Atom Heart Mother
Atom Heart Mother | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Studio album by | ||||
Released | 2 October 1970 | |||
Recorded | 1 March – 26 July 1970[1] | |||
Studio | EMI, London | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 52:06 | |||
Label | Harvest | |||
Producer | Pink Floyd | |||
Pink Floyd chronology | ||||
|
Atom Heart Mother is the fifth studio album by the English rock band Pink Floyd. It was released by Harvest on 2 October 1970 in the UK, and by Capitol on 10 October 1970 in the US.[3] It was recorded at EMI Studios (now Abbey Road Studios) in London, and was the band's first album to reach number 1 in the UK, while it reached number 55 in the US, eventually going gold there.[4]
The cover was designed by Hipgnosis, and was the band's first not to feature their name, or have photographs of them on any part of it. This was a trend that would continue on subsequent covers throughout the 1970s.
Although it was commercially successful on release, the band — particularly Roger Waters and David Gilmour — have expressed negative opinions of the album. A remastered CD was released in 1994 in the UK and the US, and again in 2011. Ron Geesin, who had influenced and collaborated with Waters, co-composed to the title track.
Recording
Pink Floyd started work on the album after completing their contributions to the soundtrack for the film Zabriskie Point in Rome, which had ended somewhat acrimoniously. They headed back to London in early 1970 for rehearsals. A number of out-takes from the Rome sessions were used to assemble new material during these rehearsals, though some of it, such as "The Violent Sequence", later to become "Us and Them", would not be used for some time.[5]
Side one
The
By March, they had finished recording the track,[10] but felt that it was rather unfocused and needed something else. The band had been introduced to Ron Geesin via the Rolling Stones tour manager, Sam Cutler, and were impressed with his composition and tape-editing capabilities, particularly Waters and Mason.[5] Geesin was handed the completed backing tracks the band had recorded, and asked to compose an orchestral arrangement over the top of it while the band went on tour to the US.[5] Geesin described the composing and arranging as "a hell of a lot of work. Nobody knew what was wanted, they couldn't read music …"[10] According to him, Gilmour came up with some of the melodic lines, while the pair of them along with keyboardist Richard Wright worked on the middle section with the choir.[7][11] During the recording of his work in June with the EMI Pops Orchestra,[12] the session musicians present were unimpressed with his tendency to favour avant-garde music over established classical works, and, combined with the relative difficulty of some of the parts, harassed him during recording. John Alldis, whose choir was also to perform on the track, had experience in dealing with orchestral musicians, and managed to conduct the recorded performance in place of Geesin.[5][13]
The track was originally called "The Amazing Pudding", although Geesin's original score referred to it as "Untitled Epic".
The piece as presented on the completed album is a progression from Pink Floyd's earlier instrumental pieces such as "
Side two
The album's concept is similar to their previous Ummagumma album, in that it features the full band in the first half, and focuses on individual members in the second half.[23][25] Side two opens with three five-minute songs: one by each of the band's three resident songwriters; then closes with a sound effects-dominated musical suite primarily conceived by Mason and credited to the whole group.[23][26] Waters contributes a folk ballad called "If", playing acoustic guitar.[23][27] Pink Floyd rarely played the song live, but Waters often performed it at solo shows[27] in support of his Radio K.A.O.S. album, more than a decade later. This is followed by Wright's "Summer '68", which also features prominent use of brass in places. It was issued as a Japanese single in 1971,[28] and was the only track on the album never to be played live in concert. The song was reportedly about Wright and a groupie on tour, and had the working title of "One Night Stand".[29]
According to Mason, Gilmour, having had little songwriting experience at that point, was ordered to remain in EMI until he had composed a song suitable for inclusion on the album. He came up with a folk-influenced tune, "Fat Old Sun",[23] which he still cites as a personal favourite.[5] The song was a regular part of the band's live repertoire in 1970–71, and became a staple of Gilmour's solo set in 2006.[30]
The final track, "Alan's Psychedelic Breakfast", is divided into three segments, each with its own descriptive title, joined by dialogue and sound effects of then-roadie Alan Styles preparing, discussing, and eating breakfast.[31] The idea for the piece came about by Waters experimenting with the rhythm of a dripping tap,[32] which combined sound effects and dialogue recorded by Mason in his kitchen[32] with musical pieces recorded at EMI.[33] A slightly re-worked version was performed on stage on 22 December 1970 at Sheffield City Hall, Sheffield, England with the band members pausing between pieces to eat and drink their breakfast. The original LP ends with the sound of the tap which continues into the inner groove, and thus plays on indefinitely.[15][34]
Original Floyd frontman Syd Barrett recorded his album Barrett around the same time as Atom Heart Mother, with assistance from Gilmour and Wright. He occasionally visited his old band's sessions to see what they were doing.[20]
Artwork
The original album cover, designed by art collective
In the mid-1980s, a bootleg containing rare singles and B-sides entitled The Dark Side of the Moo appeared, with a similar cover. Like Atom Heart Mother, the cover had no writing on it, although in this case it was to protect the bootlegger's anonymity rather than any artistic statement.[39] The album cover for the KLF's concept album Chill Out was also inspired by Atom Heart Mother.[40]
Release and reception
Review scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [41] |
Christgau's Record Guide | D+[42] |
The Daily Telegraph | [43] |
MusicHound Rock | 2/5[44] |
The Rolling Stone Album Guide | [45] |
Sputnikmusic | 3/5[46] |
Tom Hull | C−[47] |
Classic Rock | [48] |
Atom Heart Mother was released on 2 October 1970 in the UK and 10 October in the US.
Critical reaction to the suite has always been mixed, and all band members have expressed negativity toward it.[18] Gilmour has said the album was "a load of rubbish. We were at a real down point ... I think we were scraping the barrel a bit at that period"[54] and "a good idea but it was dreadful... Atom Heart Mother sounds like we didn't have any idea between us, but we became much more prolific after it."[55] Similarly, in a 1984 interview on BBC Radio 1, Waters said "If somebody said to me now – right – here's a million pounds, go out and play Atom Heart Mother, I'd say you must be fucking joking."[12]
In a 1970 review, Alec Dubro of
Live performances
The band were initially enthusiastic about performing the suite. An early performance was taped for the San Francisco television station KQED, featuring just the band, on 28 April 1970.[58] Two major performances were at the Bath Festival of Blues and Progressive Music on 27 June and the "Blackhills Garden Party" in Hyde Park, London on 18 July. On both occasions the band were accompanied by the John Alldis Choir and the Philip Jones Brass Ensemble.[59] Later, the band took a full brass section and choir on tour just for the purpose of performing this piece.[15] However, this caused the tour to lose money, and the band found problems with the hired musicians, which changed from gig to gig as they simply took who was available, which, combined with lack of rehearsal and problems miking up the whole ensemble, made a full live performance more problematic. Reflecting on this, Gilmour said "some of the brass players have been really hopeless".[33] According to Mason, the band arrived at one gig in Aachen, Germany, only to discover they had left the sheet music behind, forcing tour manager Tony Howard to go back to London and get it.[5]
A later arrangement without brass or choir, and pared down from 25 minutes to fifteen by omitting the "collage" sections and closing reprise of the main theme, remained in their live repertoire into 1972. The first live performance of The Dark Side of the Moon suite in Brighton was abandoned partway through; after a break, the band played Atom Heart Mother instead.[60] Pink Floyd's last live performance of the suite took place on 22 May 1972 at the Olympisch Stadion, Amsterdam, Netherlands.[61]
Legacy
Stanley Kubrick wanted to use the album's title track in A Clockwork Orange.[32] The group refused permission, primarily because Kubrick was unsure of exactly which pieces of music he wanted and what he wished to do with them. In retrospect, Waters said "maybe it's just as well it wasn't used after all".[33] Nevertheless, the album is visible behind the counter in the record store scene of the film.[62]
On 14 and 15 June 2008, Geesin performed "Atom Heart Mother" with Italian tribute band Mun Floyd over two nights as part of the Chelsea Festival.[63] Geesin introduced it with a history and slide show. The performances featured the chamber choir Canticum,[64] brass and cellist Caroline Dale, who has worked with Gilmour. The second night saw Gilmour join Geesin on stage for the performance, which was extended to 30 minutes.[65]
In 2013, Geesin produced a book, The Flaming Cow, which documented his experience with working with Pink Floyd, including the making of this album from his point of view.[66]
Track listing
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Lead vocals | Length |
---|---|---|---|---|
1. | "Atom Heart Mother"
| Instrumental | 23:44 | |
Total length: | 23:44 |
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Lead vocals | Length |
---|---|---|---|---|
2. | "If" | Waters | Waters | 4:31 |
3. | "Summer '68" | Wright | Wright | 5:29 |
4. | "Fat Old Sun" | Gilmour | Gilmour | 5:22 |
5. | "Alan's Psychedelic Breakfast"
|
| Instrumental, speech by Alan Styles | 13:00 |
Total length: | 28:22 52:06 |
Personnel
Taken from sleeve notes.[67] Track numbers noted in parentheses below are based on CD track numbering.
Pink Floyd
- vocals(4)
- Roger Waters: Bass (1-3, 5), classical guitar (2), vocals (2), sound effects (1, 5)
- Farfisa organ (1, 4), Hammond organ (1-5), Mellotron(1), vocals (3)
- percussion, sound effects (1, 5)
Additional musicians
- EMI Pops Orchestra – brass and orchestral sections (uncredited)[12]
- Hafliði Hallgrímsson – cello (1) (uncredited)[68]
- John Alldis Choir– choir (1)
- Alan Styles – voice and sound effects (5) (uncredited)
Production
- Ron Geesin – orchestration and co-composition (1) (uncredited)[69]
- Peter Bown – engineering
- Alan Parsons – engineering (misspelled as "Allan Parsons" on the original sleeve) ("I was very impressed with Atom Heart Mother, which I was asked to mix," he recalled. "It was a good move for me to get involved with Floyd, doing that kind of thing."[70])
- remastering at The Mastering Lab, L.A.[71]
- James Guthrie, Joel Plante – 2011 remastering at das boot recording[72]
Charts
Weekly charts
|
Year-end charts
|
Certifications
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
Austria (IFPI Austria)[89] | Gold | 25,000* |
France ( SNEP)[90]
|
Gold | 100,000* |
Germany (BVMI)[91] | Gold | 250,000^ |
Italy (FIMI)[92] (since 2009) |
Platinum | 50,000‡ |
United Kingdom (BPI)[93] 1994 release |
Gold | 100,000^ |
United States (RIAA)[94] | Gold | 500,000^ |
* Sales figures based on certification alone. |
References
Footnotes
- ^ A free performance was held at London's Hyde Park in July 1970, arranged by former Floyd management, Peter Jenner and Andrew King, with Geesin in attendance, who was shocked by the performance.[13][15]
- ^ UK EMI Harvest/HÖR ZU SHZE 297 Q
- ^ Australia EMI Harvest Q4SHVL-781
Citations
- ISBN 9780955462405.
- ^ a b "Pink Floyd: The Story Behind Atom Heart Mother". TeamRock. 22 September 2016. Archived from the original on 15 March 2017. Retrieved 14 March 2017.
- ^ Povey 2006, p. 137.
- ^ "Record Research (advertisement)". Billboard magazine. 15 March 1997. Archived from the original on 21 May 2021. Retrieved 6 September 2012.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Mason 2004, pp. 135–138.
- ^ Schaffner 2005, p. 157.
- ^ a b c d Manning 2006, p. 62.
- ^ Povey 2006, p. 181.
- ^ Guesdon & Margotin 2017, p. 306.
- ^ a b Povey 2006, p. 121.
- ^ a b c Schaffner 2005, p. 158.
- ^ a b c d "Dear Diary" (PDF). The Word. July 2008. Archived (PDF) from the original on 27 October 2010. Retrieved 5 September 2008.
- ^ a b c d Manning 2006, p. 63.
- ^ Geesin 2013, p. 8.
- ^ a b c d Schaffner 2005, p. 163.
- ^ Povey 2006, p. 134.
- ^ Blake 2006, p. 152.
- ^ a b Schaffner 2005, p. 160.
- ^ "Atom Heart Mother Named". Evening Standard. 16 July 1970. p. 9.
- ^ a b Schaffner 2005, p. 159.
- ^ "Obituary – John Alldis". Brain Damage. 21 December 2010. Archived from the original on 1 April 2012. Retrieved 5 September 2012.
- ^ Schaffner 2005, pp. 159–160.
- ^ a b c d e Manning 2006, p. 162.
- ^ Mason 2004, p. 130.
- ^ Schaffner 2005, p. 156.
- ^ Manning 2006, p. 164.
- ^ a b Schaffner 2005, p. 162.
- ^ "Pink Floyd – The Official Site – Singles". Archived from the original on 18 August 2012. Retrieved 5 September 2012.
- ^ Mabbett 2010, p. 100.
- ^ Mabbett 2010, p. 101.
- ^ Manning 2006, pp. 64, 162.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Manning 2006, p. 64.
- ^ a b c Povey 2006, p. 122.
- ^ Mabbett 2010, p. 102.
- ^ a b c d e Schaffner 2005, p. 161.
- ^ "Pink Floyd: Atom Heart Mother – The 20 best album covers ever – Pictures – Music". Virgin Media. Archived from the original on 13 December 2013. Retrieved 4 September 2012.
- ISBN 9781412834797. Archived from the originalon 14 February 2017.
- ^ "Interview: Designer Storm Thorgerson Reflects on Pink Floyd and 30 Years of Landmark Album Art". Guitar World. 10 August 2011. Archived from the original on 6 July 2012. Retrieved 5 September 2012.
- ISBN 0-670-85777-7.
- ^ Young, Stuart. "KLF is Gonna Rock Ya!". Library of Mu. Archived from the original on 26 January 2013. Retrieved 5 September 2012.
- ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Atom Heart Mother – Pink Floyd". AllMusic. Archived from the original on 11 May 2021. Retrieved 21 May 2021.
- ^ ISBN 089919026X. Retrieved 3 October 2018.
- ^ McCormick, Neil (20 May 2014). "Pink Floyd's 14 studio albums rated". The Daily Telegraph. London. Archived from the original on 27 December 2014. Retrieved 27 December 2014.
- ISBN 1-57859-061-2.
- Fireside Books. Archived from the originalon 17 February 2011. Retrieved 27 December 2014.
- ^ Tan, Irving. "Pink Floyd Atom Heart Mother". Sputnikmusic. Archived from the original on 18 September 2015. Retrieved 26 August 2015.
- ^ Hull, Tom. "Grade List: pink floyd". Tom Hull – on the Web. Archived from the original on 12 October 2020. Retrieved 11 October 2020.
- ^ "Pink Floyd: Atom Heart Mother – Album Of The Week Club review". 25 March 2019. Archived from the original on 25 March 2019. Retrieved 25 March 2019.
- ^ Povey 2006, p. 344.
- ^ "Pink Floyd – UK Chart History". Official Charts Company. Archived from the original on 13 March 2013. Retrieved 30 July 2012.
- ^ Pink Floyd. "Pink Floyd – Awards". AllMusic. Archived from the original on 7 April 2013. Retrieved 4 September 2012.
- ^ DeCurtis, Anthony (11 May 2011). "Pink Floyd announce massive reissue project". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 26 February 2023.
- ^ "Pink Floyd Records To Release "Atom Heart Mother", "Meddle" And "Obscured By Clouds" On September 23, 2016" (Press release). Legacy Recordings. 18 August 2016.
- ISBN 9780634032868. Archivedfrom the original on 21 May 2021. Retrieved 5 September 2012.
- ^ "Have Pink Floyd Split Up?". Mojo Magazine. October 2001. Archived from the original on 9 September 2012. Retrieved 16 August 2010.
- ^ Dubro, Alec (10 December 1970). "Atom Heart Mother". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 21 July 2017. Retrieved 22 July 2017.
- ^ "Rocklist". Archived from the original on 13 May 2012. Retrieved 22 July 2018.
- ^ Povey 2006, p. 131.
- ^ "Timeline : 1970". Pink Floyd – The Official Site. Archived from the original on 15 August 2012. Retrieved 5 September 2012.
- ^ Povey 2006, p. 164.
- ^ Povey 2006, p. 168.
- ^ John Coulthart (13 April 2006). "Alex in the Chelsea Drug Store". Archived from the original on 5 July 2015. Retrieved 5 July 2015.
- New Musical Express (2 June 2008). "Dave Gilmour to perform 'Atom Heart Mother' with tribute band". NME. Archivedfrom the original on 7 November 2012. Retrieved 7 August 2012.
- ^ Canticum. "Canticum – Testimonials". Archived from the original on 23 July 2012. Retrieved 7 August 2012.
- ^ Brain Damage (15 June 2008). "Ron Geesin – Atom Heart Mother, Cadogan Hall, London – June 14th 2008". Archived from the original on 17 June 2013. Retrieved 7 August 2012.
- ^ Ron Geesin (9 May 2013). "Ron Geesin – The Flaming Cow (book)". Archived from the original on 12 June 2014. Retrieved 18 June 2013.
- ^ Atom Heart Mother (gatefold). Pink Floyd. Harvest Records. SHVL 781.
{{cite AV media notes}}
: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link) - ^ Geesin 2013, p. 41.
- ^ Schaffner 2005, pp. 161–2.
- ^ Cunningham, Mark (January 1995). "The other side of the moon". Making Music. p. 18.
- ^ Atom Heart Mother (Booklet). Pink Floyd. Capitol Records (CDP 0777 7 46381 2 8). 1994.
{{cite AV media notes}}
: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link) - ^ Atom Heart Mother (Booklet). Pink Floyd. Capitol Records (50999 028940 2 7). 2011.
{{cite AV media notes}}
: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link) - ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
- ^ "Top RPM Albums: Issue 3735". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 9 June 2016.
- ^ "LP Top 10, December 7, 1970". Archived from the original on 10 April 2016. Retrieved 30 March 2016.
- ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – Pink Floyd – Atom Heart Mother" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 9 June 2016.
- ^ "Le Détail des Albums de chaque Artiste – P" (in French). Infodisch.fr. Archived from the original on 7 May 2013. Retrieved 24 April 2013.
- GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 9 June 2016.
- ^ "Hits of the World". Billboard. 24 April 1971. p. 54. Retrieved 16 July 2021 – via Google Books.
- ^ "Norwegian charts portal (48/1970)". norwegiancharts.com. Retrieved 9 June 2016.
- ^ "Pink Floyd | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart. Retrieved 9 June 2016.
- ^ "Pink Floyd Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 9 June 2016.
- ^ "Les charts francais (01/11/2011)". lescharts.com. Retrieved 9 June 2016.
- ^ "Spanishcharts.com – Pink Floyd – Atom Heart Mother". Hung Medien. Retrieved 9 June 2016.
- ^ "Swisscharts.com – Pink Floyd – Atom Heart Mother". Hung Medien. Retrieved 9 June 2016.
- ^ "Swisscharts.com – Pink Floyd – Atom Heart Mother". Hung Medien. Retrieved 17 December 2023.
- ^ "Jaaroverzichten – Album 1971" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 27 July 2023.
- GfK Entertainment Charts. 1971. Retrieved 2 April 2022.
- ^ "Austrian album certifications – Pink Floyd – Atom Heart Mother" (in German). IFPI Austria. Retrieved 24 April 2013.
- ^ "French album certifications – Pink Floyd – Atom Heart Mother" (in French). InfoDisc. Retrieved 24 April 2013. Select PINK FLOYD and click OK.
- ^ "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Pink Floyd; 'Atom Heart Mother')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie. Retrieved 24 April 2013.
- ^ "Italian album certifications – Pink Floyd – Atom Heart Mother" (in Italian). Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana. Retrieved 21 May 2018. Select "2018" in the "Anno" drop-down menu. Select "Atom Heart Mother" in the "Filtra" field. Select "Album e Compilation" under "Sezione".
- ^ "British album certifications – Pink Floyd – Atom Heart Mother". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 16 July 2021.
- ^ "American album certifications – Pink Floyd – Atom Heart Mother". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved 24 April 2013.
Sources
- Blake, Mark (2006). Comfortably Numb: The Inside Story of Pink Floyd. Da Capo Press. ISBN 978-0-306-81752-6.
- Geesin, Ron (2013). The Flaming Cow: The Making of Pink Floyd's Atom Heart Mother. The History Press. ISBN 978-0-750-95180-7.
- Guesdon, Jean-Michel; Margotin, Philippe (2017). Pink Floyd All the Songs – The Story Behind Every Track. Running Press. ISBN 978-0-316-43923-7.
- Mabbett, Andy (2010). ISBN 978-0-857-12418-0.
- Manning, Toby (2006). The Rough Guide to Pink Floyd (1st ed.). London: Rough Guides. ISBN 1-84353-575-0.
- Mason, Nick (2004). Inside Out: A Personal History of Pink Floyd (New ed.). Widenfeld & Nicolson. ISBN 0-297-84387-7.
- Povey, Glenn (2006). Echoes : The Complete History of Pink Floyd (New ed.). Mind Head Publishing. ISBN 978-0-9554624-0-5.
- Schaffner, Nicholas (2005). Saucerful of Secrets: The Pink Floyd Odyssey (New ed.). London: Helter Skelter. ISBN 1-905139-09-8.
Further reading
- The Flaming Cow: The Making of Pink Floyd's Atom Heart Mother by Ron Geesin, (19 November 2022), The History Press ISBN 9780750951807.
External links
- Atom Heart Mother at Discogs (list of releases)
- Atom Heart Mother at MusicBrainz (list of releases)