GIVE BIRTH TO A SMILE (WITH RON GEESIN)

I guess very many Pink Floyd fans have sometimes come across the peculiar soundtrack album "Music from the Body" by Ron Geesin & Roger Waters, and many of them have been more or less disappointed at it; the rating here is 2.83. I borrowed the album from a library probably in the early nineties and have only faint memories of the music itself, even though I remember being terribly unimpressed by the 22-track album which I hardly bothered to give another listen. The majority of the music is composed by Ron Geesin (b. 1943).

A little bit of background information first. The film, directed by Roy Battersby, is a documentary about human biology, narrated by Vanessa Redgrave and Frank Finlay. The soundtrack employs so called biomusic, including sounds made by the human body (slaps, breathing, laughing, whispering, farts, etc.), in addition to guitar, piano, organ, stringed instruments and a little amount of vocals. It was composed the same year Waters and Geesin worked together on the title epic of Pink Floyd's Atom Heart Mother.

I start with the B side song because it's the only track I happen to remember pretty well. 'Sea Shell and Stone' is a tiny, calm song centering on acoustic guitar, bass and vocals of Roger Waters, with some harmless sound effects (breathing, seagull, water) in the background. I have a certain sympathy for this song, just like I sympathize the acoustic songs 'Grantchester Meadows' and 'If' that Roger Waters made in Pink Floyd during this era. This song is very quiet and introvert, but sort of charming, and certainly among the few highlights of the album.

'Give Birth to a Smile' is an exceptional track on the soundtrack as it features the rest of Pink Floyd: David Gilmour on electric guitar, Rick Wright on Hammond and Nick Mason on drums. And also [uncredited] female backing vocalists, in the similar vein as Waters' solo albums such as Amused to Death (1992). The composition is relaxed and slightly bluesy, and it could be compared to e.g. 'Stay' from the soundtrack album Obscured by Clouds (1972). It's decent but fairly forgettable. I don't like the way the choir repeats the title in the end, thus decreasing the Floydness.

2+ stars for A side, 3+ for 'Sea Shell and Stone'. Admittedly it would be pretty cool to have this rare single.