''Picnic – A Breath of Fresh Air'' is a sampler issued by the

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 ...

label, originally released in 1970 and notable for including the previously unreleased

Pink Floyd Pink Floyd are an English Rock music, 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 experiments ...

song, "

Embryo An embryo ( ) is the initial stage of development for a multicellular organism. In organisms that reproduce sexually, embryonic development is the part of the life cycle that begins just after fertilization of the female egg cell by the male sp ...

". The similarly-entitled ''A Breath of Fresh Air – A Harvest Records Anthology 1969–1974'' released on 14 May 2007 borrowed most of the original title, but had only three tracks in common with its precursor (Pink Floyd's "Embryo", Panama Limited's "Round and Round", and Quatermass' "Black Sheep of the Family"). Although most tracks featured were of similar vintage, the album was a retrospective compilation, rather than a promotional sampler.

History

EMI Records EMI Records (formerly EMI Records Ltd.) is a British multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It was originally founded as a British flagship label by the music company EMI in 1972, and launched in January 1973 as the succes ...

launched the Harvest label in 1969 to take advantage of the

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog) is a broad genre of rock music that primarily developed in the United Kingdom through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early-to-mid-1970s. Initially termed " progressive pop", the ...

market, and like many record labels at the time, they produced a budget-priced showcase album of their artists. Their roster of artists was large and interesting enough to support a double album retailing at 29s/11d (approximately £1.50). The result was an eclectic mixture of traditional folk, hard rock, psychedelia and obscurities. The inclusion of "Embryo", without the approval of Pink Floyd, and which the band considered unfinished, resulted in the album's prompt withdrawal. Some editions do not credit the track to Pink Floyd on the inside cover.

1970 release track listing

2007 release track listing

Disc one

# "Evil" –

Edgar Broughton Band Edgar Broughton Band were a British blues rock band founded in Warwick in 1968, and in their initial form were operative through to 1976. The group were also a significant influence on the emerging politically conscious and spiritually aware ...

# "Listen Learn Read On" –

Deep Purple Deep Purple are an English rock band formed in London in 1968. They are considered to be among the pioneers of heavy metal music, heavy metal and modern hard rock, although their musical style has varied throughout their career. Originally for ...

(from '' The Book of Taliesyn'' 1968) # "Druid One" – Third Ear Band # "Station Song" –

Pete Brown Peter Ronald Brown (25 December 1940 – 19 May 2023) was an English performance poet, lyricist, and singer best known for his collaborations with Cream and Jack Bruce.Colin Larkin, ''Virgin Encyclopedia of Sixties Music'' (Muze UK Ltd, 1997) ...

and His Battered Ornaments # "Rainmaker" – Michael Chapman # "Singing A Song In The Morning" –

Kevin Ayers Kevin Ayers (16 August 1944 – 18 February 2013) was an English singer-songwriter who was active in the English psychedelic music movement. Ayers was a founding member of the psychedelic band Soft Machine in the mid-1960s, and was closely asso ...

# "A Forsaking: ''Our Captain Cried''" – Shirley and Dolly Collins # "

Careful with That Axe, Eugene "Careful with That Axe, Eugene" is an instrumental piece by the English rock band Pink Floyd. It was recorded in November 1968 and released as the B-side to the single " Point Me at the Sky", and featured on the 1971 compilation album ''Relics ...

" –

(single

b-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph record, vinyl records and Compact cassette, cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a Single (music), single usually ...

) # "Armchair Theatre" – Tea and Symphony # "Big Bear Ffolly" – Bakerloo # "Round And Round" – Panama Ltd. Jug Band # "

Octopus An octopus (: octopuses or octopodes) is a soft-bodied, eight-limbed mollusc of the order Octopoda (, ). The order consists of some 300 species and is grouped within the class Cephalopoda with squids, cuttlefish, and nautiloids. Like oth ...

" –

Syd Barrett Roger Keith "Syd" Barrett (6 January 1946 – 7 July 2006) was an English singer, guitarist and songwriter who co-founded the rock band Pink Floyd in 1965. Until his departure in 1968, he was Pink Floyd's frontman and primary songwriter, ...

(from ''

The Madcap Laughs ''The Madcap Laughs'' is the debut solo album by the English singer-songwriter Syd Barrett. It was recorded after Barrett had left Pink Floyd in April 1968. The album had a lengthy recording history, with work beginning in May 1968, but the bul ...

'' 1970) # "Painter" –

# "Country Morning" – Pete Brown & Piblokto! # "Francesca" – Roy Harper # "Bad Penny" – Forest # "Backwood" –

Chris Spedding Christopher John Spedding (born Peter Robinson, 17 June 1944) is an English guitarist and record producer. In a career spanning more than 50 years, Spedding is best known for his studio session work. By the early 1970s, he had become one of th ...

# "Real Cool World" – Greatest Show On Earth # "Breathe" –

Roger Waters George Roger Waters (born 6 September 1943) is an English musician and singer-songwriter. In 1965, he co-founded the rock band Pink Floyd as the bassist. Following the departure of the group's main songwriter Syd Barrett in 1968, Waters became ...

and Ron Geesin (from '' Music from The Body'' 1970) # "Taking Some Time On " –

Barclay James Harvest Barclay James Harvest are an English progressive rock band, which following a split in 1998 now exists as two successor bands. They were founded in Oldham, in September 1966 by bassist/vocalist Les Holroyd (born 1948), guitarist/vocalist John ...

Disc two

# "There's No Vibrations But Wait" –

# "Soulful Lady" – Michael Chapman # "Entropy" – Quatermass # "Black Sheep Of The Family" – Quatermass # "Grass" –

The Pretty Things ''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The ...

# "Salisbury Plain" – Shirley & Dolly Collins # "Embryo" – Pink Floyd # "Shouldn't Have Took More Than You Gave" –

Dave Mason David Thomas Mason (born 10 May 1946) is an English singer-songwriter and guitarist from Worcester, who came to prominence in 1967 as a founding member of the rock band Traffic. While with Traffic, he wrote and sang lead vocals on two of the b ...

# " Speed King" –

# "Magic Woman Touch" – Greatest Show On Earth # "Aeroplane Head Woman" – Pete Brown & Piblokto! # " Baby Lemonade" –

# "Don't You Grieve" – Roy Harper # "October 26" –

# "Song from the Bottom of a Well" –

# "First Leaf of Autumn" – Michael Chapman # "Call Me a Liar" –

Disc three

# "She Said" –

# "South Africa" – Roy Harper # "Evening Over Rooftops" –

# "Do Ya" –

The Move The Move were a British Rock music, rock band formed in Birmingham in 1965. They scored nine Top 40, top 20 UK singles in five years, but were among the most popular British bands not to find any real success in the United States. For most of ...

# "When the City Sleeps" – Bombadil # "Lady Rachel" – Kevin Ayers (from '' Joy of a Toy'' 1969) # "10538 Overture" –

Electric Light Orchestra The Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) are an English rock band formed in Birmingham in 1970 by multi-instrumentalists Jeff Lynne and Roy Wood and drummer Bev Bevan. Their music is characterised by a fusion of pop and classical arrangement ...

# "The City (Part Three)" –

Mark-Almond Mark–Almond was a jazz-influenced English pop group of the 1970s and early 1980s, sometimes also called The Mark-Almond Band. The core members were Jon Mark, who sang lead and played guitar, percussion, and harmonica, and Johnny Almond, wh ...

# "Spaceship" –

Spontaneous Combustion Spontaneous combustion or spontaneous ignition is a type of combustion which occurs by self-heating (increase in temperature due to exothermic internal reactions), followed by thermal runaway (self heating which rapidly accelerates to high tem ...

# "Macbeth" – Third Ear Band # "Fresh Air" –

Jan Akkerman Jan Akkerman (born 24 December 1946) is a Dutch guitarist. He first found international commercial success with the band Focus (band), Focus, which he co-founded with Thijs van Leer. After leaving Focus, he continued as a solo musician, adding ja ...

# "Twelve Hours Of Sunset" – Roy Harper # "Wells Fargo" –

Babe Ruth George Herman "Babe" Ruth (February 6, 1895 – August 16, 1948) was an American professional Baseball in the United States, baseball player whose career in Major League Baseball (MLB) spanned 22 seasons, from 1914 through 1935. Nickna ...

# "Showdown" –

# "Jet Silver and the Dolls of Venus" –

Be-Bop Deluxe Be-Bop Deluxe were an English rock band who achieved critical acclaim and moderate commercial success during the mid to late 1970s. History Be-Bop Deluxe Be-Bop Deluxe were founded in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England, by singer, guitari ...

Album cover

None of the artists who were featured on the album are portrayed on the outer cover. The front and rear of the

gatefold A gatefold cover or gatefold LP is a form of packaging for gramophone record, LP records that became popular in the mid-1960s. A gatefold cover, when folded, is the same size as a standard LP cover (i.e., a 12½-inch 2.7-centimetresquare). ...

show a group of people wearing World War II gas masks sitting in sand dunes with a dead bird on the sand. The interior of the sleeve displays the covers of most of the albums from which the tracks are taken against the background of an incoming sea tide. This background features a family walking across the sands in a washed-out monochrome. The cover design and photographs are credited to

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, Def Leppard, T. Rex, the Pretty Things, Black S ...

, famous for their

album cover designs.

References

External links

An appreciation of ''Picnic - A Breath Of Fresh Air'' by Dave Sanderson (2006)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Picnic - A Breath Of Fresh Air 1970 compilation albums Albums with cover art by Hipgnosis Folk rock compilation albums Progressive rock compilation albums Harvest Records compilation albums Record label compilation albums Albums recorded at IBC Studios