A Song...My heart says yes, and my brain says it's
possible, but I just thought the general overview would be
appropriate here.
The Arnold Layne and Candy and a Currant bun tracks are
actually acetates, and appear on "Feed Your Head" (LP). CaaCB
is, in my opinion, Lets Roll Another One. The fast IO [track
20] is from FYH too. - ECHOES
The [truncated] segments are all that are available. These
segments came from Malcolm Jones' tapes. Years ago, he gave a
friend who was a big Syd fan a tape of some segments of
unreleased Syd tracks. I'm sure he cut them off as he didn't
want to let the complete songs out. Even the segments were
supposed to remain uncirculated but, obviously, they fell into
the wrong hands. Although it would be great to have the complete
versions, this is an ROIO we are talking about after all.
Syd did play lead guitar in the studio for Kevin Ayers' Singing
a Song in the Morning. However, the producer mixed out Syd's
guitar on the final release of the song. However, for years it
has been known that there exists an acetate of the original mix
with Syd's guitar left in.
As for the version on the Steel Breeze roio, it is from an
acetate of Singing a Song in the Morning. Therefore, it was
probably assumed to be the version with Syd. However, as we
discussed earlier about acetates, they can be just prereleases
of officially released songs. So, this could just be an acetate
of the officially released version. Or it could have Syd. It's
hard to tell from listening to it. - ECHOES
Track 17 follows quite closely the PATGOD version, but with
noticeable differences. - THE HEDONIST
----
This CD holds a strange collection of Syd stuff, early
Floyd and Jokers Wild.
There is not terribly much new on this CD, which hasn't been
released on other roios before, but there are a few items
which may be hard to get. I found it to be a real treat
having all there rare items on one CD.
Apperently a lot has been mastered from vinyl, cause at
points you can hear the characteristic pop and cracks. But
more annoying is that most tracks are cut.
Sound differs from track to track, but most are EX or better
(I.e. if you don't take the abrubt edits into account). Only
tracks 10 and 11 I find to be VG.
Liner notes are doubtfull at some points, but some of them
are not very wrong either.
Here are the songs as I believe them to be:
1. A very fast version of the song. An unreleased outtake.
2. Another unreleased outtake, this time a slow version.
Fades out a little early.
3. Yet another unreleased outtake. No backup instruments.
Just Syd and his guitar.
4. According to the liner note this is an unreleased outtake
from 6 May 68. This instrumental is basicly just a bit of
beating on drums. Is it really Rhamadan? No motor-sounds or
the like as the legend tells.
Although Syd did have a recording session on May 6th, I
tend to believe this is a recording from May 14th and NOT
Rhamadam but rather 'Lanky Pt II'. A song which has been
described as a seven minute drum track only, so this is
only a brief snippet.
THE HEDONIST interjects with:
Everyone's making this assumption, which _is_ a valid one,
but since we only have the snippet referred to, how do we
know that the rest of the piece doesn't have the motorbike
noises?
5. According to the technician which can be heard at the
beginning of this song, this was the first take of this
song. It's just Syd with an accoustic guitar and some
electric 'wailing' guitar.
6. A version with some different electric guitar then the
previous. Last 30 seconds or so are just studio sounds:
Syd's bound to start of a tune, obviously makes a
mistake, stops and gets some directions from the
technician.
7. Syd strumming his electric guitar. A bit of Rock and
Roll kinda tune. Liner notes says from the last ever
recording of Syd in London 1975. This I find very
doubtful, to say the least, but haven't got a clue where
this snippit does come from.
8. With background vocal. This is a very short take. Only
the first line is sung and then the song ends abrubtly.
9. The Kevin Ayers songs. Sound quality could have been
better I suppose. The liner notes says the following on
this track: "Rare rejected version of Kevin Ayers song
with prominent Syd Barret guitar and backing vocals. This
is Syd Barret's only known studio collaboration outside
the Pink Floyd. 1969". It is a fact that Syd did indeed
play on a version of this tune and that an acetates of
that version exist, but it's hard to judge by just
listening whether or not this is the version Syd really
played on.
The songs ends premature and abrubtly.
10. From the Granada TV show 'underground' as broadcasted on
7 Feb 1967. In the background (and occasionally on the
foreground) Mathilda Mother can be heard as was recorded
on 20 Jan 1967 at the famous UFO club. The TV-show
however was not soley about Floyd but about 'the
underground scene' in London in 1967. This track is
obviously not taped directly from a TV-set but rather by
someone holding a mic close to the speakers of his TV.
11. See notes for track 10. The TV hosts talks about 'the
underground', and 'psychedelic' and what it was supposed
to mean. To illustrate this, Interstellar can be heard.
12. A five minute interview (according to the liner notes)
in a little more the three-and a-half minute, with Hans
Keller. This is actually a snippet of the BBC
look-of-the-week show of May 14th 1967. Roger and Syd are
interviewed by the tongue-in-cheek host. ("Why is your
music so terribly loud") During that show they also
played Pow R Toc H, Interstellar Overdrive and Astronomy
Domine. Non of these however are on this CD, but can be
found elsewhere, e.g. on the "Magnesium Proverbs" roio.
13. Now this is an interesting take. It does indeed sound
like a song that could have fitted on Piper. Another
abrubt ending.
14. This track is an interview by a female host talking
about Floyd with snippets of Intersteller (live?) as a
backdrop occuring now and again. The guys of the band
talk about their music. ("We don't want to be Jazz
musician, we want to be pop musicians"). After about
five minutes there is an edit and the (nameless)
'manager' is being interviewed.
15. Acetate version. This version is faster then the offical
single-release. The track fades in a second or two after
the actual start. Pops and cracks can be heard. there is
a strange 'jump' about half way through. Could be an
edit, but could also be an irregularity in the acetate.
16. Acetate version. Again a faster version and different
lyrics, too. "please just walk with me" instead of the
"please just f*ck with me". Just as track 15 also a bit
scratchy.
17. Another acetate version, but less scratchy then the
previous two tracks. Again this a faster version then
the original. Fades out halfway through the song.
18. Jokers Wild single. Masterd from scratchy vinyl
19. Same as 18.
20. A speedy version! Sounds like it cuts in a second or so
after the song has actually started. This is supposed to
be from an (unidentified) live performance. The sound
is GREAT. No audience can be heard and the performance
is awesome. Just this track alone would make this CD
worth while. Although I haven't got a clue where this
track originates from. I'm not even sure it is a live
version. -ANDRE
I wondered about the 'live' origin of this track at first,
but the attentive listener will be able to discern what
sounds like audience noise at the very end. It's faded out
_very_ fast, however, so it's difficult to pin down with
certainty. -THE HEDONIST
This track turns out to be the soundtrack version from a
1968 short called "A Day In the Life of San Francisco."
-THE HEDONIST
Love You (Fast version - outtake 1969)
Love You (Slow version - outtake 1969)
Long Gone (No backing track - outtake 1969)
Nothing too earth-shattering here. These outtakes have been
around on a lot of roios. The fast version of "Love You"
has the annoying "Shhhh" sound whenever Syd says a word
with "S" in it. "Long Gone" fades out a bit early as well.
Rhamadam (Instrumental drum track - outtake from 6/5/68)
If you have the "Opel" collection, this is the part that
they chopped from that song. I can see why, it's nothing
but a few minutes of tribal drumming. Still, as far as I
know, this track hasn't appeared anywhere else before, so
die-hards will want it.
Octopus (Outtake 1969)
A pretty sloppy take of this one, complete with a really
choppy edit. The "jam" at the end includes some
interesting guitar noodling.
Clowns & Jugglers (Outtake 1969)
Is acutally the jam part of "Octopus" described as above.
Untitled (Syd's last recording session 1975)
This one I'm not too sure about. I believe it's Syd on
guitar laying down a guitar track, but I'm not too sure
about the date. From what I've heard in late 1974 Syd went
into the studio (with some prodding from musicians and his
record company) to record some new stuff. The sessions
turned out to be a disaster, and all tapes and studio logs
were (supposedly) destroyed. I don't think I've ever heard
this track before, so maybe it is what it says it is...then
again... :)
Dark Globe (Outtake 1969)
Clocking in at a mere 21 seconds, this is the take with a
backing vocal track (which, IMHO, is better than the
released version). What I can't understand is why they
included this extremely short version when the full version
of this outtake is on a number of different roios! It's so
short and cut that I thought my CD player skipped or was put
on pause by accident...
Singing A Song In The Morning (Outtake with Syd and Kevin Ayers)
You can hear Syd's guitar and background vocals quite
clearly. The sound dips and rises during this track, which
is slightly annoying. The sound quality is a bit muffled.
The version on the vinyl roio "Vegetable Man" is a bit
better, and also doesn't cut off at the end like this one
does. Still, this is the first CD this track has surfaced
on, as well as it's next to impossible to track down the
"Vegetable Man" roio.
Mathilda Mother (Live at the UFO Club. From Granada TV 7/2/67)
Intersellar Overdrive (Live at the UFO Club. From Granada TV 7/2/67)
Interview (With Syd and Roger interviewed by Hans Keller 5/67)
Did you ever tape something from TV with a cassette
recorder from across the room? Then you'll get an idea of
the sound quality of these tracks. I guess the
perpetrators of this CD figured since these haven't been
roio'ed before, they deserve a place here. The interview has
a bit more merit, since it's 3 1/2 minutes, which is longer
than any other version I've heard before. But the same
sound quality is still pretty rough on the ears.
Sunshine (Outtake backing track Abbey Road Studios 6/29/67)
I've heard this outtake before. I just can't remember if
it's been on any other roios, but I think it has. It's an
interesting instrumental, although some people have doubted
whether it's really Floyd. Sound to me it is. It's
interesting that this outtake hasn't cropped up on more
Floyd roios over the years.
Interstellar Overdrive (Outtake version with interview 7/67)
Now this is more like it! An interview with Roger while an
outtake version of "IO" plays in the background. I've never
heard this interview before, so I think it deserves a place
here. The sound quality is excellent too, this one wasn't
recorded on a tape recorder from across the room!
Interesting interview as well...
Arnold Layne (Acetate version)
Candy And A Currant Bun (Acetate version)
To my ears "Arnold Layne" is exactly the same as the
"Relics" version (save for the big skip that edits most of
the organ solo. My guess is that since these were probably
A/B sides to the acetate, why not include it? But "Candy
And a Currant Bun" is a different a different story! I've
never ever heard this version, period. Completely different
version with different lyrics and background vox. Listening
to this you can defintely hear Syd sing "Please don't talk
to me/Please just WALK with me" (as opposed to those,
myself included) who thought he was saying "Please, just
fauck with me..." This version also includes the drug
references that were cut from the single version. This is
defintely a high point of this CD.
Interstellar Overdrive (Acetate version)
Unfortunately, again into the acetate versions that really
aren't that different from the release versions. OK, so
this is the version from the French EP, but that version is
all over the place. This also seems to fade a little later
than the EP version, but I still skip this version since
I've heard it ad nauseum.
Don't Ask Me (Joker's Wild 1965 - David Gilmour's band)
Why Do Fools Fall In Love (Joker's Wild 1965 - David Gilmour's band)
OK, I'll ask the question that everybody out there reading
this is... Why did they put two songs that have absolutely
no Syd connection here? OK, these are really great dubs of
this material, but the connection (if you want to call it
that) is that Dave and Syd were in Floyd (duh). But I will
admit that I don't have these tracks on CD, and I suspect
that most of you out there don't either...but still...
Interstellar Overdrive (Live)
To be totally honest, I figured that since this CD was
going downhill with the last two tracks, I figured that
this version of "IO" wans't going to be anything special,
just more padding to fill out this CD. I was really
surprised when this version started that this is something
totally different than I've heard before! It's a really
fast breakneck version from a really great audience tape
with just a hint of clapping at the end. I belive this to
be from a vinyl source since I heard a little skip during
the first minute. My only question about this track is, Is
this a version with Syd or after he left? Some might Syd,
but considering the last two tracks had no Barrett
involvement at all, it wouldn't surprise me... :)
And so ends the CD at around 63 minutes. Does it offer good
value for the money? I say a cautious yes, if you can
overlook the Joker's Wild tracks and a couple of the
"outtakes" here. I think it's worth it just for the version
of "Candy..." and last version of "IO". If you haven't been
collecting Syd or Floyd stuff too long, you'll want to pick
this up just to have the material in your collection. Just a
sidebar note to this review...if you ever see the vinyl
version of "Vegetable Man", pick it up! Not only is it a
valuable collector's piece, it also has better versions of
the outtakes here. I wish that whoever made this CD would
have put some of the other rare Floyd tracks here, like
"Vegetable Man"...but I'm complaining.... :) ;) :P -TIBIRD
From an interview with Phil Smee (who was involved in
compiling "Opel" and the "Crazy Diamond" box). Quoting:
Concerning 'Rhamadan' and 'Lanky Pt. 2':
"Drumming only....no drumkit used, just a load of tom-toms
and bongos and suchlike. 'Rhamadan' seems to consist
entirely of random thumps on bongos...."
.....Which sounds like what is on Steel Breeze/Rhamadam, so
that may well be 'Rhamadan' after all and not 'Lanky Pt. 2'
as has been theorized here before. Smee casts doubt on
whether Syd was involved at all, though. Apparently there
were some 'weird friends' at the session also who may have
just been amusing themselves. The motorcycle overdubbed
version of 'Rhamadan' is believed gone to that great tape
vault in the sky, FWIW. -THE HEDONIST
The last track (Interstellar) is taken from the soundtrack to
the 1968 movie 'A Day In The Live Of San Fransisco'. The same
track can be found on the roio 'Granny Takes A Trip'.
- ANDRE
The line-up for the released version of Kevin Ayers' "Singing A
Song In The Morning" is as follows:
Kevin Ayers: vocals, guitars
Richard Coughlan: drums
David Sinclair: organ
Richard Sinclair: bass
The Ladybirds: backing vocals
Coughlan and the two Sinclairs were members of Caravan; the
lead guitar heard on the released version was played by Kevin.
- RD
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