Friday, March 15, 2013

Pink Floyd - Themes From An Imaginary Western (1970)


Pink Floyd - Themes From An Imaginary Western
(a soniclovenoize re-imagining)



Side A:
 1.  Father’s Shout
 2.  Baby Lemonade
 3.  Wined and Dined
 4.  Rise and Shine
 5.  Gigolo Aunt
 6.  Mind Your Throats Please
 7.  Fat Old Sun


Side B:
 8.  Love Song
 9.  Wolfpack
10.  Dominoes
11.  Sunny Side Up
12.  Summer ‘68
13.  Effervescing Elephant
14.  Father’s Shout (Remergence)



This is the final installment of a trilogy of “re-imagined” albums that postulates “What if Syd Barrett hadn’t been fired from Pink Floyd?”   Themes From An Imaginary Western, a title derived from an early moniker of the song “Atom Heart Mother”, is the theoretical album that would have been released in 1970 by a Syd Barrett-led Pink Floyd, following my other two re-imagined albums, 1969’s Vantage Point and 1968’s The Shape of Questions To Heaven.  The entire album has been crossfaded and edited into two continuous sides of music with the “Atom Heart Mother” theme bookending the album, an aesthetic first explored by Pink Floyd at this time and continued for most of their career; it seemed appropriate for this material.

Themes From An Imaginary Western uses Syd Barrett’s second and final solo album Barrett and Pink Floyd’s Atom Heart Mother as source material, as both albums were recorded around the same time.  As we’ve already established, a Syd Barrett-led Pink Floyd would have primarily been a singles-oriented band, as opposed to the largely improvisational, instrumental and experimental quartet Pink Floyd of the late 60s.  This was an easy ethos to mimic on my first two re-imaginings, but the task is much more difficult here, as Pink Floyd’s contributions from Atom Heart Mother began to solidify the artistic visions that saw the creation of the classic Pink Floyd albums throughout the decade. 

My solution was to design Themes From An Imaginary Western as a collection of the decidedly Pink Floydian Barrett solo tracks, all interconnected with instrumental passages from Atom Heart Mother.  This seemed to be an appropriate choice, as the more low-key, less schizophrenic and honestly slick early 70s pop-production of many of the Barrett tracks seemed to pair well with the sound of Atom Heart Mother, a sound Pink Floyd continued to refine.  After much sequencing work was done, we are left with two sides of music that find this Barrett-led Floyd attempting a new musical direction, maybe a response to the lack of obvious hit singles from their last two albums.  Themes From An Imaginary Western, while not immediately abrasive, galactic or even heavy, is at least cohesive in sound and design and introduces the following album, the band’s first foray without Syd Barret, Meddle

Beginning Side A, the main theme from “Atom Heart Mother” (subtitled “A Father’s Shout”, and is indicated as such here) was used to introduce the album and somehow fits perfectly crossfaded into “Baby Lemonade”, which in turn is hard edited into “Wined and Dined”.  An instrumental interlude in the form of “Rise and Shine” (from “Alan’s Psychedelic Breakfast”) introduces “Gigolo Aunt”, which is crossfaded into a piece of the experimental section of “Atom Heart Mother” (subtitled “Mind Your Throats Please”) and finally into Gimour’s contribution to the album, the majestic side-closer “Fat Old Sun”.  Side B begins with the closest to a hit single on this album, “Love Song”, followed by the paranoiac “Wolfpack”.  “Dominoes” segues into another instrumental interlude culled from “Alan’s Psychedelic Breakfast” (subtitled “Sunny Side Up”) which leads into the epic “Summer ‘68”.  Barrett’s last word with Pink Floyd becomes one of his most noteworthy songs, the child-like “Effervescing Elephant”, crossfaded into the grand finale of the album, the closing reprise of the “Atom Heart Mother” theme (subtitled “Remergence”). 

This unfortunately must be the final Syd Barrett-led Pink Floyd album, as he simply ceased to make music after this point.  What few recordings we have from an attempted third solo album in 1974 are musically miserable and organizationally scant, unsuitable for any release, let alone an Album That Never Was.  It’s just as well, as Themes From An Imaginary Western is symbolic of the end of an era for this proposed Pink Floyd.  Listening, we can clearly hear a Syd Barrett simply running out of steam, the arrangements relying on typical post-psychedelic pop forays and arbitrary lyrical subject matter.  We can also hear the rest of the band beginning to surpass their once-leader, ready to tackle broader concepts paired with refined songwriting.  This is the farewell album that, in real life, Pink Floyd never got to make with Syd.  Instead, his ghost haunted Pink Floyd’s albums for some time.  With this trilogy complete, maybe Syd Barrett’s bones can finally rest. 



Sources used:
Pink Floyd – Atom Heart Mother (1994 MFSL remaster)
Pink Floyd – Atom Heart Mother (2011 EMI remaster)
Syd Barrett – Barrett (1994 Harvest remaster)


flac --> wav --> editing in SONAR, Audacity & Goldwave --> flac encoding via TLH lv8
*md5, artwork and tracknotes included

24 comments:

  1. Cool! I look forward to giving this a listen. I've enjoyed every thing I've heard on your blog, so I know this will be good too. Thanks.

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  2. So what's next, If Roger Waters didn't quit the Floyd?

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  3. Thanks again. I enjoy Gilmour without Waters, not so much the other way round; but I'd be intrigued too if you were to try.

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    Replies
    1. Actually, after posting that, I listened to Amused to Death on headphones, which I never had, and upgraded my view of Waters; but I do wish Gilmour had been involved and allowed to perform quality control. Also, Jeff Beck is a great guitarist but does a mediocre imitation of Dave. Ah well, it's all ancient history now.

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  5. I really love your blog!! It's one of my hobbies to make unreleased albums also!
    Id' like to share my pseudo fake Beach Boys album that would have followed up Holland in 1974:
    it's made up of various unreleased songs from the 70s and I think it flows pretty well.
    Here's the link for the mix and tracklist:
    http://www.mediafire.com/?s6t00r60q0w4w2h

    THE BEACH BOYS - California (1974)

    Side One

    River Song
    We Got Love
    Looking Down The Coast
    It's A New Day
    Out In the Country

    Side Two

    California Slide
    Hard Times
    Santa Ana Winds
    Carry Me Home
    Back Home

    I would be glad to know what you think of it and maybe inspire you to make something similar! Cheers! :D


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  6. Red Rose Speedway Triple-album, as originally planned:


    Side one

    "Big Barn Bed"
    "My Love"
    "When the Night"
    "Single Pigeon"

    Side two

    "Tragedy"
    "Mama's Little Girl"
    "Loup (1st Indian on the Moon)"
    "I Would Only Smile"
    "Henry's Blues"

    Side three

    "Country Dreamer"
    "Night Out"
    "One More Kiss"
    "Jazz Street"
    "Thank You Darling"

    Side four

    "I Lie Around"
    "Little Lamb Dragonfly"
    "Get on the Right Thing"
    "1882" (live)
    "The Mess I'm In" (live)

    Side five

    "Live and Let Die"
    "I Would Only Smile"
    "Seaside Woman"
    "Best Friend"
    "C Moon,"

    Side six

    "Soily" (live)
    "Hi, Hi, Hi,"
    "Medley: Hold Me Tight/Lazy Dynamite/Hands of Love/Power Cut"

    That is a HUGE album :) I'm insisting, that would be great!

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    Replies
    1. I forgot: “Bridge On The River Suite". That's everything that was recorded for the sessions. All here.

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    2. http://albumsthatneverwere.blogspot.com/2013/04/paul-mccartney-wings-red-rose-speedway.html

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  7. As with "Vantage Point" the flac links seem to have expired - would really appreciate a re-up. Thanks!

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  8. I would have considered mixing some of the 1970 'The Body' into this, but on the whole another excellent job. Reprise of Fathers Shout / Remergence at the end a very nice touch.

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  9. Your reimagined Pink Floyd with Syd albums are fantastic! Syd never sounded better.
    I have been listening to the set on endless repeat. For completeness sake I put the leftover 1968 songs (Point me at the sky, It Would be so nice, Saucerful of Secrets, etc) into another album, they seem to fit together well.

    If I can make a request, how about a 1981 Talking Heads album?

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  10. Interesting idea. Thank you for your hard work.

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  11. Hello. I hope you get this message. I would like to make a recommendation. I love what you did with Syd Barrett staying with Floyd in the 60's-70's. My request: could you please make some albums with Roger Waters staying with Floyd in the 80's-90's. And, could you also make some more Floyd albums from the 90's-00's-10's by combining solo work? Thanks

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  12. Reminds me of "Lunacy Blue" or in the US "The Lunacy Blue" in fact simply an error in the title when it was released stateside. A Pink Floyd album that never came out in place of Piper at the Gates of Dawn. I still hear it in my dreams. The electric sitar piece "Brahma's Dream, the trippy Folk piece "Quicksilver" and the eponymous bluesy groove number that drifts in and out between the albums tracks (un-labled tracks: 3, 5, 8, and 10.) If only it could be a reality. Strangely enough "Matilda Mother" and "Chapter 24" were on it too (From Piper) though Chapter 24 was track #13 (not track#8) and follwed by 56 seconds of silence and then a hidden final track "Candide" - instrumental guitar only.

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  13. Hello,
    Could you please make this one available for download on mega?
    Hope to hear from you soon.
    Thanks very much,

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  14. Any chance of a reupload on Mega? Thanks!

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  15. Empty Three
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  16. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  17. Hey sonic

    I've been thinking of combining Ummagumma, Atom Heart Mother and a few unreleased tracks and takes

    I'm not really sure on the tracklist, Wanna put in your input?

    Side 1, Disc 1
    Overture
    Side 2, Disc 1
    Day Break - Grantchester Meadows
    Morning - Alan’s Psychedelic Breakfast
    Later Morning - If
    Side 3, Disc 2
    Midday - Summer 68’
    Afternoon - Fat Old Sun
    Evening - The Narrow Way
    Side 4, Disc 2
    Night Break - Sisyphus
    Night - The Embryo
    Overture - Reprise

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