Pink Floyd – Ummagumma – UK vinyl - Harvest SHDW1/2 - 145g vinyl

	£		20
	$		26

Pink Floyd – Ummagumma – UK vinyl - Harvest SHDW1/2

Matrix nos.

SHDW 1 A 1

SHDW 1 B 2

SHDW 2 A 1

SHDW 2 B 2

Description

A very clean early vinyl copy of Pink Floyd’s marvellous – and in parts, totally bonkers – 1969 double album. Half live, half in the studio, Ummagumma (the title is Cambridge slang for sexual intercourse) is perhaps Pink Floyd’s first truly confident statement since the departure of frontman Syd Barrett.  It was their first release on EMI’s new progressive label, Harvest Records.

The live sides contain one Barret number (Astronomy Domine); two songs are drawn from A Saucerful of Secrets (the album’s title track and Set The Controls For The Heart of The Sun) and there’s the stage favourite, Careful With That Axe, Eugene (originally the b-side of the single Point Me At The Sky).  And these live recordings capture the band in tremendous form; all except Astronomy Domine would remain in the set list up until the end of The Dark Side Of The Moon tour in November 1973.  The recordings are spot-on (but the applause at the end of each track sounds as if it had been poorly dubbed on…maybe someone forgot to point a few microphones in the direction of the audience!)

Two tracks recorded for the album but dropped from the running order were a (much bootlegged!) 13-minute live version of Interstellar Overdrive and a new studio recording, Embryo.  The former remains unreleased; it is not even included in the new 27-disc career retrospective The Early Years (due for release in November).  Embryo turned up (without the band’s approval) on a Harvest records sampler album (Picnic) and later on an American compact disc, Works.

It is on sides three and four where the band stretch out and perhaps for the first time, use the studio as a recording tool.  Each band member was allowed ten minutes or so each (i.e. half an album’s side) to contribute solo material.  To this day, Richard Wright’s Sysyphus and Nick Mason’s Grand Vizier's Garden Party maker for exceptionally difficult listening.  David Gilmour’s The Narrow Way is an early approximation of the slow and layered harmonised style that would form the backbone of the band’s style for the next five years.  Roger Water’s Grantchester Meadows is a beautiful sound picture of a Cambridge summer’s day that leads into a bizarre yet amusing percussive impression of an ugly-bug ball - Several Species of Small Furry Animals Gathered Together in a Cave and Grooving with a Pict is five minutes of tape-loop and sound-effect freak-out that leads into a guttural rant in the broadest possible Scottish brogue, something worthy perhaps of Robbie Burns.  I once read that Roger’s friend Ron Geesin in fact delivered this section; but my friend The Internet can’t seem to back this up.

Condition

This record has been graded as per The Record Collector grading guide (see below).  

Audio: - Excellent. The vinyl on this record is exceptionally clean for a record that must be over 45 years old.  It sounds tremendously fresh – there aren’t that many spindle marke on the labels; I don’t think that the original owner was all that impressed with his purchase (and didn’t play it that many times!) There are a few hairline marks on the surface of the records, but that’s about it.  There is no stylus-induced inner groove distortion.  The vinyl is nice and thick (145g!); not thin and flexible as were later pressings of this LP set.  Please feel free to listen to a rip of this LP that I have made from my Linn Sondek LP 12 turntable.  No noise reduction nor equalisation has been applied to the attached recording.   This is how this LP actually sounds.

https://soundcloud.com/user980625031/ummagumma

Cover: - Very good. Take a look at the high-resolution pictures attached.  No retouching has been applied to the photographs. What you see is what you get!  The original inner sleeves have gone; I have afforded this album two nice new anti-static audiophile inners.  There is minimal creasing to the spine and top edge of the sleeve.  Overall, the minimum of shelf wear.  Not exactly new, but very tidy indeed considering its age.

Ultra-rigid packaging comes as standard.  Happy bidding!

The Record Collector grading guide: -

MINT: The record itself is in brand new condition with no surface marks or deterioration in sound quality. The cover and any extra items such as the lyric sheet, booklet or poster are in perfect condition. Records advertised as Sealed or Unplayed should be Mint.

EXCELLENT: The record shows some signs of having been played, but there is very little lessening in sound quality. The cover and packaging might have slight wear and / or creasing.

VERY GOOD: The record has obviously been played many times, but displays no major deterioration in sound quality, despite noticeable surface marks and the occasional light scratch. Normal wear and tear on the cover or extra items, without any major defects, is acceptable.

GOOD: The record has been played so much that the sound quality has noticeably deteriorated, perhaps with some distortion and mild scratches. The cover and contents suffer from folding, scuffing of edges, spine splits, discolouration, etc.

FAIR: The record is still just playable but has not been cared for properly and displays considerable surface noise; it may even jump. The cover and contents will be torn, stained and / or defaced.

POOR: The record will not play properly due to scratches, bad surface noise, etc. The cover and contents will be badly damaged or partly missing.

BAD: The record is unplayable or might even be broken, and is only of use as a collection filler.

As well as the above grades, NEAR MINT is often used as well; this is really for a record that appears new but is known to have been played because the label has light spindle marks or because it has come from a previous owner and is assumed to have been played by them. For records which appear to fall between the accepted grades, + and - are also often added to the grading.