{"id":462,"date":"2011-03-10T05:16:29","date_gmt":"2011-03-10T10:16:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/?p=462"},"modified":"2011-03-10T05:16:29","modified_gmt":"2011-03-10T10:16:29","slug":"bootleg-bin-pink-floyd-interstellar-zappadrive","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2011\/03\/10\/bootleg-bin-pink-floyd-interstellar-zappadrive\/","title":{"rendered":"Bootleg Bin: Pink Floyd – Interstellar Zappadrive"},"content":{"rendered":"

Everyone\u2019s heard Robin Williams<\/strong>\u2019 joke: \u201cIf you remember the \u201860s, you weren\u2019t there.\u201d It would seem that — at least occasionally \u2013 the reverse is true: If you don\u2019t<\/em> remember it, you were <\/em>there. Or something.<\/p>\n

Whenever asked, Frank Zappa<\/strong> denied that he and Pink Floyd<\/strong> ever shared a stage. The thought that these two pioneering and musically adventurous acts might have collaborated — even briefly \u2013 sent many fans into paroxysms of delight and imagination. But those in a position to know, said no.<\/p>\n

Well, they were mistaken. A black-and-white photo surfaced some years ago, clearly showing the musicians on a Belgian stage: left to right were Frank Zappa on guitar, Roger Waters<\/strong> on bass, and Nick Mason<\/strong> on drums. Of course this drove Floydheads and Zappaphiles even crazier; the proof existed but there was no sonic evidence.<\/p>\n

Fortunately, that too would eventually be rectified. The story \u2013 outlined (among many other places) in a blog post of mine from March 2010<\/a> \u2013 is that Zappa was emcee for the 1969 Festival Actuel, and though he later insisted he hadn\u2019t joined any of the groups to play onstage, he did a freakout with Blossom Toes<\/strong>, and an extended piece with Pink Floyd. That set has been released (unofficially and without authorization, I must note) on a number of differently (and cleverly)-titled sets (Interstellar Zappadrive<\/em> is the winner) but the recordings all draw from the same sources.<\/p>\n

From the standpoint of sonic quality, the audience recording is quite good. The post-Syd Barrett<\/strong> lineup opens with \u201cAstronomy Domin\u00e9.\u201d Zappa hasn\u2019t joined the foursome yet; the arrangement and performance are very similar to the live versions (recorded five months earlier) released on Ummagumma.<\/em> David Gilmour<\/strong>\u2019s psychedelic guitar solo is a highlight.<\/p>\n

The medley \u201cGreen is the Colour \/ Careful With That Axe, Eugene\u201d starts off with some plaintive vocalizing from Gilmour. Rick Wright<\/strong>\u2019s keyboard (a Farfisa Compact Duo) provides the right dreamy\/spacey texture for the number. The studio version of \u201cGreen\u201d (from the More<\/em> soundtrack) is a faster and much less compelling arrangement. An extended thirteen-plus minute version of \u201cEugene\u201d follows.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

After that number, the announcer introduces the individual members of the band, pauses, and adds, \u201cplus\u2026Frank Zappa!\u201d With (presumably borrowed) Fender Telecaster in hand, Zappa joins the band. What follows is two ear-splitting minutes of tuning (a feature common to many Pink Floyd audience recordings of the era). With that out of the way, Waters mumbles a song introduction, and Pink Floyd Plus Zappa launch into a twenty-two minute performance of one of the group\u2019s earliest numbers, Syd Barrett\u2019s \u201cInterstellar Overdrive.\u201d While the studio version of the song ran nine minutes, the Amougies Festival performance ranks among the longest unofficial <\/em>versions in circulation. As is \u00a0<\/span>typical for the band in 1969, this performance delivers the song at a much slower tempo than the released version.<\/p>\n

Zappa — who, presumably, isn\u2019t overly familiar with the tune \u2013 capably adds in guitar lines that work well with those played by Gilmour. The two guitarists\u2019 styles are so different that the resulting performance sounds unlike anything else in the Pink Floyd canon, live or studio. The rendition is also a bit heavier than the Floyd would generally deliver. Seven minutes in, a strange, bleating percussive pattern (foreshadowing by four years some of the sounds on Dark Side of the Moon<\/em>) is punctuated by a stomping riff, and then some suitably freaky guitar work. Wright takes a modal-sounding solo on his Farfisa while the two guitarists and rhythm section comp along. Then Zappa takes a tasty solo consisting mostly of single note runs played high on the fretboard. Toward the end of that solo, Gilmour joins in with some sympathetic (yet uncharacteristic) soloing of his own.<\/p>\n

Then Wright takes another haunted-house organ solo while the rest of the band first lays out, and then comes back in with occasional punctuating lines. (The lead guitar here sounds like Zappa, not Gilmour.) Finally, the band returns to the song\u2019s thematic riff, and ends to thunderous applause.<\/p>\n

The remainder of the set as recorded does not include Zappa, who by this point has left the stage. \u201cSet the Control for the Heart of the Sun\u201d is unique in that Roger Waters spends a good bit of time throughout the song<\/em> giving instructions to the sound man (less echo, etc.). Otherwise, it\u2019s a typically interesting, spooky version of the song. The band winds up with their extended musique concrete piece \u201cA Saucerful of Secrets.\u201d<\/p>\n

The hits just keep coming. While our story began with no collaboration, then a photo of it, then an audience recording, there\u2019s more still. After the audience tape surfaced (along with nine discs of other performances from Amougies), a good-quality soundboard tape of three songs mysteriously turned up. The recordings of the \u201cGreen\/Eugene\u201d medley and \u201cSet the Controls\u201d are nearly up to the quality of the Ummagumma<\/em> recordings. Even more mysteriously, Waters\u2019 complaints to the soundman are not<\/em> on this version.<\/p>\n

Between the unique presence of Frank Zappa (other than Roy Harper<\/strong> joining the Floyd for one concert, the group didn\u2019t invite guests onstage) and the soundboard recordings, the 2cd ROIO (Record of Indeterminate Origin) set Interstellar Zappadrive<\/em> is an essential part of the unreleased Pink Floyd canon.<\/p>\n

Postscript: There\u2019s long been rumors of a film, too, but that hasn\u2019t surfaced. Stay tuned.<\/p>\n

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\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Everyone\u2019s heard Robin Williams\u2019 joke: \u201cIf you remember the \u201860s, you weren\u2019t there.\u201d It would seem that — at least occasionally \u2013 the reverse is true: If you don\u2019t remember […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,65],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-462","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bootleg","category-review","cat-11-id","cat-65-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/462","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=462"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/462\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=462"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=462"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=462"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}