A Nice Pair

A Nice Pair
Compilation album by Pink Floyd
Released	December 1973
Recorded	1967–1968
Genre	Psychedelic rock, progressive rock
Length	79:19
Language	English
Label	Harvest/Capitol
Producer	Norman Smith
Pink Floyd compilations chronology
Relics (1971) A Nice Pair (1973) A Collection of Great Dance Songs (1981)

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]

A Nice Pair is a compilation album by Pink Floyd, re-issuing their first two albums—The Piper at the Gates of Dawn and A Saucerful of Secrets—in a new gatefold sleeve. The album was released in December 1973 by Harvest and Capitol in the United States and the following month in the United Kingdom by Harvest and EMI. It reached #36 in the U.S. Billboard album charts, and was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) in March 1994.

Release history and track variations

There are a few differences between the U.S. and UK issues on the first disc of this compilation. In the U.S. Harvest Records and its distributor Capitol Records reconstructed their edition from tapes that had been previously altered for the debut 1967 U.S. album Pink Floyd (the original U.S. title for Piper) and other recordings, which were cut from the U.K. version. As explained in a note on the back cover of the U.S. edition of A Nice Pair, songs dropped from the U.S. 1967 Pink Floyd album, "Flaming", "Astronomy Domine" and "Bike", are restored for this re-issue.

However, some of the restored songs appear in versions that are different from the U.K. Piper release: the eight-minute live Ummagumma recording of "Astronomy Domine" replaces the original four-minute studio recording; "Interstellar Overdrive" fades out slightly early (as it did on the U.S. debut album) and adds a few seconds of silence before "The Gnome", rather than using a segue between these songs as found on the UK version; and "Flaming" is an alternate mix and edit which previously appeared on a U.S. single, and the only track to appear on this album in mono. In later pressings, the correct stereo version of "Flaming" was restored, while the other songs continued to appear in the versions described here. The American version of this album was also released in Canada.

Cover art

The cover is by the Hipgnosis group, who did many other Pink Floyd covers, and consists of 2 grids of 18 small pictures of proposed but previously unused album cover designs. Several images depict a well-known phrase or saying in the form of a visual pun; for instance, the centre right-hand panel on the front depicts "a fork in the road", while the bottom right represents "a fine kettle of fish". Another picture presents two puns on the album title: a nice pear, and an image of a woman's breasts; the latter is censored with a black bar on some copies, while other U.S. copies opted to cover it with a purple and white sticker over the shrink wrap. Initial copies had a picture of a Mr. W. R. Phang's dental surgery on the cover (a genuine business), but Dr. Phang objected because dentists were not allowed to advertise, and the picture was replaced with one of a gargling monk. U.S. editions from the 1980s restored both the nudity and the W. R. Phang photo.

The album was the band's next U.S. release after The Dark Side of the Moon, and introduced new fans to the earlier psychedelic sound of the Syd Barrett period of Pink Floyd, which contrasted greatly to the style of their more recent work.

Following the worldwide re-issue of the original two albums on CD, including the original UK version of The Piper at the Gates of Dawn, A Nice Pair is out of print.

Track listing

All songs by Syd Barrett, except where noted.

The Piper at the Gates of Dawn

Side one

1. "Astronomy Domine" – 4:14 (UK – 1967 studio version) / 8:25 (USA – 1969 live version)
2. "Lucifer Sam" – 3:07
3. "Matilda Mother" – 3:08
4. "Flaming" – 2:46
5. "Pow R. Toc H." (Barrett / Roger Waters / Richard Wright / Nick Mason) – 4:26
6. "Take Up Thy Stethoscope and Walk" (Waters) – 3:05

Side two

7. "Interstellar Overdrive" (Barrett / Waters / Wright / Mason) – 9:41
8. "The Gnome" – 2:13
9. "Chapter 24" – 3:42
10. "The Scarecrow" – 2:11
11. "Bike" – 3:21

A Saucerful of Secrets

Side three

1. "Let There Be More Light" (Waters) – 5:38
2. "Remember a Day" (Wright) – 4:33
3. "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun" (Waters) – 5:28
4. "Corporal Clegg" (Waters) – 4:13

Side four

5. "A Saucerful of Secrets" (David Gilmour / Waters / Wright / Mason) – 11:57
6. "See-Saw" (Wright) – 4:36
7. "Jugband Blues" – 3:00

Cassette versions in the UK feature Piper on side one and Saucerful on side two. For the US versions, "Bike" was moved to the beginning of side two, due to the longer running length of "Astronomy Domine" on this version.
The American 8-track version moves "Take Up Thy Stethoscope and Walk" after "Bike" and before "Let There Be More Light."

Personnel

Pink Floyd

• Syd Barrett – lead guitar, lead vocals on British version of "Astronomy Domine", "Lucifer Sam", "Matilda Mother", "Flaming", "The Gnome", "Chapter 24", "The Scarecrow", "Bike", and "Jugband Blues"
• David Gilmour – lead guitars, vocals, lead vocals on American version of "Astronomy Domine", "Let There Be More Light", and "Corporal Clegg"
• Nick Mason – drums, percussion, vocals, lead vocals on "Corporal Clegg"
• Roger Waters – bass guitar, vocals, lead vocals on "Take Up Thy Stethoscope and Walk" and "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun"
• Richard Wright – keyboards, piano, Mellotron, vibraphone, vocals, lead vocals on "Astronomy Domine", "Matilda Mother", "Remember a Day", "See-Saw", and "Let There Be More Light"

Additional personnel

• Norman Smith – drums and backing vocals on "Remember a Day"
• The Salvation Army (The International Staff Band) on "Jugband Blues":
  • Ray Bowes (cornet)
  • Terry Camsey (cornet)
  • Mac Carter (trombone)
  • Les Condon (E♭ bass)
  • Maurice Cooper (euphonium)
  • Ian Hankey (trombone)
  • George Whittingham (B♭ bass)
  • One other uncredited musician

Sales chart performance

References

1. ^ Eder, Bruce (2011 [last update]). "A Nice Pair – Pink Floyd | AllMusic". allmusic.com. http://www.allmusic.com/album/r63583. Retrieved 6 July 2011. 
2. ^ "Chart Stats – Pink Floyd". www.chartstats.com. http://www.chartstats.com/artistinfo.php?id=696. Retrieved 2009-07-02. 
3. ^ allmusic (( Pink Floyd > Charts & Awards > Billboard Albums ))
4. ^ "norwegiancharts.com – Pink Floyd – A Nice Pair". norwegiancharts.com. http://norwegiancharts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=Pink+Floyd&titel=A+Nice+Pair&cat=a. Retrieved 2009-07-02.