A Nice Pair
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| A Nice Pair | |||||
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| Compilation album by Pink Floyd | |||||
| Released | December 1973 (U.S.) January 1974 (UK) |
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| Recorded | 1967–1968 | ||||
| Genre | Progressive rock | ||||
| Length | 81:24 | ||||
| Label | Harvest/EMI (UK) Harvest/Capitol (US) |
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| Producer | Various | ||||
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| Pink Floyd compilations chronology | |||||
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A Nice Pair is a compilation album by Pink Floyd. The album is basically The Piper at the Gates of Dawn and A Saucerful of Secrets sold in a new gatefold sleeve. "A Nice Pair" reached #36 in the U.S. and was certified Gold by the R.I.A.A. in March of 1994.
There are a few differences between the U.S. and U.K. issues on the first disc of "A Nice Pair" which makes the U.K. the preferred version. It appears[citation needed] that the U.S. division of the company tried to reconstruct the first disc from tapes that had already been altered for the U.S. version of the first Pink Floyd album in 1967. There is a note on the back of the U.S. version of "A Nice Pair" which explains some of this. Songs dropped from the first U.S. album ("Flaming", "Astronomy Domine" and "Bike") are restored here, but new mistakes were made. The 8 minute live Ummagumma recording of "Astronomy Domine" replaces the original 4 minute studio recording on the UK edition. Apparently, Harvest/Capitol lost their copy of the studio recording. The U.S. version of "A Nice Pair" also fades out "Interstellar Overdrive" and adds a few seconds of silence before "The Gnome." The segue between these songs on the U.K. version was broken when they were re-sequenced for the group's first U.S. album.
The cover is by the Hipgnosis group, who did many other Pink Floyd covers, including Dark Side of the Moon. It was actually a series of covers that were not strong enough on their own, so they were put together, each as one of nine squares. Each of the images depicts a well-known phrase or saying in the form of a visual pun; for instance, the centre right-hand panel on the front depicts "a fork in the road", while the bottom right represents "a different kettle of fish", and so on. The top centre panel contains an image of a woman's breasts, which is, of course, a visual pun on the album title, "a nice pair". Initial copies had a picture of W.R.Phang's dental surgery on the cover, but he objected on the grounds that in those days dentists were not allowed to advertise, and the picture was replaced with one of a gargling monk. The U.S. covers had a purple and white Pink Floyd A Nice Pair sticker covering the pictures of naked women. U.S. LP editions during the 1980s featured both the nudity and the W.R.Phang photo.
The album was the next U.S. release for the band after Dark Side of The Moon, which confused many young fans[who?], as it covers the early, different psychedelic sound of the Syd Barrett period of Pink Floyd, rather than the Alan Parsons-engineered production of "Dark Side." However, as that period was not very successful in the US, this album provided its first exposure to many fans who'd begun listening with "Dark Side".
Due to its superfluous nature, seeing as The Piper at the Gates of Dawn and A Saucerful of Secrets are sold separately on CD, A Nice Pair has long since been deleted. However, an unofficial CD version was released in European territories packaged in a miniature vinyl sleeve right down to the Harvest Records label recreated on CD.
Contents |
[edit] Track listing
All songs by Syd Barrett, except where noted.
[edit] The Piper at the Gates of Dawn
- "Astronomy Domine" – 4:14 U.K. version, 8:12 U.S. version
- Lead vocals on UK pressing: Syd Barrett and Rick Wright Lead vocals on US pressing: David Gilmour and Rick Wright
- "Lucifer Sam" – 3:07
- Lead vocals: Syd Barrett
- "Matilda Mother" – 3:08
- Lead vocals: Syd Barrett and Rick Wright
- "Flaming" – 2:46
- Lead vocals: Syd Barrett
- "Pow R. Toc H." (Syd Barrett/Roger Waters/Rick Wright/Nick Mason) – 4:26
- Instrumental
- "Take Up Thy Stethoscope and Walk" (Roger Waters) – 3:05
- Lead vocals: Roger Waters
- "Interstellar Overdrive" (Syd Barrett/Roger Waters/Rick Wright/Nick Mason) – 9:41
- Instrumental (no segue on U.S. version)
- "The Gnome" – 2:13
- Lead vocals: Syd Barrett
- "Chapter 24" – 3:42
- Lead vocals: Syd Barrett
- "The Scarecrow" – 2:11
- Lead vocals: Syd Barrett
- "Bike" – 3:21
- Lead vocals: Syd Barrett
[edit] A Saucerful of Secrets
- "Let There Be More Light" (Roger Waters) – 5:38
- Lead vocals: Rick Wright and David Gilmour, whispers: Roger Waters
- "Remember a Day" (Rick Wright) – 4:33
- Lead vocals: Rick Wright
- "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun" (Roger Waters) – 5:28
- Lead vocals: Roger Waters
- "Corporal Clegg" (Roger Waters) – 4:13
- Lead vocals: David Gilmour and Nick Mason
- "A Saucerful of Secrets" (David Gilmour/Roger Waters/Rick Wright/Nick Mason) – 11:57
- Instrumental
- "See-Saw" (Rick Wright) – 4:36
- Lead vocals: Rick Wright
- "Jugband Blues" – 3:00
- Lead vocals: Syd Barrett
[edit] Personnel
- Syd Barrett: Lead Guitars, vocals.
- David Gilmour: Lead Guitars, vocals.
- Roger Waters: Bass guitar, vocals.
- Richard Wright: Keyboards, piano, metrollon, vibraphone, vocals.
- Nick Mason: Drums, percussion, vocals.
- Norman Smith: Drums, vocals on "Remember a Day".
- Members of the Salvation Army:
- Ray Bowes: Cornet.
- Terry Camsey: Cornet.
- Mac Carter: Trombone.
- Les Condon: Eb Bass.
- Maurice Cooper: Euphonium
- Ian Hankey: Trombone
- George Whittingham: Bb Bass.
[edit] Charts
[edit] Album
| Year | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 1974 | UK Albums Chart | 21 |
| 1974 | Billboard Pop Albums | 36 |
| 1974 | Norway's album chart | 8 |
