Today in Music History: June 29

On this day in 1968, Pink Floyd released their sophomore album A Saucerful of Secrets. They also performed in the first free concert in Hyde Park with Tyrannosaurus Rex. Oddly enough, this concert was set to coincide with the release of the album. The concert also set the stage for many more free concerts in Hyde Park in the future.

The first free Hyde Park concert line up

Saucerful of Secrets is the last studio featuring Syd Barrett and the only album in which all five members contributed (Gilmour was brought in during January of '68 due to Barrett's increasingly unstable condition).  As the band's second album, it marked the transition from clear and concise songs to more dreamy and psychedelic songs that the band is now known for. This transition could have been caused by Barrett's condition/departure and/or a push from Waters to move into the more psychedelic genre.

A Saucerful of Secrets cover - only the second time that EMI allowed a band to hire an outside designer for an album jacket

If you haven't heard Saucerful before, "Let There Be More Light" is a great tune to get you started, and "Jugband Blues" is an awesome Barrett tune. And if you're looking for a jam that's closer to the Pink Floyd we all know and love, check out the song "A Saucerful of Secrets." It's way out there, but clearly a Pink Floyd original.


If you want to listen to the whole album, click here for a HQ recording.  It's definitely one of those albums that you can start and listen through the whole way and enjoy every moment of it. It might not be my most favourite album, but it's still a good one.