After much thought I have chosen the final two sessions, recorded for the BBC in front of a live audience during 1970 and 1971.
Certainly a very constructive argument can be made for any number of live performances by Pink Floyd to be featured on this blog, but a final choice had to be made and if you have never heard these before, you will not be disappointed.
Recently the BBC Archives 1970-71 has been re-seeded and circulated again on some of the most prominent torrent sites. Since that compilation was first made upgrades are now in circulation.
The 1970 session is available from a BBC archive mono master, unlike the previous source which was a fake stereo version.
The 1971 session (most of it) is taken from the BBC Transcription LP, a source that is superior to the CD version. Not just my opinion but that of the Floyd fans responsible for both versions.
At the time of posting these are the best available sounding versions of the 1970 and 1971 sessions.
Thanks to Ron & MOB, and all involved at THE Pink Floyd site: Yeeshkul
The files for 1971 have been converted from 24 bit to 16 bit and artwork included.
Thursday 16 July, 1970
BBC Paris Cinema, Lower Regent Street, London
Pink Floyd recorded a live audience show for BBC Radio One. The final track ‘Atom Heart Mother’ was named from a newspaper prior to the broadcast, a bit of an improvement on its previous title ‘The Amazing Pudding.’ It was performed with the Philip Jones Brass Ensemble and the John Aldiss Choir. The band followed this performance with the headlining spot at the Hyde Park Free Concert two days later. This BBC show was broadcast on Sunday 19 July, 1970 at 4:00pm on 'the Peel Sunday Concert' and repeated three days later on the 'Sounds of the Seventies' programme.
1. John Peel intro
2. The Embryo (10:23)
3. John Peel
4. Fat Old Sun (5:29)
5. John Peel
6. Green is the Colour >> Careful with that Axe, Eugene (11:22)
7. John Peel
8. If (4:55)
9. John Peel
10. Atom Heart Mother (26:23)
BBC Mono Master
Source: BBC sound archive mono master
Lineage: Master > DAT > CDR > Soundstudio > Shorten > SHN
(also given as: Master > DAT(?) > CDR(?) > SHN)
Comments by MOB:
Sound quality speaking, this is the best version of the BBC mono masters from 16Jul70! Absolutely unprocessed ("BBC Radio One Master Reels" seems to have been dehissed a bit and suffers from slight metallic noise in the high end, and the HRV version "Mooed Music Rev.A" has some NR artefacts), this is superior sound!
However, a problem is the speed, much too fast (I compared with the live version of CWTAE on Ummagumma CD, with the studio versions of If and AHM from AHM CD, and with the versions available on BBC transcription CDs, all these comparisons lead to the same conclusion: a 102.5% stretch is needed to have correct speed).
Other problem with the SHN files is the existence of micro-gaps near the tracks transitions.
This RoIO would be absolutely perfect at correct speed and with micro-gaps fixed.
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Micro gaps removed with EAC's integrated wav editor, speed corrected with CEP, tracked with CD Wave and re-encoded with sector alignment to flac level 8 with TLH on Sat. April 26, 2008 by Bert13.
Thursday 30 September, 1971
BBC Paris Cinema, Lower Regent Street, London
Pink Floyd recorded their second live audience BBC show on this day between 10:00pm and 11;30pm. The order of songs was as follows, ‘Fat Old Sun, ‘One of These Days’, ‘The Embryo’, ‘Echoes’ and ‘Blues’. It was broadcast on 12 October, 1971 at 10:00pm on the Sound of the Seventies programme. ‘Blues was not broadcast but appeared later on a WNEW radio show in New York. The BBC Transcription discs have also omitted this song as well as ‘Embryo’, as you can see by the sources used for this session.
The Radio Times (magazine) preview of the show was rather disparaging about the previous studio album, stating that “their recent Ron Geesin aided “Atom Heart Mother” emphasised the relative feebleness of the songs on the other side of the album…hopefully a new work will be unveiled tonight.”
The band followed this live show, in early October, with recording and filming sessions for the film ‘Pink Floyd Live at Pompeii.’
1. Fat Old Sun (14:05)
2. One of These Days (7:12)
3. Echoes (26:25)
Lineage: BBC Transcription LP > 48kHz/32Bit Wave (digitally captured with ProTools)
This version features a brand new 48kHz/32Bit transfer of the BBC vinyl (BBC Rock Hour) that was done at a professional recording studio and captured with ProTools. All pops, clicks, and imperfections were manually removed one-at-a-time. No EQing or NR was applied. Enjoy listening to what is likely the best quality version of these songs you're likely to hear. Ron
4. Embryo (10:49) > Blues (5:06)
WNEW-FM Broadcast
Lineage: TDK SA90 Cassette (1) > *Technics RS-B965-M > Focusrite Saffire Pro 14 > Audacity 1.3 > FLAC (24bit/96kHz)
xACT used to create FFP and MD5
*The Technics RS-B965-M is a modified deck - for details see the Tapeheads.net forum
RonToon sent me his 1st gen tape of the two unique songs from the WNEW-FM broadcast to work on and this is my raw transfer. Adjustments to balance the channels were made in the analogue domain using the FSP14 and I left the settings the same for both songs. RonToon cassette / Neonknight Tape Transfer (August 2012)
Below is a list of the BBC performances:
14th May 1967 - BBC-TV Look of the Week
1. Pow R Toc H
2. Hans Keller
3. Astronomy Domine
4. Syd Barrett & Roger Waters interview with Hans Keller
6th July 1967 - BBC-TV Top of the Pops
1. See Emily Play
25th Sept 1967 - BBC Radio session #1
1. The Gnome
2. Matilda Mother
3. The Scarecrow
4. Flaming
5. Set The Controls for the Heart of the Sun
6. Reaction In G
12th December 1967 - BBC-TV Tomorrow’s World
1. Green Onions
2. Instrumental
20th Dec 1967 - BBC Radio session #2
1. John Peel intro
2. Vegetable Man
3. Bryan Matthew & John Peel link
4. Scream Thy Last Scream
5. Jugband Blues
6. Pow R. Toc H.
7. John Peel outro
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25th June 1968 - BBC Radio session #3
1. Top Gear intro
2. The Murderotic Woman (Eugene)
3. The Massed Gadgets of Hercules (Saucerful)
4. Let There Be More Light
5. Julia Dream
6. Top Gear outro
2nd Dec 1968 - BBC Radio session #4
1. Point Me At The Sky
2. Baby Blue Shuffle In D Major
3. Embryo
4. Interstellar Overdrive
5. Blues
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12th May 1969 - BBC Radio session #5
1. Daybreak
2. Nightmare
3. The Beginning (Green is the Colour) >
4. Beset By Creatures of the Deep (Eugene)
5. The Narrow Way
20th July 1969 - BBC-TV Moon Landing broadcast
1. Moonhead
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16th July 1970 - BBC Radio session #6
1. Embryo
2. Fat Old Sun
3. Green Is The Colour
4. Careful with That Axe Eugene
5. If
6. Atom Heart Mother
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30th September 1971 - BBC Radio session #7
1. Fat Old Sun
2. One Of These Days
3. Embryo
4. Echoes
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16th November 1974 - Live at Empire Pool, Wembley, London
1. Speak To Me
2. Breathe
3. On The Run
4. Time
5. The Great Gig In The Sky
6. Money
7. Us And Them
8. Any Colour You Like
9. Brain Damage
10. Eclipse
11. Echoes
Quintessential!
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing. Had a previous version of this boot, so i'll gladly upgrade :D
ReplyDeleteExcellent!
ReplyDeleteBoth these shows were recorded live for John Peel's In Concert program in front of an audience of around 400. As you would expect, being recorded by the BBC the sound quality is excellent.
ReplyDeleteJohn Peel introduces the band as “The” Pink Floyd as they were known at the time, having previously been called The Pink Floyd Sound. It was not long after this that the band simplified their name to Pink Floyd. There was another track recorded for the second show called 'Blues' but this was not broadcast. There are various sources for both these shows, notably Mooed Music, Phenomina, Tour 73, Meddled and Meddler but our friend has provided one of the best sources available.
The first show was recorded prior to the release of AHM in Oct 1970 and previews three new songs, Fat Old Sun, If and AHM complete with choir. They also played Embryo which featured in their live sets at the time but was never released on a studio album; there was a shortened version included on the Works compilation but this was not sanctioned by the band. AHM was originally called "The Amazing Pudding". PF played it at Bath Festival of Blues and Progressive Music the previous month on 27/06/70 but when they did the broadcast for BBC it was felt they needed a better title for John Peel to announce it. Famously Waters found a copy of the Evening Standard which had the headline "Atom Heart Mother Named", a story about a woman being fitted with a nuclear-powered pacemaker and hence John Peel introduces it as "The Atom Heart Mother".
The second show was recorded prior to the release of Meddle in Nov 1971 and previews two new songs, One Of These Days and Echoes. They also played Fat Old Sun which by then featured in their live sets and had since developed into an extended epic.
Pink Floyd also recorded various other sessions for the BBC's Top Gear program between 1967 and 1969 which are also, mostly, excellent quality. Why someone hasn't combined these into a PF "Live At The BBC" official release is beyond me!
These BBC recordings make a terrific companion piece to Ummagumma as they document their live sound in 1970 and 1971. At this stage of their career PF were still an underground band and DSOTM was still another 18 months away. But for aficionados of early PF these historic recordings are the Holy Grail!
Simon
I recorded the 1970 show onto our family's reel-to-reel machine, using a microphone in front of my transistor radio's speaker, the whole rig shielded with strategically-placed cushions. High tech days! It's great to hear it again in sparkling quality, and to hear the Floyd in their pre-stadium days.
ReplyDeleteFucking awesome
ReplyDeleteThank you
ReplyDeleteThanks very much. I first heard these on WXRT in Chicago and slammed in a cassette tape as soon as I realized what was playing. I wore the tape out, and have only had mid-quality mp3s of these tracks for years. These are fantastic.
ReplyDeletethanks!
ReplyDeleteBought the 1970 session as a student on one of those dodgy stalls selling knocked-off cassettes, and wore it out. Haven't heard in about 15 years. Thanks so much for posting!
ReplyDeleteThis should sound substantially better. You may be surprised, Dan!
DeleteI was at the Sept 71 show. Used to go to the Paris Theatre in Lower Regent Street pretty regularly at the time. All you had to do was write to the Beeb and they would send you a couple of free tickets. Great to discover a source of the blues they played that night.
ReplyDeleteIt must have been an amazing experience. Some great shows have emanated from the Paris Theatre, perhaps you were at Led Zeppelin, Rory Gallagher, The Wailers? etc.
ReplyDeleteIt was. The Paris Theatre was tiny, and the stage was small. I remember the Floyd as being very relaxed, and very loud!
ReplyDeleteI actually had a ticket for the Zep recording - but gave it to a friend, of whom I have been jealous ever since. In my defence, the Beeb sometimes sent out tickets with no band names on them, and you had to take pot luck on who turned up. If I'd known it was going to be them, I'd have been there like a shot!
I did get to see David Bowie - pre-Hunky Dory, the session with Kooks, Traffic (John Barleycorn), Lindisfarne (crates of Newcastle Brown on the stage), Roy Harper, Stackridge, Wishbone Ash and a few more... I stopped going when I went to university in mid-72.
Hi Gareth - It would be good to talk to you about your memories offline. Would you be up for that? If yes, my email address is neonknight1967@googlemail.com
DeleteBowie, Traffic, Roy Harper & Floyd - you saw some of the best music of that era close-up, instead of away in the distance in some massive stadium. Amazing, thanks for sharing your live gig memories.
ReplyDeleteIf I find this copy elsewhere - is there a label that would distinguish it from other copies? Either in the title, or even in the track media info?
ReplyDeleteGood question. No, this post was put together from two different sources (before the official release).
DeleteThe only way you would know if its the same as these two sources is by careful checking of the lineages. (see above notes). I downloaded these from the Yeeshkul Pink Floyd fan site. I would check there first.
If it's a commercially produced bootleg then there is no way of knowing which source was used and more particularly if they have tampered with the sound.