Ummagumma

Ummagumma
Studio album / live album by
Released7 November 1969 (1969-11-07)
Recorded
  • September 1968 – July 1969 (studio)
  • 27 April and 2 May 1969 (live)
Venue
StudioEMI, London
Genre
Length86:32
39:24 (live album)
46:51 (studio album)
LabelHarvest
Producer
Pink Floyd chronology
More
(1969)
Ummagumma
(1969)
Atom Heart Mother
(1970)

Ummagumma is a part-studio, part-live album by English rock band Pink Floyd. It is a double album and was released on 7 November 1969 by Harvest Records. The first disc consists of live recordings from concerts at Mothers Club in Birmingham and the College of Commerce in Manchester that contained part of their normal set list of the time, while the second contains solo compositions by each member of the band recorded at EMI Studios, making a fourth studio album. The artwork was designed by regular Pink Floyd collaborators Hipgnosis and features a number of pictures of the band combined to give a Droste effect. It was the last album cover to feature the band.

The album's title supposedly comes from Cambridge slang for sex, commonly used by Pink Floyd friend and occasional roadie Iain "Emo" Moore, who would say, "I'm going back to the house for some ummagumma". According to Moore, he made up the term himself. Drummer Nick Mason later said the album was titled "because it sounded interesting and nice."

Although Ummagumma was well received at the time of release, and was a top-five hit in the UK album charts, it has since been looked upon unfavourably by critics and by the band, who have expressed lukewarm opinions about it in interviews. The album has been reissued on CD several times, along with the rest of their catalogue.