Pink Floyd releasing insanely comprehensive/expensive 'early years' box set

Although I have been a fan of Pink Floyd since I was about 5 years old (1982), it was when my moody pubescence began to take a firm grip on my tiny, mulletted physiology that adoration turned into flat-out obsession. From Piper at the Gates of Dawn (1967) through The Division Bell (1994), the different shades of my teen angst, the depression, the loneliness, the anger, the sense of alienation and isolation, all found safe harbor within the music, lyrics, and impeccable art direction that the Pink Floyd catalog brought into my life. At a certain point it wasn’t enough to own all commercially available cassettes (later, CDs); beginning at around 1993 or 1994 I began a decade long quest to own as much Pink Floyd related material as possible; imports, vinyl, postcards, posters, handbills, concert programs, tour shirts, promotional materials, test pressings, bootleg cassette and VHS tapes, side projects, books…. anything related or simply tangentially related to Pink Floyd had to be mine. When I lived in Boston from 1995 through 1999, I would take the B train branch of the Green line out to the Pleasant Street stop and, beginning at In Your Ear Records, would make my way up to Mass Ave and up Newbury Street, on foot, hitting every possible record store on the way. Then I’d hop on the Red Line, get off at the Kendall/MIT stop and, on foot, make my way up to and past Harvard Square, hitting every record store on that route as well. It was a journey that would be played out again and again, weekend after weekend, for four years. When I discovered eBay in 1998, the Pink Floyd rabbit hole widened and I fell into a chasm of credit debt, but came out the other side with pretty much the biggest Pink Floyd collection you can imagine.

To a lot of Pink Floyd fans, their most interesting period is 1965 – 1972; a short but important span of time that takes listeners from the Syd Barrett psychedelic era right up to the cusp of their most important record (and arguably one of the most important records of all time), 1973’s Dark Side of the Moon. This early era not only produced some fine studio albums and soundtrack work, but it also produced a number of rarely heard B-sides, demos, radio-only performances, and rare recorded live moments. To a pre-internet collector, these types of finds were our bread and butter. Though only formerly found on 900th generation cassette tapes and VHS tapes, having an aural record of these rare moments made collecting thrilling. In the internet age where sharing and streaming are ubiquitous with the medium, people forget about the thrill of the hunt, regardless of the quality the trophy. But even though the internet makes these gems readily available through torrent sites and YouTube, the quality is just as it was back in the day when everything was on cassettes and VHS tapes.

Pink Floyd, perhaps very well aware of the crappy versions of some of their lesser known pre-historic output and wishing to release these gems properly mixed and maintained before they inevitably submit to the great gig in the sky, are releasing a voluminous box set called The Early Years 1965-1972 on November 11 and brother, it’s a WHOPPER.

Pink Floyd have delved into their vast music archive, back to the very start of their career, to produce a deluxe 27-disc boxset (!) featuring 7 individual book-style packages, featuring never before released material. The box set will contain TV recordings, BBC Sessions, unreleased tracks, outtakes and demos over an incredible 12 hours, 33 mins of audio (made up of 130 tracks) and over 15 hours of video. Over 20 unreleased songs including 7 hours of previously unreleased live audio, plus 7 hours of rare concert footage are included, along with meticulously produced 7” singles in replica sleeves, collectable memorabilia, feature films and new sound mixes. Previously unreleased tracks include 1967’s Vegetable Man and In The Beechwoods which have been newly mixed for the release.

Over the years the Floyds have unleashed reissue after reissue without actually bringing much to the table in terms of scarcity, collectibility, or even career enlightenment. Now they intend to deliver a definitive survey of their early years with a staggering amount of depth and care which is an extremely bold, brilliant, and historically important move. For me, a few surprises await within this massive undertaking including:

• A copy of a movie called The Committee (1968), something I’ve only seen on YouTube
• Their legendary appearance on Dick Clark’s American Bandstand from 1967 with a very catatonic Syd Barrett
• A live video recording of “Interstellar Overdrive” from 1969 featuring Frank Zappa (!)
• Unreleased tracks from the Antonioni film Zabriskie Point (1970)
• A 4.0 quad mix of Atom Heart Mother
• A brand new mix of Pink Floyd’s criminally underrated masterpiece Obscured By Clouds
• Live at Pompeii with a new 5.1 surround mix
• All those bloody reproduction show posters and handbills

And so much more. So much more.

And the care they put forth to reproduce their early 7″ singles and some of their most iconic show posters really puts this set over the top in terms of what the buyer gets as these materials, in their original, vintage form, are extremely scarce and extremely pricey. This beast clocks in at $550 on Pink Floyd’s website or $699.99 on Amazon, and to some people that probably sounds like a fortune. Well, I mean, yeah it is a fortune. But if you knew how much I spent to get my hands on a lot of this material in some of the most abysmal fidelity known to man you’d have me sectioned. For the cheapskates out there, there is a two disc version for $15.99 which includes 27 tracks (19 previously unreleased) including rarities, early versions, BBC, Radio sessions, singles, B sides, remixes and live recordings. A disc-by-disc summary of the beast as well as some additional detail shots are below.

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1965-67 CAMBRIDGE ST/ATION

CD 1: 1965 Recordings*:
1. Lucy Leave* 2.57
2. Double O Bo* 2.57
3. Remember Me* 2.46
4. Walk With Me Sydney* 3.11
5. Butterfly* 3.00
6. I’m A King Bee* 3.13
7. Arnold Layne 2.57
8. See Emily Play 8.57
9. Apples And Oranges 3.05
10. Candy And A Currant Bun 2.45
11. Paintbox 3.48
12. Matilda Mother (2010 mix) 4.01
14. In The Beechwoods (2010 mix)† 4.43
15. Vegetable Man (2010 mix)† 2.32
16. Scream Thy Last Scream (2010 mix)† 4.43
Total: 50 mins, 32 secs approx. Tracks 1-11 mono. Tracks 12-16 stereo

CD 2: Live in Stockholm 1967:
1. Introduction† 0.25
2. Reaction in G† 7.18
3. Matilda Mother† 5.34
4. Pow R. Toc H.† 11.56
5. Scream Thy Last Scream† 4.00
6. Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Sun† 7.17
7. See Emily Play† 3.16
8. Interstellar Overdrive† 8.57
9. John Latham Version 1† 4.32
10. John Latham Version 2† 5.06
11. John Latham Version 3† 3.45
12. John Latham Version 4† 2.59
13. John Latham Version 5† 2.48
14. John Latham Version 6† 3.17
15. John Latham Version 7† 2.36
16. John Latham Version 8† 2.49
17. John Latham Version 9† 2.38
Total: 79 mins, 13 secs approx.
Tracks 1-8 recorded live Sept 10, 1967 at Gyllene Cirkeln, Stockholm, Sweden Tracks 9-17 recorded at De Lane Lea Studios, London, 20 October 1967 All tracks stereo

DVD/Blu-ray
1. Chapter 24: Syd Barrett in the Gog Magog Hills, Cambridgeshire, UK 1966 / Pink Floyd at EMI Studios, London, April 1967 3.40
2. Nick’s Boogie†: recording Interstellar Overdrive and Nick’s Boogie at Sound Techniques Studio, Chelsea, January 11, 1967 / 6.36 Live at UFO, The Blarney Club, London, January 13, 1967
3. Interstellar Overdrive: ‘Scene – Underground’ UFO at The Blarney Club, London, January 27, 1967 4.15
4. Arnold Layne: promo video. Wittering Beach, UK, early 1967 2.54
5. Pow R. Toc H. / Astronomy Domine: plus Syd Barrett and Roger Waters interview: BBC ‘The Look Of The Week’ – BBC Studios, 9.22 London, May 14, 1967
6. The Scarecrow: ‘Pathé Pictorial’, UK, July 1967 2.05
7. Jugband Blues: ‘London Line’ promo video, 1967, London 2.58
8. Apples And Oranges: plus Dick Clark interview: ‘American Bandstand’, Los Angeles, USA, November 7, 1967 4.51
9. Instrumental Improvisation†: BBC ‘Tomorrow’s World’, London, December 12, 1967 2.11
10. Instrumental Improvisation†: ‘Die Jungen Nachtwandler’, UFO, The Blarney Club, London, February 24, 1967 4.32
11. See Emily Play: BBC ‘Top Of The Pops’ – partially restored BBC Studios, London, July 6, 1967 2.55
12. The Scarecrow (outtakes): ‘Pathé Pictorial’, UK, July 1967 2.07
13. Interstellar Overdrive: ‘Science Fiction – Das Universum Des Ichs’, The Roundhouse, London, 1967 9.33
Total: 57 mins, 59 secs approx.

1968 GERMIN/ATION

CD
1. Point Me At The Sky 3.40
2. It Would Be So Nice 3.46
3. Julia Dream 2.34
4. Careful With That Axe, Eugene (single version) 5.46
5. Song 1, Capital Studios, Los Angeles, 22 August 1968† 3.19
6. Roger’s Boogie, Capitol Studios, Los Angeles, 22 August 1968† 4.35
BBC Radio Session, 25 June 1968:
7. Murderotic Woman (Careful With That Axe, Eugene) † 3.38
8. The Massed Gadgets Of Hercules (A Saucerful Of Secrets) † 7.18
9. Let There Be More Light† 4.32
10. Julia Dream† 2.50
BBC Radio Session, 20 December 1968:
11. Point Me At The Sky† 4.25 1
2. Embryo† 3.13
13. Interstellar Overdrive† 9.37

DVD/Blu-ray
‘Tienerklanken’, Brussels, Belgium, 18-19 February 1968: 22.28
1. Astronomy Domine
2. The Scarecrow
3. Corporal Clegg
4. Paintbox
5. Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Sun
6. See Emily Play
7. Bike
8. Apples And Oranges‘Vibrato’, Brussels, Belgium, February 1968 3.03
‘Bouton Rouge’, Paris, France, 20 February 1968: 13.35
9. Astronomy Domine
10. Flaming
11. Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Sun
12. Let There Be More Light
13. Paintbox: ‘Discorama’, Paris, France, 21 February 1968 3.40
14. Instrumental Improvisation†: ‘The Sound Of Change’, London, UK, March 1968 2.15 15. Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Sun: ‘All My Loving’, London, UK, 28 March 1968 2.40
16. It Would Be So Nice (excerpt): ‘Release-Rome Goes Pop’, Rome, Italy, April 1968 1.21
17. Interstellar Overdrive: ‘Pop 68’, Rome, Italy, 6 May 1968 6.59
‘Tienerklanken – Kastival’, Kasterlee, Belgiu, 31 August 1968: 3.48
18. Astronomy Domine
19. + Roger Waters interview
‘Samedi et Compagnie’, Paris, France, 6 September 1968: 5.31
20. Let There Be More Light
21. Remember A Day
22. Let There Be More Light: ‘A L’Affiche du Monde’, London, UK, 1968 1.53
‘Tous En Scene’, Paris, France, 21 October 1968: 6.39
23. Let There Be More Light
24. Flaming
25. Let There Be More Light: ‘Surprise Partie’, Paris, France, 1 November 1968 6.35
26. Point Me At The Sky: Restored promo video, UK, 1968 3.19
Total: 84 mins, 18 secs approx.

1969 DRAMATIS/ATION

CD 1: ‘More’ album non-album tracks
1. Hollywood (non-album track) † 1.21
2. Theme (Beat version) (Alternative version) † 5.38
3. More Blues (Alternative version) † 3.49
4. Seabirds (non-album track) † 4.20
5. Embryo (from ‘Picnic’, Harvest Records sampler) 4.43
BBC Radio Session, 12 May 1969:
6. Grantchester Meadows† 3.36
7. Cymbaline† 3.38
8. The Narrow Way† 4.48
9. Green Is The Colour† 3.21
10. Careful With That Axe, Eugene† 3.26
Live at the Paradiso, Amsterdam, 9 August 1969:
11. Interstellar Overdrive† 4.20
12. Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Sun† 12.25
13. Careful With That Axe, Eugene†

CD 2:
Part 1: ‘The Man’, Amsterdam, 17 September 1969
1. Daybreak (Grantchester Meadows)† 8.14
2. Work† 4.12
3. Afternoon (Biding My Time)† 6.39
4. Doing It† 3.54
5. Sleeping† 4.38
6. Nightmare (Cymbaline)† 9.15
7. Labyrinth† 1.10
Part 2: ‘The Journey’, Amsterdam, 17 September 1969
8. The Beginning (Green Is The Colour)† 3.25
9. Beset By Creatures Of The Deep (Careful With That Axe, Eugene)† 6.27
10. The Narrow Way, Part 3† 5.11
11. The Pink Jungle (Pow R. Toc H.)† 4.56
12. The Labyrinths Of Auximines† 3.20
13. Footsteps / Doors† 3.12
14. Behold The Temple Of Light† 5.32
15. The End Of The Beginning (A Saucerful of Secrets)† 6.31
Total: 76 mins, 36 secs approx.

DVD/Blu-ray:
‘Forum Musiques’, Paris, France, 22 January 1969: 19.25
1. Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Sun , David Gilmour interview
2. A Saucerful Of Secrets
3. ‘The Man’ and ‘The Journey’: Royal Festival Hall, London, rehearsal, April 14, 1969: 14.05
Afternoon (Biding My Time)
The Beginning (Green Is The Colour)
Cymbaline
Beset By Creatures Of The Deep†
The End Of The Beginning (A Saucerful Of Secrets)
Essencer Pop & Blues Festival, Essen, Germany, October 11 1969: 19.14
4. Careful With That Axe, Eugene
5. A Saucerful Of Secrets
Music Power & European Music Revolution, Festival Actuel, 27.53 Amougies Mont de l’Enclus, Belgium, 25 October 1969:
6, Green Is The Colour
7. Careful With That Axe, Eugene
8. Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Sun
9. Interstellar Overdrive with Frank Zappa 11.26
Total: 71 mins, 14 secs approx.

1970 DEVI/ATION

CD 1:
1. Atom Heart Mother live in Montreux, 21 Nov 1970† 17.58
BBC Radio Session, 16 July 1970:
2. Embryo† 11.10
3. Fat Old Sun† 5.52
4. Green Is The Colour† 3.27
5. Careful With That Axe, Eugene† 8.25
6. If† 5.47
7. Atom Heart Mother† with choir, cello & brass ensemble 25.30
Total: 78 mins, 8 secs approx.

CD 2:
Unreleased tracks from the ‘Zabriskie Point’ soundtrack recordings:
1. On The Highway† 1.16
2. Auto Scene Version 2† 1.13
3. Auto Scene Version 3† 1.31
4. Aeroplane† 2.18
5. Explosion† 5.47
6. The Riot Scene† 1.40
7. Looking At Map† 1.57
8. Love Scene Version 7† 5.03
9. Love Scene Version 1† 3.26
10. Take Off† 1.20
11. Take Off Version 2† 1.12
12. Love Scene Version 2† 1.56
13. Love Scene (Take 1)† 2.16
14. Unknown Song (Take 1)† 5.56
15. Love Scene (Take 2)† 6.40
16. Crumbling Land (Take 1)† 4.09
17. Atom Heart Mother† Early studio version, band only 19.15
Total: 67 mins, 9 secs approx.

DVD 1:
An Hour with Pink Floyd: KQED, San Francisco, USA, 30 April 1970:
1. Atom Heart Mother 17.37
2. Cymbaline 8.38
3. Grantchester Meadows 7.37
4. Green Is The Colour 3.31
5. Careful With That Axe, Eugene 9.09
6. Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Sun 12.37
Total: 59 mins, 9 secs approx.
Audio only: Atom Heart Mother album original 4.0 Quad mix 1970:
7. Atom Heart Mother 23.42
8. If 4.31
9. Summer ’68 5.29
10. Fat Old Sun 5.24
11. Alan’s Psychedelic Breakfast 13.01
Total: 52 mins, 7 secs approx.

DVD 2:
‘Pop Deux – Festival de St. Tropez’, France, 8 August 1970: Part 1:
1. Cymbaline (sound check) 3.54
2. Atom Heart Mother 13.46
3. Embryo 11.23
Part 2:
4. Green Is The Colour
5. Careful With That Axe, Eugene 12.21
6. Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Sun 12.07
Roland Petit Ballet, Paris, France, 5 December 1970:
7. Instrumental Improvisations 1,2,3† live in the studio 3.28
8. Embryo 2.39
Blackhill’s Garden Party, Hyde Park, London, UK, 18 July 1970:
9. Atom Heart Mother with the Philip Jones Brass Ensemble/John Alldis Choir 21.15
Total: 80 mins, 53 secs approx.

1971 REVERBER/ATION

CD:
1. Nothing Part 14 (Echoes work in progress) † 7.01
BBC Radio Session, 30 September 1971:
2. Fat Old Sun† 15.33
3. One Of These Days† 7.19
4. Embryo† 10.43
5. Echoes† 26.25
Total: 67 mins 1 sec approx.

DVD/Blu-ray:
‘Aspekte’ feature 9.51
1. Interview + Atom Heart Mother (extracts) Hamburg, Germany, 25 February 1971 Brass & Choir conducted by Jeffrey Mitchell
2. A Saucerful Of Secrets (extract) Offenbach, Germany, 26 February 1971
‘Cinq Grands Sur La Deux’ 17.55 Abbaye de Royaumont, Asnierès-sur-Oise, France, 15 June 1971
3. Set The Control For The Heart Of The Sun
4. Cymbaline
5. Atom Heart Mother (extract) 3.12 ‘Musikforum Ossiachersee’, Ossiach, Austria, 1 July 1971 Brass & Choir conducted by Jeffrey Mitchell
‘Get To Know’ 6.23 Randwick Race Course, Sydney, Australia, 15 August 1971
6. Careful With That Axe, Eugene Band interview
’24 hours – Bootleg Records’, London, UK, 1971
7. Documentary including Pink Floyd 2.27 and manager Steve O’Rourke
‘Review’, London, UK, 1971 3.37
8. Storm Thorgerson & Aubrey ‘Po’ Powell interviewed re: record cover design
9. One of These Days (‘French Windows’) 4.17 Ian Emes animation created July 1972, Birmingham, UK
10. Atom Heart Mother (extract, in colour): 5.10 ‘Musikforum Ossiachersee’, Ossiach, Austria, 1 July 1971 Brass & Choir conducted by Jeffrey Mitchell
11. Atom Heart Mother: ’71 Hakone Aphrodite 15.11 Open Air Festival, Hakone, Japan, 6-7 August 1971
Total: 68 mins 3 secs approx..
Audio-only material:
1. Echoes original 4.0 Quad mix 1971 23.35

1972 OBFUSC/ATION

CD:
Obscured By Clouds 2016 Remix
1. Obscured By Clouds† 3.03
2 When You’re In† 2.31
3 Burning Bridges† 3.30
4 The Gold It’s In The… † 3.07
5 Wot’s…Uh The Deal† 5.09
6 Mudmen† 4.18
7 Childhood’s End† 4.33
8 Free Four† 4.16
9 Stay† 4.06
10 Absolutely Curtains†

DVD/Blu-ray:
Recording Obscured by Clouds, Château d’Hérouville, France, 23-29 February 1972
1. Wot’s…Uh The Deal: with recording session photos 5.04
2. Pop Deux: Documentary recording Obscured By Clouds 7.14 + David Gilmour and Roger Waters interview
Brighton Dome, UK, 29 June 1972 16.44
3. Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Sun
4. Careful With That Axe, Eugene
Roland Petit Pink Floyd Ballet, France, news reports 1972-73
5. Actualités Méditerranée, Marseille, 22 November 1972 3.29
6. JT Nuit – Les Pink Floyd, Marseille, 26 November 1972 3.04
7. JT 20h – Pink Floyd, Paris, 12 January 1973 3.01
8. Journal de Paris – Les Pink Floyd, Paris, 12 January 1973 5.03
9. Poitiers – Autour Du Passage Des Pink Floyd 4.27
Concert set up news report – France, 29 November
1972 Live At Pompeii (with 2016 5.1 Audio Remix)
10. Careful With That Axe, Eugene 6.40
11. A Saucerful Of Secrets 10.09
12. One Of These Days 5.58
13. Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Sun 10.24
14. Echoes 26.10
Total: 107 mins 27 secs approx.

BONUS CONTINU/ATION

CD:
BBC Radio Session, 25 September 1967:
1. Flaming† 2.42
2. The Scarecrow† 1.59
3. The Gnome† 2.08
4. Matilda Mother† 3.20
5. Reaction in G† 0.34
6. Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Sun† 3.19
BBC Radio Session, 20 December 1967:
7. Scream Thy Last Scream† 3.35
8. Vegetable Man† 3.07
9. Pow R. Toc H.† 2.45
10. Jugband Blues† 3.50
BBC Radio Session, 2 December 1968:
11. Baby Blue Shuffle In D Major† 3.58
12. Blues† 4.59
13. US Radio ad 0.22
14. Music from The Committee No. 1 1.06
15. Music from The Committee No. 2 3.25
16. Moonhead† 7.16 live on 1969 BBC TV moon landings broadcast
17. Echoes† 24.10 live at Wembley 1974
Total: 72 mins 35 secs approx.

DVD/Blu-ray 1:
1. Arnold Layne (Alternative version) 2.56 Hampstead Heath and St. Michael’s Church, Highgate, London, UK, March 1967
2. ‘P1 – P wie Petersilie’ 16.52 Stuggart, Germany, 22 July 1969 Corporal Clegg Band interview A Saucerful of Secrets
3. Atom Heart Mother 3.46 ‘Bath Festival of Blues & Progressive Music’, Shepton Mallet, UK, 27 June 1970
4. ‘Kralingen Music Festival’ 10.16 Rotterdam, The Netherlands, 28 June 1970 Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Sun A Saucerful Of Secrets
5. ‘The Amsterdam Rock Circus’ 35.41 Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 22 May 1972 Atom Heart Mother Careful With That Axe, Eugene A Saucerful Of Secrets

The Committee – (Feature Film) 55.18 Score by Pink Floyd
Total: 124 mins 49 secs approx.

DVD/Blu-ray 2:
‘More’ feature film 1.56.00
‘La Vallée’ (Obscured By Clouds) feature film 1.45.00
Total: 3 hours 41 mins approx.