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A Saucerful of Secrets

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A Saucerful of Secrets
Saucerful of secrets2.jpg
Studio album by Pink Floyd
Released 29 June 1968 (UK)
27 July 1968 (US)
Recorded 7–8 August 1967, and 18 January – 3 May 1968 at EMI Studios, London
9–11 and 19 October 1967 at De Lane Lea Studios
Genre Psychedelic rock, progressive rock, space rock
Length 39:25
Label EMI Columbia
Producer Norman Smith
Pink Floyd chronology
The Piper at the Gates of Dawn
(1967)The Piper at the Gates of Dawn1967		 A Saucerful of Secrets
(1968)		 More
(1969)More1969
Singles from A Saucerful of Secrets
  1. "Let There Be More Light" / "Remember a Day"
    Released: 19 August 1968 (US only)

A Saucerful of Secrets is the second studio album by the English rock band Pink Floyd. It was recorded at EMI's Abbey Road Studios on various dates from August 1967 to April 1968 and was released on 29 June 1968, through EMI Columbia in the United Kingdom, while the album was released on 27 July 1968 in the United States by Tower.

The album was recorded before and after Syd Barrett's departure from the group. Owing to Barrett's behaviour becoming increasingly unpredictable, David Gilmour was recruited in January 1968.[1][2] As a result, A Saucerful of Secrets became the only non-compilation Pink Floyd album on which all five band members appeared, the first for Gilmour, with him appearing on five songs ("Let There Be More Light", "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun", "Corporal Clegg", "A Saucerful of Secrets" and "See-Saw"), and the last for Barrett, with him on three ("Remember a Day", "Jugband Blues" and "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun").[3] "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun" was the only song all five members appeared on together. Drummer Nick Mason declared A Saucerful of Secrets his favourite Pink Floyd album.

Background

From mid to late 1967, Syd Barrett's erratic behaviour became more apparent,[4] and at one performance of the band's first US tour, he slowly detuned his guitar while on stage. The audience, used to the band's experimental performances, seemed to enjoy such antics, and were unaware of the rest of the band's increasing consternation. Interviewed on Pat Boone's show during this tour, Barrett's reply to Boone's questions was a "blank and totally mute stare", and kept his lips closed during the mimed performance.[5][6] Barrett exhibited behaviour in a similar style during the band's first appearance on Dick Clark's popular TV show American Bandstand.[5] Barrett mimed fairly well for the performance of "Apples and Oranges", but responded to Clark's questions with no interest or enthusiasm.[7]

Recording and structure

Recording with Syd Barrett

The album was recorded at EMI Studios in London.[8] The first songs recorded for the album were Roger Waters' "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun" and an unreleased Barrett track, "Scream Thy Last Scream";[nb 1] both recorded on 7–8 August 1967.[10][11][12] The two tracks were arranged to be released as a single on 8 September, before it was vetoed by the band's record company, EMI.[13] The band recorded "Vegetable Man"[nb 2] at De Lane Lea Studios on 9–11 October,[14] and returned later in the month, on 19 October, to record "Jugband Blues",[15] with producer Norman Smith booking a Salvation Army band, at Barrett's request.[nb 3][15] Overdubbing "Remember a Day" at the sessions; the song, which was an outtake from The Piper at the Gates of Dawn sessions,[14] features Barrett on slide guitar,[16][18] the band took a break from the album sessions to record what became their third single, "Apples and Oranges",[15] on 26 and 27 October.[19] A few days later, the band recorded the B-side, "Paint Box",[15] before leaving for a US tour.[15]

In November, "Apples and Oranges" was released as a single but failed to chart at all.[20] The band eventually went back to De Lane Lea and recorded the unreleased track "Vegetable Man".[20] Sometime around Christmas, David Gilmour (Barrett's old school friend) was asked to join the band as a second lead guitarist to cover for Barrett when his erratic behaviour prevented him from performing.[21] As Barrett had, up until then, written (or co-written) most of the songs on the band's debut album, The Piper at the Gates of Dawn, as well as the band's three singles up to this point,[6] the initial plan was to keep him in the group as a non-touring member – in similar style to Brian Wilson's recent status in The Beach Boys – but this meant that Barrett and the group were essentially separated.[7][22][23] For two days from 10 January 1968, Pink Floyd reconvened at EMI Studios, attempting to work on older tracks: Waters' vocals and Wright's organ were overdubbed onto "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun",[15] while Mason added vocals to "Scream Thy Last Scream".[2] Upon leaving Pink Floyd, Barrett said to Melody Maker: "I suppose it was really just a matter of being a little offhand about things".[24]

Recording with David Gilmour

When Gilmour joined the band, Pink Floyd performed briefly as a five-man piece, from 12 January till the 20th.[21] For a handful of shows Gilmour played and sang while Barrett wandered around on stage, occasionally joining in with the playing. In between these five-piece gigs, the group rehearsed a few Waters-penned songs on 15 and 16 January. During the next session on 18 January, the band, joined by Smith, jammed on rhythm tracks;[nb 4][25] Barrett didn't attend this session. On 24 and 25 January, the band recorded a song, logged as "The Most Boring Song I've Ever Heard Bar 2" at Abbey Road.[nb 5][26] The band recorded "Let There Be More Light", "Corporal Clegg" (which features lead vocals by Nick Mason)[27] and "See-Saw" all without Barrett, despite manager Andrew King claiming Barrett performed the slide solo at the end of "Let There Be More Light".[7] The other band members soon grew tired of Barrett's antics and, on 26 January 1968, when Waters was driving on the way to a show at Southampton University, picking the members up on the way, one person in the car said, "Shall we pick Syd up?" and another said, "Let's not bother."[21][28] Barrett was finally ousted from the band in late January 1968, leaving the new incarnation of Pink Floyd to finish the album; "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun" is the only song on which all five band members appeared.[29]

The four-piece band struggled to come up with new material for an album,[3][21] but in February 1968 recorded Wright's "It Would Be So Nice" and Waters' "Julia Dream".[nb 6][7] In early February it was announced that the Waters-penned track, "Corporal Clegg" would be the band's next single,[7] however, due to pressure from the label, the song[30] was earmarked for the album, and "It Would Be So Nice" was released in April as a single,[nb 7] with "Julia Dream" on the B-side.[31] Throughout April, the band was taking stock of the songs recorded up to that point.[31] Waters blocked the release of the two tracks, "Vegetable Man"[nb 8] and "Scream Thy Last Scream", on the album, though the band retained "Jugband Blues", and the Waters-written "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun" on which Barrett played.[31] With not enough material to fill the album's last 12 minutes, the band started piecing together several pieces of material that was to become the title track of the album, "A Saucerful of Secrets".[nb 9][31] Mason and Waters planned the track out as if it were an architectural design, including peaks and troughs.[31] Producer Smith didn't like the song, stating to them that they "just can't do this, it's too long. You have to write three-minute songs."[31] On 25 June, the band recorded another session for BBC Radio's Top Gear, the session featured two tracks from Saucerful: "Let There Be More Light" and a shortened retitled version of the title track, titled here as "The Massed Gadgets of Hercules".[36]

Songs

Like The Piper at the Gates of Dawn before it, the album contains space rock and psychedelic rock songs. However, unlike Piper, which was dominated by Barrett's compositions, A Saucerful of Secrets contains only one Barrett original: "Jugband Blues". AllMusic described that with A Saucerful of Secrets, "the band begin to map out the dark and repetitive pulses that would characterize their next few records."[37] Wright sings or shares lead vocals on four of the album's seven songs, and contributes vocals on the eleven-and-a-half-minute instrumental opus "A Saucerful of Secrets", making this the only Pink Floyd album where his vocal contributions outnumber those of the rest of the band.

With Barrett seemingly detached from proceedings, it came down to Waters and Wright to provide adequate material. The opening, "Let There Be More Light", penned by Waters, continues the space rock approach established by Barrett. "Let There Be More Light" evolved from a bass riff that was part of "Interstellar Overdrive".[25] Both "Remember a Day" and "See-Saw" use the childlike approach[38][39] that was established on their debut.[40] Wright remained critical of his early contributions to the band.[40] "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun" was first performed with Barrett in 1967.[41] The success of the track was such that it remained in their live setlist until 1973 where it appeared in a greatly extended form.[42] Waters later performed the track during solo concerts from 1984 and later.[43] Waters borrowed the lyrics from a book of Chinese poetry from the Tang Dynasty, like Barrett had used in "Chapter 24".[44] "Corporal Clegg", is the first Pink Floyd song to address issues of war, a theme which would endure throughout the career of Waters as a songwriter for the band, culminating on the 1983 album The Final Cut.[42] "A Saucerful of Secrets" was originally written as a new version of "Nick's Boogie".[45] The track is titled as four parts,[46] on Ummagumma.[47] A staple in the band's live set until summer 1972,[47] a live version of the song was recorded on 27 April 1969 at the Mothers Club in Birmingham for inclusion on Ummagumma.[48][49] "Jugband Blues" refers to Barrett's departure from the group ("It's awfully considerate of you to think of me here / And I'm most obliged to you for making it clear that I'm not here").[50][51] A promotional video was recorded for the track.[16] The band's management wanted to release the song as a single, before being vetoed by both the band and producer Norman Smith.[15]

Unreleased songs

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Main article: List of unreleased Pink Floyd material

As well as "Jugband Blues", the album was to include "Vegetable Man", another Barrett composition.[6] The song was to appear on a single as the B-side to "Scream Thy Last Scream".[9][11] The band performed "Jugband Blues", "Vegetable Man" and "Scream Thy Last Scream" for a Top Gear session, recorded on 20 December, and broadcast on 31st.[52] Two additional Barrett songs, "In the Beechwoods",[53] and "No Title" (frequently referred to on bootlegs as "Sunshine"),[nb 10] were recorded early in the album sessions.[54] At least one other song, "John Latham", was recorded during these sessions, and remains unreleased.[54]

Release and reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
AllMusic 3.5/5 stars[37]
The Daily Telegraph 3/5 stars[55]
The Great Rock Discography 8/10[56]
MusicHound 2/5[57]
Paste 8.3/10[58]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide 3/5 stars[59]
Sputnikmusic 4.5/5[60]
Virgin Encyclopedia of Popular Music 4/5 stars[56]

This is the first of several Pink Floyd album covers that were designed by Hipgnosis,[61] and was only the second time that an EMI group (The Beatles were the first) was permitted to hire outside designers for an album jacket.[62] The album was released in the UK on 29 June 1968 on EMI's Columbia label as both mono[nb 11] and stereo[nb 12] LPs, reaching number 9 in the UK charts.[65][66] It was released in the US by the Tower Records[nb 13] division of Capitol, where it remains the only Pink Floyd album not to chart.[68] However, when reissued as A Nice Pair[nb 14][nb 15] with the original version of The Piper at the Gates of Dawn after the success of The Dark Side of the Moon, the album did chart at number 36 on the Billboard 200.[71] "Let There Be More Light" was released as a single, backed with "Remember a Day", in the US on 19 August 1969.[72]

The CD stereo mix of the album was first released in 1988,[nb 16] and in 1992 was digitally remastered and reissued as part of the Shine On box set.[nb 17] The remastered stereo CD was released on its own in 1994 in the UK[nb 18] and the US.[nb 19] The mono mix version of the album has never been officially released on CD.

Upon its release, Rolling Stone magazine's review was unfavourable, writing that it is "not as interesting as their first" and "rather mediocre", highlighting the near-departure of Syd Barrett as one of its detractions.[77]

In a retrospective review for AllMusic, Richie Unterberger called the album "gentle, fairy-tale ambience", with the songs that move from "concise and vivid" to "spacy, ethereal material with lengthy instrumental passages".[37] In a review for BBC Music, Daryl Easlea said Saucerful was "not without filler", adding that "Jugband Blues" was "the most chilling" song on the album.[78]

While promoting 2014's The Endless River, Nick Mason named A Saucerful of Secrets as his favourite of Pink Floyd's studio albums. “I think there are ideas contained there that we have continued to use all the way through our career,” he says. “I think [it] was a quite good way of marking Syd [Barrett]’s departure and Dave [Gilmour]’s arrival. It’s rather nice to have it on one record, where you get both things. It’s a cross-fade rather than a cut.”[79]

Track listing

Side one
No. Title Writer(s) Lead vocals Length
1. "Let There Be More Light"   Roger Waters Richard Wright, Waters, David Gilmour 5:38
2. "Remember a Day"   Wright Wright 4:33
3. "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun"   Waters Waters 5:28
4. "Corporal Clegg"   Waters Gilmour, Nick Mason, Wright 4:13
Side two
No. Title Writer(s) Lead vocals Length
1. "A Saucerful of Secrets"
  • I. "Something Else"
  • II. "Syncopated Pandemonium"
  • III. "Storm Signal"
  • IV. "Celestial Voices"  
 Waters, Wright, Gilmour, Mason Instrumental, wordless vocals by Gilmour, Wright 11:57
2. "See-Saw"   Wright Wright 4:36
3. "Jugband Blues"   Syd Barrett Barrett 3:00

Personnel

Pink Floyd

(all personnel uncredited)

Additional personnel

Sales chart performance

Chart (1968) Position
French SNEP Album chart[84] 10
UK Albums Chart[65][66] 9

References

Footnotes
  1. ↑ Despite having only two complete takes of the song,[9] "Scream Thy Last Scream" was viewed as a potential single.[10]
  2. ↑ "Scream Thy Last Scream" was again scheduled for release, this time with "Vegetable Man" as the B-side, but cancelled and both tracks remain unreleased.[9][11]
  3. ↑ When the Salvation Army were brought in to play on the track,[16] Barrett told them to "play whatever they want", Smith insisted on recorded parts.[17]
  4. ↑ This jamming later formed the intro to "Let There Be More Light".[25]
  5. ↑ This song later became "See-Saw".[11]
  6. ↑ Originally titled "Doreen's Dream".[7]
  7. ↑ The single was released on 12 April 1968, almost a week after Barrett's departure from the band was announced.[31]
  8. ↑ Peter Jenner, one of the band's managers, said Waters blocked "Vegetable Man" because "it was too dark".[14]
  9. ↑ It was David Gilmour's first professional songwriting credit. His name is incorrectly spelled "Gilmore",[32][33][34] an error that would persist on all pressings until finally being corrected with the 1994 remastered version.[35]
  10. ↑ Not to be confused with the early title of "Remember a Day", as written on the recorded sheet, "Sunshine".[11][15]
  11. ↑ UK EMI Columbia SX 6258[63]
  12. ↑ UK EMI Columbia SCX 6258[64]
  13. ↑ US Capitol Tower ST 5131[67]
  14. ↑ UK EMI Harvest SHDW 403[69]
  15. ↑ US Capitol Harvest SABB-11257[70]
  16. ↑ UK EMI CDP 7 46383 2[73]
  17. ↑ UK EMI 7243 8 29751 2 0 / CDEMD 1063[74]
  18. ↑ UK EMI CDS 7 80557 2[75]
  19. ↑ US Columbia CXK 53180[76]
Citations
  1. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 Palacios 2010, p. 262
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 11.4 Jones 2003, p. 23
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 Chapman 2010, p. 186
  13. ↑ Palacios 1998, p. 180
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 Palacios 1998, p. 194
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 15.3 15.4 15.5 15.6 15.7 15.8 Manning 2006, p. 41
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 16.2 16.3 Palacios 2010, p. 286
  17. ↑ Chapman 2010, p. 191
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 18.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  19. ↑ Chapman 2010, p. 189
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 Manning 2006, p. 43
  21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 21.2 21.3 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  22. ↑ Schaffner 2005, p. 265
  23. ↑ Schaffner 2005, p. 14
  24. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  25. ↑ 25.0 25.1 25.2 Palacios 2010, p. 319
  26. ↑ Povey 2006, p. 90
  27. ↑ 27.0 27.1 Schaffner 2005, p. 132
  28. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  29. ↑ 1993 Guitar World interview with David Gilmour
  30. ↑ Manning 2006, pp. 46–47
  31. ↑ 31.0 31.1 31.2 31.3 31.4 31.5 31.6 Manning 2006, p. 47
  32. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  33. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  34. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  35. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  36. ↑ Manning 2006, p. 48
  37. ↑ 37.0 37.1 37.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  38. ↑ Palacios 2010, p. 285
  39. ↑ Reisch 2007, p. 272
  40. ↑ 40.0 40.1 Schaffner 2005, pp. 132–133
  41. ↑ Palacios 2010, p. 271
  42. ↑ 42.0 42.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  43. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  44. ↑ Palacios 2010, p. 265
  45. ↑ Palacios 2010, p. 322
  46. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  47. ↑ 47.0 47.1 Manning 2006, p. 188
  48. ↑ Schaffner 2005, p. 156
  49. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  50. ↑ Reisch 2007, p. 236
  51. ↑ Chapman 2010, p. 190
  52. ↑ Manning 2006, p. 44
  53. ↑ Chapman 2010, p. 193
  54. ↑ 54.0 54.1 Jones 2003, p. 25
  55. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  56. ↑ 56.0 56.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  57. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  58. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  59. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  60. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  61. ↑ Palacios 2010, p. 330
  62. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  63. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  64. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  65. ↑ 65.0 65.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  66. ↑ 66.0 66.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  67. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  68. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  69. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  70. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  71. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  72. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  73. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  74. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  75. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  76. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  77. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  78. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  79. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  80. ↑ 80.0 80.1 80.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  81. ↑ 81.0 81.1 Manning 2006, p. 187
  82. ↑ Palacios 1998, p. 195
  83. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  84. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

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