A SAUCERFUL OF SECRETS

'''A Saucerful of Secrets''' is the second album by rock band Pink Floyd, and arguably one of the first progressive rock albums. It was recorded at EMI's Abbey Road Studios, at various dates from August, 1967 to April, 1968. Due to Syd Barrett's declining mental state, this would be the last Pink Floyd album that he would work on. During its difficult recording sessions, Barrett became increasingly unstable and in January of 1968, David Gilmour was brought in. Barrett was finally removed from the band by early March, leaving this new incarnation of Pink Floyd to finish the album. As a result, ''A Saucerful of Secrets'' is the only non-compilation Pink Floyd album on which all five band members appear, with Gilmour appearing on five songs (Let There Be More Light, Corporal Clegg, Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun, A Saucerful of Secrets, and See-Saw) and Barret on three (Remember a Day, Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun, and Jugband Blues). As well as "Jugband Blues", the album was to include "Vegetable Man," another Syd Barrett song. However, the band believed "Vegetable Man," with its deranged autobiographical lyrics, was unsuitable for inclusion and so it was left off the album. The song was to appear on a single as the b-side to another unreleased track, "Scream Thy Last Scream". An image of the Living Tribunal from Marvel Comics can be seen in the cover's upper left corner.
"Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun" is the only Pink Floyd song that features all five band members. Keyboardist Rick Wright sings lead or backing vocals on 4 of the album's 7 songs, making this the only Pink Floyd album where Wright's vocal contributions out-number those of the rest of the band.

Contents

Release history

Track listing

Side one

Side two

Singles

Non-album singles

Quotes

Personnel

Additional personnel

External links

Release history

The album was released that June as both mono (SX 6258) and stereo (SCX 6258) LPs in the UK, where it reached #9 on the charts. It remains the only Floyd album to not chart at all in the US (''The Piper at the Gates of Dawn's US version, entitled ''Pink Floyd'', had lingered at the bottom of the US charts some months earlier). The CD stereo mix of the album was first released in 1987, and in 1992 was digitally remastered and reissued on CD as a part of the ''Shine On'' box-set. The remastered stereo CD was released on its own in 1994 in the UK, and then in April of 1995 in the US. The mono mix version of the album has never been officially released on CD, although ROIO CD versions do exist.

Track listing

Side one

#"Let There Be More Light" (Roger Waters) – 5:38
#
★ Lead vocals: Rick Wright, David Gilmour, and 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, Nick Mason, Roger Waters, Rick Wright

Side two

#"A Saucerful of Secrets" (Roger Waters/Rick Wright/David Gilmour/Nick Mason) – 11:57
#
★ Instrumental
#"See-Saw" (Rick Wright) – 4:36
#
★ Lead vocals: Rick Wright
#"Jugband Blues" (Syd Barrett) – 3:00
#
★ Lead vocals: Syd Barrett

Singles

★ "Remember a Day" (edit) / "Let There Be More Light"(edit) (19 August 1968, U.S. release only)

Non-album singles

★ "It Would Be So Nice" / "Julia Dream" (19 April 1968, 7" UK release)

★ "See Emily Play" / "The Scarecrow" (22 July 1968, U.S. re-release 7")

★ "Point Me at the Sky" / "Careful with That Axe, Eugene" (6 December 1968, 7" UK release)

Quotes

★ "Was "Corporal Clegg" on ''Saucerful of Secrets'' a deliberate Hendrix-style sound that you were going for?"

★
★ "No, not really. I didn't know what the hell I was trying to play at the time to be quite honest. I'd really no idea. What I was used to playing, the style I had, didn't fit Pink Floyd at the time, and I didn't really know quite what to do." – David Gilmour, ''Sounds "Guitar Heroes" Magazine'', May 1983

★ "It was really stressful waiting for Syd to come up with the songs for the second album. Everybody was looking at him, and he couldn't do it. "Jugband Blues" is a really sad song, the portrait of a nervous breakdown. The last Floyd song Syd wrote, "Vegetable Man", was done for those sessions, though it never came out." – Peter Jenner

Personnel

★ Roger Waters – bass guitar, lead vocals

★ David Gilmour – 1960s Blonde Ash Fender Telecaster, lead vocals (incorrectly spelled "Gilmore" on the album)

★ Rick Wright – piano, organ, mellotron, vibraphone, lead vocals

★ Nick Mason – drums, percussion, vocals

★ Syd Barrett – rhythm guitar, lead guitar, lead vocals

Additional personnel

★ Norman Smith – drums and backing vocals on "Remember a Day"

★ 8 members of the Salvation Army (The International Staff Band) - Ray Bowes (cornet), Terry Camsey (cornet), Mac Carter (trombone), Les Condon (E♭ bass), Maurice Cooper (Euphonium), Ian Hankey (trombone), George Whittingham (B♭ bass), and one other in "Jugband Blues".

External links

★ Album info and trivia