Gummaumma - A Pink Floyd Timeline

[Auran]

Prelude​

Hello everyone. This is a new timeline, taking place in the same universe as my Beatles-centered Off-White timeline. This one is centered around Pink Floyd... and the first two posts will really just be intermission #1 from that timeline, since I liked the idea and wanted to build further on it.

1969: The Return of the Crazy Diamond

Pictured above: Pink Floyd playing a live show, 1969.
​

After the release of the soundtrack More, and playing the live show known as The Man and The Journey, progressive rock band Pink Floyd started work on their fourth Pink Floyd album, tentatively titled Ummagumma. The project was meant to be a double album, with each side of the vinyl being essentially a mini "solo album", with each member doing their own thing with little to no interference from the other members... This would all change as early into the recording as July 9th, 1969.

Pictured above: Syd Barrett, 1969.
​

During that day, former group leader and bandmate Syd Barrett payed a visit to the EMI Studios in London, while Roger Waters was working on Several Species of Small Furry Animals.

"Well, he really just walked in. Didn't announce himself or anything, and just sat in the corner. It took me a while to even notice he was there. (laughs). I really only noticed him when he said something along the lines of... what did he say again? 'Hey I thought weird mouth sounds in a song was my thing!' I was immediately startled, I haven't seen him in almost a year. He said he's been 'getting some help' and wanted back in the (Pink) Floyd. I almost immediately agreed, saying I was happy to have him back. Rick and Dave were a bit skeptical, but decided to just go along with it."

- Roger Waters, 1981​

Syd would then go on to participate with recording Ummagumma, contributing a 20 minute song called "Rhamadam". Pink Floyd then decided the album would be a triple album, with Side A being songs they worked on together for the soundtrack of the movie Zabriskie Point, and having a third live disc.

 

[Auran]

Ummagumma​

Ummagumma is the fourth album by Pink Floyd, and third with guitarist Syd Barrett after his brief hiatus from the band. It's a triple album (a novelty for it's time), with one disc being a live album, and two studio album discs: One side being made by the whole band, and the other three sides being essentially "mini solo albums". Despite moderate success of the album, it is often looked back on by the band as "some of their worst work".

- Side A (Pink Floyd / Songs from Zabriskie Point)
01. Heart Beat, Pig Meat (3:10) [1]
02. Rain in The Country (6:52) [1]
03. Come in Number 51, Your Time is Up (5:02) [1]
04. Love Scene (7:26) [2]

- Side B (Syd Barrett)
05. Rhamadam (20:09) [3]

- Side C (Rick Wright / Roger Waters)
01. Sysyphus (13:29) [4]
02. Grantchester Meadows (7:27) [4]
03. Several Species of Small Furry Animals Gathered Together in a Cave and Grooving With a Pict (4:58) [4]

- Side D (David Gilmour / Nick Mason)
04. The Narrow Way (12:19) [4]
05. The Grand Vizier's Garden Party (8:47) [4]

- Side E (Live)
01. Astronomy Domine (8:32) [4]
02. Careful With That Axe, Eugene (8:49) [4]

- Side F (Live)
03. Set The Controls for The Heart of The Sun (9:27) [4]
04. A Saucerful of Secrets (12:51) [4]

Date of release: November 7th, 1969.
Top spot in UK Charts: #5
Top spot in US Charts: #74

[1] A Total Zabriskie Point of View, 2013 (Bootleg)
[2] A Total Zabriksie Point of View, 2013 (Bootleg) - Love Scene 6 (The Blues)
[3] The Madcap Laughs, 1970 - Bonus Track
[4] Ummagumma, 1969

 

[Auran]

1970: Moooooo

Pictured above: Pink Floyd, 1970.
​

After the release of Ummagumma, the members of Pink Floyd went their separate ways for a few months, with Syd Barrett in particular dedicating himself to recovering and songwriting, and Roger Waters working with Ron Geesin on the soundtrack for the movie The Body.

​

The band would then get back together March of 1970, along with Ron Geesin, to work on the new Pink Floyd album, at the time called Themes from an Imaginary Western.

Recording of the album as concluded in August of 1970, with Roger quickly returning to recording Music from The Body with Ron Geesin.

 

[Auran]

Atom Heart Mother​

Atom Heart Mother is the fifth album by Pink Floyd, released in 1970. It is well known for it's cover of a cow, with no text or any indication the album is by Pink Floyd. Despite this it was the band's first #1 hit, and considered by the band to be "the end of The Pink Floyd, and the start of Pink Floyd". Syd Barrett affectionately called it "The Cow Album", speculated to be a slight reference to Paul McCartney's eponymous debut solo album informally known as "The White Album".

- Side A
01. Atom Heart Mother (23:42) [1]

- Side B
02. If (4:30) [1]
03. Summer '68 (5:28) [1]
04. Fat Old Sun (5:23) [1]
05. Baby Lemonade (4:07) [2]
06. Morning Glory (3:39) [3]

Date of release: October 2nd, 1970
Top spot in UK Charts: #1
Top spot in US Charts: #55

[1] Atom Heart Mother, 1970
[2] Barrett, 1970
[3] Atom Heart Mother, 1970 - Alan's Psychedelic Breakfast (Third Section)

 

[danmartin73]

Atom Heart Mother​

Atom Heart Mother is the fifth album by Pink Floyd, released in 1970. It is well known for it's cover of a cow, with no text or any indication the album is by Pink Floyd. Despite this it was the band's first #1 hit, and considered by the band to be "the end of The Pink Floyd, and the start of Pink Floyd", and Syd Barrett affectionately calling it "The Cow Album", speculated to be a slight reference to Paul McCartney's eponymous debut solo album informally known as "The White Album"

- Side A
01. Atom Heart Mother (23:42) [1]

- Side B (Syd Barrett)
02. If (4:30) [1]
03. Summer '68 (5:28) [1]
04. Fat Old Sun (5:23) [1]
05. Baby Lemonade (4:07) [2]
06. Morning Glory (3:39) [3]

Date of release: October 2nd, 1970
Top spot in UK Charts: #1
Top spot in US Charts: #55

[1] Atom Heart Mother, 1970
[2] Barrett, 1970
[3] Atom Heart Mother, 1970 - Alan's Psychedelic Breakfast (Third Section)

I'm loving this new timeline. Great and also really quite interesting to see Syd and the guys playing together again! Will Syd's solo albums still be released in this TL or will those songs go on Floyd albums?

 

[Auran]

I'm loving this new timeline. Great and also really quite interesting to see Syd and the guys playing together again! Will Syd's solo albums still be released in this TL or will those songs go on Floyd albums?

Syd's albums won't exist in the same way they do OTL, but Barrett will do a solo album or two at some point.

 

[Somedevil]

Paul's debut the White Album! Um the Butterfly's wings flap fast and strong. Early demise to the Beatles it sounds like

 

[Auran]

Paul's debut the White Album! Um the Butterfly's wings flap fast and strong. Early demise to the Beatles it sounds like

Actually, I already wrote about that in my Off-White timeline... Check it out if you haven't already! Takes place in the same reality as this one.

 

[Auran]

1971: The Return of Auximines

Pictured above: Pink Floyd playing live, 1971.
​

After the success of Atom Heart Mother, Pink Floyd wasted no time going on tour to promote the album. Common songs in the setlists were Atom Heart Mother, Careful With That Axe, Eugene, A Saucerful of Secrets, Interstellar Overdrive, Astronomy Domine, Set The Controls for The Heart of The Sun, the never before heard songs Embyro, Alan's Psychedelic Breakfast, and generally an encore consisting of Green Is The Color, the never heard before Octopus, and the classic See Emily Play.

However, during the last week, the band played a slightly updated take on the live suite The Man & The Journey, at the request of Syd Barrett. A recording of said show was later released as a live album.

 

[Auran]

The Man & The Journey​

The Man & The Journey is the sixth album by Pink Floyd and the second live album, released in 1971. Unlike the commonly bootlegged 1969 Amsterdam show at the time, this performance included new songs by Syd Barrett, those being If It's In You (commonly combined with Sysyphus Part 3 for "Work"), Octopus (in place of Green is The Colour for "The Beginning") and Golden Hair (serving as a prelude to "Behold The Temple of Light.)

- Side A
01. Daybreak - Grantchester Meadows(8:14) [1]
02. Work - If It's In You / Sysyphus, Part 3 (2:05) [1]
03. Teatime - Alan's Psychedelic Breakfast (3:30) [1]
04. Afternoon - Biding My Time (6:43) [1]

- Side B
05. Doing It - The Grand Vizier's Garden Party, Entertainment (3:50) [1]
06. Sleeping - Quicksilver (4:36) [1]
07. Nightmare - Cymbaline (9:14) [1]
08. Labyrinth (1:11) [1]

- Side C
01. The Beginning - Octopus (3:40) [1]
02. Beset by The Creatures of The Deep - Careful With That Axe, Eugene (6:27) [1]
03. The Narrow Way - The Narrow Way, Part 3 (5:10) [1]
04. The Pink Jungle - Pow. R. Toc. H. / Several Species of Small Furry Animals Gathered Together in a Cave and Grooving With a Pict (4:56) [1]

- Side D
05. The Labyrinths of Auximines (3:19) [1]
06. Footsteps / Doors - Rhamadam (3:08) [1]
07. Behold The Temple of Light (7:09) [1]
08. The End of The Beginning - Celestial Voices (6:31) [1]

Date of release: February 27th, 1971
Top spot in UK Charts: #9
Top spot in US Charts: #79

[1] Custom mix I made, DM to obtain

 

[Auran]

1971: Echoes of Nothing

Pictured above: (from right to left), David Gilmour, Roger Waters, Nick Mason and Syd Barrett (off screen) working on Echoes.
​

After the well received updated The Man & The Journey suite and live album, Pink Floyd had a dilemma. They weren't sure what to do for their next studio album. As such they started conduction a series of novel experiments, informally called Nothings, which would eventually become the basis for the 23 and a half minute song The Son of Nothing (which had about 7 minutes of it cut in the final release of the album. The full version would later be played live and the complete studio version would be released in the Early Years boxset from 2016.)

This, along with several other songs the band wrote (including the new songs Barrett performed during the 1970/1971 live shows), would be compiled into the band's 1971 studio release: Echoes.

 

[Auran]

Echoes​

Echoes is the sixth album by Pink Floyd and the sixth studio album, released in 1971. Some of the most notable things about this album is Syd's song If It's In You, which seems to be an outtake due to Barrett seemingly messing up at the start of the song (Syd later cleared up this was intentional, as he liked to show that "they weren't perfect", and how "even they mess up sometimes"), and the 16:30 long The Son of Nothing

- Side A
01. One of These Days (5:55) [1]
02. A Pillow of Winds (5:12) [1]
03. Fearless (6:08) [1]
04. San Tropez (3:43) [1]
05. Octopus (3:47) [2]

- Side B
06. If It's In You (2:26) [2]
07. Seamus (2:14) [1]
07. Golden Hair (1:59) [2]
08. The Son of Nothing (16:30) [3]

Date of release: October 31st, 1971
Top spot in UK Charts: #3
Top spot in US Charts: #70

[1] Meddle, 1971
[2] The Madcap Laughs, 1970
[3] Echoes: The Best of Pink Floyd, 2001

 

[Auran]

1972: Obscured by Eclipses

Pictured above: Pink Floyd (Syd Barrett off-screen) in 1972.
​

During late 1971, Pink Floyd was in a good position... their album Echoes sold well, touring was going great and the situation among the members was all well and good. Despite this, they weren't sure what to do, until Roger Waters came up with the idea of making an album that dealt with things that "made people mad", with a unified concept and clear, specific lyrics on subjects that came to their mind, including time, money and mental health (the latter being something Syd Barrett allegedly proposed considering his own struggles with such in the past).

These ideas became the groundwork for their new album, The Dark Side of The Moon. As early as January 1972 it was being performed live, with all members (except Nick Mason) doing vocal work.

The setlist for the live show was the following:

01. Breathe (Roger Waters, David Gilmour, Richard Wright, Syd Barrett; sung by Gilmour and Barrett)
02. On The Run (Waters, Gilmour; instrumental)
03. The Travel Sequence (Waters, Gilmour, Wright, Barrett, Mason; instrumental)
04. Time (Waters, Gilmour, Wright, Mason; sung by Gilmour, Wright and Barrett)
05. The Morality Sequence (Wright; instrumental)
06. Money (Waters; sung by Waters and Gilmour)
07. Us and Them (Waters, Wright; sung by Gilmour)
08. Any Colour You Like (Gilmour, Mason, Wright; instrumental)
09. Brain Damage (Waters, Barrett; sung by Barrett)
10. Eclipse (Waters; sung by Waters)

The early live shows of The Dark Side of The Moon were a massive success, however recording on the album was soon delayed due to Pink Floyd having the work on the soundtrack for the French film La Vallée.

 

[Auran]

La Vallée​

La Vallée is the seventh album by Pink Floyd, released in 1972 as the soundtrack for the movie of the same name. Despite being considered a minor release for the band, it still charted #6 in the UK charts. Syd Barrett also did a brief cameo in the film, at his request.

- Side A
01. Obscured by Clouds (3:05) [1]
02. When You're In (2:31) [1]
03. Burning Bridges (3:30) [1]
04. The Gold It's In The... (3:08) [1]
05. Love You (2:30) [2]
06. Wot's... Uh The Deal (5:09) [1]
07. Mudmen (4:18) [1]

- Side B
08. Childhood's End (4:33) [1]
09. Free Four (4:16) [1]
10. Stay (4:07) [1]
11. Dark Globe (2:02) [2]
12. Absolutely Curtains (5:51) [1]
13. Late Night (3:31) [1]

Date of release: June 2nd, 1972
Top spot in UK Charts: #6
Top spot in US Charts: #46

[1] Obscured by Clouds, 1971
[2] The Madcap Laughs, 1970

 

[Auran]

1973: Damaged Brains

Pictured above: Pink Floyd, 1973
​

After the conclusion of recording La Vallée, Pink Floyd wasted no time resuming work on The Dark Side of The Moon. However during recording of the album Syd Barrett has some news for the band

"Well, it was just another day of recording, and Syd came in a bit late, which he did a lot actually. However that day he seemed... different. It was then he sat us all down, and told us he wanted to quit the band, work on stuff on his own. I... I actually thought we was joking. Rick was then like "you're crazy man, you can't leave", Syd then said he would finish up his guitar parts of the album, but wanted his vocals out of the album... I filled in for his part in Brain Damage, and the other two filled in for the remaining songs. It happened all suddenly, but eventually we agreed that we were slowly diverging in artistic visions and it was best for him to leave before stuff inevitably got nasty."

- Roger Waters, 1993
​

During an interview where Syd announced his departure to the public, Syd had this to say about his reasoning for leaving

"Well... I'm kind of like a bird, really... an albatross if you will (laughs). I gotta fly. I wish the guys the best but... I have to move on, y'know? Sure, call me crazy if you will, but if I am crazy then god dammit I'm a crazy diamond."

- Syd Barrett, 1973
​

What Barrett mean by being a "crazy diamond" has since then been a popular debate topic among Pink Floyd fans, to the point that even Rick Wright gave his two cents into the discussion.

"What I think he meant with that [being a crazy diamond]? Well... diamonds shine, no? I think that's what he meant, he was crazy, but he shined due to it. It's quite poetic really..."

- Richard Wright, 1974
​

After recording of the album was concluded, Syd officially parted ways with the band, a week before the release of The Dark Side of The Moon.

 

[cortz#9]

Good stuff.
So Wright didn't sing with Gilmour on Us and Them ITTL? As to Syd reffering to himself as a diamond, I remember reading that the members of Iron Maiden used to refer to a good friend as a "diamond mate". I don't think this was a common saying though.

 

[Auran]

The Dark Side of The Moon​

The Dark Side of The Moon is the eighth album by Pink Floyd, released in 1973. Being considered by many to be their crowning achievement, being their first number 1 hit in America, it launched the band into new heights of popularity unlike anything they had seen before it. It is also the last album with guitarist Syd Barrett, who solely did guitar work on the album.

- Side A
01. Speak to Me (1:07) [1]
02. Breathe (In The Air (2:49) [1]
03. On The Run (3:45) [1]
04. Time (6:53) [1]
05. The Great Gig in The Sky (4:44) [1]

- Side B
06. Money (6:23) [1]
07. Us & Them (7:49) [1]
08. Any Colour You Like (3:26) [1]
09. Brain Damage (3:46) [1]
10. Eclipse (2:12) [1]

Date of release: March 1st, 1973
Top spot in UK Charts: #2
Top spot in US Charts: #1

[1] The Dark Side of The Moon, 1973

 

[Auran]

Good stuff.
So Wright didn't sing with Gilmour on Us and Them ITTL? As to Syd reffering to himself as a diamond, I remember reading that the members of Iron Maiden used to refer to a good friend as a "diamond mate". I don't think this was a common saying though.

Hm, according to Wikipedia, Wright didn't sing with Gilmour in Us & Them...

 

[Auran]

1973: Laughter in the Studio

Pictured above: Syd Barrett with a "friend", 1973
​

Soon after departing from Pink Floyd, Syd Barrett contacted EMI with a few demos he had been working on during his spare time, expressing his desire to release an EP of the demos, with backup musicians, as an "introduction for the world to me". However despite this EMI shut down the idea, instead telling him to make a full album. Barrett begrudgingly agreed, and started recording his eponymous debut album, Barrett in February of 1973, with the help of former bandmate David Gilmour, along with former Soft Machine drummer Robert Wyatt.

 

[Asharella]

thank you for the crazy diamond quote.