The Complete Top Gear Sessions



Format: 2CD
Catalog: GDR CD 9206 Great Dane
Misc.: ADD Stereo
Produced: Made In Italy 1/1992
Date: 670930
Cover:
Front- A megalith structure under an overcast sky Back - The sun setting in Egypt with the silouette of a pyramid
Sources:
30 Sep 1967- 16 Jul 1970. Tracks 1-5 : September 30, 1967 Tracks 6-9 : December 19, 1967 Tracks 10-13 : June 25, 1968 Tracks 14-17 : January 14, 1969 Tracks 18-22 : May 12, 1969 Tracks 20-21 : Jul 16, 1970 Track 22 : May 12, 1969

Disc 1:
1. Flaming 2:38
2. Apples and Oranges 2:57
3. Scarecrow 2:07
4. The Gnome 2:12
5. Mathilda Mother 3:25
6. Vegetable Man 3:15
7. Pow R. Toc H. 2:56
8. Scream Thy Last Scream 3:41
9. Jugband Blues 3:50
10. Julia Dream 2:22
11. Let There Be More Light 3:44
12. Murderistic Women 2:18
13. The Massed Gadgets of Hercules 6:41
Total 42:06

Disc 2:
14. Point Me at the Sky 4:21
15. Baby Blue Shuffle in D Major 4:11
16. Embryo 3:30
17. Interstellar Overdrive 9:12
18. Daybreak 3:39
19. Cymbaline 3:35
20. Green is the Colour 3:50
21. Careful with that Axe, Eugene 7:00
22. The Narrow Way/Part Three 4:36
Total 43:54

Band:
  • Syd Barrett (?)
  • Roger Waters
  • Rick Wright
  • Nick Mason
  • David Gilmour

    Comments:
    Excellent stereo version of Interstellar Overdrive "Daybreak" is an earlier name for "Grantchester Meadows" This is the *only* RoIO that I've seen that includes a bar-code The bar-code number is: 8 013013 920625

    Contains all recordings from the Top Gear Show. Nice Collection.

    I just got a cassette copy of the Great Dane Complete Top Gear sessions. Just thought I would comment on a few things. If this stuff is really directly from the master tapes its time to drop the bomb, let the human race re-evolve, then make sure someone is around to make all digital recordings when a Pink Floyd re-emerges so people won't have to deal with this!

    It is definatly the best quality I've herd of the early Barrett sessions. I still can't see how the Masters Of Rock version of Apples And Oranges is so much better ( unless the masters got fucked up ). It is nice to hear cymbals on these recordings for the first time. To try to give a better picture of the quality... if Psychedelic Sessions or Last Screams are about 20 generations from the master tapes, Top Gear would be somewhere around 8. One thing that was pleasing to me, the version of Vegtable Man is the longer version ( extended guitar solo ) and Scream Thy Last Scream ( Vocal is more layed back, band is slower and no overdubed high voice ). These versions are the best I have heard and seem to be harder to find ( different from the Early Singles versions ).

    The quality on the stuff with Gilmour seems about the same as Embryo except that the vocals seem to be a little more up front in the mix ( oh God could these really be the master tapes?!)

    The sound is somewhat muted and plagued by hissing. Some tracks suffer from a noticable "wow" effect. Better sounding versions of these tracks can be found from other sources, so seek them out.

    "Green is the Colour"/"Careful with that Axe, Eugene" are NOT from the 1969 show alleged on the cover. They're definitely from the July 1970 John Peel show. "Apples and Oranges", for all that the cruddy sound quality and noise make it appear to be a radio broadcast contemporary to the other September 1967 material, sounds EXACTLY like the standard studio version to me. "Interstellar Overdrive" is very definitely NOT in stereo on my CD. The recording imperfections are not the same in both channels and neither are the sound levels, but there's no genuine separation. It is, however, a very good and different version!

    Green & Careful are from the John Peel session 16.07.70. You can compare easily the guitar solo. There is ##no## record of the complete 12.05.69 session. As far as I know, this session was in fact Daybreack/Cymbaline/Narrow/Green/Careful. All the tracks are linked with seabirds are sea sounds. On this CD Green and Careful are not linked with this sounds. By the way, as this session is not listed in teh BBC In Session tonight book it remains a sort of a mystery to me.