Alan's Psychedelic Breakfast
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"Alan's Psychedelic Breakfast" is the fifth and final track from the 1970
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 ...
album ''
Atom Heart Mother ''Atom Heart Mother'' is the fifth studio album by the English progressive rock band Pink Floyd. It was released by Harvest on 2 October 1970 in the UK, and by Capitol on 10 October 1970 in the US. It was recorded at EMI Studios (now Abbey Ro ...
'', credited to the whole group. It is a three-part instrumental.


Recording and sounds

The track features Pink Floyd playing in the background as Pink Floyd
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 ...
Alan Styles (1936 – 2011) speaks about the breakfast he is preparing and eating, as well as breakfasts he has had in the past ("''Breakfast in Los Angeles. Microbiotic stuff...''"). There are significant breaks before the first and in between all three instrumental parts where only Alan's muttering and movements, with occasional exterior background noise, are heard. Much of Alan's speech is overdubbed throughout the piece in gradually fading echoes. For example, "Microbiotic stuff" is repeated every couple of seconds, more quietly each time. It was performed live three times in the United Kingdom during the winter of 1970. In addition to the talking, the sounds of Alan making breakfast—such as lighting the stove, cooking bacon, pouring milk and cereal (which makes a popping sound associated with Kellogg's
Rice Krispies Rice Krispies (known as Rice Bubbles in Australia and New Zealand) is a breakfast cereal, marketed by Kellogg's in 1927 and released to the public in 1928. Rice Krispies are made of crisped rice (rice and sugar paste that is formed into rice ...
), loudly gulping and drinking, and loudly and vigorously eating cereal—are clearly audible in the background, which adds a conceptual feel to the track. Alan can be heard entering the kitchen and gathering supplies at the start of the track, and washing up and exiting the kitchen at the end; a dripping tap can be heard during both of these instances. On some copies of the vinyl version, the dripping tap at the end of the song is cut into the run-off groove, so it plays on infinitely until the listener removes the stylus from the album. On the CD and digital release, the dripping continues for approximately 17 seconds after all other sounds have ceased.


Sections


Rise and Shine (0:00-3:33)

This piece consists of two pianos, bass, Hammond organ, a steel guitar fed through a
Leslie speaker The Leslie speaker is a combined amplifier and loudspeaker that projects the signal from an electric or electronic instrument and modifies the sound by rotating a baffle chamber ("drum") in front of the loudspeakers. A similar effect is provided ...
and hi-hats. During the opening of this section, Alan can be heard muttering to himself, deciding what to have as he begins to prepare his breakfast. He can be heard saying the following: "Oh... Er... Me flakes... Scrambled eggs, bacon, sausages, tomatoes, toast, coffee... Marmalade, I like marmalade... Yes, porridge is nice, any cereal... I like all cereals... Oh, God. Kickoff is 10am." At the end of this section, the sound of a whistling kettle can be heard as the music stops.


Sunny Side Up (3:33-7:45)

This piece takes the form of a modified fugue, and was written and performed entirely by David Gilmour on two acoustic guitars and a steel guitar.


Morning Glory (7:45-13:00)

This piece was performed by the entire band. The main instrument is Richard Wright's piano, which was overdubbed three different times (one in the left channel, one in the centre, and one in the right channel). The piece also features very prominent bass, electric guitar, ADTed drums, and
Hammond organ The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert and first manufactured in 1935. Multiple models have been produced, most of which use sliding drawbars to vary sounds. Until 1975, Hammond organs generated s ...
. At the end, after saying "My head's a blank", Alan picks up his car keys and leaves via the door. Faintly, a car can be heard starting and driving away.


Reception

In a review for the ''Atom Heart Mother'' album, Alec Dubro of ''
Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...
'' described "Alan's Psychedelic Breakfast" as "the only redeeming feature on ide 2 of ''Atom Heart Mother'' but only partially so." Dubro found "the integrated Arising and Breakfast sounds" as the redeeming factor, not the music in the track itself. In a less-than-enthusiastic review, Stephen Deusner of '' Paste'' described "Alan's Psychedelic Breakfast" as "a cut-and-paste assemblage of sounds that never coalesces into much of anything." Because Deusner enjoyed " If" and "
Fat Old Sun "Fat Old Sun" is a song by English rock band Pink Floyd, written and sung by David Gilmour. It appears on their 1970 album ''Atom Heart Mother'', and was performed live in a greatly expanded form (often exceeding fourteen minutes), both before a ...
", he was disappointed Pink Floyd ended ''Atom Heart Mother'' with this track. In another review for the ''Atom Heart Mother'' album, Irving Tan of ''Sputnik Music'' described the track as an 'incredibly effective form of "wallpaper music'". However, Tan also described the track as not so much a "song", but rather an ambient psychedelic sketch.


Personnel

*
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 ...
steel Steel is an alloy made up of iron with added carbon to improve its strength and fracture resistance compared to other forms of iron. Many other elements may be present or added. Stainless steels that are corrosion- and oxidation-resistant ty ...
, acoustic and
electric guitar 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 ...
s *
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 ...
– tape effects, tape collage, bass guitar * Richard Wright – piano,
Hammond organ The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert and first manufactured in 1935. Multiple models have been produced, most of which use sliding drawbars to vary sounds. Until 1975, Hammond organs generated s ...
*
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 ...
– drums, percussion, tape edits, tape collage, additional engineering with: * Alan Styles – voice, sound effects


Legacy

Jam band The Breakfast have taken their name from the song.


References

{{authority control 1970 songs Pink Floyd songs Rock instrumentals 1970s instrumentals Songs written by Nick Mason Songs written by David Gilmour Songs written by Roger Waters Songs written by Richard Wright (musician) Song recordings produced by David Gilmour Song recordings produced by Roger Waters Song recordings produced by Richard Wright (musician) Song recordings produced by Nick Mason