A Saucerful of Secrets

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A Saucerful of Secrets
Studio album by Pink Floyd
Released	June 29, 1968
Recorded	August, 1967 October, 1967 January – April, 1968
Genre	Progressive Rock Psychedelic Rock Space Rock
Length	39:25
Label	Columbia (EMI) (UK) Capitol (US)
Producer(s)	Norman Smith
Professional reviews
All Music Guide link Rolling Stone (favourable) link
Pink Floyd chronology
The Piper at the Gates of Dawn (1967)	A Saucerful of Secrets (1968)	Music from the Film More (1969)

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. 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, lingered at the bottom of the US charts some months earlier). 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 finally quit 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. As well as "Jugband Blues", the album was to include "Vegetable Man," another Syd Barrett song. However, the band believed "Vegetable Man" was not good enough 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".

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.

[edit] Track listing

1. "Let There Be More Light" (Roger Waters) – 5:38
   • Lead vocals: Rick Wright, David Gilmour, and Roger Waters
2. "Remember a Day" (Rick Wright) – 4:33
   • Lead vocals: Rick Wright
3. "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun" (Roger Waters) – 5:28
   • Lead vocals: Roger Waters
4. "Corporal Clegg" (Roger Waters) – 4:13
   • Lead vocals: David Gilmour, Nick Mason, and Roger Waters
5. "A Saucerful of Secrets" (Roger Waters/Rick Wright/David Gilmour/Nick Mason) – 11:57
   • Instrumental
6. "See-Saw" (Rick Wright) – 4:36
   • Lead vocals: Rick Wright
7. "Jugband Blues" (Syd Barrett) – 3:00
   • Lead vocals: Syd Barrett

[edit] 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

[edit] Singles

• (1968) "Remember a Day/Let There Be More Light" (US release only)

[edit] Credits

• Roger Waters – bass guitar, lead vocals
• David Gilmour – lead guitar, 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

with:

• 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 (Eb bass), Maurice Cooper (Euphonium), Ian Hankey (trombone), George Whittingham (Bb bass), and one other in "Jugband Blues".

[edit] External links

• Album info and trivia

Pink Floyd
David Gilmour • Richard Wright • Nick Mason Syd Barrett • Bob Klose • Roger Waters
Discography
Studio albums	The Piper at the Gates of Dawn (1967) • A Saucerful of Secrets (1968) • Ummagumma (1969) • Atom Heart Mother (1970) • Meddle (1971) • The Dark Side of the Moon (1973) • Wish You Were Here (1975) • Animals (1977) • The Wall (1979) • The Final Cut (1983) • A Momentary Lapse of Reason (1987) • The Division Bell (1994)
Soundtracks	Tonite Let's All Make Love in London (1968) • More (1969) • Zabriskie Point (1970) • Obscured by Clouds (1972)
Live albums	Ummagumma (1969) • Delicate Sound of Thunder (1988) • P*U*L*S*E (1995) • Is There Anybody Out There? The Wall Live 1980-81 (2000)
Compilations	Relics (1971) • A Nice Pair (1973) • Masters of Rock (1974) • A Collection of Great Dance Songs (1981) • Works (1983) • Shine On (The Early Singles) (1992) • 1967 Singles Sampler (1997) • Echoes (2001)
Films
Live at Pompeii • The Wall • Delicate Sound of Thunder • La Carrera Panamericana • London '66-'67 • The Making of The Dark Side of the Moon • P*U*L*S*E • The Pink Floyd and Syd Barrett Story
Related articles
Alan Parsons • Storm Thorgerson/Hipgnosis • Steve O'Rourke • Contributors • Live performances • Trivia • A Tree Full of Secrets • Pigs • Publius Enigma • Dark Side of the Rainbow • The Man and the Journey • List of ROIOs
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