Last November, Pink Floyd released the ambitious 38 disc box set The Early Years 1965-1972, a treasure trove of previously unreleased material from the first seven years of the band’s career. The band part was that it was almost $500 on Amazon.
On March 24, the band will release The Early Years, 1965 – 1972: The Individual Volumes, breaking the set into six individual volumes highlighting a specific portion of those years.
Each package documents the creative genius behind each Pink Floyd recording and even the titles (CAMBRIDGE ST/ATION, GERMIN/ATION, DRAMATIS/ATION, DEVI/ATION, REVERB/ATION, OBFUSC/ATION) have been dreamed up by Roger Waters to give an insight into where the band was at that particular point in their career.
‘The Early Years: Individual Volumes’ afford fans the opportunity to hear the evolution of the band and witness their part in the cultural revolution from their earliest recordings and studio sessions to the years prior to the release of The Dark Side Of The Moon, one of the biggest selling albums of all time. From the single Arnold Layne to the 20-minute epic Echoes, fans will see the invention of psychedelic progressive rock via an insightful collection that explores the Pink Floyd story from the time Roger Waters, Richard Wright, Nick Mason and Syd Barrett met at London’s Regent Street Polytechnic through to Syd’s departure and David Gilmour joining the band to form the iconic lineup.
The individual volumes:
1965-1967 CAMBRIDGE ST/ATION (2 CD / DVD / Blu-ray)
Covering Syd Barrett’s time with the band, from the pre-EMI demos, through the non-album hit singles and related tracks, the first volume also features previously unreleased tracks like Vegetable Man and In The Beechwoods (newly mixed), plus BBC session recordings. Pink Floyd have also acquired the tapes of an unreleased 1967 concert in Stockholm.
The DVD/Blu-ray includes historic TV performances plus some of Pink Floyd’s own film material:
Early 1965 recordings and early singles
Vegetable Man, In The Beechwoods, John Latham, Stockholm concert
Promo clips, TV appearances, rare footage
Replica memorabilia from the period
1968 GERMIN/ATION (CD / DVD / Blu-ray)
This volume explores the time immediately after Syd Barrett’s departure, when Pink Floyd were still writing singles and at the same time developing their own unique, more instrumentally-based style. There are non-album single releases, plus a recently discovered session at Capitol Records studios in Los Angeles, BBC sessions and other tracks.
DVD/Blu-ray includes the recently restored promo clip of Point Me At The Sky, some international TV performances and a selection of song material from other television shows:
Early singles, BBC Radio sessions
Tracks from Capitol Studios, LA
Promo clip, TV appearances, rare footage
Replica memorabilia from the period
1969 DRAMATIS/ATION (2 CD / DVD / Blu-ray)
In 1969 Pink Floyd unveiled their 2-part conceptual live production of The Man and The Journey, covering a 24-hour period of dreaming, waking and other activities. Never released in that form, however some of the songs were used on the More soundtrack and the Ummagumma album. This volume refers back to The Man and The Journey tour with live performances in Amsterdam and for the BBC in London, but also includes the bonus tracks from the More soundtrack that were used in the film but not on record, plus non-album tracks like the early version of Embryo from the Harvest sampler Picnic.
Video material includes 20 minutes of The Man/The Journey rehearsal at the Royal Festival Hall, directed by Anthony Stern, including Afternoon (Biding My Time), The Beginning (Green Is The Colour), Nightmare (Cymbaline), Beset By Creatures Of The Deep and The End Of The Beginning (the last part of A Saucerful Of Secrets), plus other live performance footage from that year:
The Man & The Journey live
TV appearances, rare footage
Interstellar Overdrive with Frank Zappa
Replica memorabilia from the period
1970 DEVI/ATION (2 CD / 2 DVD / Blu-ray)
At the end of 1969 and in the early part of 1970, Pink Floyd recorded and mixed their contribution to Michelangelo Antonioni’s alternative view of US society, Zabriskie Point. Three songs were released on the soundtrack album, and a further four in the expanded CD edition in 1997. Never released on one Pink Floyd disc, this volume compiles remixed and updated versions of the Zabriskie Point audio material.
In the same year, Pink Floyd scored their first UK Number One album with Atom Heart Mother, a collaboration with Ron Geesin, and the audio includes the first performance for the BBC, featuring an orchestra and choir, as well as, on DVD, the original Quad mix.
Video material includes a full hour of Pink Floyd performing live at San Francisco cable TV station KQED plus extracts from historic performances of Atom Heart Mother, and material from French TV coverage of the St. Tropez festival in Southern France.
Atom Heart Mother band-only versions
BBC Radio session, Zabriskie Point mixes
Concert footage and improvisations
Atom Heart Mother original 4.0 Quad mix
Replica memorabilia from the period
1971 REVERBER/ATION (CD / DVD / Blu-ray)
In 1971 Pink Floyd recorded the Meddle album, containing the LP side-long Echoes, regarded by many as laying the groundwork for The Dark Side Of The Moon, and, as such, is an important part of the Pink Floyd canon.
This package includes part of the original demos, when the project gestated from ‘Nothing’ to ‘Return Of The Son Of Nothing’, as well as a contemporary BBC session recording.
Audio-visual material includes the original unreleased Quad mix of Echoes but also material of live band performances in 1971, including songs performed with Roland Petit and his Marseille ballet company.
BBC Radio session, Nothing Part 14
Concert footage and documentaries
Echoes original 4.0 Quad mix
Replica memorabilia from the period
1972 OBFUSC/ATION (2 CD / DVD / Blu-ray)
In 1972 Pink Floyd travelled to Hérouville, north of Paris, to record at Strawberry Studios there, based in the town’s Chateau. In a remarkable two weeks, they wrote and recorded one of their most cohesive albums, Obscured By Clouds, the soundtrack to Barbet Schroeder’s La Vallée.
Additionally, 1972 saw the release of Pink Floyd Live At Pompeii, a film of the band performing without an audience in the historic Roman amphitheatre of Pompeii, directed by Adrian Maben. The video material includes the performances from the Live At Pompeii film, edited to new 5.1 audio mixes, plus material from contemporary French TV as well as performances from Brighton Dome in June 1972 and further performances with the Roland Petit ballet company:
Obscured By Clouds 2016 remix
Live at Pompeii 2016 stereo mixes
Documentaries inc. Roland Petit ballet
Pompeii concert film in 5.1 sound
Replica memorabilia from the period
