BBC airs Floyd multitracks

Hi folks. If you're from the UK you might be familiar with the BBC Radio 2 program "The Record Producers", which examines the roles those people played on classic recordings. They recently did one on Pink Floyd in which parts of the band's original multi-track recordings were isolated (even beyond what we'd already seen the band doing in the Making of Dark Side documentary).

First of all, they played a tantalizing snippet of the "Arnold Layne" original sessions, indicating that this song (and perhaps "Candy and a Currant Bun", which dates from the same session) could potentially be remixed to TRUE stereo for the first time. Piper Immersion Box Set, anyone?

Next, and most exciting to me, was the revelation that the original 8-track basic recording of "Echoes" (later transferred to 16-track for final overdubs at AIR) still exists at Abbey Road. In fact, the BBC2 folks were amazed to find that two tracks of rejected early vocals survived on this tape, and wouldn't you know it — most amazingly amazing of all — they date from before Roger re-wrote the first verse. That's right, for the first time ever, I could clearly make out the eerie first lines of those planetary lyrics:

Two planets meeting face to face
One to the other cried "How sweet!
If endlessly we might embrace
A perfect union, deep in space..."

For the next week you can listen to the show on this link:

BBC - BBC Radio 2 Programmes - The Record Producers, Pink Floyd