See Emily Play
| "See Emily Play" | |
|---|---|
| Song | |
| B-side | "The Scarecrow" |
"See Emily Play" was the second single recorded by the English psychedelic rock group Pink Floyd.[2][3] It was written by original frontman Syd Barrett and recorded on 23 May 1967. The single featured "Scarecrow" as its B-side. It later appeared on the compilations Relics (1971), Works (1983), Shine On (1992), Echoes: The Best of Pink Floyd (2001) and The Piper at the Gates of Dawn 40th Anniversary Edition (2007). The song is included in The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll list.
Structure and release
The song was reportedly about a girl named Emily, whom Barrett claimed he saw while sleeping in the woods after taking a psychedelic drug. Barrett later stated that the story about sleeping in the woods and seeing a girl before him was made up "...all for publicity." According to A Saucerful of Secrets: The Pink Floyd Odyssey, by Nicholas Schaffner, Emily is the Honourable Emily Young[4] (born 13 March 1951), daughter of Wayland Hilton Young, 2nd Baron Kennet, and nicknamed "the psychedelic schoolgirl" at the UFO Club. An article in Mojo magazine called "See the Real Emily" supposedly shows a picture of Barrett's Emily.
Barrett, reportedly, was not happy with the final studio cut. He protested against its release, which producer Norman Smith speculated was based on Barrett's fear of commercialism. It was during sessions for the song that David Gilmour became a frequent visitor to the studio and, although being invited by Barrett, was shocked by the perceived changes in Barrett's personality when Barrett did not appear to recognise him. For many years Gilmour would recall this, saying, "I'll go on record as saying, that was when he changed."
The details as to the recording remain shrouded in mystery due to the lack of paperwork in the EMI archive. Engineer Jeff Jarrett recalls the song was recorded in a much longer form which was then edited down for the single release. There was much trickery involved in the recording with backward tapes, much use of echo and reverb, and the first piano bridge between the first chorus and second verse was recorded at a slow pace then sped up for the final master. The 4 track master tape was wiped or misplaced. It no longer exists and has never been mixed into true stereo; it was reprocessed for fake stereo on the 1971 Relics compilation.
The US single (Tower 356) was released by Tower Records 3 times between July 1967 and late 1968. Each time it failed to duplicate its UK success.
It is said, the slide guitar work on the song was done by Barrett using a Zippo lighter. The train depicted on the single's sleeve was drawn by Barrett.
The song only stayed in the band's set list for a few months. It was last played on 25 November 1967 in Blackpool.
In Switzerland, the song has been released on 7" Single and has been marked with two special attributes, the record's label "CH 01" and the icon of Swiss crossbow in the record's stamper code
"See Emily Play" is also known as "Games for May," and sometimes "Free Games for May," after a free concert in which Barrett's Pink Floyd performed.
Part of the vocal melody was played on a Mini Moog at the very end of "Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Parts VI-IX)" at the end of the Wish You Were Here album, as a tribute to Barrett.
Television performances
- Top Of The Pops, BBCTV, July 1967
Pink Floyd performed the song three times on BBC TV's Top Of The Pops. On each occasion, they mimed to the single and Syd Barrett would occasionally sing a live vocal. Also adding to the legend was the fact the BBC wiped the shows, all of which were "live" transmissions. In late 2009, a badly damaged home video recording was recovered by the British Film Institute containing two of the shows the song was performed on, though only the first appearance was recoverable in part.
The first performance was on the 6 July 1967 edition, hosted by Alan Freeman. Parts of this performance have been recovered from the damaged video recording.
They returned for the following week's edition, 13 July, hosted by DJ Pete Murray.
The last appearance was on 27 July 1967. Once more hosted by Alan Freeman, Barrett failed to turn up for rehearsals at BBC Television Centre. This prompted managers Peter Jenner and Andrew King to perform a frantic search for Syd. They eventually found him and frogmarched him to the BBC.
The recoverable parts of the 6 July performance were given a public screening in London on 9 January 2010 at an event called "Missing Believed Wiped" devoted to recovered TV shows. It was the first time any footage was seen of the performance since its original broadcast. Pink Floyd management now have a copy of the footage, and have promised to use it on a future project.
- Beat Club, Radio Bremen August 1967 — cancelled
The band were booked to appear on this edition of Beat Club. Barrett had suffered "nervous exhaustion" and the band managers decided to give the band a month long break in the hope his health would recover. Therefore the booking for this appearance had to be cancelled.
- Belgian TV, February 1968
In 1968, Pink Floyd travelled to Belgium where they filmed a TV special entitled "Pink Floid" (this mis-spelling is on the title credits) which featured lip-synched promotional films for "See Emily Play", as well as for "Astronomy Domine", "The Scarecrow", "Apples and Oranges", "Paint Box", "Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Sun", and "Corporal Clegg". This was David Gilmour's first TV work with the band. Syd Barrett was still technically a member of the band but it had recently been decided to no longer collect him for gigs or shows. Therefore, Gilmour, Roger Waters and Rick Wright had to mime to Barrett's vocals.
Other versions
A cover of "See Emily Play" by the Canadian group Three To One (aka Okee Pokey Band) is on the 1967 Yorkville album CTV After Four. This version also appears on the psychedelic compilation album Pebbles, Volume 14.
David Bowie recorded a version of "See Emily Play" for his Pin Ups album in 1973.
All About Eve played the song live c.1992 and recorded a demo, which was not released until 2006 as part of the Keepsakes compilation.
Judy Dyble, the original lead singer of Fairport Convention, recorded a cover of "See Emily Play" in 2004.
A cover of "See Emily Play", appears on the 2006 bluegrass album "Pickin' on Pink Floyd: A Bluegrass Tribute".
A cover of "See Emily Play" appears on the 2008 album "I Know You're Married But I've Got Feelings Too" by Martha Wainwright.
A cover of "See Emily Play" also appears on the 2008 re-release of the album "The End Is Begun" by the band 3. This is a heavily modified version, with an added bridge made by rearranging lyrics from the final verse.
A cover of "See Emily Play" appears as (one of two) B-sides on a 1991 CD single ("I am Here") from The Grapes of Wrath (band), a Canadian jangle-pop group. The same version is available on the 1994 compilation album "Seems Like Fate 1984–1992"
Personnel
- Syd Barrett — Lead Vocals and Guitars
- Richard Wright — Keyboard, Organ and Backing Vocals
- Roger Waters — Bass and Backing Vocals
- Nick Mason — Drums and Percussion
References
- ^ Schaffner, Nicholas (1992). Saucerful of Secrets: The Pink Floyd Odyssey. Delta. p. 65. ISBN 0385306849.
- ^ Strong, Martin C. (2004). The Great Rock Discography (7th ed.). Edinburgh: Canongate Books. p. 1177. ISBN 1-84195-551-5.
- ^ Mabbett, Andy (1995). The Complete Guide to the Music of Pink Floyd. London: Omnibus Press. ISBN 0-7119-4301-X.
- ^ Biography, Emily Young Sculpture.
External links
- Music video of the song at YouTube. Accessed September 2009.
