Biography
Pink Floyd were an English rock band formed in London. They achieved international acclaim with their progressive and psychedelic music. Distinguished by their use of philosophical lyrics, sonic experimentation, extended compositions and elaborate live shows, they are one of the most commercially successful and influential groups in the history of popular music. Pink Floyd were founded in 1965 by students Syd Barrett on guitar and lead vocals, Nick Mason on drums, Roger Waters on bass and vocals, and Richard Wright on keyboards and vocals. They gained popularity performing in London’s underground music scene during the late 1960s, and under Barrett’s leadership released two charting singles and a successful debut album, The Piper at the Gates of Dawn (1967). Guitarist and vocalist David Gilmour joined in December 1967; Barrett left in April 1968 due to deteriorating mental health. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pink_Floyd
Album & Cover
Atom Heart Mother is the fifth studio album by English progressive rock band Pink Floyd. It was released by Harvest and EMI Records 2 October 1970 in the UK, and by Harvest and Capitol on 10 October 1970 in the US. It was recorded at Abbey Road Studios in London, England, and was the band’s first album to reach number 1 in the UK, while it reached number 55 in the US chart, eventually going gold there. Ron Geesin, who had already influenced and collaborated with Roger Waters, made a notable contribution to the album and received a then-rare outside songwriting credit.This was the first Pink Floyd album to be specially mixed for four-channel quadraphonic sound as well as conventional two-channel stereo. The SQ quadraphonic mix was released on LP in a matrix format compatible with standard stereo record players. There was also a release of the quadraphonic version in the UK in fully discrete four-channel form on the “Quad-8” format, a four-channel variant of the stereo 8-track tape cartridge. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atom_Heart_Mother
The original album cover, shows a cow standing in a pasture with no text nor any other clue as to what might be on the record. Some later editions have the title and artist name added to the cover. This concept was the group’s reaction to the psychedelic space rock imagery associated with Pink Floyd at the time of the album’s release; the band wanted to explore all sorts of music without being limited to a particular image or style of performance. They thus requested that their new album had “something plain” on the cover, which ended up being the image of a cow. Storm Thorgerson, inspired by Andy Warhol’s famous “cow wallpaper”, has said that he simply drove out into a rural area near Potters Bar and photographed the first cow he saw. The cow’s owner identified her name as “Lulubelle III”. More cows appear on the back cover, again with no text or titles, and on the inside gatefold. Also, a pink balloon shaped like a cow udder accompanied the album as part of Capitol’s marketing strategy campaign to “break” the band in the US. The liner notes in later CD editions give a recipe for Traditional Bedouin Wedding Feast on a card labelled “Breakfast Tips”. Looking back on the artwork, Thorgerson remembered: “I think the cow represents, in terms of the Pink Floyd, part of their humor, which I think is often underestimated or just unwritten about.”
Cover Location: A field near Potters Bar, and a cow named LuluBelle III.
Who Did What: Photography – S. Thorgerson.
Label: Harvest SKAO 382(US), Harvest SHVL 781(UK)
Source: Vinyl. Album. Cover. Art, The Complete Hipgnosis Catalogue: Aubrey Powell
Tracklist
| Side One “Atom Heart Mother” I. “Father’s Shout” II. “Breast Milky” III. “Mother Fore” IV. “Funky Dung” V. “Mind Your Throats Please” VI. “Remergence” |
Side Two: If Summer ’68 Fat Old Sun Alan’s Psychedelic Breakfast a–Rise And Shine b–Sunny Side Up c–Morning Glory |
Credits
Roger Waters – bass guitar, acoustic guitar and vocals on “If”, tape effects, tape collages
David Gilmour – guitars, vocals, bass and drums on “Fat Old Sun”
Rick Wright – keyboards, vocals on “Summer ’68”
Nick Mason – drums, percussion, tape editing, tape collage, additional engineering on “Alan’s Psychedelic Breakfast”
EMI Pops Orchestra – brass and orchestral sections (uncredited)
Haflidi Hallgrimsson – cello (uncredited)
John Alldis Choir – vocals
Alan Styles – voice and sound effects on “Alan’s Psychedelic Breakfast” (uncredited)
Peter Bown – engineering
Alan Parsons – engineering (misspelled as “Allan Parsons” on the original sleeve)
Ron Geesin – orchestration and co-composition on Atom Heart Mother (uncredited on sleeve)
James Guthrie – 1994 remastering
