An open letter to James Guthrie & Pink Floyd

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Dear James Guthrie, David Gilmour, Nick Mason, and Roger Waters,

2007's excellent three-disc remaster of The Piper At the Gates of Dawn was a boon to all of us Pink Floyd fans, a very satisfying and lavish item containing previously unheard alternate versions and outtakes from the earliest period of the band. However, plenty of rare and unreleased material from the 1960s era of Pink Floyd remains in the proverbial vaults. Another reissue campaign could clear the decks once and for all, definitively answering the demands of Pink Floyd collectors like myself who clamor for more.

As you may know, next year will mark the 40th anniversary of Pink Floyd's beloved compilation album, Relics, which in 1971 assembled material that was previously unreleased ("Biding My Time"), unavailable in stereo ("Julia Dream"), or simply of curiosity value. I feel that this concept should be extended for a 2011 re-release of the original album expanded to a box set format.

Relics has not been fully remastered since it first arrived on CD in 1996 (although some songs from it appeared on the 2007 deluxe Piper reissue). While this digital release possesses good sound quality, and an interesting booklet design based on Nick Mason's iconic sleeve drawing, some of its elements could be improved or restored. The complete liner notes with recording information for each song do not appear, the track timing figures on the CD label are incorrect, and even the sublime subtitle "A Bizarre Collection of Antiques and Curios" is deemphasized.

If, in addition to the original album, enough rarities from the same period were compiled to fill at least one bonus disc, there would be the makings of a compelling re-release. Some examples of missing material that could be included: the alternate mix of "See Emily Play" from an early acetate that has been disseminated on bootlegs, "It Would Be So Nice" and "Point Me At the Sky" (unavailable on CD except as part of the long-deleted Shine On box set), "Embryo" (which lingers only on highly obscure compilations outside the Pink Floyd canon), the alternate mono mixes of applicable tracks from A Saucerful of Secrets as well as "Careful With That Axe Eugene", "Paintbox" and "Julia Dream" (all of which vary considerably from their stereo counterparts), recordings from Pink Floyd's appearances on the BBC, outtakes from the More soundtrack album, etc.

Supplemented by up-to-date sound, extensive liner notes and deluxe packaging akin to Neil Young's superb Archives Vol. 1 box set, Relics would take its rightful place among the best of the Pink Floyd catalogue. It could perhaps even expand onto SACD, DVD or Blu-ray formats with high-definition audio and video clips from the era (of which there are many in existence). I believe that an official release such as this would be a highly attractive prospect to the millions of Pink Floyd fans worldwide. In your capable hands, I think it would be a real corker! There's plenty of time until 2011 rolls around to get it started, too... Pink Floyd fans worldwide would be eternally grateful for the effort.

Yours truly,
-Botley

-> Join this Pink Floyd petition! Sign the letter here! <-

Well said, Botley. Where do I sign?

Excellent initiative, mate! You have my full support. I've even added your open letter to our front page, where hopefully we'll get sufficient support from floydians worldwide to make a difference.

Cheers Paulo! Any chance you might still have one or more of the addressees' current contact information? It's certainly worth a try...

Absolutely! I'm not sure if the addresses I have are current, but we can definitely find the news ones.

I'm sure we can get a few more people who like this idea to add their support by posting a reply to this thread! Right, guys?

It certainly sounds like a good idea to me.

Now that I consider such a thing as the top notch Floydian's of all the world's Floyd sites, I can believe that this is probably one of the best written, best thought out and informed ideas that has erupted from the vast Floyd fandom internet database.

That said, you have my full support.

Sounds great.

Signed.

Good one!

I'm hoping we can get this idea into the hands of Mark Fenwick (Roger's manager) as well as the Pink Floyd management camp. Perhaps it will finally stir Pink Floyd into leaving the EMI nightmare behind them once and for all, as their fellow artists have done, and find another label to release this.

kennyr

Brilliant idea!!!

Signed.