Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of the Moon" turns 40

[Tusk]

Content over length, IMO and your comment has both
(BTW, you're talking to the wrong guy regarding post length )

I have a friend, a huge Floyd fan and got me into the earlier Floyd, when I was really only interested in Post Dark Side of the Moon, Floyd. I LOVE Meddle..."One of These Days" is a KILLER driving song



(Quick Pink Floyd side story, the year "The Wall" got big, the teachers went on strike outside the Education Offices that was across from our school... At lunch time, we took some glee out of blaring "We don't need no education..." across the street as the irritated educators scowled back at us ..... What did I know, I was a kid, so sue me )

The making of documentary is awesome insight into the album like how they got the talking parts from asking people questions ("Did you get in a fight? Were you in the right? (the lady's 'cruisin' for a bruisin' quote is one of my favorites, now there is reference to it ).

I had no idea the vocalist in "The Great Gig in the Sky" was white (a suggestion from Alan Parsons)? I always assumed the voice was from a soulful black lady! (Funny while the lads were amazed at her vocal, she actually apologised for it LOL )

I remember, we always thought anyone could do what they do, just make alot of random noise, clashing cymbals...we had no idea of the musicality, that their sonic experimentation had a cohesion, not just borne of chaotic timpani. These guys were ultra talented and skilled musicians

From that doc, it appeared that Rick Wright was the 'classical musician' of the band, and cared deeply about that aspect of their sound. Very underated vocalist too, haunting voice.


May he rest in Peace.

I loved that hearing Haley perform "All Blues" in Vegas, got me to listen to Miles' Davis' "Kind of Blue", then writing the above post made me watch the documentary again....then all of a sudden I got a new appreciation for Wright from that bit about being inspired from that chord he heard from Davis

RE: Syd Barrett
He was to Pink Floyd as Bonn Scott was to AC/DC in that they were good bands in their own right, but leapt into "Legendary" status after Barrett and Scott were no longer in their respective band.

I guess you could add Terry Kath from Chicago to that unfortunate list of talents. Chicago was great but reached their commercial and financial peak after Cetera took over following Kaths accidental death.

Have you seen the making of "Wish You Were Here" documentary? They went a little further in the story of how Syd's mental deterioration factored into the writing of WYWH
Roger Waters said that WYWH was his "homage to Syd".

I was going to post it from Youtube, but it's incomplete (missing two parts)
(I recommend it for Floyd fans)

I recall the saddest part of the story was when the band members were recording one of their songs for WYWH, they noticed there was this fat, balding man in the corner. It was Syd. They said that he had so deteriorated that they didn't recognise him.



Found an account of it From Wiki

One of the more notable events during the recording of Wish You Were Here occurred on 5 June 1975. Gilmour married his first wife, Ginger, and it was also the eve of Pink Floyd's second US tour that year. The band were in the process of completing the final mix of "Shine On", when an overweight-man with shaven head and eyebrows, and holding a plastic bag, entered the room

Waters, who was working in the studio, initially did not recognise him. Wright was also mystified by the identity of the visitor. He presumed that the man was a friend of Waters' and asked him, but soon realised that it was Syd Barrett. Gilmour presumed he was an EMI staff member, and Mason also failed to recognise him; he was "horrified" when Gilmour told him. In Inside Out, Mason recalled Barrett's conversation as "desultory and not entirely sensible". Storm Thorgerson later reflected on Barrett's presence: "Two or three people cried. He sat round and talked for a bit but he wasn't really there.

Waters was reportedly reduced to tears by the sight of his former bandmate, who was asked by fellow visitor Andrew King how he had managed to gain so much weight. Barrett said he had a large refrigerator in his kitchen, and that he had been eating lots of pork chops. He also mentioned that he was ready to avail the band of his services, but while listening to the mix of "Shine On", showed no signs of understanding its relevance to his plight. He joined the guests at Gilmour's wedding reception in the EMI canteen, but left without saying goodbye. None of the band members saw him from that day on to his death in 2006. Although the lyrics had already been created, Barrett's presence on that day may have influenced the final part of the song—a subtle refrain performed by Wright from "See Emily Play" is audible toward the end of the album.

Here's Pink Floyd's last performance with both Waters and Gilmour in 1985


The latest article from Waters on the matter of a reunion:

Roger Waters has emphatically ruled out a Pink Floyd reunion once and for all – saying the band “was over” in 1985 when he left

In recent years relations between him and surviving members David GIlmour and Nick Mason have thawed to the point where all three appeared during a performance of Waters’ The Wall in 2011.

But that’s as far as it goes, says the former mainman.

He tells the Sun: “I can’t. I left Pink Floyd for very good reasons, and it was the right and proper thing to do. It was over in in 1985 – and it’s still over.”

But he admits: “I’m having dinner with Nick tonight. He’d jump back in a heartbeat.”

http://www.classicrockmagazine.com/news/...ys-waters/