A Nice Pair

A Nice Pair is a compilation album by Pink Floyd, re-issuing their first 2 albums, The Piper at the Gates of Dawn and A Saucerful of Secrets in a new gatefold sleeve. 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.

There are a few differences between the U.S. and U.K. issues on the first disc. Capitol Records reconstructed it from tapes that had already been altered for the U.S. version of the first Pink Floyd album in 1967, and other tapes in their possession. As explained on the back cover of the U.S. edition, songs dropped from the first U.S. album ("Flaming", "Astronomy Domine" and "Bike") are restored for this re-issue. But some of these songs appear in versions that are different from the original U.K. release: the 8 minute live Ummagumma recording of "Astronomy Domine" replaces the original 4 minute studio recording; "Interstellar Overdrive" fades out early (as it did on the original U.S. edition) and adds a few seconds of silence before "The Gnome", rather than using a segue between these songs as found on on the U.K. version; and "Flaming" is an alternate mix which previously appeared on a U.S. single, and the only track to appear on this album in mono.

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 different 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 U.K. 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 U.K. version, 8:12 U.S. version
• Lead vocals on UK pressing: Syd Barrett and Richard Wright; lead vocals on US pressing: David Gilmour and Richard Wright
2. "Lucifer Sam" – 3:07
• Lead vocals: Syd Barrett
3. "Matilda Mother" – 3:08
• Lead vocals: Syd Barrett and Richard Wright
4. "Flaming" – 2:46
• Lead vocals: Syd Barrett
5. "Pow R. Toc H." (Barrett / Roger Waters / Richard Wright / Nick Mason) – 4:26
• Instrumental
6. "Take Up Thy Stethoscope and Walk" (Waters) – 3:05
• Lead vocals: Roger Waters

Side two

1. "Interstellar Overdrive" (Barrett / Waters / Wright / Mason) – 9:41
• Instrumental (no segue on U.S. version)
2. "The Gnome" – 2:13
• Lead vocals: Syd Barrett
3. "Chapter 24" – 3:42
• Lead vocals: Syd Barrett
4. "The Scarecrow" – 2:11
• Lead vocals: Syd Barrett
5. "Bike" – 3:21
• Lead vocals: Syd Barrett

A Saucerful of Secrets

Side three

1. "Let There Be More Light" (Waters) – 5:38
• Lead vocals: Richard Wright and David Gilmour, whispers: Roger Waters
2. "Remember a Day" (Wright) – 4:33
• Lead vocals: Richard Wright
3. "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun" (Waters) – 5:28
• Lead vocals: Roger Waters
4. "Corporal Clegg" (Waters) – 4:13
• Lead vocals: David Gilmour and Nick Mason

Side four

1. "A Saucerful of Secrets" (David Gilmour / Waters / Wright / Mason) – 11:57
• Instrumental
2. "See-Saw" (Wright) – 4:36
• Lead vocals: Richard Wright
3. "Jugband Blues" – 3:00
• Lead vocals: Syd Barrett

Personnel

• Syd Barrett: Lead Guitars, vocals.
• David Gilmour: Lead Guitars, vocals.
• Roger Waters: Bass guitar, vocals.
• Richard Wright: Keyboards, piano, Mellotron, vibraphone, vocals.
• Nick Mason: Drums, percussion, vocals.
• Norman Smith: Drums, vocals on "Remember a Day".
• Members of the Salvation Army:

Ray Bowes: Cornet.

Terry Camsey: Cornet.

Mac Carter: Trombone.

Les Condon: Eb Bass.

Maurice Cooper: Euphonium

Ian Hankey: Trombone

George Whittingham: Bb Bass.

Charts

Album

Year	Chart	Position
1974	UK Albums Chart	21
1974	Billboard Pop Albums	36
1974	Norway's album chart	8

References

External links