1969 - MORE [PINK FLOYD] [Album STUDIO]

Up The Khyber -> Up The Kyber (Juke Box)
Quicksilver -> Quicksilver (Water-Pipe)

INFORMATION ABOUT THE TAPES

ORIGINAL STUDIO MASTER TAPES OF A RARE SELF-FINANCED PINK FLOYD ALBUM.

The tapes are of considerable historic interest and extremely rare. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to acquire the original unmixed studio masters of the Pink Floyd at the height of psychedelia together with a full written provenance.

In 1969 the Pink Floyd entered Pye Recording Studios in Marble Arch London to record the music for the Album and Film called "MORE". Syd Barrett was in the process of leaving the band and Dave Gilmore had just joined. The group had been approached by a film company and asked to record the soundtrack music for the cult movie. They accepted and independently produced the album themselves and paid for all of the studio costs.

The recording sessions were booked in the name of Brian Morrison, who is believed to have been their Agent at that time. Ten years later, I was working as a recording engineer at Pye Studios. I already knew Richard Wright, I had met him at a friend's party and had been round to dinner a few times and had sat in on some of "Wish You Were Here" at Abbey Road, but I had now lost contact. I was unaware of the MORE tapes that were sitting, unclaimed, in the Pye Studios tape library until the tape librarian informed me that she had been asked to clear out any tapes that had lay unclaimed for more than ten years. She knew of my Floyd connection and asked if I wanted the MORE tapes. I said yes. There were four tapes in all. Many tapes of other artists were destroyed and I naively didn't salvage any of them. If seems outrageous that this was the studio policy at that time, but this is absolute fact.

A year or so later I was working in another studio in east London and I tried re-mixing two of the tapes and over night they were stolen. So I was left with the remaining two tapes that I now own. These tapes have never been played since then but they seem in excellent condition. Each tape lists several versions of tracks so some are probably outtakes. The label on the first reel lists two tracks called "Paris Bar" and " Stephan's Tit", neither of which appear on the track listing of the final album. Also included on this reel are Ibiza Bar and Theme (Dramatic Version). The other reel lists two versions of the "Main Theme".

The Floyd recorded in studio one of Pye Recording Studios, which was in the basement of ATV House. Studio one was quite a large studio. The walls were completely covered in strips of teakwood for acoustics. They used plate echo and a Neve recording desk (I think). The studio engineers would have been more used to British middle-of-the-road artists like Acker Bilk, Max Bygraves and Tony Hatch than the Pink Floyd. So it must have been a bit of a shock when the Floyd moved in to make their album. The studios have now gone and been replaced by a nightclub, I am told.

Each tape is in the one inch 8 track format (pre 16 and 24 track) and plays at 15ips (15 inches per second - the standard speed for recording studios at the time). The format for most studios in the 60's was 4 track (Sergeant Pepper etc), so it must have been a luxury for the Pink Floyd to use 8 track. The track listing also lists the instrumentation, electric guitar, acoustic guitar, bass, drums, vocals, organ, flute and overdubs.

THE PHOTOS The first two photos show the front of each tape box. The boxes are approximately 12" x 12". The first box lists the tape as being reel six, which is odd, as I only salvaged four reels. It may be that two reels had already been rejected and subsequently re-used. This was common practice even though the studios charged the record companies for new tape.

The second two photos show the ends of the boxes. The writing says "Brian Morrison Agency / Pink Floyd and is written with a black wax marker pen that was used for marking magnetic tape prior to editing in those days. Photos five and six show a close up of the labels and the final photos show the reels themselves. Each reel contains a full reel of tape.

To play these tapes the future owner would need to contact a recording studio that had access to an 8 track mulitrack machine. These tapes were recorded on either a Studer or Scully machine. I do not know where you would stand legally regarding remixing these tapes, and I am not selling them for this purpose. I am selling these masters because they are extremely rare collectors items recorded by one of rock histories most influential bands, and recorded at a crucial transition period in the band's history. 1969 was a pivotal time for rock music, it was the peak of the psychedelic movement and the music on these tapes was written and recorded especially for a cult movie representing the sixties psychedelic era. They are real collectors' items. I will include a signed guarantee of provenance in the sale. It has been extremely difficult putting a reserve price on these recordings, and even now I don't know whether I have aimed too low.

On remarque que la présentation à l'entête de Pye Records Ltd. est la même que sur les boites mises en vente. L'écriture semble également proche (de ce que l'on peut en voir)