Just released is The Pretty Things Final Bow, a limited edition 5 disc (2CD, 2DVD and 10" vinyl) release housed in a 52 page deluxe hardback book. The legendary band's final live performance, recorded at the London's O2 Indigo in December 2018, celebrates 55 years of the "greatest band most people have never heard of". The Final Bow captures The Pretty Things at their rocking and unique best across 3 sets of classic tracks - the entire concert - featuring guest appearances from David Gilmour and Van Morrison.
The first 500 copies of the deluxe set include an insert signed by Phil May and Dick Taylor. The Final Bow represents The Pretty Things's remarkable history on two concert film DVDs and a live audio recording on the two CDs as well as a special 10" of Phil May and Dick Taylor's track selections.
The 52-page hardback book is packed with live photography by Judy Totton, 'The Gospel according to Mark St. John' extensive sleeve notes and Phil and Dick's individual sleeve notes telling their tales of the ballsy, arrogant and ambitious band.
The evening was transformed from unmissable to sensational with the guest performances of David Gilmour on classics including Cries from the Midnight Circus and LSD, and legendary vocalist Van Morrison on blues classic Baby, Please Don't Go and soul standard You Can't Judge a Book by its Cover.
You can see David performing She Says Good Morning with The Pretty Things from the show, here:
The Pretty Things frontman Phil May told Prog magazine, "After 55 years, saying goodbye to The Pretty Things electric band was a seismic, emotional blow and a genuine life loss, for all the band and our manager. But, to be forced into it on health grounds, when the band was riding high, creating great new music and touring so successfully, throughout the world, made matters worse. But, life's a bitch and then you die...
"That said, this box set and what it represents, as a lasting tribute to the band I love, the life we have lived, and the way we have lived it, in music and performance, is unparalleled. I know I’m lucky, I, and the band, made it through a 2-hour 45-minute performance, in the best form we could have hoped for and we all feel that we created a performance, worthy of The Pretty Things at their best.
"That we captured it on film and on record, that we had our great, old friends, David Gilmour and Van Morrison alongside us and creating the moment and that, most of all, the O2 was sold out with our friends, old and new, young and old, and the people that we have done it for and who made it possible for us, was the icing on the cake."
As well as the deluxe edition, there's also a 140gram heavyweight vinyl edition available, with a selection of tracks from the evening. You can order either through the following direct links. Please note the price varies heavily between the different Amazon stores, so you are best to check neighbouring Amazon stores to see if they have it for a better price - they all ship worldwide.
THE PRETTY THINGS: Final Bow - deluxe 2DVD/2CD/10" vinyl:
Back in August, Pink Floyd The Later Years 1987-2019 was confirmed and detailed. It will appear as an 18-disc (if you include the two singles) box set, a double vinyl LP with selected highlights from the set, and a CD release of these highlights too. The box set (and digital version) is released on Friday, December 13th, this year, with a 2LP/1CD (and again, digital version of this) 'highlights' edition released on Friday, November 29th. Click here for the track listing of the box set.
Some good news for those who have been wondering about ordering it, or for those who already have, through Amazon - they have reduced the price in a number of their stores for the box set. At time of writing this, Amazon UK are currently offering it for £272.76 which is the lowest price they've had for it, so far. Those who have already pre-ordered it through them will automatically pay the lowest price it was advertised for, between when they ordered it, and release date, so there's no need to cancel your order and re-purchase. Each Amazon store seems to set their own price, so it is worth shopping around, and also note they will send things like this worldwide.
For those who need reminding, let's take a look at what is on offer. Looking at the largest item first, the box set, this consists of 5 CDs in a 60-page hardback book, 6 Blu-rays and 5 DVDs, each in gatefold wallets, 2 7" vinyl singles with material never released, a 40-page hardback photo book, replica tour programmes, and a reproduction memorabilia collection. The box set offers over six hours of previously unheard audio and over seven hours of previously unseen audiovisuals from A Momentary Lapse Of Reason, The Division Bell and The Endless River albums.
The CDs take in the 2019 remix of A Momentary Lapse Of Reason, a 2019 remix of Delicate Sound Of Thunder, a disc of live B-sides and unreleased material from The Division Bell, and a new remix of the 1990 Knebworth concert. With AMLOR, the album is presented for the first time in 5.1, and has been updated and remixed by David Gilmour and Andy Jackson. The release of The Later Years project gives an opportunity for a fresh overview of this album. By returning to some of Richard Wright's keyboard parts and recording new drum tracks with Nick Mason, producers David Gilmour and Bob Ezrin have restored the creative balance between the three Pink Floyd members.
The Blu-rays include 5.1 surround sound mixes of the above, as well as The Division Bell, a restored and remixed Delicate Sound of Thunder and includes additional tracks not on the original release, a re-edited PULSE, the full Venice 1989 and Knebworth 1990 concert films (Knebworth includes Great Gig In The Sky), along with music videos, the full range of tour screen films (including the very amusing Money screen film from 1994 with a very retro looking alien complete with ray gun), documentaries, and a new film by Ian Emes for The Endless River album. The DVDs replicate the above material with the exception of the surround sound mixes, which are only on the Blu-rays.
The two 7" vinyl singles host two previously unreleased songs - Arnold Layne from the 2007 Syd Barrett tribute concert at the Barbican, and Lost For Words recorded at the rehearsals for the 1994 Earls Court shows.
The double vinyl LP and CD "highlights" packages bring together a flavour of the full set, taking in tracks from Knebworth, The Division Bell sessions, the Momentary Lapse remix, Delicate Sound and more. This has different artwork to the box set.
If you missed it, here's another sneak preview from The Later Years that is now available to hear - the 2019 remix of One Slip, which BD's Ed Lopez-Reyes has reviewed elsewhere on our site.
ORDERING INFORMATION:
You can order the various editions through the following direct links, taking advantage of Amazon's pre-order price guarantee so you will automatically pay the lowest asking price between placing your order, and release, whilst giving Brain Damage much needed help with running costs without costing you any extra. We really appreciate it too! All the below should be live when you read this, or if not, shortly.
Due to a recent house move, the acclaimed and much loved artist Gerald Scarfe has decided to make some space on his shelves and in his cupboards, by selling off his Pink Floyd archives.
Gerald explained to RollingStone.com that the downsizing of his home was behind the decision. "I'd like it to go to a good home, [and] if possible, to be kept together. It could probably get cut up and divided, but my ideal would be to sell it to one collector who keeps it, because it's got every concept of The Wall from when I first met Roger [Waters]. Small notes, sketches and so forth, which I then developed into bigger sketches. I've got tapes; I found whole cans of film the other day, rust-covered cans of 35mm film in my attic, just bits of film that go back to Wish You Were Here."
Back in 2017, Gerald sold off a few Wall-era items; 'The Scream', the focal piece of artwork for the movie, sold for $1.85million, one of the most expensive non-instrument items in rock history, as RS point out. "I didn't want to let 'The Scream' go, but when I saw the price…" noted Gerald.
The upcoming sale, via the San Francisco Art Exchange, will consist of an incredible 3,000-plus items of sketches, paintings, storyboards, memorabilia, animation cels, stage props, and more. RS notes that "Scarfe's archive collects everything from the five-year stretch that bridges Waters' doorstep arrival with the demo tapes to the aftermath of The Wall's Alan Parker-directed 1982 film adaptation: The early hand-drawn sketches, the paintings that feature inside The Wall‘s vinyl gatefold, storyboards, film scripts complete with Scarfe's illustrations, props from both the extravagant Wall tour and the film. Scarfe's collection also boasts 'five years of ephemera' that ranges from Scarfe's framed The Wall gold records, figurines, backstage passes, a custom-made Wall tour jacket and some obscure items from the film shoot."
Quite a collection, which is sure to have a lot of Floyd fans salivating! It would be great if it could be kept together, and form a new exhibition to complement Their Mortal Remains. We suspect the cost of purchasing the entire thing would be somewhat prohibitive though...one can dream though. Let us know what you'd want to buy from the sale, money no object!
Happy Halloween! Regulars to Brain Damage over the years will know that our good friend Joe Ringus is a hugely talented pumpkin artist, and each year crafts a Pink Floyd themed pumpkin for Halloween (a celebration which is embraced by many, principally tomorrow evening, but in a number of places it covers a number of days).
Those regulars will no doubt be as keen as we have been to see if Joe would be continuing the tradition this year, and if so, what design would be picked. The great news is that Joe has been hard at work yet again, and has done another phenomenal job! We're delighted to share his incredible carving with you, which is of course a representation of a scene from Pink Floyd The Wall.
Joe said: "As each year goes on and on it becomes increasingly hard to continue to come up with ideas for another Floyd pumpkin. But after spending the longest amount of time I've spent carving a pumpkin, I'm pretty happy with the result.
"Another fun thing - I put together a collage of all of the PF pumpkins from over the years. Have a look!"
Thanks Joe - we think you've done another excellent job! It's a great tradition and we know many of our visitors love to see them. If there are any other pumpkin artists out there who have created Floyd designs, we'd love to see them. Also, if you have any suggestions for other images Joe could tackle in future years, please contact us at the normal email address of
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and we'll pass on your ideas to him. In the meantime, click the first thumbnail above to see Joe's hard, and careful, work for 2019 in more detail.
For those who have missed some of Joe's previous designs, you can catch up with those from years gone via the other thumbnail, so you can see what a steady hand, great ideas, and carving talent, results in!
Back in August, Pink Floyd The Later Years 1987-2019 was confirmed and detailed. It will appear as an 18-disc (if you include the two singles) box set, a double vinyl LP with selected highlights from the set, and a CD release of these highlights too.
This afternoon there has been a release update from the band - due to "production and logistical delays" the box set (and digital version) will now be released on Friday, December 13th, this year. The highlights 2LP/1CD (and again, digital version of this) isn't delayed, and will be released on Friday, November 29th, as previously announced. Click here for the track listing of the box set.
For those who need reminding, let's take a look at what is on offer. Looking at the largest item first, the box set, this consists of 5 CDs in a 60-page hardback book, 6 Blu-rays and 5 DVDs, each in gatefold wallets, 2 7" vinyl singles with material never released, a 40-page hardback photo book, replica tour programmes, and a reproduction memorabilia collection. The box set offers over six hours of previously unheard audio and over seven hours of previously unseen audiovisuals from A Momentary Lapse Of Reason, The Division Bell and The Endless River albums.
The CDs take in the 2019 remix of A Momentary Lapse Of Reason, a 2019 remix of Delicate Sound Of Thunder, a disc of live B-sides and unreleased material from The Division Bell, and a new remix of the 1990 Knebworth concert. With AMLOR, the album is presented for the first time in 5.1, and has been updated and remixed by David Gilmour and Andy Jackson. The release of The Later Years project gives an opportunity for a fresh overview of this album. By returning to some of Richard Wright's keyboard parts and recording new drum tracks with Nick Mason, producers David Gilmour and Bob Ezrin have restored the creative balance between the three Pink Floyd members.
The Blu-rays include 5.1 surround sound mixes of the above, as well as The Division Bell, a restored and remixed Delicate Sound of Thunder and includes additional tracks not on the original release, a re-edited PULSE, the full Venice 1989 and Knebworth 1990 concert films (Knebworth includes Great Gig In The Sky), along with music videos, the full range of tour screen films (including the very amusing Money screen film from 1994 with a very retro looking alien complete with ray gun), documentaries, and a new film by Ian Emes for The Endless River album. The DVDs replicate the above material with the exception of the surround sound mixes, which are only on the Blu-rays.
The two 7" vinyl singles host two previously unreleased songs - Arnold Layne from the 2007 Syd Barrett tribute concert at the Barbican, and Lost For Words recorded at the rehearsals for the 1994 Earls Court shows.
The double vinyl LP and CD "highlights" packages bring together a flavour of the full set, taking in tracks from Knebworth, The Division Bell sessions, the Momentary Lapse remix, Delicate Sound and more. This has different artwork to the box set.
For another sneak preview (previously, we shared on this site Wish You Were Here from the Knebworth 1990 concert, and the early version of High Hopes), here's another song from The Later Years that is now available to hear - the 2019 remix of One Slip, which BD's Ed Lopez-Reyes has talked about on our site in a separate review:
ORDERING INFORMATION:
You can order the various editions through the following direct links, taking advantage of Amazon's pre-order price guarantee so you will automatically pay the lowest asking price between placing your order, and release, whilst giving Brain Damage much needed help with running costs without costing you any extra. We really appreciate it too! All the below should be live when you read this, or if not, shortly.
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