When Roger Waters heard David Gilmour playing the guitar parts for this track, he said that he thought it sounded like the theme song from the western film The Magnificent Seven. Roger Waters and Nick Mason had to play for twenty-three minutes straight. Recording began with the drum and bass parts, recorded in one take for the entire suite, resulting in an inconsistent tempo throughout the song. Pink Floyd performed it live between 19, occasionally with a brass section and choir in 1970–71. At 23:38, it is Pink Floyd's longest uncut studio piece. It appeared on the Atom Heart Mother album in 1970, taking up the first side of the original vinyl record. ' Atom Heart Mother' is a six-part suite by the progressive rock band Pink Floyd, composed by all members of the band and Ron Geesin. After 40 years Atom Heart Mother remains a much-loved record, and The Flaming Cow explores its new-found cult status that has led to it being studied for the French Baccalaureat.Musical composition by Pink Floyd and Ron Geesin 'Atom Heart Mother'

The Flaming Cow rose again, firstly in France, then in London in 2008. Alongside unpublished photographs from the Abbey Road recording sessions (the only ones taken) and the subsequent performances in London and Paris, Geesin goes on to describe how the title was chosen, why he was not credited on the record, how he left Hyde Park in tears, and why the group did not much like the work.

The Flaming Cow offers a rare insight into the brilliant but often fraught collaboration between Pink Floyd and composer Ron Geesin, the result of which became known as Atom Heart Mother - the Floyd's first UK number one album.įrom the time drummer Nick Mason visited Geesin's damp basement flat in Notting Hill, to the last game of golf between bassist Roger Waters and Geesin, this book is an unflinching account about how one of Pink Floyd's most celebrated compositions came to life.

Cow atom heart mother story