View Larger
Rate it!
Avg: 3.5 (268 ratings)
- Date Released: July 19, 2005
- Genre: Rock/Pop
- Label: Pucka / RSK Entertainment
Nick, Rick, Roger and Syd setting the controls for the heart of the sun.
-
We Say...
To witness Pink Floyd at the UFO Club in 1966 was to explore a darker side of "swinging London." The time-bomb that was frontman Syd Barrett’s daily acid use was already ticking, but the group’s edgy, iconoclastic concerts — in-crowd affairs with kaleidoscopic light shows — were must-sees for the likes of Mick Jagger, Pete Townshend and Jimi Hendrix.
It made sense, then, when filmmaker Peter Whitehead opted to include footage of Floyd in his contemporaneous British Film Institute documentary Tonite Let’s All Make Love in London. In so doing, the director trapped the nascent Floyd in amber, providing us with a potent snapshot of the band that pre-dates the release of their debut single “Arnold Layne.”
What we have here is an enhanced CD that draws on the audio/visual material that was nailed for Whitehead’s film at London’s Sound Techniques Studios in January 1967. The visuals include footage of Floyd playing all 16 minutes and forty-six seconds of “Interstellar Overdrive,” plus pertinent period interviews with the likes of Mick Jagger and the actress Julie Christie. The audio content comprises the same version of “Interstellar Overdrive,” plus the 12-minute improvised jam “Nick’s Boogie.”
The "official" version of “Interstellar Overdrive” would surface on Floyd’s 1967 debut album The Piper at the Gates of Dawn, but this package’s version of the subtly disorientating instrumental is a truer mirror of the group’s live show. Barrett’s trippy and percussive guitar (it was fed through a wonderfully archaic-sounding device called the Binson Echorec) rides an arrangement that was reportedly influenced by Love’s “Little Red Book” and the theme tune of celebrated British TV/radio sitcom, Steptoe and Son.
Like the unimaginatively titled but otherwise engaging “Nick’s Boogie,” “…Overdrive” now conjures sci-fi B movies in which the spacecraft’s control panels have Bakelite knobs. These are the ominous, slow-evolving sounds of Syd, Roger Waters, Nick Mason and Rick Wright setting the controls for the heart of the sun.
When Whitehead’s documentary was eventually screened in December 1967, little of what he filmed with Floyd made the cut, so it’s good to have access to all that good stuff here. Soon would come Barrett’s complete burnout, and the personnel reshuffle that would eventually lead to Dark Side of the Moon, but that’s a whole other story... -
They Say...
Essentially, London 1966-1967 is a single-disc version of the music used for director Peter Whitehead's film Tonite Let's All Make Love in London. Since all the music and footage weren't used in the film's final cut, they have been made available on various bootlegs and reissues of strange import. This Snapper disc is licensed, and contains both "Interstellar Overdive" and "Nick's Boogie," capturing the Syd Barrett era of the band at its loosest and most adventurous. The music is more than solid -- it reveals in spades what the fuss was about with Floyd early on. The video portion of this disc is a bit of a letdown, however. It contains -- viewable on your computer in ROM -- footage of the full "Interstellar Overdrive" and interviews with Whitehead (who provides an overview) as well as actors Julie Christie and Michael Caine, artist David Hockney, and Mick Jagger, all talking about Swinging London at the time. Alas, to get the wild, woolly footage of "Nick's Boogie," one has to purchase the DVD, which has all sorts of extras. In essence, other than the music, the disc is a teaser for the DVD.
“ The indie iTunes — Hardcore music fans are migrating to eMusic, the iTunes Music Store's cheaper, cooler cousin.”
Rolling Stone
eMusic Tip
Paid downloads are counted towards an album discount but free downloads are not.
COMPLETE FOR FREE!
You can download the rest of the tracks from this album for free! Just click the Complete Album button.
We’re sorry this album can only be downloaded using paid subscription download credits.
We recommend you Save it for Later by clicking the Save for Later button shown just above this message. For a list of related albums you can download right now, check out these recommendations.
We'll give you 2 additional free credits to download this album and start your paid subscription.
Get 2 bonus credits on us if you download this album. Sweet!
| 01. |  |
Interstellar Overdive (Full Lengh Version) |
16:42 |
|
| 02. | |
Nick's Boogie |
11:49 |
|
02 Total Tracks, 28:31 Total Length
Loading...
Playlists If you like Pink Floyd, check out these member playlists
Explore music recommended by Pink Floyd fans
Credits
- Syd Barrett - ? // Mick Jagger - ? // Roger Waters - ? // Nick Mason - ? // Rick Wright - ? // Julie Christie - ? // Peter Whitehead - Director // Michael Caine - ? // David Hockney - ?
Choose from over 7 million
music downloadseMusic features legendary and emerging artists in every genre: classic rock to classical,indie to international, soundtracks to spiritual, jazz to country and many more.
MP3 downloads work on any digital media player
With eMusic, you OWN your music without any restrictions. Burn music to a CD, play it on your computer, mobile phone or any digital media player - including iPod®, Zune® and Walkman®.
Songs available for 50¢ or less
eMusic subscriptions start at just $11.99 a month for 24 downloads - that's just 50¢ per song! And it gets better from there - our plans go as low as 42¢ per song!
Music Discovery
eMusic is about discovery. We make finding new music fun again with music recommendations from our award-winning team of music experts, member playlists and new music features.
Cancel anytime
With all the great music and site features we're pretty sure you will love eMusic. If not, no problem. You can cancel at any time and keep the music you have downloaded.
© 1992 - 2009 All Media Guide, LLC