Listening to the Pink Floyd’s Peel Sessions from 1970 has reignited my interest in the group that had experienced a significant lag over the last decade. During high school and early college years they were in heavy rotation on my headphones, and later, my dorm room. Unlike my contemporaries at the time who held Dark Side Of The Moon and The Wall as their favorites, mine were, and remain, Atom Heart Mother and Meddle.

“The studio recording of “Careful with That Axe, Eugene” is featured on Relics, while a live version can be found on Ummagumma. The song was originally released as the B-side of their single “Point Me at the Sky.” Pink Floyd re-recorded the track for Italian director Michelangelo Antonioni’s film Zabriskie Point. The song is retitled “Come in Number 51, Your Time Is Up” on the soundtrack album for the film.

One of the most popular Floyd myths states that “Careful With That Axe, Eugene” was a reference to Grateful Dead frontman Jerry Garcia, who famously lost a portion of his right-hand middle finger in a childhood wood-chopping accident. Thus, the title refers to Garcia’s older brother (who was responsible for the accident), wryly instructing him to be more careful with his “axe” (presumably, the axe that severed part of Jerry’s finger). While the story behind Garcia’s missing finger is true, there is no connection between the childhood accident and the song, as neither Garcia, the Dead, nor the story of the childhood accident were widely known when this song was written. Furthermore, Garcia’s older brother was named Clifford.”

Discuss: Anyone want to discuss Pink Floyd today? What are some of your favorite studio recordings? What about some of your recommended live releases, both official and unofficial? Please leave your favorite albums, live show experiences, etc in the comments.