Tomorrow - My White Bicycle (1967)

[SuperNevile]

"I've got a bike, you can ride it if you like. It's got a basket, a bell that rings, and things to make it look good. I'd give it to you if I could, but I borrowed it" ~ 1967 ~ the year of the bike song! Tho' Syd's bikes were red and blue and the red one had the basket. Heh just got it! Red White And Blue!

[zhxiate]

man i love lsd

[TheBorjamz]

What can be said?? For the time and I had this when it first came out it was and still is amazing.

[deviceology]

3 people s bicycles are purple . . .

[bayside2000]

Very nice vid. So good to hear this again.

[Oscar301]

I've got a shite bicycle, does that count?

[keefyd5]

pink bycycle from the sixties,yeah i remember,was called a Pink Witch with a trendy basket on the front.prefer a white bycycle tho,dont you gang?vivien just whacked me on the head i think,ouch! Neil......piecce and love.x

[TheBorjamz]

 an amazing band for the time I liked it when I first heard it back then still like it now

[adamtr100]

I think this is Keith West singing not Howe - if you listen to Excerpt from a Teenage Opera, a West solo single, the vocal is almost identical.

[OsvaldoPaese]

this song is a like a car speed chase. like it very much.  I also like the song "Revolution" a lot. Hey, if anyone is interested...check out THE PENTATONIC SNAILS on facebook. We are a cool new band that does some modern psychedelia . I think you'd dig it.

[ions82]

Anyone have a can of white spray paint?

[SeattleLA]

Oh wow, I did not realize that Steve sang lead in this song. I know he sung well in YES, but I guessed someone else sang for Tomorrow.

[aureliosjc]

I love the bell

[mikekadas]

Thanks for the heads-up on where this plan originated from. I straightened it out in my iTunes collection. I like to keep my information accurate.

It has been estimated that as of 2010, there were more than 200 such schemes operating worldwide.

I liked this song so much that I got this compilation with 23 tracks: Tomorrow [UK Bonus Tracks] (EMI Records Ltd.)-1999.

[glennw53]

The White Bicycles where part of a communist movement in the 60's in Amsterdam as alluded to by @ mikekadas.

[nikiteboy]

@glennw53 , in fact, the movement that elaborated The White Bicycles Plan was anarchist. It was called "Provo" (abbreviation of "provokatie", provocative), and existed between 1965 and 1967.

[Seej1982]

Always puzzled that this was in fake stereo while its b-side was in real stereo on the cd reissue.

[acsntn]

just wonderful

[LhodaKblerz]

My original copy of the album got lost many years ago. Worth a bit these days apparently! Available on download now, thank God for modern technology!

[MartSindler]

Nazareth to má tvrdší a možná lepší

[zt1900]

Funny. Is it just me or does Steve Howe's singing bear an uncanny resemblance to Ozzy Osbourn?

[lifeisdead01]

Holy shit...HOW HAVE I NEVER HEARD OF THIS SONG. IT HAS MY NAME WRITTEN ALL OVER IT

[mikekadas]

My White Bicycle - Tomorrow [England] - 1967 - "BEST bicycle riding song period. Their songwriting was accomplished, with adroit harmonies, psychedelic guitar HOOKS, and adventurous structures and tempo changes." - Uncut: Acid Daze-2003. NOTE: In the early days of British psychedelia, three bands were consistently cited as first-generation figureheads of the London-based underground sound: 'Pink Floyd', 'Soft Machine', and 'Tomorrow'. Song is about the free white bikes that are used in London.

[hawkmoon03111951]

@mikekadas The free white bikes were in Amsterdam. I never saw a single white bicycle in London in those days, certainly not free ones.

[vidbing]

@hawkmoon03111951 free green ones in Boulder,CO. Trippy song. Love this stuff. My new fav band!

[TheFernist]

@mikekadas Most credit the title to Albert Hofman's famous bike ride after he ingested LSD for the first time in human history, discovering the potent psychedelic. Tomorrow was one of many bands at the time who went from pop to psyche in the 60s when LSD was in its golden age.

[clarkewi]

Great video.

[stanleysoldman]

ride the white bicycle home!

[jenethehottie]

John Lennon referred to this song as "the anthem of psychedelic era".

[theodorus45]

Great song from a great era,much like the old Pink Floyd.

[dolliegirlcat]

The band Tomorrow were big in England for a short time; defenitely one one the psychedelic music leaders.

[tirtytreeandaturdtoo]

Nthg RELi NeW ?= )  xBx

[funkmasterjee]

Keith West - he also worked on a 'Rock opera' in the same year 67, the only single that came out of that was 'Grocer Jack' ('excerpt from a teenage opera')

[john111257]

@funkmasterjee keith also released SAM from the unfinished project...only reached 50 in the chart...FUZZY TRACK FROM THE GLORIOUS POST MERSEYBEAT ERA...

[MrFigueroa007]

hmmm reminds me of krautrock w/ the expermental recording of the instruments.

[MarcosYalour]

Awesomeeeeeeeeeee

[BarryTones]

Thank you VintageFuzz, sure brings back memories - Steve Howe dressed in just a white sheet playin real groovy, then Jimi strolls in and cos he was left handed he borrows the bass and does all his tricks - playin with his mouth and all for about 10 mins. We all went wild. This was as near to a standard pop song in the UFO, played all the time - along with Dylan 'Evrybody must get stoned' and we did, we did. Love and Peace

[Melodyfayre]

You witnessed THAT? At the UFO Tottenham court rd? wow.

[Floppyblondehair]

Memories of my first shag in '67 :-)

[diddywahdaddy]

HA HA!! That's of one the best comments i've ever read on YouTube, wonderful thing to share, Floppyblondehair!!

[mindblobble]

lsd 666

[davidhaythornthwaite]

better with Nazareth, doing this

[Plasticsoul]

obviously it's just a matter of opinion. I love Nazareth but their version of this is tame and boring.

[lelov1]

is it true that ken burgess was in this recording?

[adsicks]

Man this is advanced for '67...timeless.

[hellbenttexasman]

@adsicks: It is similar to what the Beatles were doing in '65 (Rubber Soul) and '66 (Revolver) and what Pink Floyd was up to in '67 (Piper at the Gates of Dawn). Definitely on the leading edge of the sound at the time, but not groundbreaking really. Personally, I love this kind of "psychedelic" sound.

[Pudgyplumber]

Yeah, I can remember hearing this song on our local oldies station and thinking that the radio signal must have gotten crossed with that of some 80's/new-wave station.

[steve273]

thanks for uploading this its excellent-i remember the nazareth cover and ive heard this original before-i think ive seen this vid before-where did the vid come from? its in need of better mixing and production but otherwise its great and of its time-they were a very influential band ive read-inspiring john lennons revolution and giving nazareth a big hit covering this 7 yrs later and where the first band john peel recorded live performing on his show-and impressing zappa-thats what i just read

[pfeltovich]

This group featured YES guitarist Steve Howe..

[djoutrage18]

yay!

Downloading it now, along with Love's forever changes lp, both of which i've been looking for, thanks.

[VintageFuzz]

I don't think of it as a version. It's the original.

[AuntyKaren]

I don't think I've ever listened to the Tomorrow version of this song. It's so exciting!

[mobyboy]

which Version you know?

[djoutrage18]

Really want this album, however the only coppy i can see on ebay is about £450...

[livvidd]

mininova + emule or limewire will deliver

[drakon32]

This song is timeless. Would not be out of place if it had been written today.

[mobyboy]

admire this song, since age 17 when i discovered it

[arbutus27]

Nazareth re-made it, didn't they? Made a pretty damned good job of it as I recall. Unusual for a cover version.

[smesajamsa]

well some of us remember when this came out in 1967 !!!

[AdlejandroP]

2:59 devendra banhart'??

[VintageFuzz]

You nailed it. That was a shot of him recorded in Washington, DC in 2007.

[AdlejandroP]

woooow!, Hey what is the name of this album?? and do you know if i can download it anywhere?

[musicmansixty7]

supurb '67 psych single.(@_@)lp was recorded the same year,but wasn't released until '68.same story with the Pretty Things' S.F. Sorrow and the Zombies' Odessey and Oracle.usual record company bs,contracts,etc,etc causing the late release dates.especially in the Zombies' case. met keith west at a"gig"back in '97.nice enough bloke.

[TheStonerpreneur]

Love this whole album.  Awesome.

[jonkennedyfederation]

cool gear

[rigormortiiis]

If not for The Beatles, great bands like this would have seen the success they deserved.

But, if not for The Beatles, the world would have been a shitty place.

Kind of evens out.

[quasismokedro]

-LSD-

[patlaws]

there is still something fantastic about cycling empty streets at night-even without chemical assistance!

[KIDAmnesiacBends]

yea, but thats not the point of this song

[bilbobagins1951]

rideing round the streets of swindon at 4o clock onmy white bike smokeing woodbines doing a morning paper round the year 1965 66 when i hear this tune takes me back happy days

[WierdDreamer]

Groooooooovy

[econoroller]

I heard Jimi Hendrix said this was his favorite song by any of the British bands when he was in England in the sixties.

It is a wonderful song indeed

thanx for sharing:)

[larryonlineone]

So this was the version I remember!

[WoodRatGirl]

I like both versions as in Tomorrow's and Nazareth's.

[r0cker1992]

great song so trippy!!!

[Mikemaniax]

I wonder if this song was inspired by Albert Hoffman's first acid trip when he rode his bicycle...

[misternrbeverage]

i think song was a commentary on an old social policy in Belgium/Netherlands (?), where they placed "white" government bicycles around the country for anyone (the poor) to pick up and use for transportation. it was a silly solution to a much larger transportation problem so it was easy fodder for satire.

[GOORVY]

wow

excelente cancion

y qe decir del video

esta excelentemente hecho!!!

[kara1464]

I prefer the Nazareth version, but I suppose that's my era

[wksufreshair]

I remember hearing this on Fresh air but I never knew who it was. Thanks great stuff

Get the headphones out for this one!!!!

[pressgangers]

How very apt this song should have popped into my head when i read this Headline

David Cameron has had his bicycle stolen for the second time in less than a year, the Tories said today.

The Tory leader had chained it to railings outside the front of his house, but when he went to look for it an hour later it was gone.

[whitestrat73]

Wow, rhat was one of my favourites, when it first came out.....

[mikebott]

this isn't strictly a drug song- it's also about the experience of visiting the low countries were anarchist groups put white bikes outside at intersections for people to borrow, and then return to another location.

[MartyRotten]

Anybody who thinks this is a drug song has never experienced the exhiliration of getting one's bicycle up to a high speed and just going and going and going.

[mikebott]

nice commentary...

i may be dealing in stereotypes, but during this time period i would guess the hip thing to do was riding a scooter.

[johnnybsteelriff]

THE slab of English psych.....apologies to Syd....

[hazzaman01]

Keith West is my grandad, seriously, he is!!!

[thenowuk]

CLASS

[plasticscouser7]

fantastic use of backwards guitars, cymbals ate. These great lyrics are based on the written account of Dr Hoffman who invented LSD and the bike ride he took coming up after he accidently absorbed it through his finger tips. perfec backin music for his strange tale i love!

[mobyboy]

good psychedelic. using playing record backwords

[actitudbandera]

wicked stereo!

[mrbag60]

There are other great songs these guys put out namely Claramount Lake, Revolution & Strawberry Fields. "Claramount Lake" sounds like the prototype guitar chords Steve Howe would carry over to Yes, while "Revolution" is psychedelic to the core and may have influenced John Lennon to write "Revolution" in rebuttal to their version . "Strawberry Fields", a slightly less psychedelic redo of the Beatles song sounds excellent as well.

[VintageFuzz]

Yes, we know. Thank you.

[p0llenp0ny]

I didn't know.. Thanks.

[SuperNevile]

@mrbag60 and tracks from "Teenage Opera" ~ dress shops, colonels and shy boys. Beatles/Floyd as you say (and recorded by EMI). Floydish Bikes, colonels and jolly dwarfs.

[lifeisdead01]

@mrbag60 I didn't. I will now look them up.

[sandonian01]

There's a great cover version version by The Mike Stuart Span on their CD "Timespan". The track was apparently recorded by the BBC for John Peel's Top Gear programme. MSS were contemporaries of Tomorrow and are definitely one of the top psychedelic bands of that time.

Get the bCD if you can and you'll see what I mean.

[KoinoPinchHitter]

This tune is extraordinary and great.

I'm sorry by poor English.

[tvorbryanre]

Soooooooooooo groovy man !

[svagrod]

ty for posting. i still have the album from when i was 15, i found it in the early 80's at a car show... lollol, unfortunately it has a crack and can only play a couple of songs!!!

[JezebelBoy88]

YES!

[shyboiy5]

Isn't this very psychedelic?

How much psychedelic can it be?

Listen to the album and you'll freak your head off. The lyrics, the music and the production are great and superbly original, psychedelia at its best, with its own personality. I love Syd Floyd, but Tomorrow are still one of my top ten bands, even though they only released a 12" and two singles. Look for it, listen and read about their interesting story.

[zingblingding]

This is still an astonishing piece of music 42 years later.

English psychedelia at its very, very, very best.

[Fawksian21]

Great psychedelia. Surprising that this band only released one album and the material was this strong.

[zingblingding]

By the time they released the album, because of endless delays, their moment had unfortunately passed and things moved on to the US West Coast.

If they could have released in mid 1966 like Syd's Floyd things might have been very different.

Keith West's success with Excerpt From A Teenage Opera didn't help Tomorrow but helped him of course!

[AlbertMondback]

Sweet sound.

[malfonz]

This is quickly becoming one of my favorite songs.

[Judge85]

great song

[Oscar301]

sounds like George Harrison had an afternoon knockabout with the Move, and this was the result...

[bendobrin]

great job,,,great video and excellent sound,,,this is another song that never got herd in thr usa...very nice.

[kontarkorz]

this also demonstrates that "psychedelia" in UK wasn't born with pink floyd only!

[udor1962]

tomorrow was before in the clubs in london before pink floyd but pf with better mangment *lol* ... this is capitalism - the best is the first in mud in this system - capitalism will not you self are good - thanks to marx ... we love you against bush mania *lol*

[kontarkorz]

I'm "afraid" you are right..

[udor1962]

No probleme if you have this "afraid" by Roger Waters ( the only PF-Marxist ;-) )

[DocFliege]

*lol*

like.. politics suck d000d

*lol*

[hylkeenteroittaja]

This isn't very psychedelic, now, is it? The guitar is interesting though. It manages to sound organized even after being reversed. The reversed stuff on Beatles' Revolver(1966) sounded, well, reversed. Early Floyd was on a very different level when it comes to psychedelia, although I'm not very familiar with Tomorrow.

[KCVROCKS2008]

one of the best songs ever, w/ steve howe of yes on guitar!

[soulwam]

Found this via Mood Mosaic... Touch of Velvet...!

Thanks for the lovely visuals

[heuilleman]

so Psychedelic !!!!

[mickmitchell25]

In the band personnel you have Twink on percussion, would that be the same one of The Pink Fairies.

[VintageFuzz]

The same one...who also recorded with Syd...

[mickmitchell25]

Yes sage they did Stars together, he also worked on SF Sorrow by The Pretty Things.

[toolkien]

@VintageFuzz And Plasticland......

[Manthing32]

I love this album. Anyone who likes this band should also check out "The Pretty Things".

[zingblingding]

This is a VERY sophisticated recording for 1967 - love it.

The video is spot on. Respect to the makers.

I also adore the music they did for the film BLOW UP that was never used. Tomorrow were lined up to be the band that was eventually The Yardbirds.

[acidska]

Good job on a great classic!

[wwwhatsup]

Well done with the video. Good work!

[mickmitchell25]

I think i prefer the Nazereth version, though this ones very good, i used to think it was Traffic.

[heiligenberg]

GREAT !

[zuninomax]

Excellent groupe.

Leur album, Tomorrow, 1967, peut s'écouter en boucle.

A+

[mellotrongirl]

I wouldn't be without a copy of Twink's "Think Pink" (Sire Records) myself..!!! A psyche masterpiece--somewhere between the debut July LP and Revolver-era Beatles.

[Gallaks]

Great band!

[paulreeve]

Excellent ! Well done !

[TheHazir]

reminds me of The Beatles' Tomorrow Never Knows

[keefyd5]

thehazir,i think that was the intention,the clue is in the name of the band.

[TheHazir]

never thought about it this way...

[keefyd5]

the hazir,must say you have good taste in music!

[keefyd5]

this sounds so much like syd barret.WOW!

[Jimbo151254]

great song, nice to hear early guitar work from steve howe

[typicalaussiebloke]

I really thought Nazareth originally did this song but am surprised to find out it was a cover. Anyways I dig both versions, great song!!!

[lunarpollen]

I love this song... I wish they would reunite... I wish Keith West would at least make some music again. Mark Wirtz lives in the States now and does stand-up comedy as well as music production

[CosmicDean]

incroyable! psych lives!

[nandostein]

que tema para mas increible!!!! lo mejorcito de la psicodelia britanica

[COGENTCOG]

Great video for a great song! Thanks!!

[Doors93]

Temazo!

[tangomango69]

Keith West is a chum of mine and I will show him this video. Does anyone have anymore tomorrow vids?

[VintageFuzz]

I can make more. Just talk to Keith and then say the word.

[SvenTwelve]

Keith is a very sweet guy. He was friends with my dad when they were boys. After my dad died in the auto accident, he continued to visit us on the weekends and spend the day with my mom and me and my two younger sisters. I have lost touch with his family since I moved to the states, but my sister says he still visits mom a couple times each year. It seems like another life when I think of that little white house on Richter street.

[keefyd5]

keith sounnds like a great guy,i know what it'like to lose yer dad,i've been there too.

sounds like you want to come home,but i tell you now,

little ol' England is a differeht kinda place now to what you remember,so believe me,forget it and stay where you are!

[SvenTwelve]

I remember one day, I was playing too roughly with Keith's dog "Catty", and Catty bit me on the arm. I wasn't hurt very badly, and I was more embarrassed than anything, but Keith was so reassuring the way he dealt with the situation. I'll never forget that.

We all miss you Keith. Karen and Leah both say "hi" and wish you the best. Take care!!

- Sven V.

[philipsmovies]

Excellent video.Thanks.

[bpabustan]

I love this song! Too bad I cannot secure a coy of the original LP. It is interesting to note that the drums are backwards for the duration of the song. How were they able to stay tight is a big puzzle. Heck, I even suspect the whole backing track is backwards. Now that's difficult as they have to follow the sequence of the song from end to beginning!

[edwinvontrippenhof]

very cool, thanx

[schlaura]

does anyone know about the whole "white-bicycle-movement" history ?

Thought it was about england´s mods sharing their bikes, but I only found information about white bikes in amsterdam.

is it originally from the netherlands?

[VintageFuzz]

Wikipedia: Yellow bicycle programs, White bicycle programs, bike sharing, or free bike) are one variation on an international movement to provide environmentally friendly transportation options to citizens. The central concept of these programs is the offering of free (or nearly free) access to bicycles for inner-city transportation.

[VintageFuzz]

The goal of these programs is to reduce... traffic congestion, noise and air-pollution. Furthermore the statistics note a significant decrease in bike thefts of private bikes in the areas served by bike sharing.

[PAULLONDEN]

And....That "movement" (called The Provo's )started in '65 ,and were the first to organise "Happenings",Even Jagger acknoweledged them at the end of (Something Happened To Me Yesterday)"Remember ,you on yer bike...wear white".

[aamidd]

I shall rephrase my earlier comment.

This video is quite psychedelic, drugs or no drugs.

[VintageFuzz]

Just FYI:

Although the music is "psychedelic" and drugs were certainly a part of that scene, the song itself refers to the Dutch program wherein free "white bicycles" were distributed throughout the city to cut down on bike theft in the 1960s.

Check out Joe Boyd's REVOLUTION on Youtube for a reading from his book WHITE BICYCLE

[aamidd]

drugs are nice

[cmszinnia]

Mark,

this is really great- so abstract and purely visual.

Zinnia