Pink Floyd - London 1966-1967

In terms of archival value, iPink Floyd: London, 1966-1967/i is essential viewing for Floyd collectors and anyone who's curious about the swinging pop scene of London at the dawn of the psychedelic era. Casual fans be warned: This is not a concert film, per se, nor will it satisfy anyone looking for a comprehensive history of "The Pink Floyd" (as the group was originally known) in its earliest incarnation. Rather, Peter Whitehead's film--originally titled iTonite Let's All Make Love in London/i (after a line from an Allen Ginsberg poem)--was created as a dreamy, avant-garde portrait of the "Swinging London" scene, set to the music of Pink Floyd (in this case the improvisational epics "Interstellar Overdrive" and "Nick's Boogie"), accompanied by performance footage from the legendary UFO Club in 1966, a recording session at London's Sound Techniques studio on January 11, 1967 (which Whitehead specifically arranged to capture his soundtrack), and footage from the momentous "14 Hour Technicolor Dream" festival held at Alexandra Palace on April 29th, 1967. White combined elements of all three events to create his audiovisual collage--a kind of time-capsule mindscape that successfully conveys the spacey atmosphere of Pink Floyd's early (and instant) popularity.p However fleeting (he's glimpsed relatively briefly, coaxing otherworldly sounds from his guitar, patched into a Binson Echorec tape echo device), the presence of Floyd cofounder Syd Barrett will prove fascinating to any devoted fan. The "Crazy Diamond" appears quite stoned (or at least totally immersed in his music), while Roger Waters provides a driving bass pulse, looking ever so much like a young, mod intellectual. Rick Wright appears calmly at his keyboard (also using the Binson Echorec), and Nick Mason drums through his experimental "Boogie," parts of which were transposed into the title track of iA Saucerful of Secrets/i. The music (far more indicative of Early Floyd than the later studio versions) is also included on a stand-alone CD, and while none of this material is substantial enough to be truly fulfilling, it remains a priceless snapshot of the era, with fascinating glimpses of John Lennon attending the "Technicolor" event, unaware that his future wife, Yoko Ono, was presenting a performance-art installment just a few feet away. Whitehead's archival interview clips with Mick Jagger, Michael Caine, Julie Christie, and artist David Hockney add another facet of insight into one of the liveliest periods of popular culture. i--Jeff Shannon/i