The forgotten Christmas song by Pink Floyd
When Pink Floyd formed in 1964, like many peers of the British Invasion wave, they began with rhythm and blues standards, but it wasn’t long before they set about sculpting a new abstract sound that would warp the formalities of rock music. Under Syd Barrett’s creative steer, the band emerged from the London scene as one of the earliest and most prominent psychedelic rock bands.
The early signs of psychedelia would be seen during Pink Floyd’s formative gigs in which they embarked on long, protracted instrumental excursions accompanied by rudimentary light shows that consisted of colour slides set over domestic light bulbs. During this early period, a Sunday Times article stated: “At the launching of the new magazine IT the other night, a pop group called the Pink Floyd played throbbing music while a series of bizarre coloured shapes flashed on a huge screen behind them … apparently very psychedelic.”
The band took this mystical image and sound into their first recording contract with EMI. In 1967, they enjoyed burgeoning popularity with their first singles’ ‘Arnold Layne’ and ‘See Emily Play’, shortly followed by an appearance on Top of the Pops and their seminal debut album, The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn.
At this stage, the band seemed ready to take on the world; however, Barrett’s mental state had begun to spiral out of control. By the end of the year, the band brought in guitarist David Gilmour who would take the reins as Barrett became increasingly estranged and unreliable.
Barrett was finally ousted from the band in April 1968 while the group were working on their second album, A Saucerful of Secrets. Upon its release on June 29th, the album only contained one original Barrett composition, ‘Jugband Blues’, yet because Gilmour had learned to emulate Barrett’s style, the album maintained the early Pink Floyd’s mysterious, psych-rock DNA.
Today, we catch Pink Floyd in 1969 at around the time of Ummagumma, an experimental album that began to bridge the band from their early psychedelic sound and the ‘70s’ progressive incarnation that climaxed with The Dark Side of the Moon.
Following the release of Ummagumma at the end of 1969, Pink Floyd recorded a joke Christmas song for the BBC. The demo-style recording of ‘Merry Xmas Song’ can be heard below. Strangely, drummer Nick Mason handles the vocals while Rick Wright sits at the keys. We hope you enjoy and have a merry Christmas.
