Review of "The Man" and "The Journey" from a ROIO booklet


[Few weeks ago I posted a review of "The Man & The Journey" roio (Great
Dane Records CD 9207). The CD booklet contains following story.]


THE MAN               THE JOURNEY
Daybreak              The Beginning
Work/Afternoon        Beset By The Creatures Of The Deep
Doing It              The Narrow Way/part three
Sleep (intro)         The Pink Jungle
Sleep                 The Labyrinths Of Auximenes
Nightmare             Behold The Temple Of Light
Daybreak/part two     The End Of The Beginning

"THE MAN" AND "THE JOURNEY"

By 1969 the Pink Floyd had begun to perform their concerts as two
album length pieces entitled "The Man" and "The Journey". Waters had
come up with the idea of doing the story of a day in the life of an
average man, suggesting the cyclic routine of doing the same things
every day. This was certainly one of the Floyd's first attempts to
structure an extended conceptual piece using new and existing
material. This was a turning point in the band's career, paving the
way for their future albums and concerts. "The Man" suite begings with
"Daybreak", an alternate title for "Granchester Meadows". This tribute
to the beautiful area near Cambridge was included in Water's
contribution to the "Ummagumma" LP.

"Work" was a very rare selection to be played live (which was later
renamed "Biding My Time" and included on the "Relics" LP) and has
never been played out of context with "The Man" suite. It features one
of the best kick-ass jams of any of the early Floyd material featuring
members of the band on brass and other assorted instruments. This is
followed by "Afternoon", a break where the band's roadies served tea
to them on stage (no music was played within this section), and "Doing
It", a short drum bashing solo suggestively implying the act of sex.
"Sleep" is an electronic instrumental piece defined by Wright's
multi-layer organ, eerie guitar work from Gilmour, and a recorded tape
effect of some heavy breathing. "Sleep" mainly served as a seque into
"Nightmare" (retitled "Cymbaline" which was included on the "More"
film soundtrack).

This was one of the longer pieces of the suite and one of the groups
more underrated songs. This penultimate section of "The Man" dealt
with dreams and nightmares, eventually completing the cycle with the
return of Daybreak.

The second set, called "The Journey", once again consisted of some new
material as well as some established Floydian classics. Prerecorded
sounds of the great outdoor accompany the introduction of "The
Beginning" ("Green Is the Colour") followed by "Beset By Creatures Of
The Deep" ("Careful With That Axe, Eugene"). Although these two songs
had been played together in the past and would be staples of Floyd
shows in years to come, "Careful..." was still in an evolutionary
state. Originally played as a song called "Keep Smiling People" and
then "Murderistic Women" during a 1968 "Top Gear" session, it wasn't
recorded until November 1969 and released as the flip side of "Point
Me At The Sky" (and later included on the "Relics" LP). "The Pink
Jungle" was restructured version of "Pow R Toc H", originally released
on the Floyd's debut album "The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn". Roger's
inventive vocalisations and the song's pop-jazzy instrumental added a
new dimension to the original studio version.

"The Labyrinths Of Auximenes" and "Behold The Temple Of Light" were
spacey instrumentals setting the tone for the finale of "The Journey"
called "The End Of The Beginning". This section was taken from the
fourth movement of "A Saurcerful Of Secrets" called "Celestial Voices"
and in some early performances included a brass section and choir (it
also appears as "The Masses Gadgets Of Hercules" during a 1968 "Top
Gear" section). One can easily see how these shows led to the Pink
Floyd's extended pieces ("Atom Heart Mother" and "Echoes") and
inevitably entire conceptual albums.


Notes:
- The radio announcer says something about Floyd during Sleep intro
- "Doing It" is also known as "The Grand Vizier's Garden Party/part 3"
- Waters played trumpet on "Biding My Time" (according to TAP #54)
- "Amsterdam '69" roio (TSP-CD-052) has clearer sound, but it doesn't
has the whole show. Also, some songs are faded in/out on "Amsterdam".