To break things up a little bit, this week I want to take a look at a brand-new Pink Floyd release that I found to be quite exciting. By brand-new, I mean that it’s only been made available in the last two weeks or so, and a lot of record stores in Europe don’t even have it in stock yet. With the exception of the newest The Wall picture discs, I have just about everything Andy Capp has put out over the last few years. Up until recently, their releases have mainly focused on The Dark Side of the Moon period or the era before that. Needless to say, I was quite excited when I saw they were doing a show from 1977 that would include Animals, which these days is probably my favorite Pink Floyd record. On top of that, I had never heard any recordings from this show at Bingley Hall.
The first thing you might notice when looking up this release is that it comes in two editions. The first one is/was very limited, with only 100 copies made. This set is pressed on orange, multi-color splatter vinyl, and comes in a more “traditional” bootleg packaging. The jacket is a plain pink color, uses a diagonal stamp for the title, and includes a holographic Andy Capp sticker. The package also contains a pink hand numbered certificate, complete with a bit of artwork and the track list. The artwork itself also comes printed on pink paper, and is a loose insert placed in front of the jacket inside a resealable outer bag. This version looks great but is probably going to be for collectors who like a more traditional look. Obviously, only 100 copies means that it’s quite limited, and I’m not sure if shops will be getting copies of this version or not.
The second version is very different looking but contains the exact same show. This one comes packaged in a colorful triple gatefold jacket, complete with stunning original Andy Capp style artwork and a Japanese style obi. Some folks will believe that the obi means this release is from Japan, but it’s certainly made somewhere in Europe. Although I like the old school bootleg look, the Andy Capp artwork was what originally drew my attention to the label a few years ago. If you check out AC’s entries on Discogs, or some of their other stuff I have reviewed on this site in the past, you will see what I mean. Whoever does the artwork for them has a very unique style, and I really love it. The old style, plain releases are a relatively new thing for them, but I am glad to see they are also sticking to their design roots by releasing versions with their classic look as well.
The colored sleeve version is also very limited, but this time to 200 copies. The only other difference is the color of the records. This press features white/yellow multicolored splatter that I have found to be unique to Andy Capp. Lots of other labels do splatter, but AC seems to have a lock on this unique looking version of that style. Both versions include a color postcard that also looks quite nice, and I don’t think you can go wrong with either package. There is a bit of a price difference between the two, but it’s not really that much. I decided to pick up both versions for my collection. Since I had never heard the show before, I admit this was kind of like doubling down on a blind bet. I could have looked up the show on YouTube to get a good idea of how it might sound, but once and a while, surprises can be fun.
When I received the sets, one of my discs had a production defect in the wax. I contacted the seller, and he shipped me a replacement very quickly at no additional charge. With both full sets in hand, I gave them a standard cleaning and looked them over. The discs for both versions are very heavy, and the only real difference seems to be the color. Each of the three discs has a different color label with the Andy Capp guy on it so you can tell them apart. As far as telling each side apart, that’s a bit more of an issue. To see the difference between the sides, you have to look very closely at the deadwax, and the print is small. This could be an issue for people with vision problems, and the older I get, the more I find myself wishing that all labels would take steps to make their discs more easily identifiable. Aside from that, everything else looked great, and I decided to give the white version a spin and put the orange one on the shelf for now.
I have to say that I did not have very high expectations for this show at all audio-wise. As far as I know, no one else has ever released it on vinyl, and there are only a couple CD versions of it out there. Most of the time, that’s a good indication that there aren’t any good tapes of the show floating around, since labels are usually good at finding any releasing any high-quality material. However, I ended up being very surprised. It goes without saying that the set-list itself is absolutely killer:
Live Recording – Bingley Hall, Stafford, England – 30th March 1977
A1 Intro
A2 Sheep
A3 Pigs On The Wing (Part 1)
B1 Dogs
B2 Pigs On The Wing (Part 2)
C1 Pigs (Three Different Ones)
D1 Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Part 1-5)
D2 Welcome To The Machine
E1 Have A Cigar
E2 Wish You Were Here
F1 Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Part 6-9)
F2 Money
The entire Animals portion of the show is a very good, strong recording. It’s not perfect, but I am surprised no one has pressed this before. A friend of mine pointed out that it could be more than one tape put together, but if it is, whoever assembled it did a very good job. Most of it must be one tape, because the only major flaw (the recorder or someone he is with bumps into the microphone periodically) is present through almost all of the recording. I liked it enough that I want to seek out one of the CD copies just to see if it’s different. Maybe one of the better ones was used as the source for this pressing? In any case, most people won’t be thinking about stuff like that, and they’ll just be able to enjoy the show.
If you are a fan of Animals and are always looking for new versions of it like I am, I think you will love this. These are fantastic versions of the songs, and the band is in top form. In addition to everything from that album, we also get the full Wish You Were Here album, and an encore of “Money”. While nothing stands out to me as crazy enough to do an individual song listing for this show, it certainly is a unique performance. As always, there is a significant bit of guitar and keyboard improv, and all the vocal work sounds great. I would guess that the major reason Andy Capp released this is that no one else had done it on vinyl before, but it really is worthy of finally being made available to the fans.
With that being said, there are some issues towards the end of the tape. During the second half of “Shine On”, it starts to sound like the tape recorder is on the other side of a wall, or “underwater”, so to speak. This doesn’t last very long, and it does start to sound better again before the end of the song. In a way, the volume decreases to a point where it sounds like someone is walking away, stands at a distance for a while, and then walks back closer to the speakers. For most people who collect shows like this, it’s not going to be a dealbreaker. Some people seem way more sensitive to this stuff than I am though, so I felt like I needed to point it out. By the time “Money” rolls around, the sound is back to being very good to close out the show.
Overall, I think this is another homerun for Andy Capp Records. The art is great and unique, and both versions of the sets look and sound great. Aside from the disc I had that needed to be replaced, there were no issues with the other five records I got, so I’m sure it’s an isolated incident. These guys care about what they put out and are obviously Pink Floyd fans like the rest of us. Pressing and packaging for both editions is an easy 9/10. I didn’t experience any real surface noise worth mentioning on either one of my copies. As far as the audio source, I would say it’s a conservative 7.5/10, with the reduction in volume on disc 3 taken into consideration.
It’s obvious that I would recommend “Stafford 77” to other collectors, but which edition should you pick up? If you do decide you want the “old school” type version, you should act fast in seeking that one out. With only 100 copies available, I think that version is going to go fast. Personally, if I had to choose one, I prefer the full art style with the great illustrations, as well as the white and yellow splatter look. There’s no difference between the quality of either one, so just go with whichever one you prefer. The illustrated version will also save you a bit of money if you decide to go with that one, so that might be a factor for some people. Even that version is limited to only 200 copies though, so if you want one, now is the time to start looking!