1969: Such a Crazy World

Most unfortunate

Syd and Iggy the Eskimo, 1969.

After a return from the North American leg of the tour, Syd returned to the studios in April 1969 under the supervision of Peter Jenner. Syd continued with Willie Wilson, but since Vincent Crane continued with Arthur Brown and Rick Wills started to work as a session musician for Jackie Lomax, he was with no options but to ask for his old friends to help him to record the successor of Rooftop in a Thunderstorm.

"I knew that the folks of  Pink Floyd did an amazing album [Are Going Insane!], and I looked for some help besides of Jenner who... couldn't do anything but produce. So technically I was kind of inclined to ask for help to the people I dismissed a few years earlier. Yeah, I was seeing the roles being reversed in that moment."

-Syd Barrett, 1984

As Pink Floyd was touring and performing throughout the United Kingdom, it was easy for Syd to approach the band in one of their gigs. "At first my reaction was something like 'Why did you travel from London to Birmingham just to ask us to help you in your album?' But, yeah, he was Syd, he could do whatever he wanted.", David Gilmour. In the same meeting between the band and the artist, Roger and Syd retreated and apologized to each other. In the end, the members agreed to help Syd on his record.

Back at the studios, Syd decided to dismiss Jenner while the band took control of the production. In most of the week, Syd recorded acoustic tracks such as Terrapin, (She's a) Dolly Rocker, Wouldn't You Miss Me? and Golden Hair under the supervision of Gilmour, who played the bass guitar along with Willie Wilson. Although the situation seemed comfortable to the crew, Peter Jenner and Andrew King established a deadline for three weeks.

"Yeah, that was one of the fucking problems that made me quit the music industry a few years later. Peter [Jenner] was becoming an asshole up to me, Andrew [King] was sometimes nice, but never changed his opinions, and Steve [O'Rourke] was virtually the only one in the management who understood me."

-Syd Barrett, 1986

In the next studios, Soft Machine [at the time, Robert Wyatt, Hugh Hopper (who provisionally replaced Kevin Ayers), and Mike Ratledge] were recording their second album, Exiled from Canterbury. Since both bands (including Syd) were friends since the UFO Club times, they would often visit each studio to see what both bands were doing. During a visit, Syd decided to invite Soft Machine to play along some of the songs that remained unrecorded.

On the same day, Soft Machine and Syd rehearsed and jammed, recording four songs in sequence, No Man's Land, No Good Trying, Clowns and Jugglers I, and Love You. "Syd's idea to bring Soft Machine and record some tracks with them was amazing, it spared us a lot of time.", Nick Mason. Most of the songs recorded with Soft Machine received little or no overdubs, except for "Love You" which included a piano performed by Richard Wright.

With a similar idea, Pink Floyd also rehearsed and performed the remaining tracks of Syd, including another version of Clowns and Jugglers that would become Clowns and Jugglers II and the single version. "To be honest, I think that Soft Machine's take on Clowns and Jugglers was bloody awful. Sometimes noisy, sometimes irregular, but Syd liked after all, even if I was saying to keep it out of the album.", Roger Waters.

Syd managed to finish his album, sparing two weeks until the deadline, leaving the album to his former bandmates to mix. "Hmm, yeah, most of the mixing portion was under my supervision, since I liked to do this more than the guys. Syd also liked the result of the final product, so everyone reached an agreement.", Nick Mason.

The album was entitled Clowns and Jugglers, after the two versions recorded for the album. Clowns and Jugglers II was released as single as Octopus, backed by Double O Bo. The single was quite successful in Britain and France but failed to reach the charts in the US. Syd decided to also release Silas Lang, Here I Go and Late Night as singles, with the last two being successful in Britain and throughout Europe. In the United States, Late Night received certain attention in the West Coast.

Syd Barrett – Clowns and Jugglers

Syd Barrett - Clowns and Jugglers (1969)
Genre: Psychedelic folk, acid rock
Total: 43:54
All tracks written by Syd Barrett, except when noted.

Side A - 21:34
1. "Butterfly" - 3:00
2. "Silas Lang (Swan Lee)" - 3:13
3. "No Man's Land" - 3:03
4. "No Good Trying" - 3:26
5. "Clowns and Jugglers I (The Madcap Laughs)" - 3:27

6. "Double 'O Bo" - 2:57
7. "Love You" - 2:30

Side B - 22:20
8. "Clowns and Jugglers II (Octopus)" - 3:47
9. "Here I Go" - 3:11

10. "Terrapin" - 5:04
11. "(She's a) Dolly Rocker" - 3:02
12. "Wouldn't You Miss Me?" - 2:02
13. "Golden Hair" (Syd Barrett, James Joyce) - 1:59
14. "Late Night" - 3:10

Clowns and Jugglers is the second studio album from English singer-songwriter Syd Barrett. The album was released on 16 September 1969 in the United Kingdom by Blackhill Records and on 24 September 1969, being distributed by Capitol Records in the United States. The album was produced by Pink Floyd under the pseudonym of Arnold Layne and is the last one featuring Willie Wilson.

In later years, Peter Jenner would sue Syd, earning the role as producer along with the Pink Floyd. The album was recorded in two weeks, most compromising of Syd's acoustic songs in a week, and another week with sessions featuring Pink Floyd and Soft Machine. The lyrical themes of Clowns and Jugglers include surrealism, personal feelings, and romantic songs in general.

The album is characterized by less experimentalism from the previous album (seen mostly in the first track) and more folk and rock-oriented tracks. The suggestion was given by Andrew King, who looked for songs similar to the ones found in Rubber Band records. At the time, the record became more popular than the predecessor, as the youth identified with some of Syd's lyrics.

After the release, the press reacted negatively first, but then the album received mixed-to-positive reviews in general. Syd released four songs as singles, Clowns and Jugglers II (released as Octopus), Silas Lang, Here I Go and Late Night. The public reaction was positive after all, with the album reaching number 5 in Britain while it reached number 99 in Billboard Top LPs. After Clowns and Jugglers, Syd wouldn't release an album until 1971, focusing on touring and the start of his career on acting.

A little swap

Marc Bolan and Mickey Finn, members of T. Rex, 1969.

After Beyond the Rising Sun or the Beginning of Doves, Marc Bolan and T. Rex would record and release three more albums in a year span: the folk-oriented My People Were Fair and Had Sky in Their Hair... But Now They're Content to Wear Stars on Their Brows (July 1968); Prophets, Seers & Sages: The Angels of the Ages (October 1968), and the more rock-oriented Unicorn (May 1969).

 

The second, third, and fourth albums by Tyrannosaurus Rex.

However, as time passed by, it was more than a fact that Marc Bolan was the frontman and the mind behind Tyrannosaurus Rex, while Rick Wills and Willie Wilson were becoming rather... side members. This being said, Bolan recruited Mickey Finn to be a part of the band, playing percussion instruments, except for the drums, still played by Willie, even though that line-up wouldn't stay for more than a few days, given the fact that Willie Wilson would leave the band for Tailboard.

As for Rick Wills, the bass player would still stay in Tyrannosaurus Rex until 1971, being replaced by Steve Currie. After his departure, Wills would move to Peter Frampton's backing band, then the Small Faces, before finally settling in Foreigner for 14 years. And with that, Tyrannosaurus Rex, now known as T. Rex, would follow the same path as OTL for a few years until we jump back into it.

But all of it's going to burn

Arthur Brown during a performance.

The Crazy World of Arthur Brown, led by no other than the God of Hellfire himself, Arthur Brown, was another rising band under the Blackhill Records, and the first one outside the Rubber Band-Pink Floyd faction to make a hit song with Fire, ironically, becoming Blackhill's best-selling single for a while, reaching number 2 on Billboard Hot 100 and topping the UK Singles Charts.

However, his band often associated with singer-songwriter Syd Barrett due to Vincent Crane, the keyboardist for both, sometimes even performing or touring together. Drummer Drachen Theaker was replaced by Carl Palmer due to his aviophobia. Following the successful eponymous debut record, the band recorded their second album, Strangelands.

Crazy World of Arthur Brown's Strangelands. Certainly an album that no one will forget.

Arthur Brown's second album Strangelands was panned by critics at the time. In an article titled "Strangelands or How To Not Ruin Your Band's Rising Career", music critic XX harshly describes the album as 'dissonant', 'nonsensical', 'painfully experimental', and outside from everything that people expected from their last album. Strangelands was released only in 1971 and didn't chart in the United States, while in Britain the album reached number 19, before falling.

Personally, the band entered into a risky situation with the label that even the God of Hellfire himself was surprised, after temporarily retiring to a commune. The band itself avoided to talk about the record, and behind the scenes, requested to Brown more participation in the band's business and records, and the label wanted a change from style.

"Well, the high management wanted us to change our style. The thing is that we were already searching for a specific new style, even though things went wrong with Strangelands. I didn't want to stick with the same style we've used on The Crazy World [of Arthur Brown]."

 -Arthur Brown, 1973.

For Blackhill, Strangelands became their first failure, ironically, coming from the ones who gave them their best-selling hit. With the expensive Pink Floyd/Syd Barrett/Tailboard tour in September, the management started to be more cautious in a lot of ways, by avoiding 'too much experimental/nonsense' records and simply not doing such an ambitious tour.

For the Crazy World of Arthur Brown, a few things were reformed. The band itself, was dissolved, becoming Atomic Rooster. Arthur Brown, Vincent Crane, and Carl Palmer stayed in the group, being joined by guitarist Andy Dalby and bass player Desmond Fisher. From then, the band would take a progressive turn, sometimes flirting with the experimental and hard rock scenes.

As years passed, critics would reevaluate the record, being more moderate, and even considering it innovative in several aspects, developing a cult following around the album. Groups such as Animal Collective drawn a few inspirations from aspects of the album's ambiency.

Come on and enjoy us

Willy Prairie and Joe Prairie... perhaps; 1969.

As the band released the successful A Doll's House, John Lennon, influenced by his wife, wanted the group to release a full experimental record with the outtakes and tracks of the sessions, similarly to the then-unreleased Revolution 9.

"Well, John was deeply into Yoko's influence, and persuaded us to make something... similar to Revolution 9. Actually we wanted to do something different, and we had those jams recorded in 1968, but we didn't want to go under that avant-garde rubbishness, so we moved to do a 'novelty record'. And thus, teaming up with Billy Preston, The Prairie Wallflowers were born!"

-Paul McCartney, 2013 

"Well, Paul had his idea to that documentary about 'how does Beatles produce their albums', and I hooked with them to help to record it. And one day John came to me wondering if I would like to join them to record a few more stuff to an 'untitled alternate project' to Get Back, and then told me to choose a new name."

-Billy Preston, 1995

The idea for Joe Prairie & The Prairie Wallflowers popped up after a reunion of the Beatles in George's Kinfauns, after a listening of the unreleased tapes of the 1968 sessions. The name for the group came from the song Los Paranoias. The concept of a Beatles' record under an alias seemed interesting and was approved by the manager Brian Epstein, who booked sessions for them in secrecy at the Trident Studios.

Paul picked the frontman's name, Joe Prairie, while John named himself as Stu Prairie as a tribute to his late friend and early member of The Beatles, Stuart Sutcliffe, Billy Preston chose Willy, George used Nelson and Ringo chose Leon.

The album was recorded over three days, then mixed by George Martin, packed to release with a shot of The Beatles' rooftop concert. Joe Prairie's name was first mentioned in an interview with Paul McCartney and John Lennon on BBC, announcing the new, non-Beatle album, with the premiere release of the single 'Come and Get It' two days later. Next, Brian clarified that the album was made with recordings dating since the sessions of 1968.

Joe Prairie & The Prairie Wallflowers – Back in Your Safely Beds

Joe Prairie & The Prairie Wallflowers - Back in Your Safely Beds (1969)

Genre: Jam band, rock and roll, psychedelic folk, experimental

Total: 41:32

Side A - 20:51

1. "Can You Take Me Back? (There You Are, Eddie)" (Joe Prairie) - 4:05

2. "Dig It" (Joe Prairie, Stu Prairie, Tom Prairie, Nelson Prairie, Leon Prairie) - 0:50

3. "Suzy Parker" (J. Prairie, S. Prairie, T. Prairie, N. Prairie, L. Prairie) - 2:00

4. "Wild Honey Pie" (J. Prairie) - 0:54

5. "What's The New Mary Jane" (S. Prairie) - 6:12

6. "(You're So Square) Baby I Don’t Care" (Jerry Leiber, Mike Stoller) - 0:42

7. "Maggie Mae" (traditional, arr. The Prairie Wallflowers) - 0:40

8. "St. Louis Blues/Heart of the Black Country" (J. Prairie/W. C. Handy) - 1:10

9. "You Know My Name (Look Up The Number)" (S. Prairie) - 4:21

Side B - 20:41

10. "Blue Moon/I Will" (Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart/J. Prairie) - 2:57

11. "Come and Get It" (J. Prairie) - 2:30

12. "Apple Jam" (J. Prairie, S. Prairie, T. Prairie, N. Prairie, L. Prairie) - 2:20

13. "Medley: Rip It Up/Shake, Rattle And Roll/Blue Suede Shoes" (Robert Blackwell, John Marascalco/Charles Calhoun/Carl Perkins) - 3:18

14. "Step Inside Love" (J. Prairie) - 1:34

15. "Los Paranoias" (J. Prairie) - 3:58

16. "Ain't She Sweet" (Jack Yellen, Milton Ager) - 2:08

17. "Mailman, Bring Me No More Blues" (Bill Katz, Ruth Roberts, Stanley Clayton) - 1:56

Back in Your Safely Beds is a studio album, parallel to the Get Back project, released by The Beatles plus Billy Preston under the pseudonym of Joe Prairie & The Prairie Wallflowers. The album is filled with studio jams and remaining content spanning from the sessions back from Umbrella, A Doll's House, and the upcoming Abbey Road and Get Back albums. The album was recorded by the band in secrecy, then mixed and produced by George Martin.

The album is comprised of several cover versions of rock and roll numbers, studio jams, and experimental compositions of the group. The album was revealed when Paul McCartney and John Lennon were interviewed, while a few days later, Apple/NEMS issued Come and Get It as the lead single for the album. Back in Your Safely Beds was received with a big interest and generally positive reviews by music critics, citing it as an impressive way to reuse discarded songs into a new work. The album peaked in number 3 in UK Albums Charts and reached number 7 in Billboard Top LP's.

Musicologist and author Ian MacDonald said that the pseudonym strategy to release more experimental music was very helpful, since if the band released the album under their own name it was going to be a critical failure similar to Magical Mystery Tour.

Beach Boy Carl Wilson mentioned Back in Your Safely Beds as a heavy influence on Beach Boys' Carl and the Passions. The same concept was revived on George Harrison's supergroup, The Traveling Wilburys, with Bob Dylan, Roy Orbison, Tom Petty, and Jeff Lynne. Forgotten for a while, the record was later re-evaluated by the fans and received a cult following status. John Lennon later referred to the album as one of his favorite records during The Beatles. The band would later revive the concept in 1976 as their last work before the hiatus, but shelved the album.


Author's comments:
The idea for Joe Prairie & The Prairie Wallflowers was loosely inspired by the Beatles' experimental albums in Strawberry Peppers and Something Creative, but I didn't want to... make another version of those albums (which are amazing, by the way). Then, the idea for the band emerged as a way to reutilize some of the unused material, like the cover numbers from The Beatles that were recorded during that period.

And, as I said, no more New Yardbirds, or any plot related to Led Zeppelin. Instead, however, there will be an alternative version of Atomic Rooster with the inclusion/fusion of Arthur Brown's Kingdom Come. The main issue is that Led Zeppelin and Renaissance had two very different styles to work with.

Sources:
Syd Barrett - Clowns and Jugglers:

• Syd Barrett - The Madcap Laughs
• Syd Barrett - Opel
• Pink Floyd - The Early Years

Joe Prairie & the Prairie Wallflowers - Back in Your Safely Beds:

• The Beatles - White Album (Deluxe Edition)
• The Beatles - Let It Be
• The Beatles - Anthology 2
• The Beatles - The Black Album [bootleg]