Pink Floyd – Magnesium Proverbs (1966-1970)

Pink Floyd
Magnesium Proverbs – 1966-1970
Catalog: Night Tripper Productions

Sources:
1966- 1970

1-2. 1966 studio recordings dubbed from original EMI disc acetate

1967 studio recording dubbed from original EMI disc acetate, alternate mix
4-5. February 27, 1967 studio recordings, Sound Techniques Studios, Chelsea, London
1967 studio recording alternate mix, different from U.S. 45
7-9. May 4, 1967 television performance from “Look of the Week”, BBC2
July 1967 radio broadcast from Radio Carlisle, Scotland
September 13, 1967 live performance, Star Club, Copenhagen, Denmark
12,13. October 1967 studio recording, De Lane Lea Studios, London
August 1967 studio recording, final Pink Floyd 45 w/Syd
15-17. February 1970 radio broadcast “Sound Of The Seventies”, BBC
18-21. Syd’s only live solo appearance Royal Festival Hall, London, June 1, 1970 [6.6.70, Extravaganza ’70, Olympia, London]
It’s a mystery!!
Alternate mix from U.K. mono version of “Saucerful of Secrets”, recorded October 1967 De Lane Lea Studios, London

Hires-coverscans:

MP3-Soundsample:

Tracks:

Lucy Leave
King Bee
See Emily Play
Arnold Layne
Candy And A Currant Bun
Flaming
Pow R Toc H
Astronomy Domine
Interstellar Overdrive
Reaction In G
Stoned Alone
Vegetable Man
Scream Thy Last Scream (Old Woman With A Casket)
Apples And Oranges
Baby Lemonade
Dominoes
Love Song
Terrapin
Gigolo Aunt
Effervescing Elephant
Octopus
Clowns And Jugglers
Mystery Bits
Jugband Blues

Total length: 73:48

Band:
Syd Barrett

Xref:

Quality: VG++/+++

Comments:
It is a collection of lots of Syd stuff. Some of which is of good quality, some bad. There
are a few common tracks which I believe are the standard released versions (Emily, Candy
and a Currant Bun etc.) but some other rarer tracks of very good quality – Scream Thy Last
Scream, Vegetable Man, Lucy Leave, King Bee. It also contains radio recordings of
Reaction in G and Stoned Alone. These are not of such good quality. Also there is a few
tracks of Syd supposedly during his only live solo performance (1st June 1970 I think)
where he plays Baby Lemonade, Evervescing Elephant etc. but I’m not sure about these.
The quality is poor but it is definately Syd, and it’s definately live. The CD finnishes with a
recording of the backwards message from the Wall. -ANONYMOUS

The live material on Magnesium Proverbs fits the description of the Extravaganza ’70 gig.
The liner claims the recording is from the Royal Festival Hall on 1 June 1970.
-ANONYMOUS

The majority of the source notations are correct. However, I think a few things should be
pointed out in all fairness. Here are my notes about each track:

1-2) These sound fantastic! By FAR the best quality versions to appear anywhere. Each
new Syd RoIO that has appeared in the past year has contained these songs with slightly
better quality than the others. Let’s hope this trend continues! This disk contains a few
pops and crackles, but both songs are very listenable.

3) This puts the version on the Psychedelic Dungeon CD to shame. There are a few pops,
but not nearly so many as before. Sadly, the actual difference between this mix and the
official one is minimal.

4,5) Yes, they were recorded on Feb 27, 1967, but there’s nothing terribly odd about that.
They’re simply the normal 45 versions of the songs, probably pinched from the Shine On
set or the CD Full of Secrets DJ disk.

6) Obviously recorded from vinyl, but which ? This alternate mix is not amazingly different
from the Piper version. It’s nice to have, but isn’t the nicest part of the disk.

7) This track is actually Pow R Toc H, some DJ’s prattling, and Astronomy Domine. That
means that all of the following track numbers will be out of synch with the track listing
above. The quality is quite good. There’s some tape hiss, but remarkably little.

8) The final of the “Look Of The Week” songs. This version of Interstellar Overdrive is
slightly muffled, a bit rambling, but still a good listen. At the end of this track is a snippet
from an interview. It might be Paul McCartney. I’m not a Beatles fanatic, so it might also
be someone else, but it certainly does sound like Paul.

9) The complete date and source of this track is July 23, 1967 at the Cosmopolitan
Ballroom, Carlisle, Cumbria, Scotland. Why the compilers chose to include this 30 second
version of “Reaction In G” and exclude the 4 minute version of “Set The Controls..” is
beyond me. However, again, there’s little tape hiss. Much better than my prior tapes
(although my prior tapes do contain StCftHotS)

[Actually, Carlisle (and Cumbria) is in England, but quite near the Scottish border. This
error presumably originates with Jon Rosenberg (“A Journey Through Time & Space
With The Pink Floyd”), although I’m willing to be corrected — HEDONIST]

10) Stoned Alone = Reaction In G. This instrumental is muffled and in monophonic sound.
It’s not amazingly fun to listen to, but it is considerably better quality than what I’ve heard
before.

11) More moronic DJ ranting and an amazingly keen version of Vegetable Man. There’s
little or no tape hiss or vinyl distortion. If it weren’t for the DJ’s nonsense, I’d say that this
is the best version of VM to appear yet.

12) STLS is of sparkling quality. They may well have snagged this one directly from the
Psychedelic Dungeon disk.

13) Apples & Oranges, as Arnold Layne and Candy and A Currant Bun, is the traditional
45 version. Nothing particularly amazing about it.

14,15&16) These are probably the best tracks on the disk, in my humble opinion. The
vocals are distorted, the tape hiss is evident, and the guitar playing isn’t the best. However,
setting all of these things aside, these are remarkable tracks. The versions that I’ve had
previously sound MUCH worse. I’ve always been particularly fond of this session for
some reason. It’s pretty clear that Syd’s falling apart, but he really tries to keep it all
together. Like always, the RoIO makers got the date wrong. The actual date is February

Also, for some unknown reason, they chose to provide only 3 of the 4 songs Syd
sang that night (omitting Terrapin).

17-20) These tracks are from Syd’s June 6, 1970 gig in Olympia, London called
“Extravaganza 70-Music and Fashion Festival”. (again the RoIO compiler got the date
wrong) The vocals are virtually impossible to make out until Effervescing Elephant, where
they are merely hard to make out.

[After Effervescing Elephant you can hear someone, probably an audience member, shout
for the Mike to be turned up because they “can’t hear [his] voice”. Nice to be able to hear
this at last! — HEDONIST]

21) Several EMI outtakes of Clowns & Jugglers edited together in a manner similar to that
on the Vegetable Man LP, “Clowns & Jugglers (1-3)”. Good sound quality, but fairly tame
material.

22,23) The mono Jugband Blues… There are a few vinyl pops, but it is different from the
typical version. Very nice.

24) The hidden message, played so you can understand it, from the song “Empty Spaces”.
Kinda cool to finally hear it.

Probably the most exciting find of them all, if it is genuine, is the photo included with MP
of Syd in his garden. The photo is in color and shows a man that looks almost exactly like
Syd squatting in front of and under some foliage with the sun shining across his face.
Although the photo clearly shows the face and is in color, I can’t swear to you that it really
is Syd, because so few photos of Syd (taken in the 1980’s) have ever surfaced. -SCOTT

The version of Interstellar Overdrive is listed as track 9 on the CD box, but it is actually
track 8 on the CD. The previous two tracks, Pow R. Toch and Astronomy Domine, are
combined as one CD track.

The Source listing says that this is from the “Look of the Week” show. However, this
track is apparently from the UFO club on the 20th of January, 1967.

The same recording appears on “Rhamadam: Syd Barrett and the Dawn of Pink Floyd”
(track 11) but it was taken from a documentary shown on Granada TV. The Ramadam
version is of poorer quality with a narrators voice dubbed over the music.

According to the list of “Pink Floyd TV Appearances”, Paul McCartney was interviewed
for this documentary. That would explain why the Magnesium Proverbs version of IO
ends with him talking. MWP

You can tell the original from the repress very easily. The original has really sharp graphics
on the back of the jewel case, the label name is “Gold Standard” and is pressed on a
gold(?) CD. The original press was limited to 500 copies (from I’ve heard from “the inside”)
and as I said before, really really tough to find. The repress has a blurry copy of the track
listing from the original, and isn’t pressed on a gold. CD. -TIBIRD

I really like this one it is one of, if not my favorites. The cracks and pops (from vinyl I
assume) add charm to it. Very listenable and quite a nice collection that represents Syd s
career . It has been said before about other ones, I know but. . GET THIS CD !! It is a
must, more so for fans fans of Syd, it would have been nice for them to exclude some of
the more common ones and put stuff like Experiment and Candy and a Current Bun
w/original lyrics on this disc (yes they do exist). Plus the live Syd songs that are on it are
sweet !! Very nice I would rate it as EX but some of the quality prevents it from being as
so. – Jeff