PINK FLOYD "Atom Heart Mother" '70 UK 1st PRESS EX++

NO EMI BOX, GRAM CO RIM TEXT, G&L SOFT G/F - GREAT COPY

PINK FLOYD
Atom Heart Mother

ORIGINAL UK HARVEST (SHVL 781) FIRST PRESSING (October 1970) OF PINK FLOYD'S "Atom Heart Mother" LP
PROBABLY PLAYED ONLY A HANDFUL OF TIMES AND DELIVERING TREMENDOUS AUDIO WITH A BEAUTIFULLY DEEP, RICH AND WARM SOUND - IT PLAYS SUPERBLY WITH LITTLE TO FAULT (and with THE DRIPPING TAP AT THE END OF 'Alan's Psychedelic Breakfast' PLAYING CONTINUOUSLY INTO THE RUN-OFF GROOVE)

PRESSED ON QUALITY HEAVYWEIGHT VINYL WITH THE FIRST ISSUE HARVEST YELLOW/GREEN LABELS WHICH HAVE NO EMI BOXED LOGO AND "THE GRAMOPHONE CO LTD" TOP RIM TEXT
MARTIX: SHVL 781 A-1G / SHVL 781 B-1G
MOTHERS/STAMPERS: 1, 2/AA and 1/RH
THE RECORD IS HOUSED IN THE ORIGINAL SOFT BACKED, MATT GATEFOLD SLEEVE "Printed and made by Garrod & Lofthouse Ltd." WITH FACTORY SEALED LEFT SIDE EDGE, DATE CODED "7010" (1970, October)
COMPLETE WITH THE ORIGINAL HARVEST COMPANY ADVERTISING INNER SLEEVE

The original album cover shows a very ordinary cow standing in a very ordinary 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 have "something plain" on the cover, which ended up being the image of the 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
The title track was to have been called "The Amazing Pudding", though Ron Geesin's original score referred to it as "Epic". Its name was changed after Ron Geesin, who co-wrote the piece and arranged the orchestration on the recording, pointed to a copy of The Evening Standard (dated Thursday 16 July 1970), and suggested to Roger Waters that he would find a title in there. The headline was: "ATOM HEART MOTHER NAMED"
The "Atom Heart Mother" suite takes up all of side one, and is split into six parts, featuring a full brass section and choir which take most of the lead melody lines, while Pink Floyd mainly provide the backing tracks; a reverse of the 1960s pop music practice of using orchestration as the background, and putting the rock band in front. However, there is one section where a bluesy electric guitar solo by David Gilmour takes the lead
Side two opens with three five-minute songs: one by each of the band's three resident songwriters, and closes with a suite with sound effects primarily conceived by Nick Mason, but credited to the whole group (and based mostly on musical ideas by Gilmour). Therefore, this album's concept is similar to their previous Ummagumma album, in that it features the full band in the first half, and focuses on individual members in the second half. Roger Waters contributes a folk ballad called "If" which he would play frequently at live shows in support of his Radio KAOS album, more than a decade later. This is followed by Rick Wright's brass-heavy "Summer '68", a critique of the "rock 'n' roll" lifestyle that would soon become characteristic of Pink Floyd. Next is David Gilmour's "Fat Old Sun", for which a 15 minute extended arrangement spent two years as a key part of the band's live set, and is a staple of Gilmour's various solo tours
The final track, "Alan's Psychedelic Breakfast", is divided into three segments, each with its own descriptive title, joined by dialogue and sound effects of then-roadie Alan Stiles preparing, discussing, and eating breakfast. The original LP ends with the sound of a dripping tap which continues into the inner groove, and thus plays on indefinitely

Track Listing:
Side 1: Atom Heart Mother
Side 2: If / Summer '68 / Fat Old Sun / Alan's Psychedelic Breakfast

LABELS: Clean, bright and unmarked labels with less than a handful of light spindles on Side One and only one evident on Side Two - NEAR MINT
VINYL Visual: The vinyl surfaces still retains their original deep, glossy sheen and are practically unmarked - NEAR MINT
VINYL Audio: Sensational audio delivery with a deep, rich and warm sound. As usual, the soundscapes Pink Floyd create are stunning with astonishing dynamics - ranging from the most beautiful delicate quiet sections to the thundering loud brass and on playback at a loud volume there are no major audio issues of note - no scratches, no sticks/jumps, very little surface noise to speak of (which is actually pretty rare for this pressing) and just the occasional, intermittent light tick/pop - nothing major and nothing I found at all intrusive (and I did play-grade the LP at a very loud volume). The sound quality is incredibly impressive and the record plays beautifully with great clarity, no groove-wear and no distortion. Critically graded a very strong EXCELLENT++ for audio this is, in my opinion, just about as good as it gets (certainly one of the finest I have heard). A superb copy which has seen little play and one which is very highly recommended indeed
SLEEVE: The original soft matt G&L cover is in EXCELLENT condition. Clean, bright and unmarked with just a little 'ring' showing on the back and a small patch of rubbing to the bottom of the spine - but all spine text is clear and bold. Overall, a very fine example - well cared for
The poly-lined Harvest inner sleeve is unmarked with no splits - just some age-related discolouration - EXCELLENT+

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POST & PACKING
UK: 1st Class: £4.00 (recorded delivery)
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