10 January 1969
Jimi Hendrix pulled out of a planned gig at London's Fishmonger's Arms (as a
warm-up for his Royal Albert Hall shows) and was replaced by Pink Floyd.
1 February 1969
Pink Floyd commenced work at London's Pye Studios on the soundtrack to the French
art-house movie More, directed by Barbet Schroeder.
14 February 1969
Pink Floyd's 21-date UK tour began with a Valentine's Day Ball at Loughborough
University and ended at St. James' Church Hall, Chesterfield. Support bands
included The Moody Blues, Spooky Tooth, and Gandalf's Garden. Floyd also performed
one show in France.
10 March 1969
Syd Barrett restarted work at Abbey Road studios on his first solo album, The
Madcap Laughs.
14 April 1969
Pink Floyd played 'The Massed Gadgets of Auximines — More Furious Madness
from Pink Floyd' at London's Royal Festival Hall. The band premiered two lengthy
new compositions, provisionally titled The Man and The Journey,
parts of which later appeared as Biding My Time, Grantchester Meadows
and Green Is The Colour.
27 April 1969
Pink Floyd played Mothers in Birmingham. DJ John Peel's review of the gig ("sounding
like dying galaxies lost in sheer corridors of time and space") was rewarded
with a mention in the 'Pseud's Corner' column of the satirical Private Eye magazine.
Part of the band's performance of A Saucerful Of Secrets and Astronomy
Dominé were included on Floyd's next album, Ummagumma.
15 May 1969
Pink Floyd's 12-date UK tour began at Leeds Town Hall and ended on 23 June at
Manchester's Free Trade Hall. The tour included a benefit show at London's Roundhouse
for the band Fairport Convention, following the death of their drummer Martin
Lamble in a road crash.
31 May 1969
The film More, complete with Pink Floyd's soundtrack, premiered at the
Cannes Film Festival. The film was never released in the UK.
13 June 1969
Pink Floyd's Soundtrack From The Film More was released in the UK and
reached No. 9 in the charts. Tracklisting: Cirrus Minor; The Nile Song; Crying
Song; Up The Khyber; Green Is The Colour; Cymbaline; Party Sequence; Main Theme;
Ibiza Bar; More Blues; Quicksilver; A Spanish Piece; Dramatic Theme.
23 June 1969
Pink Floyd completed some of the final mixes for Ummagumma. The album contained
two vinyl sides of live material and two sides of solo compositions by each
of the band members that were recorded intermittently at Abbey Road since March
1969.
26 June 1969
Pink Floyd played 'The Final Lunacy!' show at London's Royal Albert Hall. The
show featured the Ealing Central Amateur Choir conducted by Floyd's producer
Norman Smith and performance art pieces that included a roadie dressed as a
gorilla and band members sawing planks of wood on stage.
20 July 1969
Astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin were the first men to walk on the
moon. Pink Floyd performed a live improvised jam (later titled Moonhead)
in the BBC TV studios to accompany the moonlanding documentary 'So What If It's Just Green
Cheese?', which also featured actors Ian McKellan and Judi Dench.
8 August 1969
Pink Floyd appeared at the 'National Jazz Pop Ballads & Blues Festival' at Plumpton
Race Track. Also on the bill: Roy Harper; and The Who.
9 August 1969
Pink Floyd's Soundtrack From The Film More was released in the US, but
failed to chart.
17 September 1969
Pink Floyd began a nine-date tour of the Netherlands and Belgium, which started
in Amsterdam and ended in Brussels.
25 October 1969
Pink Floyd's performance at the 'Actuel Festival' in Amougies, Belgium, was filmed
for a TV documentary entitled 'Music Power'. Compere Frank Zappa joined the
band on stage for a rendition of Interstellar Overdrive.
7 November 1969
Ummagumma was released in the UK and reached No. 4 in the UK charts.
The album was released a day later in the US and reached No. 74. Tracklisting:
Astronomy Dominé; Careful With That Axe, Eugene; Set The Controls For
The Heart Of The Sun; A Saucerful Of Secrets (recorded live at Mothers in Birmingham
and Manchester College Of Commerce); Sysiphus, Parts 1-4; Grantchester Meadows;
Several Species Of Small Furry Animals Gathered Together In a Cave And Grooving
With A Pict; The Narrow Way; The Grand Vizier's Garden Party.
15 November 1969
Pink Floyd commenced recording in Rome for the soundtrack to director Michelangelo
Antonioni's counter-culture movie Zabriskie Point, and completed the
sessions at Abbey Road in January 1970.
