Original subtitles

there's this group called Pink Floyd who

got what the only time I saw Syd Barrett

was when he popped into the Abbey Road

session swimmers are doing atom heart

mother and he kind of spun round a

couple of times in slow motion and then

went out again and that was very as all

I ever thought of him he'd gone he was

still looking the same but he was

somewhere else we carried on to musical

careers at the same time we took

interstellar overdrive' outside London

people hated it the hand thing you know

my hands felt like two balloons is

that's from being delirious as a child

but this tell us this like everything

receding there is no pain you I received

happen to me and so and it came back

slowly as I sat and played the piano but

I think good cut you know is this is a

fine line I'm walking here

one bit of riff from another bit of it's

there's hundreds of different ways you

can do something some have a little bit

of magic to them but the ones that do

have that bit of magic to them it's

obvious to people arrest even just that

piece of music as an emotional Porter

that's what we're struggling to find all

the time

[Music]

Pink Floyd grew from friendships forged

in the 1960s in the university town of

Cambridge Britain was then in the group

of psychedelia and the hippie scene as

well popular music was undergoing a huge

transformation and the young Syd Barrett

was wide open to these influences first

time I met Syd was at a Saturday morning

art class in Cambridge I was 9 or 10 and

he was 8 or 9 we became close you know

when we were teenagers talking about

smoking dope but not doing it you know

in those days I would go long after to

SIDS after school and he'd be in there

painting away and so they made such play

and chat and do whatever he was a great

rhythm player a terrific sense of time

and you know and then he sort of took

that and you know took it in directions

that no one could have imagined really

[Music]

I said was the charmer when I first met

him he was the charismatic handsome

jolly slightly intimidating - what the

one that everyone focused on most people

including myself had certain jealousies

of what a bright light appeared to him

on the scene he was physically beautiful

witty funny the way he talked the way he

walked he was much loved by pretty much

everyone around him I don't actually

remember when I met Syd I don't remember

where I met Syd just suddenly he was

part of my life

the whole Pink Floyd suddenly became

part of my life

[Music]

the name Pink Floyd first began to

appear in January 1965 when the group

was then known as the Pink Floyd blues

band the band featured a five piece

liner formed from a group of friends

from Cambridge in England and originally

included Bob Close on guitar and vocals

Bob didn't stick around for too long and

neither did the Blues element of the

name by the summer of 1965 the band was

slimmed down to a four-piece and the

name too was reduced to match for the

next couple of years the band will be

known as the Pink Floyd have you heard

the early things he kind of thought well

maybe it's the stones or and he

recognized his voice Roger's voice but

it's not a Pink Floyd sound yet it

needed me to leave to do that you know

that was quite an important step I was

involved with this organization called

the London Free School and I was also at

the time working as the head of the

London office of Elektra Records and the

guy who was the leader of the London

Free School or not there was no official

leader but the real figure had the real

sort of center of energy was John

Hopkins I was happy it was a sort of

melting pot of local people some of whom

were black activists and some of whom

were white activists there's a lot of

interest in housing and smattering of

professional people with different

skills and among the the people who set

up lung free school were Andrew King and

Peter Jenner who later on turned out to

be the first managers of the Pink Floyd

they said that there is this group that

they knew

they'd like me to hear a demo tape and

maybe take it to Elektra and I was

amazed I thought they were great so I

very excitedly took this tape to the

head of Elektra who listened and said

and from that point I made a deal with

the general King that I would try and

find him a record deal during the autumn

of 66 I continued to see the floyd on a

regular basis they became the regular

group playing these benefit concert that

they put on in our efforts to raise

money for the London free school at the

church hall at Palace square we felt if

we could bottle that and put it on a

weekly basis that people would come the

UFO Club was born and although it had a

fairly short life it made a certain dent

on the culture

by 1967 after the obligatory personnel

shuffles Syd Barrett fronted a band

which moved to London and now comprised

himself on lead vocal and guitar Roger

Waters on bass Rick Wright on the

keyboards and Nick Mason on the drums we

always had this notion that when we hit

learned enough that we would start a

band together and as it happened by the

time he arrived I was already playing

with a few other people so he came

joined in fact Nichkhun wrote with a

sort of permanent once there were a

bunch of other people who were all at

the Regent Street Poly I would go to

rehearsals that were out of the flats

and performances and obviously there was

something special happening with them at

the same time

[Music]

by early 1967 Floyd were huge news on

the thriving underground scene the band

now favored the unstructured

improvisations which were the basis for

long extended freak-outs which were then

highly fashionable with the trendy

london-based crowd they were known as

the first psychedelic band on the London

scene and there was a real buzz about

them and there was a real feeling that

they were pushing back the frontiers of

popular music by June the Floyd had

found a management company called

Blackhill enterprises to represent them

[Music]

[Applause]

our Elaine the first Pink Floyd single

provided a surprise chart hit although

in later years the band did admit that

there might have been an element of

unofficial sharp ringing to help the

single on its way I got them a deal with

Polydor and so they were playing at the

UFO Club at the same time that I was I

brought somebody from Palo tour down to

see them they loved them I said yes here

you go and we set up I set up my

production company for the purpose of

recording the Floyd and the contracts

were all drawn up lawyers were looking

at it back and forth etc etc and in the

middle of all of this Jenner and King

signed on with a new agent for them

Brian Morrison agency and by this time

we were ready to go in the studio for

polidore and in fact that evening that

they made the deal with these agents we

were rehearsing in a small demo studio

at Pala doors office and Jenner rang me

up and said look the agents would like

to come down and meet the group and just

hear what you're up to

you know and they came down and

immediately I felt threatened and there

was I knew that nothing good was gonna

come out of this as far as I was

concerned next day I got a call from

Jenner to say that

they've been very impressed with Arnold

Layne we played the song for them I

thought it was great

and they could get us a much better deal

with EMI than the deal we had with

Polidori

and I was crushed of course because of

that pollen or was my deal that was

going through my production company and

but they wanted me to produce the single

and I said well I'll do that I'll do

that

but I want to be assured that I'll be

the producer of the album that falls the

single and Brian Morris and said well

EMI doesn't like to be tied down like

that he came to me and he said where is

this group called Pink Floyd because

what pink what so he said Pink Floyd bar

they said well he said that they're

appearing at you phone I said you phone

what do you fire so then he told me

there's an underground with a freak out

being topical Road you know they said

would you would you like to go and see

them so I thought well you know if if he

thinks they've got something you know

for recording then it's worth me going

you know which I did Brian and I came

away when had a drink and usable what do

you think that well it's not so much the

group very impressive their show it's

the number of people that were their

fans of theirs so I said to Brian yeah

well I am interested somewhat

reluctantly but I didn't that helped

well I do a good job on the single you

know

don't want to keep the team together and

so we went in the studio we made Arnold

Layne and the Beast side Kent in the

current bond Arnold Layne ism is a very

unusual pop record sort of full stop

because when you look at when it was

written I mean you had sort of Ray Davis

doing yourself in English vignettes you

had Bowie who was sort of trying to do a

sort of any newly thing after being a

mod and then you had Syd Barrett coming

in writing about a nikka snatcher

subsequently EMI loved the record signed

them gave them a big contract and said

we're going to use our in-house

producers so thanks very much and that

was the end of my professional

relationship with Floyd the follow-up

single see Emily play also a hit gave

EMI records the confidence to put Pink

Floyd in the studio to record a full

album this was to be called Piper at the

Gates of Dawn it turned out yes they

were keen to join hear my it would be my

first major signing so therefore we're

going up with it Norman Smith had been

an engineer with the Beatles from the

point where he'd come to EMI to make

demos this was his first record as

full-on producer they had to play me

songs that they had in mind and they

would obviously play it through the way

they knew it and then I would simply

analyze what I thought I could improve

to to broaden the audience try to make

them more melodic and to get away from

all this psychedelic business you know

when they played me see enemy play I

thought ah it it struck a note you know

I thought I think I can make a single

out of this which I did and what I did

and it was one that I was really able to

dress up in my own way as well also you

know

and I thinks it hated it to be honest

with you and Feder I'm sure he did but I

thought things god this is going to

happen

I think this Emily plays is a fantastic

psychedelic single and to be honest it

was it was still quite early in what

what is seen as sort of British

psychedelia I mean then you had everyone

going on Top of the Pops where and they

hastily bought cravats and doing their

versions of it but at that point I mean

you'd had strawberry fields forever

white shaker pale was around but family

pet just comes from another place

altogether it's a great subject it has a

lovely production sound it has not too

many gimmicks at the time we don't have

huge huge amounts of for example phasing

and those records or things that make

them sound dated it sounds very much of

its time and very much for any time but

about the time see Emily play was riding

high in the charts and since behaviour

deteriorated markedly as it started to

climb up the charts I thought the next

thing is going to happen is trouble the

pots before they went on they actually

went him to makeup I was waiting for

them in their dressing room as soon as

they walked in our source said and he'd

look wonderful so straightaway I made

the mistake of saying Syd you look

absolutely wonderful anyway look and he

walked over to the mirror saw himself

and he immediately scuffed up all his

hair got tissues and started wiping off

the the makeup etcetera and I thought

what am I going to do with this guy you

know anyway we went on like that and

stood there with his guitar just

dangling didn't even try to play it head

sort of bowed and complete another well

nothing and of course I mean I was

furious and that was the first science

for me mentally something was missing

something was going we did the Pat Boone

show and Pat Boone came on and you know

set alone and what Sid would do is

through every ran through rehearsal we

will rehearse

we were miming to see Emily play or

something I think and through the run

throughs he'd be miming away and then

they'd go okay we'll take it because we

were taping it and then when they went

action you'd stand there light and that

cut cut

okay we're doing it now guys ready and

Sid go yeah yeah yeah and he did and he

do it again again until finally but he

had to say listen isn't it weird you

know I'll mime it from a very early age

he didn't believe in rules and I imagine

he was subjected to quite a few rules in

that studio

I mean Norman Smith was one of the old

school and imagine getting to record at

a certain time and getting to sing a

song in a certain way all this must be

very difficult for several nights Sid

who was very much a creature of the

times a product of his era who didn't

like being told what to do each time

Norman left the studio said it was with

a splitting headache and he said it's

dealing with Sid barrows like dealing

with a child he just looked at you

blankly some other time one minute II be

up the next to be down Norman Smith did

not even enjoy the experience of working

with Syd Barrett it was pretty damn

difficult with with Syd Barrett

it was Piper that put the band on the

map it's endearing brand of psychedelic

whimsy was perfect for the mood of the

day

Barrett clearly had his finger on the

pulse of the national mood however the

first glimpse of a full albums worth of

Pink Floyd was something of a musical

enigma the album was so steeped in

psychedelia it could only have been made

in 1967 alongside Barrett's whimsical

mannered compositions such as the loam

and bike we find full blown space rock

epics like interstellar overdrive' and

astronomy domine the overall effect is

one of almost palpable confusion it's

two completely different and totally

irreconcilable musical personalities

battle it out for supremacy not

surprisingly the results are somewhat

confusing in musical terms when the

debut album came out in 1967 the Piper

at the Gates of Dawn it was generally

enthusiastically received with one

notable exception the clientele of the

UFO Club in Tottenham Court Road which

became to pinpoint what the cavern had

been to the Beatles were generally

rather sniffy towards ourselves and

there was a widespread opinion that the

Piper at the Gates of Dawn and quite

significantly failed to capture the

band's live sound I think part of the

gate for Dorne is grayed out pop at the

gates of door is the best blow it out

for me I absolutely love it it's the

sound of a band going places where no

one had ever been before

totally innovative totally experimental

you take some of the songs of the first

album you know bike I've got a boat you

can write it if you like it's got a

basket but all the rings and things to

make it look good I'd give it to you if

I could but I borrowed it there's

something away about the way the lyric

attaches to the meter in a very

satisfying way but then they kids but I

borrowed it kind of kicks it off into

there's something very English about

that about the completeness of that and

yet

the fact that it's so unpredictable I

think it was the unpredictability of it

combined with its simplicity that that

made it so special

Piper at the Gates of Dawn I think sits

as a unique artifact separate from the

rest of Pink Floyd it was a different

band people actively hate Pink Floyd for

what they became but embrace that you

know the city of Pink Floyd and it's

almost like a badge you know I actually

hate his annoyed but the first album

by the time the band came to make its

second album CID was no longer

functioning as either performer or

writer thinks it's its own illness it

put it probably you know we can say that

marijuana to a certain extent an asset

to a large extent can do nothing but

exacerbate that collection of symptoms

that we put together and loosely

described a schizophrenia anything and

so there is no doubt but that those

things are very bad for schizophrenic

they worsen the condition and they and

so on and so forth and so and they way

there is no doubt that Sid was

schizophrenic and that he was taking

those those drugs at the same time we

had a sort of style of almost if there

was a problem ignore it and it finally

sort of came to the point where we

ignored it by not picking sit up one day

just going off with the other four of us

Sid was the creative force behind the

original recording lineup of Pink Floyd

not only was he the lead vocalist and

the guitarist he was also the writer of

all the fledgling groups material now

without Sid to call upon Pink Floyd

needed both a guitarist and a writer

finally the guitarist was relatively

easy David Gilmour friend of SIDS from

Cambridge had been drafted in as the

fifth member to provide onstage cover

for the increasingly unstable frontman

when Sid drifted out of the picture

Gilmour was already in place filling the

gap left by Barrett the writer proved to

be somewhat bigger of a challenge

overnight the hit singles suddenly dried

up losing the flow of songs was

disastrous for us at that point cuz he

was doing most of the writing so I said

why doesn't he just write songs and come

and record and we'll go and do gigs but

he there's no way you can do that they

rang up eventually maybe a specific

offer which obviously was the start of a

very difficult and strange time with

both Syd and I turning up together to

two rehearsals and you're going out and

doing shows with five of us where I

would be playing I'd be learning and

playing Sid's parts and singing sits

songs well Syd it'd be sort of standing

there and sometimes singing a little bit

and sometimes playing a little bit very

odd

shall I light all good laughter or shall

I try to kill him I don't how it's

certainly as far as I'm concerned I

don't remember being overcome with

compassion but having said that as I say

I think there were a number of people

who did try and do their best for him

and there were attempts to get him to

therapy in' and so on we never actually

managed to get him through the front

door we can you know got him to the door

a couple of times whenever going through

the job I I think someone said that they

described all of said symptoms to him

but he did say something like well are

you sure this is SIDS problem which it

may be with it's a good thing to say one

night soon after Barrett was ousted from

the band when he came into the UFO Club

and he stood right in front of Gilmour

on stage Gilmour recounted later that

Sid's head was about at his foot height

and he just stood there throughout the

Floyd set glaring upwards straight into

Gilmore's eyes about 35 minutes and

buried mine Gilmour and Barrett had been

friends since childhood and and really

remain friends

for years and years afterwards but that

incident had a very profound effect on

Gilmore who confined it to his flatmates

afterwards that he didn't think he would

carry on anymore he was that disturbed

by that particular evening the group as

a whole was greater than the sum of the

parts and that's why

Floyd managed to survive after Sibley

because that essence of what they were

doing together survived I said was a

great performer and a great you never

knew what was going to come from SIDS

guitar now you know I saw a lot of great

performers around that period and Sid

was definitely a great performing away

from it very challenging the definition

of the word genius extends to someone

who makes a profound effect on the lives

of others and if you take that then I

think can apply it to said bio it quite

well

[Music]

I don't think it's an exaggeration to

say that in this pop never really

recovered from the loss of Syd Barrett

as it as a writer and indeed as a

guitarist he was never adequately

replaced Syd Barrett made only a

marginal contribution to a Saucerful of

Secrets

the second Pink Floyd album the pop

sensibilities of Piper are increasingly

buried under layers of avant-garde

experimentation as Freud begin to grasp

their way towards the sound which made

them a worldwide success highlights

include set the controls for the heart

of the Sun and the heavenly voices

section of the title track simple

straight numbers such as jug band Blues

and corporal Clegg now seems slightly

out of place as the main emphasis is

clearly on the instrumental heavyweights

jump band blues is one of the saddest

things you can hear it really is there's

a version of it which was recorded for

John people showed just before Christmas

1967 so really on the cusp of seds last

days as a member of the Pink Floyd and

I've known people who were reduced to

tears over that thing yes I defy anyone

to listen to joke band blues almost 40

years after he's written and defy them

not to be terribly moved by the lyrics

in that particular song it's the one

flash of seed that you get instills full

of secrets and it's like he's addressing

the fact that he's not quite with it

anymore mentally

the title track Saucerful of Secrets and

set the controls for the heart of the

Sun definitely hint what was to come

their continued exploration with sound

effects which were a great thing and the

extended themes were absolutely

brilliant because of the experimentation

I'd be doing the with sounds each song

that came up that I listened to I would

be going through my head I reckoned

perhaps some of those sounds could work

here so it was to be built as one went

along but he'd sound sometimes of course

an song didn't need though those sort of

gimmicks at all but like feedback or or

tape loops played backwards and it echo

added to it and all stuff like they set

the controls is one of my favorite

tracks from that era because it's really

quite strange and and it has a

particular mood and that's one of the

things they were always very good at

getting still are you know it's creating

a mood

the taboo against songs longer than

three minutes

I've been lifted in a way there have

been you know different groups doing

longer sort of extended instrumentals

and things like that and so they were

able to put on record the way that they

sounded in person much more in addition

to studio recordings at this time

Floyd also producing soundtrack music

for films the original soundtrack from

the film more was the first of two

soundtracks made for the french director

Barbet Schroeder with the band still

working to find a solid direction in

writing terms the next album was to be a

curious hybrid I try to encourage them

in their own sort of producing at home

they all had little studio things that

they could do a record on and just

simply bring them into the studio with

me and I'll go through them etc so I

encouraged them to more and more produce

themselves and particularly Norma goomar

where they each had a section of that

album to themselves they could do

exactly whatever they wanted I have a

memory of working as an assistant at a

pop on some of the Piper at the Gates of

doing sessions and I was extremely

impressed because that was wonderful so

you know you had this expectation this

was going to be great you were going to

come in and you're going to do all these

his wonderful songs and it didn't turn

out quite like her they all came in and

we all sat there and Norman said to him

well you got some songs they didn't know

and had to decide what they were going

to do in terms of what they're going to

do for this record they had to make a

record they've got sessions booked what

were they going to do and and after much

discussion it was decided that they

would have a quarter of the record each

to do whatever they wanted and that the

others would you know the other three

would assist the one whose quarter it

was to do now I mean at that stage

probably there would have been other

producers who would have said no sorry

would cancel sessions go away rights and

songs come back and we're done whereas

Norman went with it and we ended up with

what we ended up with and I wouldn't

interfere they could do unless

helped them it's it's an integration

between the music and the effects it's

you can't really separate the two out I

mean you can listen to what any of the

four parts and they all have the

integration of effects and music or

sounds or experimentation or whatever

you want to call it there's a lot of

double speed and half speed stuff going

on in there

backwards stuff going on in there be

interesting to pull it apart and

actually see what it was at the time you

know we put there savvy over all the

experiment strays too far towards

freeform instrumental exploration

without enough of the melodic

counterpoint which was to make their

next album so successful mortis himself

let it described the album as a disaster

although I'm a Gummer had proved an

inconsistent experience the band

continued to work hard and the constant

touring saw them improved very much in

the live arena life on tour and playing

together almost every night was

sharpening up the group's collective

skills as a writing unit as well the

results of this process would be seen in

the next album atom heart mother

released in October 1970 this album was

to be the first real breakthrough for

Pink Floyd the whole first side of the

album comprised an avant-garde

instrumental piece featuring choir and

orchestral elements arranged by Ron

Geeson what happened in a tomorrow

mother was that because they were a kind

of exhausted because of commitments and

and demands by the manager and EMI

records they needed some other input so

because I was friends with them all I

was asked to be their input really they

had five or six little sections that

they had recorded at EMI abbey road of

what I call a backing track and they had

then stuck these together as you do with

magnetic tape so with that they come up

with a tape which was an accompaniment

tape

blasting I can't remember 23 minutes or

something and I have been 25 and a half

whatever was under 30 and over 20 and

[Music]

they gave me that a mix a rough mix of

that tape and we had some discussions

about what might go on it they said they

wanted a big sound and we had a very

short session and I'm talking like a

morning and I another bit of an

afternoon somewhere I think where Rick

Wright came around my studio in Labrador

London West 10:00 and we looked at the

choir section so he may be suggested

some notes or our way of going but there

was nothing written down either

there was nothing written down for the

choir at that time at that session and

then Dave came round with her with a

sort of an arpeggio and suggesting that

for the four what was in fact the main

theme the frosty the rest of it was me

it's an it's a concoction it's an

assembly the speeds were all wrong like

when you're moving through a piece you

know when it should speed up you know

when it should slow down in fact the

reverse happened with some of the

sections because when they stuck the

sections together they didn't actually

really work so my job was to craft

something sensible on top of this

rather cobbled collage or montage and

make it look like it was working the art

bit was getting a couple of melodies

that really worked and I believe that

the opening theme melody really works

now and the cello melody really works

and they're entirely out of my head

both of them are quite expansive they

cover quite a wide range I mean the

whole one starts on the space without an

octave but then it expands

and then further

so you've covered that whole space which

is quite quite right arranging if you

then look at the cello theme it starts

down at the same place

[Music]

it's actually slightly wider but not

much so they both have this sense of of

expansiveness of space they're not

claustrophobic atom heart mother

featured more of the gentler pastoral

Floyd sound which characterized the

album's around about this time the Roger

Waters song if and Gilmore's fat old son

proved to be the highlights of the

mellow second side of the illness how on

earth is somewhat fat holds fun certain

fame Eldon is acting out mother in some

ways it reminds me a bit of us at a

country song you know it's sort of weird

because on the same album there's this

completely and utterly British Standard

soul but I quite like it when they play

it on stage it's like a different song

it's got all the dynamics or the passion

all the greatness of Floyd tracks the

one thing that the Pink Floyd to me have

always been able to do is transmit their

emotion from the record to the listener

I think that's why they're so popular it

was a group effort and everybody was

doing enjoying it and I think that comes

across here's the opening sequence for

atom heart mother

under the horn Melanie

a four chord sequence which just repeats

it doesn't repeat the same every time

but pretty well what do we get under fat

old son

exactly the same metrically it's exactly

the same you've got this ponderous fall

for what is different between fat old

son and atom heart mother is that you

have some lyrics so it makes it a song

will that matters that that takes it out

of the realm of that heart mother great

things and you have no you have no

orchestral instruments but other than

that they're exactly the same they come

from exactly the same stay with exactly

the same way of thinking maybe in a way

the album had to have these more subdued

and cooler tracts otherwise you might

have gone

[Music]

they had established themselves

originally as 3-minute hits single

people in a way with see Emily playing

Arnold Layne and although live of course

they'd always experiment even played

longer pieces but now I could do that on

my album stew with that'm heart mother

the band was now firmly into its musical

stride and the signs were auspicious for

the next album when it finally arrived

in November 1971 medal was to exceed all

expectations that is the album released

they moved from post Barrett

experimentalists trying to find the

right identity it's where they began to

find their identity and hit hit on me

the motifs that they were then turned

into the the tremendous in transcendent

Dark Side of the Moon with this album

Pink Floyd demonstrated that the group

had learned how to take their original

sound effects which the band have made

their own and weaves them together with

the music to create a seamless blend

which was to become synonymous with Pink

Floyd the results are best seen still in

echoes it's got all of the great floyd

qualities coming together possibly for

the very first time they drama the

dynamics really individual distinctive

lead guitar playing gorgeous melodies

harmony singing that's a Rick Wright and

Dave Gilmour singing together

so very close harmonies always between

Rick Wright and Dave Gilmour they're

always kind of there's certainly nothing

sweetly birds being poppy going on in

row

echoes was the centerpiece of metal was

the centerpiece of their live show at

that time and was a melding together of

many episodes and was something that

they could replicate live very very well

echoes is absolutely a landmark in Pink

Floyd's Korea it's the one which

probably meant that they didn't just

wind up round about now being just

another psychedelic band who couldn't

get a break it's when they learned how

to

with an extended expanded piece of music

to make it accessible to the casual

listener Becker has also formed the

foundations of the superb film Pink

Floyd at Pompeii directed by French

director Adrian Marvin Pink Floyd had

always been greatly appreciated in

Europe and the Pompeii film is the

result of a European co-production it is

still rightly regarded by many as the

best a vocation of the Floyd in the live

environment on the whole the album is

still a rather patchy offering in which

the weaker moments outnumbered are

strong its yet middle represented rather

than its content you know after all this

sort of messing about with film

soundtracks line albums you know

projects are atom heart mother I think

that it was probably the first true post

Sid Pink Floyd album the real Pink Floyd

masterpiece was just around the corner

in March 1973 Pink Floyd released the

album which would take them into the

musical stratosphere Dark Side of the

Moon

[Music]

with Dark Side of the Moon everything

came together beautifully

the songs were fascinating

state-of-the-art technology interested

people the album cover was intriguing

everything about it hit at the right

time in my opinion Darkseid was the most

accessible Floyd album to date and as

most rounded and in a sense it was a

sort of underground rocks Sergeant

Pepper if you like Dark Side of the Moon

started off with as a mish mash as the

band sitting down once they'd finished

touring in America in early 1971 I'm

thinking we've got to do a new album

what have we got they have some ideas

bits and bobs Dave Gilbert always says

nothing gels and so one day Roger Waters

walked in and said I've got this idea

let's do this as a concept album

it was great gig in the sky ric reitz

piano playing for me is absolutely

fantastic and he's coming from a kind of

a jazz angle

even just that piece of music as an

emotional quarter that's what we're

struggling to find

[Music]

I went up to Abbey Road I had no idea

what it was nobody told me I didn't know

whether I was going to walk into the

studio there's going to be a choir to

other girls three other girls no idea so

I walked into the control room and the

band were there and they proceeded to

explain to me that they were doing this

album it was nearly finished and that

the concept of the album and death and

everything else in between and they

played with the backing track when I

said well what do you want

and basically they had no idea so I

thought oh lovely and when I look back I

was fairly new to this sort of world you

know and probably quite naive but anyway

I listened to the track a couple of

times a night I personally had no idea

and all what they wanted have I said I

think the best thing for me is to go

into the studio put the cans on and have

a little girl and see what happens so I

started off by going oh baby baby yeah

yeah baby baby which is what what

intended to do for sort of scat sort of

singing and they said oh no no no no no

we don't want any words

well that really stumped me so david

gilmour

came he I have to say that he was really

the the one that directed me there

wasn't a word from anybody else so David

said would I would you like me to write

out the chord sequence I said no no no

no no no no and it sort of happened when

I I thought well I really don't know

what they want I don't know but okay

best feet forward you know and I thought

well and I've said this many times but

it's absolutely true that I thought I

have to pretend to be an instrument and

that's gave me an avenue to explore and

so I started doing something so we like

that so I said to Alan okay

put the red light on record this because

usually the first take is the best and I

started singing and did it I went into

the control room and they played it and

not a lot was said and I said I will

well thank you very much goodbye and

left and I was convinced it would never

see the light of day because they hadn't

commented they hadn't made any do not I

mean they hadn't said great faithful

nothing

greatly it is slightly different from

the rest of the album and I think it is

because there's an outside influence

which is somebody else came in happened

to be me could it could have been I

don't know could have been Vicky brown

then or saxophone player but but with

the voice you you get a whole different

input some different mindset and I think

that's what perhaps why it stands out

because it is not the four people in the

band that have totally done it it

there's an outside influence the use of

Clare Torry on the album is something

that I think every female vocalist

whoever you are has got to listen to and

aspire to you know maybe one day I will

crack that whole piece and I'll just be

the happiest person alone it's a taxing

piece to sing from beginning to end and

in fact I believe well believe that when

Floyd or Roger have they don't always do

greatly in the sky but if they have the

free backing vocalists do a third each

makes it it's exhausting

this the ultimate Floyd album captured

just the right blend of lyricism

inspired instrumental passages sound

effects and genuine musical innovation

just how to follow up a massive success

without disappointing the public is

always regarded as one of the most

difficult tasks in music the response

from Pink Floyd to the worldwide acclaim

for Dark Side of the Moon was to deliver

wish you were here released in September

1975 a classic recording which in many

respects out shown its illustrious

predecessor when I think about it I can

still see his eyes it was everything

else service it's different seven years

but no contact and then to walk in while

we're actually doing that particular

track didn't recognize him at all he'd

shaven all his hair off he was about

probably 17 18 stone I had no idea who

he was for a long time and neither did

anybody else I didn't think for a while

coincidence karma fate who knows but it

was very very very powerful shiny new

crazy diamonds is a masterpiece it's a

masterwork it is in a way a

representation of their entire career up

to that point in one track

[Music]

I sort of knew that really we were over

as far as the band of brothers notion of

the pop group was concerned we just

weren't anymore and we were never going

to be that again and so I was mourning

that loss as well as the loss of have

said as a as a friend and as a colleague

[Music]

came from just playing an a minor chord

[Music]

and just move my fingers to the wrong

position it could just be an accident

it did seem to sort of have a sort of

hinting cooling sounds to

shine on you crazy diamond with its

majestic introduction is arguably the

finest recording in the entire Pink

Floyd Canon once again there are no

fillers or throwaway numbers on this

flawless album every track pulls its

weight I think it's our best album I

love it lyrically but I also like just

musically and I love the flow of it and

I just think I mean I I will listen to

that album four pleasures not many of

the Floyd albums I can I feel the wish

it were here album doesn't have a set

theme or a set tone every song seems to

be slightly different from shine on you

crazy diamond to the barbs of have a

cigar to the almost distressed

insouciance of welcome to the Machine

almost the acceptance of well what are

we going to do to wish you were here

which seems to be a longing for

something that's already gone it has an

emotional depth that and it's a sort of

fairly universal I think and and I

suppose you could say that we haven't

done quite as many concerts as people

like the stones have or someone we've so

my performance is a wish over here

still numbering sort of three or four

hundreds I suppose there's no are

thousands or some people I do but it

always it still resonates it still has

has its meaning it means that to me

every time I sing it

[Music]

play that in the UM in the control room

of number three studio at Abbey Road and

it's just something I've been struggling

at home and Roger immediately said

what's that Elsa and we had just sort of

immediately get on with that and work it

up and write the rest of the musical so

I don't think wish you were here as a

song represents what the album was about

so much as an element of what the album

was about and the album went in

different directions and a lot of the

album is couched him Syd Barrett terms

not in the way the music was presented

but in a way that they were trying to

bring this ghost from the past into the

modern environment to still make him

part of what they were doing because he

was very much still a crucial element in

the Pink Floyd story sadly this was to

be the last album produced as a real

cohesive joint effort by the entire band

Animals released in January 1977 was the

first of three Floyd albums which were

masterminded by Roger Waters fortunately

the album also coincided with waters

reaching his very best form as a writer

the choice of subject matter on animals

is typically bleak and joyless but

instrumentally the band continued to

shine as brightly as ever

Rick Wright plays very much a backseat

role in this album he's he plays a lot

of pads simple backing but the lovely

rhodes piano intro to sheep is is one of

the last times we'd hear him in full

flow for quite some time absolutely

excellent there were no really strong

melodies like us and then or Molly or

anything like that but just it showed

the depth that Roger Waters would would

go into to explore lyrical themes very

clever lyrics a great piece of

composition by Roger Waters and by now

he was putting his indelible stamp or as

the leader of the direction of Pink

Floyd it's it was the start of a kind of

dispute between Roger Waters and Rick

Wright their keyboard player and Dave

Gilmour early guitar player

which was sort of I think there's cotton

tanks written at atmosphere while we

were actually making that album they

were looking for a guitar player their

room manager got I've got my name I

think I was recommended as being an

ordinary guy you know could play a bit

and so he called me up and said the boys

are finishing their album want to come

to the studio and meet them

that was the animals helping us 76 and

so I went along and I said well you've

told me you know can you play a bit of

bass I said yeah and can you want to do

the gig yeah I said to David Gilmour

yeah I'd love to do it but you know

maybe we should have a bit of jam so you

can see how apply and make sure I said I

think wouldn't be actually couldn't play

with you and I said well no not really

he said well that's all right then the

first tour I did was the animals album

tour and that was much more free as a

look you know especially towards the end

of the set there was a lot more freedom

to do bits and pieces and stretching out

of it often overlooked in favor of what

went before and after animals

represented another milestone in the run

of amazing Floyd albums animals very

successful musically I see a little bit

more tugging and pulling you here can

hear a little bit of that as well and

animals were particularly bearing you

know there was there was some real

attacks going on

it was always brave whatever the Floyd

did was always just we're gonna do this

you know whether it was against the

record company whether it was against

the government whether it was against

the tower in the fashion they just did

it and I think that's really one of the

things that made them so successful

No

the live shows were becoming

increasingly elaborate this trend would

culminate in the spectacle of the world

released in November 1979 the wall was

produced by Bob Ezrin ezrin hugely

deserves his producer's credit but it's

the chief architect of the album the

majority of plaudits were rightfully

channel towards Roger Waters who fully

deserved the praise for his part in

creating what is still a milestone in

rock music well the war has been called

one of the most successful and most

imaginative rock albums of the the whole

rock era you know the 60 seventies and

eighties

because it did combine not just a

concept in terms of music on songs and

lyrics but also a visual concept as well

it lends itself to a much bigger more

experimental project so the wall kind of

grew and grew really became a big

monster out of control it was a very big

undertaking and it was very very well

done and was done to a very high

standard elegant powerfully affecting

but hugely negative in its content I

mean that has to be said that you know

if you look at the lyrics if you read

the subtext of what's going on you just

go out and slashy wrists

I mean Sid appears in the wall a lot you

know which is where you know in the

movie where the cigarette burns down

between the fingers well I went into the

room and saw that my friendship with him

and his illness combined

yeah provided an enormous

opportunity for grief it's sad it's very

sad I'm still very sad about it with the

wall he was expressing all the bricks on

the wall were all the things in his life

that upset him or made him the way was

that was the thing that they played on I

think this was largely from Rogers sense

of alienation he was a he was an uneasy

pop star I think it was fair to say and

he had sort of doubts about his role in

some ways you know none at all in others

rising tensions between Roger Waters and

Rick Wright led to the keyboard player

being sacked none of them had made any

money from the wall the wall had been

such an expensive production the only

person ironically who made him money was

Rick Wright the original keyboards

player who had been involved in the

production of the wall or wanted to be

involved in the production of the wall

but allegedly was not very active in

that role and and Roger Waters had

demanded that he be fired from the group

then they realized that they haven't got

anywhere to play keyboards or the state

so they get him back in on a wage so in

fact he is actually the only member of

Pink Floyd to make any money out of the

wall the live shows which promoted the

album were an unforgettable experience

ambitious in their scope and their

staging waters themes of alienation and

separation took physical form with the

creation of a real wall and we're going

to see the show at the Earls Court in

London I'm watching the slow process of

building the brick wall which goes on

throughout the entire show gradually

laying this line of bricks and think

what are they doing how's it all going

to resolve and of course gradually the

band Sapir behind me a huge barrier

another final moments a whole lot has

destroyed and smashed to pieces and

larger realizes that maybe it's not a

good idea psychologically speaking to

forever a mental barrier inside your

head well I think back I think wow there

was quite a big show and I and it's very

impressive that Roger could actually put

that sort of thing together technically

to make it work building the wall and

knocking it down written into the

structure of the show was the nature of

what they termed the surrogate bat so

for instance the show opens with a thing

that is largely instrumentalists are

certainly a big bombastic instrumental

opening then the light goes down at the

end of the song the band's freeze the

image the Lancaster bomber or something

flies over the head of the crowd the

lights come up on a stage that's higher

than the stage that they've just seen

the Pink Floyd play the opening number

and they're on the higher stage who's

Pink Floyd playing the second number so

it's like hang on you know that was Ben

Floyd down there and that was the

illusion that they constantly played on

and they used what they turned the

surrogate band which was myself Andy

Bowne Willie Wilson and Pete wood as the

surrogates and we were given latex masks

and made to look exactly like Pink Floyd

Jones cough as I understand it created

the whole show entirely from the the

visuals to the animatronics to the stage

in of it you know that that was his

vision more than Roger Waters is massive

puppets

things that was sort of you know 30-foot

high and string puppets that would walk

across the stage that the school teacher

for another brick in the war was this

giant puppet with car headlights for

eyes it's a big show and the musicians

are just one you know a few small cogs

in a big machine there's a lot more

going on and you just make sure you get

your power right any note that Pink

Floyd could have played live was played

life I mean that was the bottom line

basically musically the orchestral

pieces and things like the children's

voices in another brick you know we

don't need no education that stuff was

pre-recorded dabbas on tapes over

all had to be basically played in times

it was all linked into special effects

and click tracks and you know film and

that's everything had to be down to the

last second most of the time the basic

structure of the whole of the first half

of the show was the building of the wall

up to the point where the final brick

goes in and suddenly the house lights

come up and the audience realizes that

this vast structure you know it suddenly

hits the pie cart look at that you know

this is 150 foot across 60 foot high

wherever it was you know is this vast

structure has been built in 45 minutes

but in order to get to that point there

was a piece of music built in just

before the goodbye cruel world where

David and I would just trade rifts to

give the wall builders time to get those

last bricks in some nights it was slow

some nights you know they really had to

move fast and we were play for three or

four minutes when we got the tear down

the wall section I was standing inside a

cage on state behind the wall as the

wall came down and inside the cage with

me were roadies who were holding the

cage up as these bricks were hammering

down on it and it was playing the guitar

riff for the tear down the walls section

and it was unbelievable and you would

have a count down on the monitors as the

when the first bricks were going to come

because if you didn't have that warning

you would you know you just stopped

playing it was so frightening

I think The Legend of that show is built

up because there's such a tremendous

cachet to having been there and to

having experienced it because you know

wasn't this vast touring circus that

went around the world for three years

it's 29 shows four locations that's it

you know see you later

I knew that there were tensions in the

bat very interestingly Beck's Asia Earls

Court there were four caravans in a sort

of Square and three of them faced into

the middle of the square Rogers face the

other way so he didn't socialize whether

see now he came to the bar in

or the other three were always there

after the gig you know few scoops chats

and whether it was going well of what

could be better and you know those

things that anybody would talk about

Africa but you know saw Roger

it was very much its swan song and the

thing was sort of corroding really

Allen Parker was going to shoot concept

movie and there were going to be

dramatic highlights cut in with the

story that became ultimately the story

of the entire movie the the thing with

Geldof and you know the no eyebrows

character and pink you know it was just

a big rag doll in in our show and then

they just jettisoned the notion of the

concert at all but they filmed every

night at Earls Court for five nights

multi camera shoots I mean people

everywhere well some people have called

the wall of a movie which came out in

1982 directed by Alan Parker a one huge

clip in other words lots of repetition

and not really focused as a movie my

overwhelming feeling really was of

disappointment I hoped it was going to

be a concert movie and I didn't really

know that it wasn't until I went to see

the film and I the other thing was that

I thought it was a shame that they

didn't make more of the music they used

the album and just remixed bits of the

album rather than actually approach it

again from scratch the bigger criticism

I would make is is that the movie itself

if you compare it with with another

album that made it onto the big screen

like that who's Tommy there's this

there's a lack of humor really in

self-parody it's all very very intense I

mean it is all on one level and it is

very extreme but I guess it had to be

you know there that was that was the

wall you know that was the concept the

wall always repays the listener with new

insights into an amazing creation a

magnificent achievement which stretches

the horizons of Pink Floyd's musical

scope to include a worldwide hit single

an ingenious Gilbert and Sullivan

pastiche and two genuine highlights from

the Floyd repertoire run like hell and

comfortably numb'

david gilmour came up with a song

comfortably numb' the fact that it did

sneak onto the album opposite if if

indeed that was the case was was was of

great credit to Dave Gilmour really and

because obviously to interrupt Roger

Waters is you know tunnel vision about

that record whose amazing thing in

itself in a strange kind of way it's

almost like their greatest hits album

because you've got these much sort of

tighter pieces of writing much more

controlled it's it's less of the very

long expensive dark side of the moon

sort of a continuous and saga it gave

them the chance to produce hit singles

which took everybody by surprise as far

as the strength of music is concerned

with the wall obviously with tracks like

comfortably numb' and not the brick in

the wall part two you can't you can't

say anything about strong and I think

the strangest thing is that the room to

me does sound a little bit like a

soundtrack album I think when he

initially bought their album you felt

that it wasn't quite a whole in itself

was just it was it was an element and

you needed to bolt on the other bits and

pieces to get the full floyd experience

with the departure of Richard Wright

Pink Floyd began the eighties as a

three-piece with Roger Waters as the

real power in the band this

disproportionate spoiler control was

evident in the next album the final cut

released back in March 1983 the

overriding impression from this Schill

favorite outing is one of a Roger Waters

solo album the credits tell you very

categorically that this is a Roger

Waters work and the fact that he didn't

really involve the others really showed

his disinterest in keeping the group

going the final cut

dwell Zahn the politics and social

landscape of Britain in the early 1980s

the focus is incredibly narrow and

kurama's be lifted from an editorial

meeting of the Guardian Roger's

newspaper of choice the atmosphere of

the album is relentlessly downbeat and

with no melodic or instrumental relief

the darkness and bitterness are

overwhelming what is different is that

that Bob Ezrin had been dismissed from

the camp because he'd he had

inadvertently told an American

journalist that that's the the finale of

the wall stage show would involve it

basically being demolished

so he's replaced by Michael Kaman who's

capable who's a great catalyst he's one

of those people who can bring everyone

together and his energy in the studio on

final cut was very important so he could

have badgered I mean if he's such an up

figure you could imagine it could have

been a lot even more down than it

already is if he hadn't been there Pink

Floyd never turd with the final cut

really because I think no one wanted to

turn particularly Roger Waters didn't

want to turn he really seemed to want to

get out of the whole thing at that point

there is a strong feeling that we are

revisiting exactly the same somatic

landscape as the war with its

exploration of the damaging effect of

the sacrifices made in war we are very

much stuck in the same territory well if

you look at something you know peace

a piece of music like the war you're

hardly going to better that so

everything is going to be dead

from there no matter what you try at

least for a short period of time so when

you bring something out like the final

cut I think it's going to look at it in

that context I think it's on recorders

as we going down that a lot of the

pieces were leftover pieces from the war

which is where Dave Gilmour got a little

upset with things even the photograph on

the album sleeve that the soldier

holding film cans was been cleanly

knifed in the back has been widely

interpreted as a reference to Rogers

frustrations of the creation of the

memory a significant aspect of the final

cut is that Pink Floyd no longer used

hypnosis to design the cover instead

Roger Waters and there decides that he

will design the cover himself there by

almost proving that it's just a Roger

Waters

solo album the final cut is certainly

not a brilliant album it's brilliantly

played brutally executed but it does

lack the feel of things for instance

like back side of the moon

and to a lot of people of course the war

and so on but I think the album stood

the test of time extremely well when you

listen to it today I think it's a more

valid piece today because it is a

historical document at the time not just

of Roger Waters you know creating a

testament to his father but it's

actually a sign of the times in the 80s

for which most of us we can remember

quite well as a result of a dispute with

manager Steve O'Rourke Roger Waters

wrote to the record companies informing

them that he would no longer be

recording with Pink Floyd waters clearly

felt that this maneuver would signal the

end of the group Rodgers saw it as the

final cut you know that's the titleist

since the end of Floyd and he probably

thought that's what was going to happen

of course it would he's absolutely

shocked when he learns that the other

two members as they then were Dave

Gilmour and Nick Mason intend to carry

on with the group's name but he only

learns this when he essentially issues

them with legal papers saying that the

group is to be disbanded and the name is

to exist no more the final chance

despite everything Morris could throw at

him Gilmour and Mason emerged victorious

they had won the right to use the Pink

Floyd name and in a further calculated

snub to waters they hooked up again with

Richard Wright and produced a new album

backed by a huge world tour for legal

and tax reasons Richard Wright was not

officially a full member of the band

again despite the fact that he was a

founder member legally Floyd when our

duo with a hired keyboard player on

wages

the album which emerged was entitled a

momentary lapse of reason and

demonstrated there was still plenty of

life in the band

even without waters I think moment

relapse a reason was a fantastic rebirth

the band wrote relapse the reason

certainly did breathe new life into the

group I mean it got them up and running

again on actually a much larger scale

than previously there was a huge

appetite for Pink Floyd's music and a

colossal amount of goodwill the fans

really wanted something which sounded

like the Floyd of old and sensing the

mood David Gilmour was able to produce

an album which just about passed muster

although the estranged Roger Waters

notoriously dismissed the album as a

facsimile of the Floyd sound I think it

was a sort of a it was modest obviously

a very much hid in the in the Pink Floyd

style but I think really was a sort of a

transition for for David who was very

much at the helm was particularly at

that point of doing if he was it kind of

set up I'm sure he didn't by me saying

so really in a way but obviously

including the advertising and the band

but because they'd been I don't know

seven eight years as ever got elapsed

since they've done it it was kind of

that very much kind of a fresh take on

Bob Ezrin is brought back for momentary

lapse of reason obviously to her

supporters is never liked her and so

there's no problems and he's you know

he's a proven commodity it's been proven

he works he's almost second to none as a

producer anyway and I think it's the

results speak for themselves

Pink Floyd began an enormous trek around

the stadiums of Europe and North America

playing to huge crowds which easily

eclipsed the thin crowds which attended

waters solo tour ice by chance got asked

to do roger waters first solo tour the

pros and cons of hitch hiking so I've

done that and I suppose that kind of put

me in in a bit of a you know kind of who

should we get to play rhythm guitar ah

he seems to be alright you know so I've

actually got a call to do that much to

my surprise I think David rang me

personally to start with it was the very

first sort of introduc

just to see you know what I'd like to be

involved and obviously I was you know

sounds like a fantastic idea initially

was a belief plan to just go out for a

number of weeks just in America and they

weren't really quite sure how it was

going to all go but it very quickly

became apparent that some that's a lot

of demand for it so he came to it

changed from a sound of a few weeks in

America to what will ended up to 16

months around the world twice basically

huge life-changing thing there were

great sort of come camraderie within the

back instantly very well both very good

very very friendly balance of people at

the beginning of the tour only performed

that the new numbers from them momentary

lapse of reason and he hadn't really

been released in fact I think when we

when we started out we were released I

think that played the first few gigs my

album wasn't actually out so this plane

that people just didn't recognize this

stuff at all they're given that the

response was fantastic

really he basically tried to keep each

other to two numbers obviously the

payment was more associated with and the

sang and contributed to the writing off

so that's sort of narrowed it down a

fair bit it's the best period for Pink

Floyd life that I have ever seen it went

down so I'm pretty sure because most of

the public didn't really expect to ever

see people playing anything so it was

kind of a you know from out of nowhere

comes

well this baton didn't think we'd ever

see and and in the past they'd been very

very difficult to catch life so suddenly

it became kind of available you know in

your town you know

a particularly America I mean the

response was fantastic before playing a

note a great deal of excitement and

anticipation and stuff going on the

Division Bell released in April 1994 was

an altogether superior effort careful

studied and mannered the album flows

together as a suite of songs there are

no dramatic dynamic peaks and troughs or

extremes of tempo but the smooth

majestic flow of the music worked its

magic on audiences on both sides of the

Atlantic and for the first time in

history Pink Floyd had an album which

went to number one in both Britain and

America

I love the Division Bell I just think

it's classic Floyd completely you know

you don't have necessarily the angry

side of earlier Floyd

Nick Mason and Rick Wright were now

fully functional and part of the team

but with Dave Gilmour not being a dab

hand at writing lyrics he enlisted the

help of his wife to be Polly Sampson and

also Nick Laird clues of the dream

Academy to help him together with other

collaborators the songwriting tended to

be a little diluted compared with

previous efforts where momentary lapse

of reason had perhaps been a collection

of songs that he'd been unable to use in

the previous Pink Floyd lineup cluster1

is a great example of exactly how good

this band could still be some 30 years

after his birth

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the tall which supported the album was

also something of a triumph it featured

an even better and more advanced light

show than anything which had gone before

and pulse the live album taken from the

tour beautifully captured what was

certainly a career highlight for Pink

Floyd Richard Wright was also back in

the fold and as a full member of Pink

Floyd in many respects it seemed as if

the band had reached the limits of its

creativity and in fact its commercial

success there was almost nowhere else to

go

following the death of long-term manager

Steve O'Rourke

David Gilmour announced to the world

that he felt disinclined to continue to

carry the weight of the Floyd juggernaut

upon his shoulders if there ever was a

good example of the old adage that it's

best to quit at the top then this was it

Pink Floyd bowing out of the recording

studio in 1994 with a magnificent

best-selling album a gigantic or

inspiring live show a wonderful musical

legacy and an unmatched reputation for

excellence all left blissfully intact

with no sad decline into mediocrity to

taint the brilliance

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[Applause]

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