Maps of Music

Ummagumma (1969)

Where the lyrics of Ummagumma take you, and where it was really made.

Each Pink Floyd member got half a side of this double album for a solo work, and drummer Nick Mason later called the project a failed experiment.

Key places

Birmingham, 27 April 1969 (1969)

Live show Mothers Club — The live disc was recorded at Mothers Club in Birmingham on 27 April 1969 during The Man and The Journey Tour. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Studio recordings at EMI Studios (1969)

Recording site Abbey Road Studios — The studio disc's solo tracks by each member were recorded at EMI Studios, which the candidate place points to as Abbey Road Studios in London. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: Jubilee line to St John's Wood station, then about a 5-minute walk.

Manchester, 2 May 1969 (1969)

Live show Manchester College of Commerce — The live album also drew on a show at Manchester College of Commerce on 2 May 1969. The point is set at city-centre level. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Front cover house, Great Shelford (1969)

Album cover House in Great Shelford (front cover location) — The house used for the album's front cover is in Great Shelford, near Cambridge. The point marks the area, not the exact house. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Rear cover, Biggin Hill taxiway (1969)

Album cover London Biggin Hill Airport — The rear cover shows roadies and the band's equipment laid out on a taxiway at London Biggin Hill Airport. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Ummagumma: part-studio, part-live double album by Pink Floyd
• Released 7 November 1969 by Harvest Records in the UK; US release 8 November
• First album by the band released on the Harvest label
• Live disc: concerts at Mothers Club in Birmingham and College of Commerce in Manchester
• Studio disc: solo tracks by each member, counted as the band's fourth studio album
• Artwork by Hipgnosis, a Droste-effect group picture

Background

• Original live idea: include fan favourites that would later be dropped from the set
• Live album recorded 27 April 1969 at Mothers Club and 2 May at Manchester College of Commerce, on The Man and The Journey Tour
• Richard Wright said the recording of "A Saucerful of Secrets" combined both gigs
• A show at Bromley Technical College on 26 April was recorded but not used
• Studio album recorded in stages between September 1968 and July 1969
• Four members each had half an LP side for a solo work, without help from the others

Recording

• Wright's "Sysyphus" combined keyboards, including piano and Mellotron
• Waters contributed "Grantchester Meadows", an acoustic piece referring to his youth in Cambridge suburbs
• Waters's second track used vocal and percussion effects treated at various speeds, influenced by Ron Geesin
• Gilmour's part one of "The Narrow Way" had been performed as "Baby Blue Shuffle in D Major" on a BBC radio session in December 1968
• Mason's "The Grand Vizier's Garden Party" featured his then wife Lindy on flute, and she was not credited

Cover

• Droste-effect cover shows the group, repeated inside a picture on the wall
• Original LP cover varies between British, US, Canadian and Australian releases
• British version shows the Gigi soundtrack album leaning against the wall above the "Pink Floyd" letters
• Front cover house located in Great Shelford, near Cambridge
• Rear cover shows roadies and equipment laid out on a taxiway at London Biggin Hill Airport

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Disc 1

Disc 2

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Formation

• Formed in London in 1965 by Syd Barrett, Nick Mason, Roger Waters and Richard Wright; David Gilmour joined in 1967.
• Among the first British psychedelic groups, gaining an early underground following at the UFO Club.
• Known for extended compositions, sonic experiments, philosophical lyrics and elaborate live shows.

Members

• Nick Mason on drums (1965–present).
• Roger Waters on bass and vocals (1965–1985), becoming the primary lyricist after Barrett's departure in 1968.
• Richard Wright on keyboards (1965–1981, 1987–2008), who died in 2008.
• Syd Barrett on vocals and guitar (1965–1968), who died in 2006.
• David Gilmour on guitar and vocals (1967–present).

Career

• Concept albums The Dark Side of the Moon (1973), Wish You Were Here (1975), Animals (1977) and The Wall (1979) made them one of the best-selling acts of all time.
• Pink Floyd – The Wall (1982) won two BAFTAs.
• Reunited with Waters for Live 8 in 2005; the last studio album The Endless River came out in 2014.
• Released 'Hey, Hey, Rise Up!' in 2022 in protest of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
• Sold over 250 million records; inducted into the US Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996 and awarded the Polar Music Prize in 2008.

Reception

At release

• International Times was particularly positive about the live album
• Stylus Magazine was very positive about the album, praising the live disc's atmospheric, energetic jamming
• Stylus Magazine said the studio disc transcends its fractured construction to make a full album-length statement

Reappraisal

• Rolling Stone and MusicHound each gave the album 2.5 out of 5
• Paste, reviewing the 2011 re-release, called the album rock excess of the worst kind, while praising the live version of "Careful with that Axe, Eugene"
• Robert Christgau said the album's hypnotic melodies made it an admirable record to fall asleep to
• Paul Stump approved of the first disc's spiritual live improvisation and praised both of Waters's solo contributions
• Paul Stump derided most of the studio disc and likened "Sysyphus" to an excitable two-year-old at a piano keyboard
• Bradley Smith's The Billboard Guide to Progressive Music (1997) called the studio disc the more significant half of the record
• Bradley Smith called the studio disc perhaps one of the most adventurous recordings ever released by a major label group
• Waters called the album "Ummagumma – what a disaster!"
• In 1995, Gilmour described the album as horrible, though he thought the live album might be acceptable musically
• In 1984, Mason called it a very good and interesting little exercise, and later called it a failed experiment

Records

• Reached number 5 on the UK albums chart
• Reached number 74 in the US, the band's first top 100 entry there
• Reached number 78 in Canada, their first chart appearance there
• Certified gold in the US in February 1974 and platinum in March 1994
• Re-released on a two-CD set in 1987
• Digitally remastered version issued in 1994
• In 2009, Thorgerson sold a limited number of autographed lithographs of the front cover to mark the 40th anniversary

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• The title is said to come from Cambridge slang for sex, which Iain "Emo" Moore used; Moore later said he made up the term himself.
• Drummer Nick Mason said the album was titled "because it sounded interesting and nice".
• Wright's "Sysyphus" was named after a character from Greek mythology, usually spelled "Sisyphus".
• On most US and Canadian copies the Gigi cover was airbrushed to a plain white sleeve, apparently over copyright concerns.
• In 2011 only the studio disc was remastered; the live disc kept the 1994 version.
• In December 2015 scientists named a newfound damselfly Umma gumma after the album.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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