David Gilmour joined Pink Floyd as the band was completing its final recording with original frontman Syd Barrett. But 1968’s Saucerful of Secrets didn’t herald a new direction, so much as the beginning of a long period of decidedly uneven experimentation.
First came 1969’s More, which found Pink Floyd dabbling in short-form acoustic balladry. Ummagumma, which combined studio and live tracks, arrived later that year. The follow-up, 1970’s Atom Heart Mother, included collaborations with a brass section and choir. Both of these latter projects concluded with a series of solo compositions.
Even stalwart drummer Nick Mason admits that these wildly divergent themes don’t exactly point to the stunning successes to come with 1973’s Dark Side of the Moon. “The idea of everyone operating separately didn’t work particularly well,” Mason told interviewer Dave Kerzner. “It was really [1971’s] Meddle that was the next stepping stone, and the way forward towards Dark Side.”
Recorded between tour stops from January through August 1971, Meddle arrived in late October with “Echoes” as its centerpiece. This 23-minute triumph, which took up all of Side 2, finally brought Pink Floyd’s explorative creativity into focus. The band-written “One of These Days” also became a fan favorite.
“I think what we ended up doing, in a way, was going down some cul-de-sacs,” Mason added. “I think Atom Heart Mother, which we’re all fond of – we think it’s interesting – it was not the route we ended up continuing down, in the same way that Ummagumma wasn’t either.”
“Echoes” clearly resonated across the ages: The reunited Pink Floyd revived it in the late-’80s after regular appearances on every tour between 1971-75. Gilmour performed the song with the late Richard Wright through the ’00s, then Mason’s offshoot group Saucerful of Secrets began playing “Echoes” in the early ’20s.
“One of These Days” – which features Nick Mason’s only recorded vocal – was also a staple on Pink Floyd’s tours into the early-’90s. Roger Waters added it to his setlists in the ’10s, while Saucerful of Secrets performed the song in the ’20s.
As for the era between Gilmour’s first album with Pink Floyd and Meddle? Waters included “If,” from Atom Heart Mother, as part of the Radio K.A.O.S. shows while Gilmour revived “Fat Old Sun” from the same album on various solo tours. Otherwise, however, these transitional LPs ended up being largely ignored.
A pointed ambivalence plays out off-stage, too: The track listing for 1992’s album-themed Shine On box memorably skipped from Saucerful of Secrets right to Meddle.
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