Pink Floyd
This is a direct excerpt from UNCLE JOE'S RECORD GUIDE - PROGRESSIVE ROCK, Copyright (c) 1989 by J. Benson Unlimited. All rights reserved. Printed in the USA. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic means including information storage and retrieval systems without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review.
Pink Floyd was started by school mates in late 1965. Rick Wright, Nick Mason and Roger Waters formed a rhythm & blues band called Sigma 6 while studying architecture in early 1965 at London's Regent Street Polytechnic School. Over the next few months, they changed their name to the Architectural Abdabs, and then just the Abdabs. During the Fall semester, fellow students Syd Barrett and Bob Close joined Rick, Nick and Roger, and began calling themselves The Pink Floyd Sound - taking their name from American bluesmen Pink Anderson and Floyd "Dipper Boy" Council. Guitarist Close left after a short time, and the band played their first gig in late 1965.
In early 1966, when The Pink Floyd first played the Marquee Club in London (where the Rolling Stones and the Who had begun their careers), they added electronic instrumentals to their R&B repertoire. Guided by Barrett, those instrumentals and the band's psychedelic light show quickly became The Pink Floyd hallmark.
Within a year, the young band secured their first record contract - just as Barrett began experimenting with drugs more than music. When Syd checked out from reality before the band completed their second album, he was replaced by his old friend, vocalist/guitarist David Gilmour. Bassist Roger Waters became the group's main lyricist.
Pink Floyd's early concerts were loosely organized jams, similar to Grateful Dead shows. Using dramatic themes, the Floyd created moods and mindsets with their music, building and working their compositions in a manner more mind boggling and psychedelic than anything else ever recorded. Their concerts began to feature overwhelming light shows and surround-sound that intentionally placed the audience in the middle of the show, not on the outside as casual observers.
Pink Floyd developed their own form of music, never indulging in orchestration or pop song structures. Their seventh album, Meddle, was the first on which Pink Floyd truly focused their music. Musically, The Dark Side Of The Moon was a direct development of Meddle, and lyrically it probed the inner-space of the human mind. Much to their surprise, The Dark Side Of The Moon was also an incredibly popular album, selling over 19 million copies and becoming the longest-charting album in history!
After making observations on frustration and alienation with Wish You Were Here, the Animals album was initially conceived as Pink Floyd's commentary on society's ills. Instead, it revealed growing problems within the band. The Wall album explored the dark side of life and fame in greater depth, while internal resistance to the group's musical direction was growing. The Final Cut effectively closed the door that phase of Pink Floyd's career.
In December 1985, Waters declared the band dead and himself a solo artist. That left a reunion open to Gilmour and Mason a few months later - a move that Waters would bitterly fight with lawyers and much ill will.
The Gilmour/Mason reunion, which eventually included Rick Wright, resulted in the multi-million seller, A Momentary Lapse Of Reason. That album charted at #3 in the States, and easily defined the most successful comeback of 1987. That release was followed by the biggest concert tour in rock history.
Written off by critics several times during their long career, Pink Floyd had once again successfully defied the limitations and standards of rock music.
Pink Floyd Birth Dates
Syd Barrett - January 6, 1946
David Gilmour - March 6, 1946
Nick Mason - January 27, 1945
Roger Waters - September 6, 1944
Rick Wright - July 28, 1945
Nick Mason, Uncle Joe, David Gilmour and Jan Benson
at the Rockline Studios in Hollywood.
Pink Floyd
The Dark Side Of The Moon (20-24)
9th LP, released 3/24/73 - and, except for a two week period about 10 months after its release and another week in 1988, this album has been on the Top 200 charts ever since - the longest charting album in history! To date, over 16 million copies have been sold worldwide.
For this classic, Pink Floyd continued in the musical direction of their Meddle album; but, for the first time, they matched the mood of the music to their lyrics, instead of vice-versa. Lyrically, Roger Waters used the Floyd's first full concept album to explore a person's fears and dealings with the stress and strain of life's madness - a much more personal and introspective outlook than the band had ever attempted. These songs all dealt with death and emotional breakdown caused by fear, loneliness and spiritual impoverishment. While most of this music had been in development for several months, this entire album didn't come together until the last six weeks before the tour began.
Even before they'd released the Meddle album or recorded Obscured By Clouds, Pink Floyd was working out material for what became The Dark Side Of The Moon. Roger Waters had earlier worked up the basics for "Brain Damage." "Us And Them" had been written two years earlier for the Zabriskie Point soundtrack, but then was rejected for that project.
By January 1972, the rehearsal and studio time had become so expensive that the band again had to raise money by touring. They debuted early renditions of The Dark Side Of The Moon music in February during a concert in Paris, and subsequent live shows allowed them to work out various arrangements. Bootleg recordings of those early concerts reveal radically different versions of several of these songs.
In June 1972, Pink Floyd began recording "Us And Them" in the Abbey Road Studios. The Dark Side Of The Moon sessions continued in October, but the big breakthrough finally came when the band had only six weeks left before their tour was to begin. The Floyd had gathered for rehearsals in early January 1973, when bassist Roger Waters came up with the lyrics for "Brain Damage" and the definitive theme that would carry through The Dark Side Of The Moon. Within a couple of weeks, the music had finally come together, and the band finished recording by early February 1973. They have since said that they knew they had made their finest album up to that point in time - but they had no idea how successful it would be! As usual, the Floyd handled their own production work, and guitarist David Gilmour did most of the vocals. Roger Waters and drummer Nick Mason were 28, keyboardist Richard Wright 27, and Gilmour 25 years of age when The Dark Side Of The Moon was released. The album hit #1 in America and #2 in Britain.
Pink Floyd had always operated on the cutting-edge of sound technology - both live and in the studio. This time they went beyond anything ever done, creating an album as technically and sonically different in 1973 as the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper had been in 1967. Alan Parsons (who'd also worked on the Beatles' Abbey RoadThe Dark Side Of The Moon is still used to demonstrate stereo systems, and is without question one of the finest rock albums ever recorded!
** Special Notes: Many of the spoken parts on this album (including the maniacal laughter) were voiced by Roger The Hat, one of the band's longtime roadies.
- "Speak To Me" was listed as a Nick Mason song.
- "Breathe" was credited to bassist Roger Waters, guitarist/vocalist David Gilmour and keyboardist Richard Wright.
- Gilmour and Waters shared songwriting credits for "On The Run." The bass line had first appeared in the song "Careful With That Axe, Eugene" four years earlier.
- "Time" was a group composition that evolved on stage.
- "The Great Gig In The Sky," a Rick Wright song, featured the backing vocals of Clare Torry.
- "Money" was a Roger Waters composition that charted at #13 in America in July 1973. The backing track was composed of many cash register sounds syncopated to a 7/4 beat. Dick Parry handled the saxophone parts, and contrary to popular belief, guitarist David Gilmour sang the lead vocals.
- "Us And Them" was originally written, but not used, for the soundtrack of the movie Zabriskie Point. The song was credited to bassist Roger Waters and keyboardist Rick Wright. Dick Parry supplied the saxophone parts. The Pink Floyd Live At Pompeii movie featured a segment filmed while the band was working on this song in the studio.
- "Any Colour You Like" was credited to David Gilmour, Rick Wright and drummer Nick Mason.
- Roger Waters had written most of the music for "Brain Damage" before work began on this album.
- The Roger Waters song "Eclipse" closed the album. Embryonic versions of this song had been played in concert as early as February 1972.
