November 7, 1969 - Ummagumma

A little over two weeks after Led Zeppelin released their second album of the year, Pink Floyd are doing the same with their fourth album "Ummagumma", released on November 7, 1969, just 5 months after their third album. It is a double album, with the first disc containing live songs and the second disc individual compositions from each band member. For each song on the second disc, the writer of the song performs all the instruments in the song (aside from some flutes from Nick Mason's wife on his song). Some people dislike this separate recording process but I think it's a really cool idea. I don't usually listen to live albums, but since disc 1 is part of the album, and because each song is extended longer than it's studio version, I do have these live songs in my library. Let's give them a listen!

Side 1 of the live disc begins with "Astronomy Domine", from their debut album "The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn". It has a slow trippy organ intro by Richard Wright before it kicks into the main song with bass from Roger Waters and drums from Nick Mason. This was a Syd Barrett song, but Gilmour performs the vocals very well, mimicking Barrett's style. Between the 2nd and 3rd verses is an extended 4 minute-ish instrumental section. It has everyone going crazy on their instruments, especially Gilmour with some excellent guitar. It then moves to a slower part led by organ and cymbals. Wright does a slow organ solo before the band comes back in for the third verse and the finish. The added bit in the middle is pretty cool and Pink Floyd loved to add to their songs live. The next and last song on this side is "Careful With That Axe, Eugene", which was previously only released as a B-side to a single. It takes a little bit longer going but the organs take over the song and there is some weird "ahhing" vocals. Waters whispers the only lyrics, the name of the song, before letting loose a couple screams! It's a guttural scream, seemingly giving it everything he's got and I love it. All four members are really rocking out now and Gilmour scat sings along to his guitar. Mason has a few nice drum fills as well, but at the 6:30 mark it gets quiet again and the organ takes lead. Mason plays some light cymbals until the audience applauses us into the other half if the live record.

Both songs on side 2 are from their second album "A Saucerful Of Secrets", starting with "Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Sun". The first two verses are very similar, driven by the distinguished bass line, with slow organ and drums in the background. At 2:30 the drums start to pick up and Wright goes crazy on the organ. The guitar is very trippy as well, creating almost a whirlwind of noise. There is about 4 and a half minutes of extra material and it's some crazy good stuff. Just before the 5 minute mark it quiets down again with bass and trippy organ. There's also a super trippy high pitched guitar and it's hard to use words to describe the word noises Pink Floyd makes. They finally return for the third verse and finish out the song. The live disc finishes with the near 13-minute "A Saucerful Of Secrets". It begins with some slow cool bass and great organ. Cymbal crashes and trippy guitar join and Floyd are just amazing at extended instrumental parts, which is of course why they are such a great progressive rock band. Playing this song live so well is a testament to all their talents. Mason plays a cool drum riff and there's some more crazy trippy guitar by Gilmour. It slows down again with an organ solo by Wright. Bass and drums join in, and eventually the guitar takes the lead role. Gilmour sings his "ohhhh"ing along with with his guitar and the band jam out to end the the side. A great live disc for sure, that perfectly showcases the craziness of an early Ponk Floyd live show.

Side 3 begins with "Sysyphus", which is written and has all instruments played by Richard Wright. Not surprisingly, it is mostly keyboard based. The more than 13-minute song is split into 4 parts, the first of which is just a minute long. It has slow organ as well as some thunderous drums! Part 2 turns from organ to piano and the pace picks up quite a bit. Wright goes insane on the piano with his awesome erratic playing and sounds almost haunting. Part 3 slows it down again with very low piano and cymbals. There's also a high-pitched noise that sounds like an animal almost. Part 4 is the longest at 7 minutes, and it features slow organ and faster keyboards on top. There's a huge slam on the organ keys as well as quite the drum flourish. This leads to more erratic, trippy play by Wright and I absolutely love his psychedelic style. He makes so many different noises with those keys and he makes them sound great together. Roger Waters is the only member to write two separate tracks as opposed to one piece with different sections. His first is "Grantchester Meadows" with has a loop of birds chirping throughout as well as a bee that seems to buzz in and out. Waters plays the acoustic guitar and it's a slow but cool riff that carries the song. The lyrics speak of nature and animals and the song has a very peaceful vibe to it. During the instrumental part we hear clips of most of the animals referenced in the song; the animal noises truly give the feel of being in this beautiful meadow. At the end of the song you hear footsteps and it sounds like Waters kills the bee to abruptly end the song. The animal noises would continue heavily on the next track though, titled "Several Species Of Small Furry Animals Gathered Together In A Cave And Grooving With A Pict". It begins with several squeaks and squeals that really does sound like small rodents. Waters used no musical instruments on this whole track, only his own voice and taped effects such as clapping and tapping that were manipulated. This tapping is sped up to make a percussion beat and all the noises start to seems more like a song, especially with Waters monkey-like howls. It gets quiet after several bars of noises and a very weird high-pitched screaming begins. It sounds as if the animals are fighting almost and it's crazy that this was all made by one person. Waters goes off a rant towards the end in a heavy Scottish accent, rambling for over a minute to end the song. These two songs show Waters diversity: with an excellent slow folk tune and of course the psychedelic madness that is "Several Species."

The final side of this album begins with "The Narrow Way", written and performed entirely by David Gilmour. Like Sysyphus, it is broken into parts, three in this case. It begins with a trippy opening leading into a cool acoustic guitar riff. The electric guitar joins overtop and this is a great showcase of Gilmour's ability. He also uses some more trippy effects, contributing to the psychedelic mentality of the band. Part 2 is led by a drone-y riff and has Gilmour on bass and drums as well. On top of that he plays some very space-y keyboards, showing he is great at several instruments. The original riff falls away and only the trippy keyboards remain. Gilmour really branched out and thought of parts for all the band's instruments. This leads into the longest part 3 and features Gilmour playing slow piano, with some trippy bass and guitar in the background. It's the first part to have lyrics and has Gilmour's classic soft and high voice. It's a great rock song, and it really does sound like it's a Pink Floyd song. It ends with more cool guitar and some solid drum fills as well! The final track of this double album is also split into 3 parts, Nick Mason's "The Grand Vizier's Garden Party". The song starts with some lovely flute played by Nick's wife Lindy Mason, followed by a long drum roll. In kicks part 2, which begins with some echo-y toms, timpani drum and other various percussion. There is an odd whistling noise in the background and it gets loud suddenly before everything goes quiet, with Mason playing a Mellotron bit in the background. Then we start hearing reverse drum and cymbal hits. Mason uses a ton of reversed takes to create a reverse drum solo almost, that sounds very trippy to the ear. Mason then solos on top of his reverse symphony and this is certainly an interesting idea that I think sounds pretty cool. It eventually fades, leaving Mason to play a normal drum solo to end out the part. Part 3 is only 40 seconds long and is another cool flute solo by Lindy. 

That is finally the end of "Ummagumma". I thought the first disc really showed how great these four can replicate their psychedelic songs live. The second disc showed how talented each member is on their own and gives you a glimpse into the writing style of every member that contributes to this great band. But how does it rank with their other albums? "Ummagumma" is not well-liked by most critics and even the band later on thought less of it. However, I still believe it to be an excellent album, even if it didn't have disc 1, I still very much enjoyed the studio part and the live disc just propels it over the top. I think it is their best album so far, knocking "A Saucerful Of Secrets" down to 2, "The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn" to 3, and their effort from earlier this year "Soundtrack From The Film More" remaining on bottom. I think Pink Floyd are still on their way up and I'm sure it won't be too long before we hear some more great music from these guys. See you "next week"!