"Scream Thy Last Scream"

"Scream Thy Last Scream"  was recorded in the same sessions as "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun", on 7–8 August 1967 - during the period when Syd Barrett was cracking up. He had already been withdrawn from public appearances because he was was so odd and unreliable. But he was kept in the band because he was the main writer - and the obvious genius. The record company and the management wanted Syd for his potential. The record company wanted another hit single - so Syd wrote this. The record company listened, and thought it a little too weird, so turned it down. Syd only recorded a few more songs with Floyd before they all parted ways. The song was never released. His guitar playing on this is wonderful. The song is sung twice - a speeded up version by Syd, and a normal version by the drummer Nick Mason, who doesn't normally sing on Floyd songs. The different speed vocals are played simultaneously. Somehow it works! There were few like Syd. A true original, and a true musical genius.

The image used above is the cover of a 1999 bootleg release on the Dutch Zönophone label. "Vegetable Man" was intended to be the B-side if "Scream" was released as a single.

The studio version of the song remains officially unreleased, though it has appeared on bootlegs over the years. A live version recorded by the band with Syd at Rotterdam was intended for release on the Barrett rarities album Opel (1988), however Floyd blocked it. I understand that the quality of the intended release was better than that available on bootlegs, but even so, I understand the reluctance of Floyd to allow that to be released. The Rotterdam concert was at the Hippy-Happy Fair on 13 November. There are other live recordings from Floyd's European tour. Scream live at Gyllene Cirkeln in Stockhom, 10 September 1967. This is the instrumental break, slightly extended; vocals can't be heard. This is also how it appears on a fuller recording of the concert. Scream at the Star Club in Copenhagen,  Denmark - some faint vocals at the start - sounds like two voices, then quickly into the instrumental break. For me, Denmark is the best of the unofficial live versions. Though the best live version overall is the BBC one, recorded for their second Top Gear appearance with John Peel and an in over his head Tommy Vance who comments at the end: "The incredible sound of the Pink Floyd along with Ray Barrett".