Ummagumma

Ummagumma

**"Ummagumma"** is the fourth studio released by the English psychedelic rock band Pink Floyd. It was Pink Floyd's first double album, released on 7 November 1969 by Harvest Records. The first disc consists of live recordings from concerts at Mothers Club in Birmingham and the College of Commerce in Manchester that contained part of their normal set list of the time, while the second contains solo compositions by each member of the band recorded at Abbey Road Studios. The cover, designed by longtime Pink Floyd desinger Hipgnosis, creats a Droste effect, of the band switching spots in order of the suites. At a length of eighty-six minutes, the album contains the following nine tracks:

#### *Disc One - Live*

1. ***Astronomy Domine* (8:32)**
2. ***Careful With That Axe, Eugene* (8:50)**
3. ***Set*** ***The Controls For The Heart Of The Sun*** **(9:27)**
4. ***A Saucerful Of Sec******rets*** **(12:48)**

#### *Disc Two - Studio*

1. ***Sysyphus* (13:28)**
2. ***Grantchester Meadows* (7:26)**
3. ***Several Species Of Small Furry Animals Gathered Together In A Cave And Grooving With A Pict* (4:59)**
4. ***The Narrow Way* (12:17)**
5. ***The Grand Vizier's Garden Party* (8:46)**

On the original vinyl release, "The Narrow Way" and "The Grand Vizier's Garden Party" were single tracks. On the remastered re-release, Part 1 of "Sysyphus" was split into two tracks and labelled "Part 1" and "Part 2". Part 2 on vinyl became "Part 3" on CD, while "Part 4" of the re-release consists of Parts 3 and 4 ("Part 4" beginning with the large orchestral thud). Original track times are listed in brackets above. The band also recorded a live version of "Interstellar Overdrive", intended for placement on the live album. The track was dropped at the last minute, most likely to maintain the sound fidelity of the record, but numerous bootlegs were given to friends of the band including John Peel.

## Personnel

* Roger Waters - bass guitar, guitar and vocals on "Grantchester Meadows", tape effects on "Several Species Of Small Furry Animals Gathered Together In A Cave And Grooving With A Pict"
* David Gilmour - vocals, guitar, all instruments and vocals on "The Narrow Way" (guitars, vocals, keyboards, drums and bass guitar)
* Richard Wright - keyboards, vocals, all instruments on "Sysyphus" (keyboards, drums, guitar and voices)
* Nick Mason - drums, percussion, all instruments on "The Grand Vizier's Garden Party" (except flute)\*

***featuring:***

* Lindy Mason\* (Mason's 1st wife) - Flute (uncredited)

## Info

* The title Ummagumma supposedly comes from British slang for sex, but the band has stated the word means nothing at all.
* The live disc was recorded at Mothers Club, Birmingham, on 4/27/69 and the following week at Manchester College of Commerce, on May 2. The other had four solo segments, a half-side of vinyl each by Gilmour, Wright, Mason, and Waters.
* The album reached #5 on the UK charts and #74 on the US charts, the first time they broke the top 100 in the US. The album was certified Gold in the US in February, 1974 and Platinum in March, 1994.
* In 1987, this was re-released on a two CD set. A digitally remastered version was released in 1994 in the UK and 1995 in the US. Neither CD release includes the picture of Waters' first wife, which had appeared on the inner-gatefold sleeve of the original vinyl issue.
* The cover of the original LP varies between the British, Canadian and American releases. The British version has the album Gigi leaning against the wall above the 'Pink Floyd' letters. On the original American album version, however, this was airbrushed to a plain white sleeve, apparently from copyright concerns (though the Gigi cover appears in US CD version's booklet). Inside the cover is a picture of David Gilmour in front of the Elfin Oak. The rear cover (or cover of the Live Album) shows the band's equipment laid out on a runway at Biggin Hill Airfield.
* The album is the last to feature photos of the band members on the outer cover, though both Meddle and A Momentary Lapse Of Reason would feature members of the band inside the gatefolds. They are seated in the order, from front-to-back, of Gilmour (in his bare feet), Waters, Mason and Wright. In each successive "reflection" in the upper-left corner, they move each band member forward one space, with the front-most member going to the back. On the US album (with the airbrushed Gigi cover), in the smallest "reflection", with Wright in the foreground, instead of another "reflection" the cover of A Saucerful of Secrets appears. On the UK version, the "reflection" has Gilmour in front once again.
* Until The Division Bell, Ummagumma was the only Pink Floyd album to feature a female instrumentalist. Lindy, Nick Mason's wife at the time, played flute on parts 1 and 3 of "The Grand Vizier's Garden Party". Part 3 is among the shortest Pink Floyd songs ever released; only "Stop" 0:30, from The Wall, and "A New Machine (Part 2)" 0:38, from A Momentary Lapse Of Reason, are of equal or shorter length.
* It is mainly instrumental, with 10 of the 16 tracks being vocals. On top of this, two of the non-instrumental tracks are live versions of other songs, and one track's "vocals" are actually Roger Waters' voice sped up to imitate animal noises.

## References

1. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pink\_Floyd\_discography
2. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ummagumma
3. ↑ https://www.discogs.com/release/1645802-Pink-Floyd-Ummagumma
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 https://www.floydianslip.com/pink-floyd/albums/album.php?id=4
5. ↑ https://www.allmusic.com/album/ummagumma-mw0000191310
6. ↑ https://open.spotify.com/album/3IPhWIXHOAhS2npnq6FiCG
7. ↑ https://www.discogs.com/master/20692-Pink-Floyd-Ummagumma
8. ↑ https://rateyourmusic.com/release/album/pink-floyd/ummagumma/