Pink Floyd

One of the most creative and distinctive British bands of the last 50 years, their studio albums have inspired devotion and sold tonnes, and yet their off-stage creative tension has made almost as much interest at times. Whether their early Syd Barrett-led sound, their successful middle period, or the post-Waters stuff, their sounds have brought pleasure to millions:

One Of These Days

Comfortably Numb

Time

Welcome To The Machine

Learning To Fly

Roger Waters
David Gilmour
Rick Wright
Nick Mason
Syd Barrett

Which One's Pink? : The Pink Floyd Story
How Barrett left, Gilmour arrived, Waters started taking over, and then when he left, the band played on. An engaging relating of the legend, made in 2006 and thus concluding with their Live 8 reunion. Richard Wright's death in 2008 has put a stop to any further reunions.

Pink Floyd: Live in Pompeii
Made in 1971, I think, an interesting concert film of some of their early songs (naturally). Seemed to pass by very quickly, but a nice curio.

Pink Floyd: A Miscellany 1967-2005
Compilation of videos & performances, from the obvious (Arnold Layne, Money, Another Brick...) to the less so (Cymbaline, The Fletcher Memorial Home), concluding with Comfortably Numb from Live 8, which again serves as a full stop to their performing as the Floyd (though the reissues will presumably keep coming ad infinitum).

Pink Floyd: The Story of 'Wish You Were Here'
Can't get me enough Floyd, so this was a delight. Glad to finally learn the title of 'Have a Cigar'. Much comment on Syd Barrett. One of their very best albums, I should get a copy someday.

Pink Floyd: Delicate Sound of Thunder
An hour & half concert from 1989, as Dave Gilmour's new direction for the band proves a success. Boldly opening with material from their recent album, they blend back into more famous earlier non-Waters-vocal work. After a stunning version of 'Comfortably Numb', which I suspected they'd struggle to top, they go into 'One Slip', to crowd exultation, and then finish on 'Run Like Hell'. So maybe the Long Island crowd were content with the new order after all.

HARDtalk: Roger Waters
The BBC's Stephen Sackur seemed determined to rile the guy with some of his witless questions, to which Waters tried to bat the nonsense away. He was understandably moved when talking about the influence of his father. Rather less so when talking about the other members of Pink Floyd. When asked about another reunion, he might have referred to the death of Rick Wright, which seems to be David Gilmour's reason for stopping. He did talk about plans for one more solo album, though, which was promising.

Discovering: Pink Floyd
Another edition of this series, which at least gave some credit to Gilmour for those latter 2 post-Waters albums. Still not convinced of the singular gifts of Syd Barrett, I have to say.

Inside Out
This 2004 book by Nick Mason chronicles the story of the band from his position as one of the few people to be there from start to finish. I read an updated paperback version from 2011, which thus adds in the mighty reunion at Live 8, and the sad deaths of Syd Barrett and Rick Wright.

Mason's writing style keeps the story moving along nicely, and has a witty way with an anecdote which elevates what might seem duller in the hands of a biographer. His down-time pastime is fast cars, which perhaps explains why he seems in such good order after all these years, one serious crash aside. Though a friend of Roger Waters, he shows few qualms at the continuation of the band when Waters left. And he keeps in good friendship with Waters, and occasionally gigs with him, as does David Gilmour.

Unlike many rock books, this one is worth reading and keeping   

Quite unexpected news about a new album:

The Endless River

Due out in October, based on sessions from their last album (from 1994) and thus including their dead keyboard wizard Rick Wright (who died in 2008).

Ex-member Roger Waters is of course also busy working on his new rock album, also his first in 20-odd years:

As yet untitled

So there's life in this saga yet   

Heyday TV: Rock Milestones - Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon
Only caught this by chance, and it was somewhat unexpected. Graham McTavish and DJ Tommy Vance related the story of how Pink Floyd formed, recorded several albums and then reached the pinnacle with DSOTM. Where this became amusing was that band members were only used to talk from archive footage, suggesting a low budget effort, though Clare Torry was very much present & correct, and definitive. Apart from that, it felt very much like an Unauthorised bodge-job, though the story is still superb for all that.

Heyday TV: Pink Floyd - Comfortably Numb
Tommy Vance again, with some different contributors (including the wacky Krusher) considered the whole Floyd story. Their profligacy once Barrett was gone is a sign of the times, and though they got much credit for their famously successful albums, The Final Cut was omitted altogether. It's always amazing to judge how some fans believe that Barrett was the sole keeper of the flame, others think it was Waters, and few appear to speak up for the current situation.

Their "new" album seems already to have been delayed a fortnight.

The World's Greatest Albums - Atom Heart Mother
Most shows can manage to tackle Dark Side of the Moon or Wish You Were Here. This one took an hour and a half, which seemed a terrible struggle, and it's no wonder I was nodding off. The avant-garde gem was more a chance to listen to Ron Geesin, which was a more appealing idea than the album itself.

Rock Milestones: Pink Floyd - The Wall
Usual faces are complemented by Snowy White, guitarist involved, and Matej Dimlic, a lecturer with an interest. Much comparison with the stage show and the film versions, and how they reflect and enhance each other. I didn't rate the film that much, but it sounds like the stage version is very impressive indeed.

Rock Milestones: Pink Floyd - Meddle
Sooner or later, there'll probably be a look at every album. As half the record is "Echoes", and "One Of These Days" is the other big hit, there was reflection of its place following Atom Heart Mother (or another chance to listen to Ron Geesin), as well as considering the "Live at Pompeii" gig, at which some of Meddle's better numbers were given performance. Also the wacky cover (an ear under water, it seems) was largely given the thumbs down.

Total Rock Review: Pink Floyd
Many familiar names from other similar docs, narrated in voice over by Graham McTavish. There were at least clips of actual luminaries like Waters, Gilmour and Wright, not to mention Gerald Scarfe and Alan Parker. Their prolixity prior to Dark Side of the Moon is often glossed over.

I managed to get a copy of Animals which came with A Saucer Full of Secrets, which was a welcome bonus. At least talk on these albums will make a smidgeon more sense now.

Rock Milestones: The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn
Whereas the one on AHM seemed to drag over its run-time, this sustained itself rather better, perhaps because there were more peaks to travel to. Joe Boyd and producer Norman "Hurricane" Smith were useful contributors, and there was even time to pick apart Hans Keller's immortal drubbing of the band to their faces. Beyond, there was much analysis of the Syd Barrett myth, whether he was more creative than the others, and therefore more valid. This even spread to comment on 'Jugband Blues' which isn't even on this album. That said, it did make me more curious to hear this album, so job done.

David Gilmour: Live in Gdansk
From a shipyard on Aug 26, 2006, with help from Rick Wright (keyboard & singing), but also Phil Manzanera. Though Dave did some of his own material (his On An Island being his most recent work), the crowd were understandably warmer for the majority Floyd material. They finished on Comfortably Numb. A very enjoyable show.

Possibly inspired by last year's new Floyd album, David Gilmour has this week announced a new solo album & accompanying tour as well for this Autumn

David Gilmour: Music In Review
The usual sort of show, albeit more generous towards Gilmour than is usually the case. Audio archive from the 4 main members (plus Bob Ezrin) helped fill out the story, too.

Syd Barrett: Up Close and Personal
Starting with another clip of that Hans Keller chat, it soon develops into the usual story, although Joe Boyd and Norman Smith are balanced for once by actual friends of Syd's from pre-Floyd days, and therefore fresh if still despairing tales of his decline.

Pigs Might Fly - The Inside Story of Pink Floyd, by Mark Blake
Blake is a UK music journo whose book covers the Floyd story pretty thoroughly up to the death of Rick Wright. The early formations in Cambridge tend to appear more important in books like this, and Blake goes on to cover Syd Barrett's post-Floyd journey more than I would have felt was necessary. The creativity of the albums is considered and intriguing, though. Waters' increasing intransigence contrasts with Gilmour's proficient lack of bile. That they managed the Live 8 reunion (10 years ago this week (almost)) is an illustration of how they couldn't ever reform for more than one night.

I enjoyed this book quite a lot

David Gilmour is back with a new album next month, 'Rattle That Lock' :

title track

Quite promising, actually

The 'Rattle That Lock' album entered at #1 in the UK last Friday

Syd Barrett statue planned

The legendary musician looks set for a tribute in his hometown of Cambridge, since funding and approval are moving in the same direction. Perhaps it might be ready for the inevitable 50th anniversary of his zenith with Pink Floyd's 1st album 'Piper at the Gates of Dawn'.

David Gilmour: Wider Horizons
Over an hour to plug his recent solo album, with his wife/co-writer Polly Samson on board, together with credit from Roxy Music's Phil Manzanera, and Bombay Bicycle Club's Jamie MacColl (a family friend!) too. He was quite informative about most of the Floyd stuff, except the dissent with Roger around the end of the 70s etc. Otherwise, a fairly warm-hearted show.

Magritte: The Man In The Hat, with Will Young
Bit of a cheat, this, though Will did talk briefly to Aubrey Powell about some of the Wish You Were Here imagery, probably the most obvious homaging to the bowler hat weirdness of the Belgian artist.

Rock Milestones - Pink Floyd - Ummagumma
Bob Harris did the voice-over narration for this, which was a bit confusing. There was an awful lot of talk about Syd Barrett, comparing him even to Buddy Holly. Their pastoral material was considered too. Of course, the problem is that this is a double album, and the new studio material is disjointed and unsuccessful, whereas the other disc has concert stuff from previous album material. Still, it was nice to see Ron Geesin again, and Peter Mew did score as being the relevant engineer. Two other notable things were Harris' tacit idea that this was from a series of DVDs, and also his pronunciation as "Oomer-goomer", which is a new one on me (and indeed other TH who pronounced it more traditionally).

Rock Milestones: Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here
Tony Dolan presented this one, amongst familiar faces for these discs. The first third concerned the preceding Dark Side of the Moon LP, before moving on to more blah blah blah about the importance of Syd Barrett. As well as archive of the four band members, Geesin was again included in the TH's. There was some comedy from a central narration which tried to claim that the title track didn't fit in with the overall themes about Syd, where some guests said (correctly) that it did. It could be interpreted as Roger singing it to Syd ("we're just two lost souls" etc being him and David, already at loggerheads).

The Friday Night Rock Show - 1/7/16 - Nick Mason
Presenter Nicky Horne visited the PF drummer in his office to chew some fat, discuss his interest in car racing, his family of racing licensees, how he feels about the Endless River album now the dust has settled, confirming that it really was the last, having no desire for more live shows, his good friendship with Roger Waters, having no plans for a musical based on their songs, but keen on the idea of an exhibition of artwork and stuff. His "drummer's detachment" means he's probably going to remain the most level-headed member of this band.

Sooner or later, there'll probably be a look at every album.

Pink Floyd - A Saucerful of Secrets
Only half an hour, much of which went on discussing their 1st album, and the decline of Syd Barrett, subjects discussed ad nauseam on these docs already several times over. When the actual material was finally discussed, it wasn't rated too well anyway. Their status as failed singles artists warranted brief mention, as well as pointing to why they focussed so much on albums.

but keen on the idea of an exhibition of artwork and stuff.

Looks like the exhibition is on the way in 2017:

Wish you were here: V&A announces details of Pink Floyd exhibition

The exhibition follows the global success of its David Bowie Is show and was a “great fit” for a museum so dedicated to art, design and performance, said curator Victoria Broackes.

She said the V&A was uniquely placed to stage such a show, adding: “Pink Floyd occupied a distinctive experimental space, consistently pushed artistic boundaries and produced some of the most iconic imagery in popular culture.”