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Friday, October 26, 2018

I think this is when the doubt started to creep in that the songwriting from the Floyd was not going to live up to Syd Barrat's earlier promise. The notion of 'Careful With That Axe' Eugene' and it's schoolboy one-liner humour guaranteed to freak anyone playful with LSD might be rocked swirling into a paranoia similar to that which did for their erstwhile lead singer. This I reckon is Roger's influence and whilst early on I adored the bass player backing the frontmen of Gilmour and Barrett, the taking of the reigns was the worst idea for this listener. Waters' crass simplistic ideas were never what I expected and largely made me cringe . . . 

By this time I had already begun to only enjoy the piece without the dire songwriting skills of 'We don't need no education' . . . . . . . money it's a gas . . . .self indulgence it's a bore

On this day in music history: October 25, 1969 - “Ummagumma”, the fourth album by Pink Floyd is released (US release is on November 10, 1969). Produced by Pink Floyd and Norman Smith, it is recorded at the Mothers Club in Birmingham, UK on April 27, 1969, Manchester College of Commerce in Manchester, UK on May 2, 1969 (live tracks), and Abbey Road Studios in London in June 1969. The nine track double album by the UK progressive rock band consists of four tracks from their then current live set list and five newly recorded tracks in the studio. The albums’ title comes from a Pink Floyd roadie who describes it as a euphemism for “sex”. Though the album is well received by fans and critics, though the band themselves later admit to not being fond of it, feeling it to be to be “excessive” and “a failed experiment”, especially the studio half. The original LP cover art features a photo of the band with a picture hanging on a wall of them in the same pose but with everyone in a different place. The photo is also notable as it shows a copy of the “Gigi” soundtrack album on the floor next to guitarist David Gilmour. The US and Canadian covers is airbrushed white on subsequent re-pressings (over copyright concerns). The cover art is eventually restored when it is reissued on CD. Reissued numerous times over the years, the album is most recently remastered and reissued on CD in 2011. It is also reissued as a double vinyl 180 gram LP set in 2016, replicating the original UK album packaging. “Ummagumma” peaks at number five on the UK album chart, number seventy four on the Top 200, and is certified Platinum in the US by the RIAA.

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