Pink Floyd
Embryo

"Embryo", also known as "The Embryo", is a track by Pink Floyd not present on any official album of the band.

Composed by Waters in 1968, it first appeared on the album "Picnic: A Breath Of Fresh Air", a compilation of various artists released by Harvest Records in 1969, and then on the unofficial compilation "Works", released by Capitol Records in 1983, with the aim of rivaling the band's current album, "The Final Cut".

The peculiarity is that while the piece on the album lasts 4 minutes and 39, live it is miraculously extended, taking on completely different connotations; the "studio" version is indeed a simple acoustic ballad sung by Gilmour, with the ending on an organ solo and Waters' high-pitched voices sped up, similar to those heard in "Several species.." present on "Ummagumma".

But as we know it in studio version, the piece was performed live only once, on December 2, 1968, at the BBC; apart from this case, in all other concerts, the piece was distorted, and it lasted over twelve minutes. It took about a year after that BBC performance before performing the piece live again, exactly in Croydon on January 16, 1970: in the arrangements, it resembled the studio version, with Gilmour reprising the acoustic guitar rhythm and Wright playing the same piano and organ parts, but on the vibraphone, and it concluded with the reprise of the first verse.

About a month later, the piece began to become a constant in Pink Floyd's concerts, standardizing around the execution in Birmingham on February 11: Wright returned to the Hammond, Gilmour moved from a softer arrangement to a much more rocking one, and a new musical section was added in the middle, before the reprise. After the second verse, Waters begins the jam section with a ground bass (technically known as "ostinato", or constant repetition) on a blues scale, while a tape-machine plays back the sounds of some children playing. At the end, Gilmour creates the famous "whalesong" effect by reversing the cables on his wah-wah pedal; an eccentric effect, which we will be able to appreciate better on the more famous "Echoes" the following year.

During that period, moreover, an alternative version of Embryo appeared, in which it was possible to hear a primitive LED-vibraphone, which raged in the ten minutes of instrumental improvisation that preceded the piece. This jam did not have a defined title, some call it "The Librest spacement monitor" (which may be a misunderstanding of what Waters said at a concert, namely "Nicholas Mason on the drums"), others "Corrosion", other times it was part of the long central improvisation of Interstellar Overdrive. On one occasion, before resuming the regular version, Waters muttered some words in a characteristic Scottish accent (another element found in "Several Species.."

The last time Embryo was played, on November 20, 1971, the typical jam session was interrupted by a curious event: Wright's organ fell and broke, and while it was being repaired, the other 3 Floyd continued to play without Wright for about a quarter of an hour, including in the improvisation, embryonic elements of "Breathe", of "Raving and Drooling" (which after 6 years would become "Sheep") and something that vaguely resembled "Any Colour You Like".

You can admire here Embryo in all its splendor, in the execution at Saint Tropez.

Highly recommended, much more than the "Works" compilation, are the many bootlegs of the period.

..and what are 90 reviews for a band with thousands of secrets??