Pink Floyd

1967: The First Three Singles compiles exactly what it advertises. While four of the six songs can be found on the far more substantial (and indispensable) Relics compilation and The Piper at the Gates of Dawn, the EP does provide a service by making "Apples and Oranges" and "Candy and a Currant Bun" available to those who didn't purchase the Shine On box set. (The box contained a bonus disc entitled "The Early Singles," which essentially functions as a hybrid of this EP and Relics without including everything offered by both.) The big question is why this particular disc doesn't bother to include the fourth and fifth singles, released a year later. After all, it would have made for a more serviceable release, making "Point Me at the Sky" and "It Would Be So Nice" available to non-Shine On owners. Not only that, but after 1968 the band didn't release another single for an entire decade. Outside of the nit picking, "Apples and Oranges" and "Candy and a Currant Bun" are worth the budget price for those who love the Syd Barrett era of the band, just as loopy and melodic as anything on Piper. The chipper "Candy and a Currant Bun," the B-side to "Arnold Layne," was originally titled "Let's Roll Another One" until the BBC made it clear that they wouldn't play a song with that title. A song about dope smoking, the band opted to make the title relatively innocuous. "Apples and Oranges" was the third A-side (following the great success of "See Emily Play"), viewed accurately by the band to be a fine song marred by bad production. ~ Andy Kellman, All Music Guide