Label: EMI Records
Release date: 7. 11. 1969
Production: Pink Floyd & Norman Smith
Album length: 86.11 min
Genre: Psychadelic Rock/Progressive Rock/Avantgarde
Rating: 8.5/10
The first years after the departure of the “crazy diamond” Syd Barrett were undoubtedly an extremely turbulent time for Pink Floyd, full of nonstop, sprawling experiments in the studio and on stage. They were hunting for a new sonic definition, one that would finally cut the cord with Syd’s psychedelic space rock legacy and present them as a band with their own instantly recognizable musical vision and sound. The psychedelic 60s were slowly nearing their epilogue and the foundations of progressive rock had already been laid, but the pioneers behind all those experimental forms of rock music were still flailing around in a mild sonic identity crisis.
On the two previous albums, “A Saucerful Of Secrets” (1968) and “More” (1969), they’d managed to showcase the talents of Syd’s successor, guitarist and lead vocalist David Gilmour, who, alongside bassist/vocalist Roger Waters, gradually became one of the two key creative forces in a band where things still ran on fairly democratic lines, even though they were already known for each member recording separately in the studio. Both albums were top-notch pieces of psychedelic/early progressive rock. Still, Pink Floyd remained a cult but relatively obscure band, with no notable commercial success abroad, if you don’t count the success of their first singles from Syd’s era. That didn’t stop them from continuing their nonstop experimenting, which usually had little to do with melodic, instantly accessible forms of rock music.
The double album “Ummagumma” was without a doubt the most experimental, obscure and avant-garde project in their history. Its studio half was an unpredictable mix of all their psychedelic experiments up to that point, completely spontaneous avant-garde and the individual instrumental talents of the band members. For this release, Pink Floyd decided to put it out as a double project split into a live part and a studio part. For the time, that was certainly a highly original move, and it also guaranteed a hit, since everyone who couldn’t possibly fight their way through the demanding studio half found some consolation in the live recordings.
The live part of the album, which is also the first half of the “Ummagumma” project, is much more accessible than the studio part. It’s actually their first live album, a precious document of the band’s early psychedelic period, which hit its peak right here. The recordings come from 1969 shows in Birmingham and Manchester. The performances are mostly their beloved space rock creations from the early days. First and foremost, there’s the ever-popular “Astronomy Domine”, the only song from Syd’s era (they also played “Interstellar Overdrive” back then, but for reasons that aren’t entirely clear decided to leave it off). This version differed noticeably from Syd’s original, with Gilmour and Wright on vocals and the first verse repeated twice. The instrumental section was stretched out too, and before sliding into the final part it included a longer Wright organ solo. There’s also an excellent rendition of “Careful With That Axe, Eugene”, an interesting progressive rock instrumental whose studio version first came out on the compilation “Relics” (1971). With its dramatic organ sounds, a simple bass line and Waters’ screaming (which later became his trademark on some Floyd songs), it gradually builds a tense atmosphere that holds even as the performance grows into a longer instrumental jam. The space rock experiment “Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Sun” was another must-play live number of the time. This version was noticeably drawn out and had a bit more dynamics, especially in its use of electronic effects, and the vibe sounded a lot more oriental too. The closing performance of the avant-garde masterpiece “A Saucerful of Secrets” also differed clearly from its studio version. The cymbal sounds in the intro section are replaced by bass, there are more organ chords, and the closing section is richer, with all the instruments gradually and dramatically joining in. The crowd rewarded this superb version with thunderous applause. It took almost twenty years until their first official live album, “Delicate Sound Of Thunder” (1988), which seems downright unbelievable. Even stranger is that, if I don’t count “Is There Anybody Out There” (2000), this live half of “Ummagumma” remains (for now) their only official live recording from the Waters era.
The studio half, the second part of the album, was a trip into completely spontaneous, extremely experimental solo creations by all four members, and the easiest way to describe it is probably through the meaning of the word “Ummagumma” itself, an English slang term for sexual recreational activities. That’s exactly how most of these pieces sound too, and they were surely made under the influence of all sorts of psychoactive substances (the milder kinds, no doubt), though the band members never confirmed it (and never will). Most listeners who only know the band’s later, radio-friendly stuff would write off this studio half as totally indigestible after one listen, but music gourmets will quickly discover its many hidden charms, which lie mostly in individual high-tension atmospheric moments tucked inside the completely spontaneous sections. These are split into four parts, with each band member getting room to present their own compositions. Don’t overlook the excellent, totally unique, psychedelically tinted cover by longtime Floyd collaborator Storm Thorgerson, showing the band members swapping places in the room until the picture shrinks to a tiny, indistinct portrait. Next to the chair on the left you can also spot a vinyl record with music from the film “Gigi”.
First up to present his experimental symphonic visions was keyboardist Rick Wright with the suite “Sysyphus”, an avant-garde four-part suite about the tragic figure from Greek mythology, condemned to forever roll a boulder up a hill in the underworld, only for it to tumble back down every time he reaches the top (again and again, with no end in sight). It’s an extremely experimental and psychedelic piece in which Wright, switching between symphonic arrangements on piano, organ and Mellotron, conjures up wildly varied moods. The vibe in the first section, dominated by dramatic Mellotron and organ sounds, is incredibly gloomy and nicely evokes the image of the eternal convict enduring hellish torment in Hades. The second part, led by a gentle piano melody, is far more subtle. Toward the end of that second section, though, a huge cacophony kicks in, with extra avant-garde percussion bits on Mason’s timpani, freaky effects reminiscent of screeching monkeys and Waters’ unarticulated bass ornaments. The closing fourth section, thanks to its dark orchestral curtains of Mellotron, leans a bit toward some early King Crimson, although the organ sounds in between and the bird-like effects calm the gloom down a little. Even so, the final cacophonous organ sounds and rattling effects are seriously creepy and thoroughly obscure psychedelia. With “Sysyphus”, Wright once again showed himself on the album not just as a superb keyboardist but also as a remarkable master of varied moods and the creator of one of the better parts of this record. The dark, tense, in places even slightly epic atmosphere that brings the tragic Sisyphus to life is what makes this completely spontaneous avant-garde composition so compelling.
Next comes Waters’ solo spot with “Grantchester Meadows”, a pleasant pastoral psychedelic folk ballad with his singing and acoustic guitar playing. Through special recorded effects you can hear birds chirping throughout the whole song, creating the feel of it being recorded somewhere in the middle of a meadow. Midway through you can also hear the honking and flight of some overly uptight goose. Waters’ lyrics describe the pastoral idyll of the typical English village of Grantchester, hometown of Waters’ later “best friend” David Gilmour. After the gloomy “Sysyphus”, it was a very welcome, relaxing moment on the album, even if it’s not one of those Pink Floyd classics that stamp themselves on a listener’s heart forever. This folk ballad was typical of Waters’ songwriting style at the time, which later showed up on his solo debut “Music From The Body” (1970) and on “If” from the next Pink Floyd album, “Atom Heart Mother” (1970). Toward the end comes the famous, almost legendary effect of an annoying, ever-louder buzzing fly, which carries on until someone tramps up the stairs and smacks it with a newspaper.
But Waters wouldn’t be Waters if, besides the most accessible piece on the album, he didn’t also contribute the most avant-garde and obscure one. What follows is an ultra-weird creation with an equally weird name: “Several Species of Small Furry Animals Gathered Together in a Cave and Grooving with a Pict”, which I can say without any trouble is the avant-garde peak of the album and the top contender for the most out-there piece in the band’s story. This freaky Waters experiment contains numerous obscure effects typical of the musique concrète genre, the kind usually associated with some of Frank Zappa’s work. Here it’s an extremely obscure, totally bonkers mix of sound effects and Waters’ vocal contortions that recall the calls of birds and assorted rodents. Waters used lots of recording tricks for speed settings and various microphone manipulations. His completely indistinct, unintelligible vocal mugging in a Scottish accent comes off as especially grotesque (the Picts were the ancient forebears of the Scots, so at least there’s some logic to the move). At the end of his mumbling, if you listen closely and slow the recording down, you can hear a “thank you”. Slowed down, there’s also a “hidden message” in there, where you can hear Waters say “that was pretty avantgarde wasn’t it?” I really couldn’t agree more.
On the interesting, mostly acoustic composition “The Narrow Way”, split into three sections, Gilmour gets his “five minutes”, offering some of his typical bluesy passages on acoustic guitar, mainly in the first section. Strange effects are audible in the background the whole time. The second section, played on electric guitar, is far more obscure and also packs plenty of psychedelic sounds. The closing section, which can even be called one of the best moments on the album, features Gilmour’s trademark velvety vocals and a superb backdrop of slide guitar, Mellotron and piano. Of everything on the album, this is the best glimpse of their sonic future, mainly thanks to Dave’s vocals, the dreamy slide guitar passages and the ethereal keyboard sounds that later became an inseparable part of their sound in their best period. Interestingly, each of the three sections has a different tempo and sound. On top of the usual vocals and guitar, Gilmour also played bass, piano, Mellotron and drums here, proving his multi-instrumental chops. You could call this composition a fitting balance between the obscure avant-garde psychedelic effects and the melodic instrumental acoustic passages that dominate the studio half of the album.
“The Grand Vizier’s Garden Party” is Mason’s closing three-part instrumental and another one of the album’s avant-garde highlights, packed with a string of avant-garde sounds on his percussion. In the first section, the “Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire” Mason is briefly joined on flute by his wife at the time, Lindy. That’s also the most melodic moment of the whole instrumental, because as soon as the second section kicks in, it’s a parade of obscure, psychedelic-sounding percussion that mostly sounds like someone banging on the bottoms of kitchen pots. It all sounds pretty cacophonous and totally spontaneous, a matter of momentary inspiration that never manages to build a real atmosphere the way most of the earlier solo pieces did. At the end of this section, Mason still shows off with a lengthy drum solo why he’s regarded today as one of the most influential drummers. The last part of the composition, and of the studio half of the album, wraps up with a combination of flute and percussion and lasts less than a minute. Of the four individual sections on the album, this is by far the least interesting, and if it weren’t for the good closing drum solo in the middle, I wouldn’t miss it at all.
“Ummagumma”, at least as far as its studio half goes, was without a doubt one of the most avant-garde and controversial projects in rock history, obscure even by the standards of the wide-open musical experimentation of the late 60s. Back then, nothing stood in Pink Floyd’s way as they established themselves as the most experimental British rock band of their time, and the music community was far more open to this sort of venture than it is today and knew how to reward it properly (despite all its obscurity, this was their first album to crack the top hundred on the American chart, and at home it landed a very solid placing, the most successful of all their albums up to then). It’s an album that, as a whole (and not just its more accessible live half), only the most open-minded listeners with more demanding taste will know how to appreciate, and sadly there aren’t many of those left today. Certainly among them are all the real fans of the band. “Ummagumma” was by no means one of those Pink Floyd masterpieces that belong in every household, but for all its flaws the album earned an important place among the records that helped define progressive rock and modern experimental music in general. That way it remains a wonderful example of total spontaneity and freedom from label or management opinions, and a product of some much simpler times.
Author: Peter “Dr. ProgRock” Podbrežnik
Track list:
CD1 (live album):
1. Astronomy Domine (8:29)
2. Careful With That Axe, Eugene (Instrumental) (8:50)
3. Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun (9:12)
4. Saucerful of Secrets (12:48)
CD2 (studio album):
1. Sysyphus, Pt. 1 (1:08)
2. Sysyphus, Pt. 2 (3:30)
3. Sysyphus, Pt. 3 (1:49)
4. Sysyphus, Pt. 4 (6:59)
5. Grantchester Meadows (7:26)
6. Several Species of Small Furry Animals Gathered Together in a Cave and Grooving with a Pict (4:59)
7. Narrow Way, Pt. 1 (3:27)
8. Narrow Way, Pt. 2 (2:53)
9. Narrow Way, Pt. 3 (5:57)
10. Grand Vizier’s Garden Party: Enterance, Pt. 1 (1:00)
11. Grand Vizier’s Garden Party: Entertainment, Pt. 2 (7:06)
12. Grand Vizier’s Garden Party: Exit, Pt. 3 (0:38)
Line-up:
David Gilmour – vocals, guitar, organ, piano, bass guitar, drums, Mellotron
Roger Waters – bass guitar, vocals, acoustic guitar, gong, effects
Richard Wright – organ, piano, keyboards, vocals, Mellotron
Nick Mason – drums, percussion, timpani, effects
Guest musician:
Lindy Mason – flute
