A Nice Pair

A Nice Pair
Released	December 1973 (US), January 1974 (UK)
Recorded	(compilation)
Genre	Psychedelic Rock, Progressive Rock
Length	81:24
Label	Harvest Records
Producer(s)	Various

A Nice Pair is a compilation album by Pink Floyd. The album is basically The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn and A Saucerful Of Secrets sold in a new gatefold sleeve. For no apparent reason, on the American issue, the Ummagumma recording of "Astronomy Domine" replaces the original recording on the UK edition. The album reached #36 in the US and was certified Gold by the R.I.A.A. in March of 1994.

Of note is that the album's cover depicts an uncensored (in many territories) picture of a woman's breasts, while The Pros and Cons of Hitch Hiking had another woman's buttocks censored, in the United States, after a large amount of controversy.

The cover is by the Hipgnosis group, who did many other Pink Floyd covers, including The Dark Side Of The Moon. It was actually a series of covers that were not strong enough on their own, so they were put together. Each of the images depicts a well-known phrase or saying in the form of a visual pun; for instance, the centre right-hand panel on the front depicts "a fork in the road", while the bottom right represents "a pretty kettle of fish", and so on. Also, all images depicted on the cover begin with the phonetic "f." Each cover is divided into nine squares. Front cover, beginning left to right: foyer; [title]; Phang; floating; football; fork; flasher; flying saucers; fish. Back cover: frog; filling; farmer; phased or freak; Fear; pharaoh; fuzzy; fickle; finches. Initial copies had a picture of Dr. Phang's dental office on the cover and then was edited to feature a gargling monk. The US covers had a purple and white Pink Floyd A Nice Pair sticker covering the pictures of naked women.

The album was the next U.S. release for the band after Dark Side of The Moon, which confused many young fans, as it covers the early, different psychedelic sound of the Syd Barrett period of Pink Floyd, rather than the Alan Parsons-engineered production of "Dark Side."

Due to its superfluous nature, seeing as The Piper at the Gates of Dawn and A Saucerful of Secrets are sold separately on CD, A Nice Pair has long since been deleted. However, an unofficial CD version was released in European territories packaged in a miniature vinyl sleeve right down to the Harvest Records label recreated on CD.

Track Listing

All songs by Syd Barrett, except where noted.

1. "Astronomy Domine" – 8:12
2. "Lucifer Sam" – 3:07
3. "Matilda Mother" – 3:08
4. "Flaming" – 2:46
5. "Pow R. Toc H." (Barrett/Waters/Wright/Mason) – 4:26
6. "Take Up Thy Stethoscope and Walk" (Waters) – 3:05
7. "Interstellar Overdrive" (Barrett/Waters/Wright/Mason) – 9:41
8. "The Gnome" – 2:13
9. "Chapter 24" – 3:42
10. "The Scarecrow" – 2:11
11. "Bike" – 3:21
12. "Let There Be More Light" (Waters) – 5:38
13. "Remember a Day" (Wright) – 4:33
14. "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun" (Waters) – 5:28
15. "Corporal Clegg" (Waters) – 4:13
16. "A Saucerful of Secrets" (Waters, Wright, Mason, Gilmour) – 11:57
17. "See-Saw" (Wright) – 4:36
18. "Jugband Blues" – 3:00

Personnel

• Syd Barrett: Guitars, vocals.
• David Gilmour: Guitars, vocals.
• Roger Waters: Bass guitar, vocals.
• Rick Wright: Keyboards, piano, metrollon, vibraphone, vocals.
• Nick Mason: Drums, percussion, vocals.
• Norman Smith: Drums, vocals.
• Members of the Salvation Army:
  • Ray Bowes: Cornet.
  • Terry Camsey: Cornet.
  • Mac Carter: Trombone.
  • Les Condon: Eb Bass.
  • Maurice Cooper: Euphonium
  • Ian Hankey: Trombone
  • George Whittingham: Bb Bass.