Pink Floyd
London 1966/1967 (CD/DVD)

(Snapper/Highnote)

First Appeared in The Music Box, November 2005, Volume 12, #11

Written by John Metzger

In late 1966, director Peter Whitehead (who, in his film Wholly Communion, had enshrined poet Allen Ginsberg’s appearance at the International Poetry Incarnation) was hired by the British Film Institute to capture the essence of "swinging London" for a piece titled Tonite Let’s All Make Love in London. As part of the project, Whitehead organized Pink Floyd’s very first studio session, where he documented the recording of a pair of instrumentals: Interstellar Overdrive and Nick’s Boogie. Although little of this material made it into the final cut of his movie, the footage of the band was reassembled and released on video in the mid-’90s under the title London 1966/1967. Recently transferred to DVD, the package has been augmented with brief interview segments that feature Mick Jagger, Michael Caine, painter David Hockney, and actress Julie Christie, but it’s the performances by Pink Floyd that make the set worthwhile. Interstellar Overdrive, in particular — with its throbbing bass lines, slashing guitars, whirling organ, and pounding percussion — is a shrieking blast of manic violence that even during its softer interludes retains its ominous presence. Interspersed with a kaleidoscopic blur of artful, ’60s-style imagery that was shot at the UFO Club and the 14 Hour Technicolor Dream Festival, London 1966/1967 offers a gritty glimpse of the unfurling underground music scene inside the British capital.

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Ratings

1 Star:   Pitiful
2 Stars: Listenable
3 Stars: Respectable
4 Stars: Excellent
5 Stars: Can't Live Without It!!

Copyright © 2005 The Music Box