Pink Floyd Early Years Box Set Arrives

Share This:

Pink Floyd will release a massive 27-disc box set, The Early Years 1965-1972, on November 11. The package – with an equally massive price – is from Pink Floyd Records and will be distributed by Sony’s Legacy Recordings. It traces the classic rock legends to their very beginning, and will feature seven individual book-style packages; much of the material is previously unreleased.

The box contains TV recordings, BBC sessions, unreleased tracks, outtakes and demos: more than 12 hours of audio (130 tracks) and over 15 hours of video in all. The Early Years will offer more than 20 unreleased songs, including seven hours of previously unreleased live audio, plus seven hours of rare concert footage, along with 7-inch singles in replica sleeves, collectible memorabilia, feature films and new sound mixes. Previously unreleased tracks, the label says, include 1967’s “Vegetable Man” and “In the Beechwoods,” newly mixed for the release. (Order it here.)

In addition to the deluxe set, the band will also release a two-CD highlights album, The Early Years—CRE/ATION, on the same day. (Order it here.)

The Early Years 1965-1972 begins with the earliest recordings made by Roger Waters, Richard Wright, Nick Mason and Syd Barrett and continues through Barrett’s departure and the arrival of guitarist David Gilmour. The set cuts off before the 1973 release of the game-changing The Dark Side of the Moon.

Watch an unboxing video, screening of exclusive remastered footage and a chat with Mason…

A video for the track “Childhood’s End” was released in advance of the boxed set. The song, from Pink Floyd’s seventh album, Obscured By Clouds, has been remixed from the original master tapes in 2016 by Andy Jackson and Damon Iddins.

Don’t miss a post! Sign up for Best Classic Bands‘ Newsletter; form is on every page.

Each individual book-style package will be released separately early in 2017, except BONUS CONTINU/ATION, which is exclusive to this box set.

Among the highlights of the boxed set:

· Unreleased demos, TV appearances and live footage from the Pink Floyd archives
· 6 volumes plus a bonus ‘Extras’ package
· Over 20 unreleased songs including 1967’s “Vegetable Man” and “In the Beechwoods”
· Remixed and updated versions of the music from the film Zabriskie Point
· 7 hours of previously unreleased live audio
· 15 hours and 35 minutes of video, including rare concert performances, interviews and three feature films

Specifically, the seven packages within the box are broken down in the announcement as follows:

1965-1967 CAMBRIDGE ST/ATION

Covering Syd Barrett’s time with the band, from the pre-EMI demos, through the non-album hit singles and related tracks, the first volume also features previously unreleased tracks like “Vegetable Man” and “In The Beechwoods” (newly mixed), plus BBC session recordings. Pink Floyd have also acquired the tapes of an unreleased 1967 concert in Stockholm. The DVD/Blu-ray includes historic TV performances plus some of Pink Floyd’s own film material.

1968 GERMIN/ATION

This volume explores the time immediately after Syd Barrett’s departure, when Pink Floyd were still writing singles and at the same time developing their own unique, more instrumentally based style. There are non-album single releases, plus a recently discovered session at Capitol Records studios in Los Angeles, additional BBC sessions and other tracks. The DVD/Blu-ray includes the recently restored promo clip of “Point Me at the Sky,” some international TV performances and a selection of song material from other television shows.

1969 DRAMATIS/ATION

In 1969 Pink Floyd unveiled their two-part conceptual live production of “The Man” and “The Journey,” covering a 24-hour period of dreaming, waking and other activities. Although never released in that form, some of the songs were used on the More soundtrack and the Ummagumma album. This volume refers back to “The Man” and “The Journey” tour with live performances in Amsterdam and for the BBC in London, but also includes the bonus tracks from the More soundtrack that were used in the film but not on record, plus non-album tracks like the early version of Embryo from the Harvest sampler Picnic.

Video material includes 20 minutes of “The Man”/“The Journey” rehearsal at the Royal Festival Hall, directed by Anthony Stern, including “Afternoon (Biding My Time),” “The Beginning (Green Is the Colour),” “Cymbaline,” “Beset By Creatures of the Deep” and “The End of the Beginning” (the last part of A Saucerful of Secrets), plus other live performance footage from that year.

1970 DEVI/ATION

At the end of 1969 and in the early part of 1970, Pink Floyd recorded and mixed their contribution to Michelangelo Antonioni’s alternative view of U.S. society, Zabriskie Point. Three songs were released on the soundtrack album, and an additional four tracks were added in the expanded CD edition in 1997. Never released on one Pink Floyd disc, this volume compiles remixed and updated versions of the Zabriskie Point audio material. In the same year, Pink Floyd scored their first U.K. #1 album with Atom Heart Mother, a collaboration with Ron Geesin. The audio includes the first performance for the BBC, featuring an orchestra and choir, as well as, on DVD, the original Quad mix.

The video material includes a full hour of Pink Floyd performing live at San Francisco cable TV station KQED plus extracts from historic performances of Atom Heart Mother, and material from French TV coverage of the St. Tropez festival in Southern France.

1971 REVERBER/ATION

In 1971 Pink Floyd recorded the Meddle album, containing the track “Echoes,” which took up the entire side of the LP and is regarded by many as laying the groundwork for The Dark Side of the Moon, and, as such, is an important part of the Pink Floyd canon.

This package includes part of the original demos, when the project gestated from “Nothing” to “Return of the Son of Nothing,” as well as a contemporary BBC session recording.

Audio-visual material includes the original unreleased Quad mix of “Echoes” as well as material of live band performances in 1971, including songs performed with Roland Petit and his Marseille ballet company.

1972 OBFUSC/ATION

In 1972 Pink Floyd travelled to Hérouville, north of Paris, to record at Strawberry Studios, which is based in the town’s Chateau. In a remarkable two weeks, they wrote and recorded one of their most cohesive albums, Obscured By Clouds, the soundtrack to Barbet Schroeder’s La Vallée.

1972 saw the release of Pink Floyd Live at Pompeii, a film of the band performing without an audience in the historic Roman amphitheater of Pompeii, directed by Adrian Maben. The video material includes the performances from the Live at Pompeii film, edited to new 5.1 audio mixes, plus material from contemporary French TV as well as performances from Brighton Dome in June, 1972 and further performances with the Roland Petit ballet company.

ALSO INCLUDED:

7-inch VINYL SINGLES IN REPRODUCTION SLEEVES :

— “Arnold Layne”“Candy and a Currant Bun”
— “See Emily Play”/“The Scarecrow”
— “Apples and Oranges”/“Paintbox”
— “It Would Be So Nice”/“Julia Dream”
— “Point Me at the Sky”/“Careful With That Axe, Eugene”

BONUS CONTINU/ATION (Exclusive to The Early Years 1965-1972 boxed set)

A bonus CD/DVD/Blu-ray disc package includes a CD of early BBC radio sessions, the audio tracks from the film The Committee, Pink Floyd’s live soundtrack to the 1969 NASA moon landings, and more. Audio-visual material includes three feature films: The Committee, More and La Vallée (Obscured By Clouds), plus more live footage and festival performances by the band.