Intervening Tours
The London sessions were interrupted by an American tour, in which Brian Humphries participated. The first leg of this tour started at the Pacific National Exhibition Coliseum in Vancouver (Canada) on April 8, 1975, and ended on April 27 with a sixth show in the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena. The sessions resumed on May 5, and continued until June 5 (the day of the astonishing encounter between the members of Pink Floyd and an unrecognizable Syd Barrett). The band continued recording, spurred on mainly by Waters’s energy, as Brian Humphries testifies: “I think of Roger actually being Pink Floyd, as much as I regard and respect the other three. He’s really in control of the studio part of the group. After all, he does write all the songs.”9
The second leg of the American tour took place between June 7 (Atlanta Stadium) and 28 (Ivor Wynne Stadium in Hamilton, Canada). Then, on July 5, the Floyd was on the bill at the big Knebworth Park rock festival, playing alongside the Steve Miller Band, Captain Beefheart, Roy Harper (and Trigger), Linda Lewis, and Graham Chapman. Finally, the last takes and the mixing were completed between July 7 and 28. This final stage, according to Brian Humphries, went better than for Dark Side, where the Floyd had had to call on Chris Thomas as an independent ear—and additionally, as a referee. In Humphries’s words: “There are very few musical differences within the group framework. Insofar as mixing goes, there’s never any bickering or anything of that sort. They all usually agree quite easily.”9 He ends on a critical note, though: “I could have mixed the album better than they did, but they are my bosses and they have the last say.”9 Yet David Gilmour would reveal in 1975 that after a week’s work, the mixing had not been so easy: “We do get into a lot of arguments about the way things should be mixed and sometimes it comes down to two people mixing it differently and then we vote to see which mix to use.”100
It was the first time Pink Floyd had brought in so many external musicians for an album. It features, on the saxophone, Dick Parry, who had really shone on The Dark Side of the Moon, but also some new contributors: Roy Harper, their longstanding friend, who performed the lead vocal in “Have a Cigar,” Venetta Fields and Carlena Williams on backing vocals, and, more surprisingly, the extraordinary violinist Stéphane Grappelli, brilliant former partner of Django Reinhardt, whose contributions on “Wish You Were Here” unfortunately were omitted.
Technical Details
In 1974, two new mixing desks were installed in Abbey Road Studios One and Two. They were enormous EMI TG 44x16 consoles. Unfortunately, this model was too bulky for Studio Three, which was rather more modest in size. So, at the beginning of 1975, the old TG12345 was replaced with a Neve that was specially adapted for the studio and substantially modified by EMI. The setup was totally different from the TG, and Brian Humphries had trouble coming to grips with it, as he himself explained: “The main problem was that they had just installed a new console in [Studio Three], and we were the very first ones to use it. It was a 24-track desk and though it’s usually a fairly simple task to get accustomed to a new setup, this one was really difficult.”101 The tape recorder was a Studer A80 twenty-four track, while the monitors, effects, and microphones were largely the same as those used on Dark Side.
The Instruments
David Gilmour recorded predominantly with his faithful “Black Strat,” its white pickguard replaced with a black one. For acoustic work he always used his Martin D-35, as well as an acoustic twelve-string bought from a friend, probably a Martin D12-28. On the effects side, he added an MXR Phase 90 to his collection.
Rick Wright opted for new keyboards, including an ARP Solina String Ensemble, a Hohner Clavinet, a Hammond C3, and a Moog Taurus.
Roger Waters still played a Fender Precision bass, but a black one with a maple neck and a white pickguard. In the Melody Maker from October 11, 1975, Nick Mason went through the exact setup of his Ludwig drum kit: bass drums; tom-toms; floor toms; Remo Rototoms; a snare drum; a Paiste hi-hat; Paiste cymbals; and Ginger Baker drumsticks. He also mentioned that, to dull the sound, he put pillows in his bass drums, which he tuned quite low.
For Pink Floyd Addicts
Wish You Were Here is also the title of an album by Badfinger, produced by Chris Thomas and released in 1974, as well as being the name of a musical comedy by Arthur Kober, Joshua Logan, and Harold Rome, which debuted on Broadway in 1952.
THE BITTER TASTE OF THE STRANGE!
In 1974, French fans were horrified to discover an advertising campaign linking their favorite group with Gini, a soft drink with a dreadful slogan that went: “Gini… Pink Floyd… a strange taste… a strange music from another place.” In fact, the band had signed on to the campaign two years earlier, for £50,000, prior to the success of Dark Side, and had completely forgotten about it. But at the time of their French tour in June 1974, Gini made sure to remind them and even insisted on having their PR people at concerts! It left Waters with a bitter taste, to the extent that he started writing a song on the subject, “How Do You Feel,” which unfortunately was never completed…
For Pink Floyd Addicts
The four elements (air, fire, water, earth) are represented on the sticker affixed to the wrapper of Wish You Were Here. This is probably also a reference to the star signs of the four band members: Virgo for Waters, Pisces for Gilmour, Leo for Wright, and Aquarius for Mason.
In September 1974, Nick Mason appeared on the British music television program Top of the Pops as the drummer when Robert Wyatt performed his cover version of “I’m a Believer” by the Monkees, which was produced by Nick Mason. On the acoustic guitar, on this one and only occasion, we find a certain Andy Summers, three years before he joined the band the Police.
Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Parts 1-4)
Parts 1–4 (David Gilmour, Richard Wright, Roger Waters); Part 5 (Roger Waters) / 13:33
Musicians
David Gilmour: electric rhythm guitar, electric lead guitar, vocal harmonies (?)
Rick Wright: keyboards, vocal harmonies (?), vibraphone (?)
Roger Waters: voice, vocal harmonies (?), bass, VCS3
Nick Mason: drums
Dick Parry: baritone and tenor saxophones
Venetta Fields, Carlena Williams: backing vocals
Unidentified Musicians: singing glasses, sound effects
Recorded
Abbey Road Studios, London: January 13–16, 20–23, 27–30, February 3–6, 10–12, 14, 17–20, 24–26, March 3, May 5, 15, 19–21, 29, June 2, July 7, 8, 11, 14–19, 28, 1975 (Studios One, Two, and Three)
Technical Team
Producer: Pink Floyd
Sound Engineers: Brian Humphries, John Leckie (January 13–16)
Assistant Sound Engineer: Peter James
Genesis
It was in January 1974, when Pink Floyd got together to compose material for their next album, that the opening four notes of this vast symphony came to David Gilmour as he was playing his Stratocaster. Four notes that so inspired—or even moved—Roger Waters that he came up with some of his most beautiful lyrics. The “crazy diamond” is obviously Syd Barrett, who had not been a member of Pink Floyd for some years, who was no longer physically there, but who remained ever present in the minds of Waters, Gilmour, Wright, and Mason. “It’s my homage to Syd and my heartfelt expression of my sadness,” Roger Waters reflects in The Story of Wish You Were Here. “But also my admiration for the talent and my sadness for the loss of the friend.”102
From the very first line of “Shine On You Crazy Diamond,” Waters the songwriter travels back in time to the Cambridge of the early 1960s, a time when Barrett’s intelligence, artistic eccentricity, and dreams bathed all who were around him in their light. Unfortunately, hallucinogenic drug abuse and the pressure of the music industry soon wiped out his magic. Now there’s a look in your eyes/Like black holes in the sky/You were caught in the cross fire/Of childhood and stardom, sings Waters with tragic overtones. But at the same time, these words testify to a genuine admiration for someone who rea
ched for the secret too soon, who lived—and was still living—threatened by shadows at night. “Shine On You Crazy Diamond” is effectively an ode to the “extraordinary” boy, in the original sense of the term, who enabled Pink Floyd to reach their dizzy heights, a gesture of recognition—in the form of poetry by turns luminous and desolate—of the one who had guided them along the path to the global success of The Dark Side of the Moon. “I think what was so important was to not try and write him out of history,”102 Nick Mason comments in The Story of Wish You Were Here. And as Roger Waters adds in that same goldmine of a film: “There are no generalities, really, in that song. It’s not about ‘all the crazy diamonds,’ it’s about Syd.” In 1976, Waters would re-examine his real motivation, telling Philippe Constantin, a journalist at the French magazine Rock & Folk: “In actual fact, I wrote that song, ‘Shine On,’ above all to see the reactions of people who reckon they know and understand Syd Barrett. I wrote and rewrote and rewrote and rewrote the lyrics because I wanted it to be as close as possible to what I felt,”9 adding that his words, though imperfect, conveyed a patent sincerity, “that sort of indefinable, inevitable melancholy about the disappearance of Syd.”9 However, Waters, not immune to the odd contradiction, claimed in the same interview: “I really don’t know why I started writing ‘Shine On.’”9
At the first recording sessions for the album in January 1975, Roger Waters convinced Rick Wright and Nick Mason, then David Gilmour, after long, heated discussions, to divide “Shine On You Crazy Diamond” into two movements, the first opening the opus, and the second concluding it. The first movement is in turn divided into four parts. The first part is a long keyboard introduction played by Rick Wright; the second, which also goes by the name “Syd’s Theme,” opens on David Gilmour’s legendary four notes; the third is an instrumental with a solo by Wright followed by one by Gilmour; then the fourth is sung. The song and the guitar playing had a very big influence on Phil Manzanera (guitarist with Roxy Music, and later David Gilmour’s accompanist): “That riff is like other great riffs—the minute you hear it, you know what it is. […] When you’re playing those songs, you marvel at the simplicity of it all, yet it’s totally self-contained. It’s quite minimalist, so each part is distinctive.”81
The Evening Visitor
On June 5, the day before they were due to set off on their US tour, the four bandmates and their team gathered at Abbey Road for the final mix of “Shine On You Crazy Diamond.” There was someone else in the studio as well, as Nick Mason and David Gilmour related in The Story of Wish You Were Here: “My memory is that I came in to the studio, and there was this guy standing there in a gabardine raincoat. A large, large bloke. And I had no idea who it was,”102 Mason recalls. “And surprisingly,” adds Gilmour, “no-one’s saying ‘Who’s that person? What’s he doing wandering around all our gear in the studio?’ And then him coming into the control room and standing around. And how long it was before anyone woke up.”102 Because this visitor was none other than Syd Barrett (who, according to Mason, must have got wind that the band was recording at Abbey Road). An unrecognizable Syd Barrett, paunchy, bald, and with no eyebrows. “We just sort of stood there, just shell-shocked,” remembers Brian Humphries. Until somebody thought of something to say to him.”102 “It was pretty affecting, really,” confirmed Storm Thorgerson, “Roger and Dave cried.”102 As for what piece the band were listening to when Barrett turned up in the studio, Nick Mason remains circumspect: “Legend has it that this was ‘Shine On You Crazy Diamond’—the track most influenced by Syd’s presence, or absence—although I’m not sure it actually was.”5
Production
When the sessions for “Shine On” began on January 13, 1975, it was John Leckie who was in Studio Three at the fabulous Neve console modified by EMI’s technicians. Leckie came on board, having been an assistant on Meddle. Now promoted to sound engineer, he was assisted by Peter James, who had worked with Alan Parsons on Dark Side. But the very next day the pair were astonished to discover that another sound engineer had been brought in to work alongside them, and what’s more a freelance, though the use of these had hitherto been banned by EMI: Brian Humphries!
Humphries spent three days familiarizing himself with the premises and the equipment before finally taking over for Leckie on Monday, January 20. But he had the misfortune to be working with a new setup that was hard to come to grips with, even for the Abbey Road technicians. Soon after taking up his role, he made a mistake that could easily have cost him his job. Having spent several days recording the backing track for “Shine On You Crazy Diamond,” the first track the band was working on (with an acoustic guitar, bass, synths, and drum kit), the Floyd wasn’t happy with the result and decided to start over again. “So we did it again in one day flat and got it a lot better,” David Gilmour recounts. “Unfortunately nobody understood the desk properly and when we played it back we found that someone had switched the echo returns from monitors to tracks one and two.”99 The consequences were disastrous: the tom-toms, guitars, and keyboards were lost in the echo, which could not be got rid of. The only solution: to rerecord everything. “I was expecting to get fired on the Monday morning,” Humphries admits. “Instead the band members just agreed to record both sections again because they felt they could do them better.”99
The production of “Shine On” took a vast number of recording sessions and demanded an untold effort of everyone involved. The atmosphere was not ideal, as everyone was having trouble concentrating. Moreover, Waters, who was increasingly becoming the band’s guiding force, took out his aggression on Rick Wright, but also on Nick Mason, himself in the midst of a personal crisis, who was fed up with Waters’s telling him over and over to redo his drum takes. However, at the end of roughly seventy sessions there emerged this extraordinary piece of music split into two sections, “Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Parts 1–5)” and “(Parts 6–9).”
There were also two backing vocalists involved in the recording of the album: Venetta Fields and Carlena Williams. It was not the first time they had sung for Pink Floyd. Venetta had worked with them on The Dark Side of the Moon tour in October 1973 and Carlena on the French tour in June 1974. The two African American women had exceptional careers. Venetta Fields had been a member of the Ikettes, the Raelettes, and the Blackberries, and took part in numerous recording sessions, including for the Stones album Exile on Main St. (1972), and Steely Dan’s Aja (1977). Carlena Williams, for her part, had been involved in collaborations with artists as diverse as Etta James, Roy Buchanan, and Donna Summer. The connection with Pink Floyd actually came about through Humble Pie, for whom the two singers were working in 1973. And it was David Gilmour, who was friends with the band’s drummer Jerry Shirley (who also wielded the drumsticks on Syd Barrett’s first two albums), who decided to poach them, contrary to the wishes of their bandleader Steve Marriott.
SHINE ON YOU CRAZY DIAMOND (Parts 1–5)
Part 1 (0:00–3:53)
The origins of this first part can be traced back to October 1973, when the Floyd was working on the Household Objects project. But the outcome was very disappointing; nothing really came out of the sessions, and there was nothing worth keeping. Except for one piece. Alan Parsons, who was still behind the desk at that time, explained: “[One of the instrumentals involved] compiling tapes of wine glasses varispeeded at different pitches so you could make up different chords by combining different tracks on the 24-tracks.”9 So glasses in fact formed the basis for this sequence: it was just a matter of running a damp finger around the rim of one of the glasses to make a sound, a well-known phenomenon called “singing glasses.” It works on the principle that you have to fill them with liquid to different levels in order to vary the pitch of the notes, but Parsons later claimed they had done it with empty glasses: “It was a matter of scraping your finger on the edge and then varispeeding it from a loop,”9 he explained.
Re-christened “Rick’s Drone” at the first session on January 13, 1975, this instrumental
sequence reappeared bearing the name “Wine Glasses” in 2011, on the CD Wish You Were Here [Experience Edition]. Confusingly, Glenn Povey—who had access to the session sheets—stated in his book The Complete Pink Floyd that the group added “Wine Glasses” by overdub on February 24 at the start of “Shine On,” based on a sequence recorded on January 5, 1971, originally entitled “Nothing Part 5,” one of the twenty-four pieces comprising Nothing Parts 1–24, a project that was partly abandoned by the Floyd at the time Meddle was being produced, and which was effectively the precursor to Household Objects. Is this a mistake? Does “Nothing Part 5” really have nothing in common with “Wine Glasses”?
This first part starts, then, on a G-minor chord that fades in as a kind of drone. Based entirely on “Wine Glasses,” Rick Wright enriches it with overdubs of strings produced on the ARP Solina, bass produced by the Moog Taurus, effects almost certainly from an EMS VCS3, layers produced by the Hammond organ, and melodic phrases played on the Minimoog. It has a dense, rich texture, with multiple tracks combined to intensify the sound. One can also make out a ringing sound that is reminiscent of a vibraphone (example at 0:59), though it may also come from the Fender Rhodes or the Wurlitzer.
Pink Floyd All the Songs Page 44
