Silas Lane

Silas Lane  2:44
Studio demo 31 October 1966 
* Unreleased

Production
Produced by Peter Jenner and Andrew King

Instrumental

The Floyd had by this time signed a partnership deal with managers Jenner and King under the name Blackhill Enterprises. Though they had not yet even gone professional, they began to think about making a recording effort to show to the record companies in hopes of a contract.

Miles: "Jenner and King took the group to Thompson Private Recording Company in Hemel Hempstead to make some test recordings to take round to record companies. Naturally the quality of these tapes was dreadful and Jenner and King were advised by Joe Boyd (then head of Elektra Records UK Division) to spend more money and get a professional tape that the record companies could bid for and release. Consequently Boyd was asked to make such a tape for them."

Three tracks were recorded at this original demo session: Interstellar Overdrive, Silas Lane, and I Get Stoned. Interstellar Overdrive was the most important of these, and was the track that would have been shown to the record companies were it not for Joe Boyd's timely and fortunate intervention. Silas Lane is the only one of these recordings that still survives today. It was probably either a group composition, as many early Floyd instrumentals were, or written by Syd Barrett.

The professional tape Joe Boyd was asked to make for them turned out to be Arnold Layne.

Alternate titles: Silas Lang