Atom Heart Mother (suite)

"Atom Heart Mother" is a six-part suite by progressive rock band Pink Floyd, composed by all members of the band and Ron Geesin. It appeared on the Atom Heart Mother album in 1970, taking up a whole side of the record. It is Pink Floyd's longest uncut piece (the later "Shine On You Crazy Diamond", though longer, was split among two sides of Wish You Were Here.) Pink Floyd performed it live between 1970 and 1972, first touring with a brass section and choir, and later without.

Recording began with the drum and bass parts, recorded in one take for the entire suite, resulting in an inconsistent tempo throughout the song.

The song was the last Pink Floyd composition which was credited as being co-written by someone outside the band prior to 1979 (not counting Clare Torry's contribution to "The Great Gig in the Sky", for which she has been retroactively given credit due to a settlement with Pink Floyd).

Stanley Kubrick wanted to use this track for his film A Clockwork Orange; however, the band refused permission. Years later, Kubrick refused Roger Waters permission to use audio samples from his film 2001: A Space Odyssey on Waters' solo album Amused to Death.

When Roger Waters heard David Gilmour playing the guitar parts for this track, he said that he thought it sounded like the theme song from the western film The Magnificent Seven.

The number was been performed in June 2008, 36 years from the last live concert, by The Canticum Choir, Royal College of Music brass, Caroline Dale on cello, Ron Geesin himself on piano and the Italian band, MUN (Andrea Beghi on drums, Nadir Morelli on bass, Federico Maremmi on guitar and Emanuele Borgi on hammond). David Gilmour joined the gig on the second night at Cadogan Hall. This performance marked the first time a Pink Floyd memeber has played with a tribute band.

Sections

Father's Shout (0:00 - 2:54)

Opening with a low Hammond Organ note, a brass section swoops in, creating a dramatic effect. The band then enter with the brass continuing, before the music calms down. Being reprised several times, this part may be seen as the main theme of the piece.

Breast Milky (2:55 - 5:26)

After this, a cello solo begins, accompanied by bass guitar and organ, with drums joining later. This is followed by a reverberating slide guitar solo.

Mother Fore (5:27 - 10:12)

Picking up directly after the last note of the guitar solo, this is a five-minute choir piece, backed by Wright's organ, Waters' bass and Mason's drums.

Funky Dung (10:12 - 15:29)

A simple band jam session, this also contains the second, and much bluesier guitar solo, which quietens into an interesting chanting piece by the choir. The song then slowly builds to another brass and drums section, reprising the main theme from Father's Shout.

Mind Your Throats, Please (15:30 - 19:13)

The 'noise' piece in the song, divided in two parts :

Part one is composed mainly of electronic noises. A distorted voice says "There is now an important announcement!" about 10 seconds before the next part starts. This section ends with a sound effect from the EMI archive, of a steam train passing.

Part two of the "noise" piece. It also uses various instruments fading in and out, many of which are recognisable from earlier in the suite, and also features a Leslie speaker used on a piano, an effect that is used again in Echoes. The same brass part that opens the song is heard over this section, culminating with a distorted voice shouting, "Silence in the studio!" before exploding into ...

Remergence (19:13 - 23:43)

... yet another reprise of the Father's Shout main theme, which then quietens into an abridged reprise of the cello solo, followed by a double layered guitar section reminiscent of the first slide solo. This all leads into a climactic final reprise of the Father's Shout theme with everything playing, and the choir singing, ending with a very long note from the choir and brass.

Working titles

The working title for this piece changed a few times during the composing and recording process. When the first main theme was composed, David Gilmour called it "Theme From an Imaginary Western". The first working title for the six-part piece was "Epic", written in Ron Geesin's handwriting at the top of his original score. Later it was changed to "The Amazing Pudding." (This was used as the title of an independently produced Pink Floyd fanzine which ran from the mid '80s to the early '90s.) In July 1970 it was called "Atom Heart Mother". The title was decided when Ron Geesin pointed Roger Waters to an edition of the Evening Standard (dated 16/7/70) and told him that he would find the song title in the newspaper. Waters saw an article about a pregnant woman who had been fitted with a heart pacemaker. The headline was "ATOM HEART MOTHER NAMED".

Personnel

• David Gilmour - guitars, slide guitar
• Roger Waters - bass, tape edits
• Richard Wright - keyboards
• Nick Mason - drums, percussion, tape edits

also:

• Ron Geesin - orchestration and co-composition
• Abbey Road Session Pops Orchestra - brass and orchestral sections
• John Aldiss Choir

References