Rhamadam Syd Barrett, Pink Floyd, Jokers Wild: Rhamadam, Syd Barrett And The Dawn Of Pink Floyd Format: CD Catalog: 9865-4JHG, No Man's Land Production Misc.: Studio outtakes Produced: EEC; CD matrix: "MADCAP SB0003`BENELUX'"/"(95356105)" Date: 670120 Cover: INSERT: Folded; Front has been adapted from the cover art of the book "Crazy Diamond," stretched in horizontal and with "Rhamadam" in place of "Crazy Diamond." The subtitle "Syd Barrett & the dawn of Pink Floyd" has been retained. Rear has a reproduction of a Syd Barrett Appreciation Society membership card. Inside has familiar B&W photo of Syd resplendent in tie-dye tee, track list/source info., and a tiny reproduction of a UFO Club ticket for 13 Jan 1967. TRAY LINER: Yellow field with false color photo of Syd "wearing" a floral bouquet(?) and basic track listing. CD: Pic disc screen printed with photo of Syd. Sources: 20 Jan 1967, UFO Club; 1965-1969, Various studio sessions Tracks: 1. Love You (fast version, 1969 outtake) 1:18 2. Love You II (slow version, 1969 outtake) 1:23 3. Long Gone (no backing track, 1969 outtake) 1:45 4. Rhamadam (sic; believed to actually be Lanky Pt. 2, outtake, 6May68) 1:34 5. Octopus (1969 outtake) 2:42 6. Clowns and Jugglers (1969 outtake with backwards guitar) 1:34 7. Untitled instrumental, supposedly from Syd's final session, 1975 1:19 8. Dark Globe (1969 outtake) 0:24 9. Singing a Song In the Morning (Kevin Ayers outtake with Syd on guitar and backing vocals; 1969) 2:34 10. Intro/Mathilda Mother (UFO Club, 20 Jan '67. From Granada TV documentary 'Underground' broadcast 7 Feb 1967) 2:24 11. Interstellar Overdrive (same source as 10) 4:00 12. Interview of Syd & Roger by Hans Keller, "Look of the Week," 14 May 1967; complete) 3:36 13. Sunshine (unreleased instrumental from PATGOD sessions, Abbey Road Studios, 29Jun67) 1:29 14. Interstellar Overdrive (alternates with interview from July 1967) 7:06 15. Arnold Layne (Advision Studios acetate) 2:29 16. Candy and a Currant Bun (Advision Studios acetate) 1:54 17. Interstellar Overdrive (10" Emidisc acetate) 4:59 18. Don't Ask Me (Joker's Wild 7" single, 1966) 3:18 19. Why Do Fools Fall In Love (Joker's Wild 7", 1966) 2:11 20. Interstellar Overdrive (live) 14:48 Band: Syd Barrett Roger Waters Rick Wright Nick Mason David Gilmour (and Jokers Wild) (18,19) Kevin Ayers Jerry Shirley Mike Rateledge Hugh Hopper Robert Wyatt Comments: Tracks 1 - 14 and 17 appear on the LP Roio Steel Breeze. Tracks 15, 16 and 20 appear on the Roio LP Feed Your Head. Tracks 18 and 19 are songs that Dave Gilmour recorded with Jokers Wild. These songs come from the Steel Breeze RoiO and from the Feed Your Head RoIO too. I was also MAJORLY bummed and not a little annoyed that most of the songs are cut off before the end....I'm not sure how I feel about this, but the general consensus seems to be that Syd actually wasn't on Singing A Song...My heart says yes, and my brain says it's possible, but I just thought the general overview would be appropriate here. The Arnold Layne and Candy and a Currant bun tracks are actually acetates, and appear on "Feed Your Head" (LP). CaaCB is, in my opinion, Lets Roll Another One. The fast IO [track 20] is from FYH too. The [truncated] segments are all that are available. These segments came from Malcolm Jones' tapes. Years ago, he gave a friend who was a big Syd fan a tape of some segments of unreleased Syd tracks. I'm sure he cut them off as he didn't want to let the complete songs out. Even the segments were supposed to remain uncirculated but, obviously, they fell into the wrong hands. Although it would be great to have the complete versions, this is an ROIO we are talking about after all. Syd did play lead guitar in the studio for Kevin Ayers' Singing a Song in the Morning. However, the producer mixed out Syd's guitar on the final release of the song. However, for years it has been known that there exists an acetate of the original mix with Syd's guitar left in. As for the version on the Steel Breeze roio, it is from an acetate of Singing a Song in the Morning. Therefore, it was probably assumed to be the version with Syd. However, as we discussed earlier about acetates, they can be just prereleases of officially released songs. So, this could just be an acetate of the officially released version. Or it could have Syd. It's hard to tell from listening to it. Track 17 follows quite closely the PATGOD version, but with noticeable differences. This CD holds a strange collection of Syd stuff, early Floyd and Jokers Wild. There is not terribly much new on this CD, which hasn't been released on other roios before, but there are a few items which may be hard to get. I found it to be a real treat having all there rare items on one CD. Apperently a lot has been mastered from vinyl, cause at points you can hear the characteristic pop and cracks. But more annoying is that most tracks are cut. Sound differs from track to track, but most are EX or better (I.e. if you don't take the abrubt edits into account). Only tracks 10 and 11 I find to be VG. Liner notes are doubtfull at some points, but some of them are not very wrong either. Here are the songs as I believe them to be: 1. A very fast version of the song. An unreleased outtake. 2. Another unreleased outtake, this time a slow version. Fades out a little early. 3. Yet another unreleased outtake. No backup instruments. Just Syd and his guitar. 4. According to the liner note this is an unreleased outtake from 6 May 68. This instrumental is basicly just a bit of beating on drums. Is it really Rhamadan? No motor-sounds or the like as the legend tells. Although Syd did have a recording session on May 6th, I tend to believe this is a recording from May 14th and NOT Rhamadam but rather 'Lanky Pt II'. A song which has been described as a seven minute drum track only, so this is only a brief snippet. 5. According to the technician which can be heard at the beginning of this song, this was the first take of this song. It's just Syd with an accoustic guitar and some electric 'wailing' guitar. 6. A version with some different electric guitar then the previous. Last 30 seconds or so are just studio sounds: Syd's bound to start of a tune, obviously makes a mistake, stops and gets some directions from the technician. 7. Syd strumming his electric guitar. A bit of Rock and Roll kinda tune. Liner notes says from the last ever recording of Syd in London 1975. This I find very doubtful, to say the least, but haven't got a clue where this snippit does come from. 8. With background vocal. This is a very short take. Only the first line is sung and then the song ends abrubtly. 9. The Kevin Ayers songs. Sound quality could have been better I suppose. The liner notes says the following on this track: "Rare rejected version of Kevin Ayers song with prominent Syd Barret guitar and backing vocals. This is Syd Barret's only known studio collaboration outside the Pink Floyd. 1969". It is a fact that Syd did indeed play on a version of this tune and that an acetates of that version exist, but it's hard to judge by just listening whether or not this is the version Syd really played on. 10. From the Granada TV show 'underground' as broadcasted on 7 Feb 1967. In the background (and occasionally on the foreground) Mathilda Mother can be heard as was recorded on 20 Jan 1967 at the famous UFO club. The TV-show however was not soley about Floyd but about 'the underground scene' in London in 1967. This track is obviously not taped directly from a TV-set but rather by someone holding a mic close to the speakers of his TV. v 11. See notes for track 10. The TV hosts talks about 'the underground', and 'psychedelic' and what it was supposed to mean. To illustrate this, Interstellar can be heard. 12. A five minute interview (according to the liner notes) in a little more the three-and a-half minute, with Hans Keller. This is actually a snippet of the BBC look-of-the-week show of May 14th 1967. Roger and Syd are interviewed by the tongue-in-cheek host. ("Why is your music so terribly loud") During that show they also played Pow R Toc H, Interstellar Overdrive and Astronomy Domine. Non of these however are on this CD, but can be found elsewhere, e.g. on the "Magnesium Proverbs" roio. 13. Now this is an interesting take. It does indeed sound like a song that could have fitted on Piper. Another abrubt ending. 14. This track is an interview by a female host talking about Floyd with snippets of Intersteller (live?) as a backdrop occuring now and again. The guys of the band talk about their music. ("We don't want to be Jazz musician, we want to be pop musicians"). After about five minutes there is an edit and the (nameless) 'manager' is being interviewed. 15. Acetate version. This version is faster then the offical single-release. The track fades in a second or two after the actual start. Pops and cracks can be heard. there is a strange 'jump' about half way through. Could be an edit, but could also be an irregularity in the acetate. 16. Acetate version. Again a faster version and different lyrics, too. "please just walk with me" instead of the "please just f*ck with me". Just as track 15 also a bit scratchy. 17. Another acetate version, but less scratchy then the previous two tracks. Again this a faster version then the original. Fades out halfway through the song. 18. Jokers Wild single. Masterd from scratchy vinyl 19. Same as 18. 20. A speedy version! Sounds like it cuts in a second or so after the song has actually started. This is supposed to be from an (unidentified) live performance. The sound is GREAT. No audience can be heard and the performance is awesome. Just this track alone would make this CD worth while. Although I haven't got a clue where this track originates from. I'm not even sure it is a live version. I wondered about the 'live' origin of this track at first, but the attentive listener will be able to discern what sounds like audience noise at the very end. It's faded out _very_ fast, however, so it's difficult to pin down with certainty. This track turns out to be the soundtrack version from a 1968 short called "A Day In the Life of San Francisco." Love You (Fast version - outtake 1969) Love You (Slow version - outtake 1969) Long Gone (No backing track - outtake 1969) Nothing too earth-shattering here. These outtakes have been around on a lot of roios. The fast version of "Love You" has the annoying "Shhhh" sound whenever Syd says a word with "S" in it. "Long Gone" fades out a bit early as well. Rhamadam (Instrumental drum track - outtake from 6/5/68) If you have the "Opel" collection, this is the part that they chopped from that song. I can see why, it's nothing but a few minutes of tribal drumming. Still, as far as I know, this track hasn't appeared anywhere else before, so die-hards will want it. A pretty sloppy take of this one, complete with a really choppy edit. The "jam" at the end includes some interesting guitar noodling. Clowns & Jugglers (Outtake 1969) Is acutally the jam part of "Octopus" described as above. Untitled (Syd's last recording session 1975) This one I'm not too sure about. I believe it's Syd on guitar laying down a guitar track, but I'm not too sure about the date. From what I've heard in late 1974 Syd went into the studio (with some prodding from musicians and his record company) to record some new stuff. The sessions turned out to be a disaster, and all tapes and studio logs were (supposedly) destroyed. I don't think I've ever heard this track before, so maybe it is what it says it is...then again. Dark Globe (Outtake 1969) Clocking in at a mere 21 seconds, this is the take with a backing vocal track (which, IMHO, is better than the released version). What I can't understand is why they included this extremely short version when the full version of this outtake is on a number of different roios! It's so short and cut that I thought my CD player skipped or was put on pause by accident... Singing A Song In The Morning (Outtake with Syd and Kevin Ayers) You can hear Syd's guitar and background vocals quite clearly. The sound dips and rises during this track, which is slightly annoying. The sound quality is a bit muffled. The version on the vinyl roio "Vegetable Man" is a bit better, and also doesn't cut off at the end like this one does. Still, this is the first CD this track has surfaced on, as well as it's next to impossible to track down the "Vegetable Man" roio. Mathilda Mother (Live at the UFO Club. From Granada TV 7/2/67) Intersellar Overdrive (Live at the UFO Club. From Granada TV 7/2/67) Interview (With Syd and Roger interviewed by Hans Keller 5/67) Did you ever tape something from TV with a cassette recorder from across the room? Then you'll get an idea of the sound quality of these tracks. I guess the perpetrators of this CD figured since these haven't been roio'ed before, they deserve a place here. The interview has a bit more merit, since it's 3 1/2 minutes, which is longer than any other version I've heard before. But the same sound quality is still pretty rough on the ears. Sunshine (Outtake backing track Abbey Road Studios 6/29/67) I've heard this outtake before. I just can't remember if it's been on any other roios, but I think it has. It's an interesting instrumental, although some people have doubted whether it's really Floyd. Sound to me it is. It's interesting that this outtake hasn't cropped up on more Floyd roios over the years. v Interstellar Overdrive (Outtake version with interview 7/67) Now this is more like it! An interview with Roger while an outtake version of "IO" plays in the background. I've never heard this interview before, so I think it deserves a place here. The sound quality is excellent too, this one wasn't recorded on a tape recorder from across the room! Interesting interview as well... Arnold Layne (Acetate version) Candy And A Currant Bun (Acetate version) To my ears "Arnold Layne" is exactly the same as the "Relics" version (save for the big skip that edits most of the organ solo. My guess is that since these were probably A/B sides to the acetate, why not include it? But "Candy And a Currant Bun" is a different a different story! I've never ever heard this version, period. Completely different version with different lyrics and background vox. Listening to this you can defintely hear Syd sing "Please don't talk to me/Please just WALK with me" (as opposed to those, myself included) who thought he was saying "Please, just fauck with me..." This version also includes the drug references that were cut from the single version. This is defintely a high point of this CD. Interstellar Overdrive (Acetate version) Unfortunately, again into the acetate versions that really aren't that different from the release versions. OK, so this is the version from the French EP, but that version is all over the place. This also seems to fade a little later than the EP version, but I still skip this version since I've heard it ad nauseum. Don't Ask Me (Joker's Wild 1965 - David Gilmour's band) Why Do Fools Fall In Love (Joker's Wild 1965 - David Gilmour's band) OK, I'll ask the question that everybody out there reading this is... Why did they put two songs that have absolutely no Syd connection here? OK, these are really great dubs of this material, but the connection (if you want to call it that) is that Dave and Syd were in Floyd (duh). But I will admit that I don't have these tracks on CD, and I suspect that most of you out there don't either...but still... Interstellar Overdrive (Live) To be totally honest, I figured that since this CD was going downhill with the last two tracks, I figured that this version of "IO" wans't going to be anything special, just more padding to fill out this CD. I was really surprised when this version started that this is something totally different than I've heard before! It's a really fast breakneck version from a really great audience tape with just a hint of clapping at the end. I belive this to be from a vinyl source since I heard a little skip during the first minute. My only question about this track is, Is this a version with Syd or after he left? Some might Syd, but considering the last two tracks had no Barrett involvement at all, it wouldn't surprise me. And so ends the CD at around 63 minutes. Does it offer good value for the money? I say a cautious yes, if you can overlook the Joker's Wild tracks and a couple of the "outtakes" here. I think it's worth it just for the version of "Candy..." and last version of "IO". If you haven't been collecting Syd or Floyd stuff too long, you'll want to pick this up just to have the material in your collection. Just a sidebar note to this review...if you ever see the vinyl version of "Vegetable Man", pick it up! Not only is it a valuable collector's piece, it also has better versions of the outtakes here. I wish that whoever made this CD would have put some of the other rare Floyd tracks here, like "Vegetable Man"...but I'm complaining.... From an interview with Phil Smee (who was involved in compiling "Opel" and the "Crazy Diamond" box). Quoting: Concerning 'Rhamadan' and 'Lanky Pt. 2': "Drumming only....no drumkit used, just a load of tom-toms and bongos and suchlike. 'Rhamadan' seems to consist entirely of random thumps on bongos.... .....Which sounds like what is on Steel Breeze/Rhamadam, so that may well be 'Rhamadan' after all and not 'Lanky Pt. 2' as has been theorized here before. Smee casts doubt on whether Syd was involved at all, though. Apparently there were some 'weird friends' at the session also who may have just been amusing themselves. The motorcycle overdubbed version of 'Rhamadan' is believed gone to that great tape vault in the sky, FWIW. The last track (Interstellar) is taken from the soundtrack to the 1968 movie 'A Day In The Live Of San Fransisco'. The same track can be found on the roio 'Granny Takes A Trip'. The line-up for the released version of Kevin Ayers' "Singing A Song In The Morning" is as follows: Kevin Ayers: vocals, guitars Richard Coughlan: drums David Sinclair: organ Richard Sinclair: bass The Ladybirds: backing vocals Coughlan and the two Sinclairs were members of Caravan; the lead guitar heard on the released version was played by Kevin.