''Ummagumma'' is the fourth album by English rock band

Pink Floyd Pink Floyd are an English rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic music, psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experimentation, philo ...

. It is a

double album A double album (or double record) is an audio album that spans two units of the primary medium in which it is sold, typically either records or compact disc. A double album is usually, though not always, released as such because the recording i ...

and it was released on 7 November 1969 by

Harvest Records Harvest Records is a British-American record label belonging to Capitol Music Group, originally created by EMI in 1969. History Harvest Records was created by EMI in 1969 to market progressive rock music, and to compete with Philips' Vertigo ...

. The first disc consists of live recordings from concerts at Mothers Club in Birmingham and the

College of Commerce A business school is a university-level institution that confers degrees in business administration or management. A business school may also be referred to as school of management, management school, school of business administration, or ...

in Manchester that contained part of their normal set list of the time, while the second contains solo compositions by each member of the band recorded at EMI Studios (now

Abbey Road Studios Abbey Road Studios (formerly EMI Recording Studios) is a recording studio at 3 Abbey Road, St John's Wood, City of Westminster, London, England. It was established in November 1931 by the Gramophone Company, a predecessor of British music c ...

). The artwork was designed by regular Floyd collaborators

Hipgnosis Hipgnosis were an English art design group based in London, that specialised in creating album cover artwork for rock musicians and bands. Their commissions included work for Pink Floyd, T. Rex, the Pretty Things, Black Sabbath, UFO, 10cc, Ba ...

and features a number of pictures of the band combined to give a

Droste effect The Droste effect (), known in art as an example of ''mise en abyme'', is the effect of a picture recursively appearing within itself, in a place where a similar picture would realistically be expected to appear. This produces a loop which in ...

. It was the last album cover to feature the band. Although the album was well received at the time of release, and was a top five hit in the UK album charts, it has since been looked upon unfavourably by the band, who have expressed negative opinions about it in interviews. Nevertheless, the album has been reissued on CD several times, along with the rest of their catalogue.

Title

The album's title supposedly comes from Cambridge slang for sex, commonly used by Pink Floyd friend and occasional roadie, Iain "Emo" Moore, who would say, "I'm going back to the house for some ummagumma". According to Moore, he made up the term himself.

Background

The original idea behind the live album was to feature fan favourites that would subsequently be dropped from the set. Although the sleeve notes say that the live material was recorded in June 1969, the live album of ''Ummagumma'' was recorded live at Mothers Club in Birmingham on 27 April 1969 and the following week at

Manchester College of Commerce Manchester Metropolitan University is located in the centre of Manchester, England. The university has over 40,000 students and over 4,000 members of staff. It is home to four faculties (Arts and Humanities, Business and Law, Health and Educat ...

on 2 May of the same year as part of

The Man and The Journey Tour The Man and The Journey tour was an informal (mostly England, English) concert tour of a few dates by Pink Floyd during which the conceptual music piece ''The Man and The Journey'' was played. Setlist At most shows Pink Floyd performed ''The Ma ...

. Keyboardist Richard Wright later said the recording of "

A Saucerful of Secrets ''A Saucerful of Secrets'' is the second studio album by the English rock band Pink Floyd, released on 28 June 1968 by EMI Columbia in the United Kingdom and on 27 July 1968 in the United States by Tower Records. During recording, the mental ...

" was a composite from both gigs. A show at Bromley Technical College on 26 April was also recorded but not used. The band had also recorded a live version of "

Interstellar Overdrive "Interstellar Overdrive" is an instrumental composition written and performed by Pink Floyd. The song was written in 1966 and is on their 1967 debut album, ''The Piper at the Gates of Dawn'', clocking in at almost ten minutes in length. The son ...

" (from ''

The Piper at the Gates of Dawn ''The Piper at the Gates of Dawn'' is the debut studio album by English rock band Pink Floyd, released on 5 August 1967 by EMI Columbia. It is the only Pink Floyd album made under the leadership of founding member Syd Barrett (lead vocals, gu ...

'') intended for placement on side one of the live album, and " The Embryo", which was recorded in the studio before it was decided that the band members each come up with their own material. The studio album came as a result of Wright wanting to make "real music", where the four group members (in order: Wright,

Roger Waters George Roger Waters (born 6 September 1943) is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. In 1965, he co-founded the progressive rock band Pink Floyd. Waters initially served as the bassist, but following the departure of singer-so ...

David Gilmour David Jon Gilmour ( ; born 6 March 1946) is an English guitarist, singer, songwriter, and member of the rock band Pink Floyd. He joined as guitarist and co-lead vocalist in 1967, shortly before the departure of founding member Syd Barrett. P ...

and

Nick Mason Nicholas Berkeley Mason, (born 27 January 1944) is an English drummer and a founder member of the progressive rock band Pink Floyd. He is the only member to feature on every Pink Floyd album, and the only constant member since its formation in ...

) each had half an LP side to create a solo work without involvement from the others. Wright's contribution, "Sysyphus", was named after a character in

Greek mythology A major branch of classical mythology, Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the Ancient Greece, ancient Greeks, and a genre of Ancient Greek folklore. These stories concern the Cosmogony, origin and Cosmology#Metaphysical co ...

, usually spelled "

Sisyphus In Greek mythology, Sisyphus or Sisyphos (; Ancient Greek: Σίσυφος ''Sísyphos'') was the founder and king of Ancient Corinth, Ephyra (now known as Corinth). Hades punished him for cheating death twice by forcing him to roll an immense bo ...

", and contained a combination of various keyboards, including

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

and

mellotron The Mellotron is an electro-mechanical musical instrument developed in Birmingham, England, in 1963. It is played by pressing its keys, each of which pushes a length of magnetic tape against a capstan, which pulls it across a playback head. A ...

. Although initially enthusiastic about making a solo contribution, Wright later described it as "pretentious". Waters' "

Grantchester Meadows Grantchester Meadows is an open space in Grantchester, to the south of the city of Cambridge. It is part of the broad green flood plain from the pubs in Grantchester to the Ditton Plough, comprising Grantchester Meadows, The Lammas Land, the B ...

" was a more pastoral acoustic offering that referred back to his youth in the Cambridge suburbs. It originated from an instrumental piece that had been occasionally performed live and was usually played as an opening to concerts over 1969, with vocals. His other track, "

Several Species of Small Furry Animals Gathered Together in a Cave and Grooving with a Pict "Several Species of Small Furry Animals Gathered Together in a Cave and Grooving with a Pict" is a track written and performed by Roger Waters from the 1969 Pink Floyd double album, ''Ummagumma''. It holds the distinction of having the longest ti ...

" contained a variety of vocal and percussion effects treated at various speeds, both forwards and backwards, and was influenced by

Ron Geesin Ronald Frederick Geesin (born 17 December 1943) is a Scottish musician, composer and writer known for his unusual creations and novel applications of sound, as well as for his collaborations with Pink Floyd and Roger Waters. Career Ron Geesin ...

, who would later collaborate with both Waters and Pink Floyd. The two tracks were bridged by the sound of a fly being swatted. Gilmour has since stated he was apprehensive about creating a solo work, and admits he "went into a studio and started waffling about, tacking bits and pieces together", although part one of "

The Narrow Way "The Narrow Way" is the third suite on the studio half of Pink Floyd's fourth album ''Ummagumma''. It is a three-part song written and performed entirely by David Gilmour, using multiple overdubs to play all the instruments himself. Different pa ...

" had already been performed as "Baby Blue Shuffle in D Major" in a

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...

radio session in December 1968. Gilmour said he "just bullshitted" through the piece. He asked Waters to write some lyrics for his compositions, but he refused to do so. The third part of the suite was briefly performed live in early 1969. Mason's three-part "

The Grand Vizier's Garden Party ''Ummagumma'' is the fourth album by English rock band Pink Floyd. It is a double album and it was released on 7 November 1969 by Harvest Records. The first disc consists of live recordings from concerts at Mothers Club in Birmingham and the ...

" featured his then wife, Lindy, playing flute, and Mason playing a seven-minute drum solo as part two of the piece. Although not performed live, a similar drum solo, "Doing It" was incorporated into ''The Man'' live suite.

Packaging

The album was the first album by the band released on the Harvest label. The

cover artwork Cover art is a type of artwork presented as an illustration or photograph on the outside of a published product such as a book (often on a dust jacket), magazine, newspaper (Tabloid journalism, tabloid), comic book, video game (box art), Album, ...

shows a

featuring the group, with a picture hanging on the wall showing the same scene, except that the band members have switched positions, and this is then repeated two more times. On most older editions, in the very center of the Droste pattern is a tiny rendering of the band's previous LP ''

A Saucerful Of Secrets ''A Saucerful of Secrets'' is the second studio album by the English rock band Pink Floyd, released on 28 June 1968 by EMI Columbia in the United Kingdom and on 27 July 1968 in the United States by Tower Records. During recording, the mental ...

''; newer editions depict the Droste pattern repeating indefinitely. The cover of the original LP varies between the British, United States, Canadian and Australian releases. The British version has the album '' Gigi'' leaning against the wall immediately above the "Pink Floyd" letters.

Storm Thorgerson Storm Elvin Thorgerson (28 February 1944 – 18 April 2013) was an English graphic designer and music video director. He is best known for closely working with the group Pink Floyd through most of their career, and also created album or other a ...

explained that the album was introduced as a

red herring A red herring is a figurative expression referring to a logical fallacy in which a clue or piece of information is or is intended to be misleading, or distracting from the actual question. Red herring may also refer to: Animals * Red herring (fis ...

to provoke debate, and that it has no intended meaning. On most copies of US and Canadian editions, the ''Gigi'' cover is airbrushed to a plain white sleeve, apparently because of copyright concerns, but the earliest US copies do show the ''Gigi'' cover, and it was restored for the US remastered CD edition. On the Australian edition, the ''Gigi'' cover is completely airbrushed, not even leaving a white square behind. The house used as the location for the front cover of the album is located in

Great Shelford Great Shelford is a village located approximately to the south of Cambridge, in the county of Cambridgeshire, in eastern England. In 1850 Great Shelford parish contained bisected by the river Cam. The population in 1841 was 803 people. By 2001 ...

, near

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

. On the rear cover,

roadie The road crew (or roadies) are the technicians or support personnel who travel with a band on tour, usually in sleeper buses, and handle every part of the concert productions except actually performing the music with the musicians. This catc ...

s Alan Styles (who also appears in "

Alan's Psychedelic Breakfast "Alan's Psychedelic Breakfast" is the fifth and final track from the 1970 Pink Floyd album ''Atom Heart Mother'', credited to the whole group. It is a three-part instrumental. Recording and sounds The track features Pink Floyd playing in the backg ...

") and Peter Watts are shown with the band's equipment laid out on a taxiway at

London Biggin Hill Airport London Biggin Hill Airport is an operational general aviation airport at Biggin Hill in the London Borough of Bromley, located south-southeast of Central London. The airport was formerly a Royal Air Force station RAF Biggin Hill, and a sma ...

. This concept was proposed by Mason, with the intention of replicating the "exploded" drawings of military aircraft and their payloads, which were popular at the time. The inner gatefold art shows separate black-and-white photos of the band members. Gilmour is seen standing in front of the

Elfin Oak The ''Elfin Oak'' is the stump of a 900-year-old oak tree located in Kensington Gardens, London, carved and painted to look as though elves, gnomes, fairies and small animals are living in its bark. The hollow log, donated by Lady Fortescue ...

. Original vinyl editions showed Waters with his first wife,

Judy Trim Judith Trim (11 October 1943 – 9 January 2001, also known as Jude or Judy, and for a while by her first married name, as Jude Waters) was an English studio potter. From 1969 to 1975, she was married to Roger Waters of the rock band Pink Floy ...

, but she has been cropped out of the picture on most CD editions (with the original photo's caption "Roger Waters (and Jude)" accordingly changed to just "Roger Waters"). The uncropped picture was restored for the album's inclusion in the box set ''

Oh, by the Way ''Oh, by the Way'' is a compilation boxed set by Pink Floyd released on 10 December 2007, by EMI Records in the United Kingdom and the following day in the United States through Capitol Records. Contents The boxed set includes all of Pink ...

''. On the US and Canadian release there are additional titles of the four sections of the song "A Saucerful of Secrets". These titles did not appear on British editions, nor on any copies of the earlier album ''A Saucerful of Secrets''.

Release history

''Ummagumma'' was released in the UK and US on 7 and 8 November 1969, respectively. It reached number 5 on the UK albums chart and number 74 in the US, marking the first time the band reached the top 100 there. Similarly in Canada, it was their first appearance on the charts, reaching number 78. The album was certified gold in the US in February 1974 and platinum in March 1994. US versions of the cassette retained only "Astronomy Domine" from the live set and omitted the three other tracks. In 1987, the album was re-released on a two-CD set. A digitally remastered version was issued in 1994. In 2009, to mark the 40th anniversary of the album's release, Thorgerson sold a limited number of autographed lithographs of the front cover. Although the 2011 re-release campaign '' Why Pink Floyd...?'' presented all fourteen albums newly remastered in 2011, only the studio disc of ''Ummagumma'' was remastered – the live disc is the previous 1994 version. Both the live and studio album were re-issued in 2016 with Pink Floyd Records label.

Reception

On release, ''Ummagumma'' received favourable reviews. ''

International Times ''International Times'' (''it'' or ''IT'') is the name of various underground newspapers, with the original title founded in London in 1966 and running until October 1973. Editors included John "Hoppy" Hopkins, David Mair ...

'' were particularly positive about the live album, with the reviewer describing it as "probably one of the best live recordings I have ever heard". Vox included the live half of this album on its list of "The Greatest Live Albums Ever". ''

Stylus Magazine ''Stylus Magazine'' was an American online music and film magazine, launched in 2002 and co-founded by Todd L. Burns. It featured long-form music journalism, four daily music reviews, movie reviews, podcasts, an MP3 blog, and a text blog. Addi ...

'' were very positive towards the album, saying the live album was "as a visceral document of the early Floyd's proclivity for atmospheric, energetic jamming, there's nothing else like it" and that the studio one "somehow transcends its fractured construction to make a full album-length statement". However, the band have since been dismissive and critical of the work. Recalling the album in later years, Waters said: "''Ummagumma'' – what a disaster!", while in 1995, Gilmour described the album as "horrible". In a 1984 interview, Mason said: "I thought it was a very good and interesting little exercise, the whole business of everyone doing a bit. But I still feel really that that's quite a good example of the sum being greater than the parts ..." Later, he described it as "a failed experiment", adding that "the most significant thing is that we didn't do it again". '' Paste'', reviewing the 2011 re-release, described the album as "rock excess of the worst kind", although the writer praised the live version of "Careful with that Axe, Eugene".

Robert Christgau Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most well-known and influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and ...

has suggested that the album's "hypnotic melodies" made it "an admirable record to fall asleep to".

Dragonfly species

In December 2015 scientists named a newfound insect of the genus ''

Umma Umma ( sux, ; in modern Dhi Qar Province in Iraq, formerly also called Gishban) was an ancient city in Sumer. There is some scholarly debate about the Sumerian and Akkadian names for this site. Traditionally, Umma was identified with Tell J ...

'' – a

damselfly Damselflies are flying insects of the suborder Zygoptera in the order Odonata. They are similar to dragonflies, which constitute the other odonatan suborder, Anisoptera, but are smaller and have slimmer bodies. Most species fold the wings along ...

– '' Umma gumma'' after the album.http://science.orf.at/stories/2775782/ Schaurig, schön und skurril, orf.at, 23 May 2016, retrieved 23 May 2016. – picture

Track listing

Personnel

Pink Floyd *

–

lead guitar Lead guitar (also known as solo guitar) is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the featur ...

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

; acoustic and

electric guitars An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar (however combinations of the two - a semi-acoustic guitar and an electric acoustic gui ...

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

keyboards Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

and vocals on "The Narrow Way" *

– drums ;

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...

, effects on "The Grand Vizier's Garden Party" parts 1 & 2 *

– bass guitar, vocals ; acoustic guitars and vocals on "Grantchester Meadows", all vocals on "Several Species of Small Furry Animals..." * Richard Wright – keyboards, vocals ;

organ Organ may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a part of an organism Musical instruments * Organ (music), a family of keyboard musical instruments characterized by sustained tone ** Electronic organ, an electronic keyboard instrument ** Hammond ...

Mellotron The Mellotron is an electro-mechanical musical instrument developed in Birmingham, England, in 1963. It is played by pressing its keys, each of which pushes a length of magnetic tape against a capstan, which pulls it across a playback head. A ...

and percussion on "Sysyphus" Additional personnel * Lindy Mason –

flute The flute is a family of classical music instrument in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, meaning they make sound by vibrating a column of air. However, unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is a reedless ...

s on "The Grand Vizier's Garden Party" Parts 1 & 3 (uncredited) * Brian Humphries –

engineering Engineering is the use of scientific method, scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad rang ...

(live album) * Pink Floyd –

production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stati ...

(live album) *

Peter Mew Peter Mew is a retired British music audio engineer. He worked at Abbey Road Studios, where he was the senior mastering engineer. He came to Abbey Road in 1965 as a tape operator and has since worked with many artists at the studio. Kevin Ayers of ...

– engineering (studio album) * Norman Smith – production (studio album) *

– sleeve design and photographs

Charts

Certifications

References

Citations Sources * * * * * *

External links

* {{Authority control 1969 albums Albums produced by David Gilmour Albums produced by Nick Mason Albums produced by Norman Smith (record producer) Albums produced by Richard Wright (musician) Albums produced by Roger Waters Albums with cover art by Hipgnosis Albums with cover art by Storm Thorgerson EMI Records albums Harvest Records albums Pink Floyd albums Pink Floyd live albums 1969 live albums EMI Records live albums Harvest Records live albums