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GuitarSite.com Guitar News Weekly Edition #98, July 10, 2000 |
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PINK FLOYD STILL RELEVANT? Thanks for the responses to last weeks Pink Floyd articles:
HOW BORING ARE PINK FLOYD?
PINK FLOYD & WIZARD OF OZ I guess the answer is that even though they may no longer have innovative new music to offer the world, their past creations have been spectacular! Like divorce ending a marriage, the fact that things end (whether amicably, with animosity or just dissolve...), doesn't negate all the good times that were had along the way. Does a band lose its reputation if it fails to quit while its ahead? Do people have to die young to be legendary? Like one reader says, time to rest on your laurels, lads, and thanks for the greats of the past!
How many of you can honestly say you don't have a single record, CD, tape or even 8 track or mp3 of Pink Floyd, lying somewhere? Why not dust it off & give it a play - take yourself back to a very special time... BTW, for those of you with DSOTM on record, there's an article on classic vinyl care later in this GNW edition... keep reading! ****** YOUR THOUGHTS... Pink Floyd, at one time, were one of the preeminent creative forces in rock at a time when rock was just beginning to really mature as an art form. They really began to blossom in the early seventies when their earlier weird psychedelic experimentations started to take shape into more cohesive and powerful works of art, and that momentum carried them all the way through to The Wall. By that point, however, their journey had pretty much run its course, they were no longer lean and hungry with something to prove, and they started disliking their situation (and each other) intensely. Roger Waters and the rest of the guys parted ways (with a bitterness that continues to this day), and from then on, the creative cocktail would no longer have all the necessary ingredients. The fire had burned itself out. Nowadays, Floyd are comfortable, secure English gentlemen who have earned the right to relax and play the old hits just for fun. Considering the road they took to get to this point, I won't begrudge them putting out safe, formulaic retreads of "Learning To Fly" if it means they're happy and not at each others' throats. Boring? Hell, yes. Everything from "The Final Cut" to the present has just sounded like four old guys (I'm including Waters here) who used to be Pink Floyd. But we still have all the old albums, don't we? [Daniel E. Helland] ****** Hmm, Pink Floyd! There are some albums on my shelf that no-one can call boring. In many aspects and details, there were ahead of their time. Nevertheless, I know quite boring music by pink floyd in the 90's. Hey, whaddaya want? They were one of the greatest bands ever and to many still they are! four british guys with a bundle of great ideas and attitude. C'mon in boy, have a cigar - oh yes, one of the most cynical coments on rock biz. Those were the 70's: the best earning band dared to spit into the face of big biz! Haven't noticed limp biz doing this yet... [Franjo] ******* they just ain't what they used to be are they?...the wall was definitely a swan song for the floyd's in my humble opinion, even though there was still the final cut with roger, it just didn't do much for me i'm afraid...and for the floyd's without rog...forget it!..the schizophrenic edge that marked their best works from the old "syd days" to the wall are long gone, taking one of the best dynamic elements away from a band who lived in their theatrical use of dynamicism...to anyone thinking of buying a new floyd album i say take that money and finish collecting the rest of the works with rog, including the syd barrett one's so you can see for yourself how boring and semi-lifeless the new stuff appears to be....and i love gilmour's playing...but it just isn't the same, and never will be....even if roger was to come back, that moment has passed, and it wouldn't be the same ever again... [anon] ******* If you think Pink Floyd is boring, you don't have a pulse yourself. All their music is deep, and motivating. They are one of the best prog rock bands ever. From DSOTM, to The Wall, they are just an extremely talented, and entertaining band. I can't avoid listening to a whole record, when I start listening to them. I always though that Pink Floyd was one of those bands that just changed music for the better [Ben] ******* Have you even listened to these guys. Floyd was not Floyd without all of the members, if you think that Waters was all of Floyd you are mistaken. I am a fan of the early stuff, but their post-wall stuff sure is a hell of a lot more "Floydian" than Roger's. You ever hear the Pro's and Con's CD? In my opinion it sucks bad and doesn't sound like Floyd at all. At least the other 3 kept making good music, it may not be as good as the early stuff, but a lot better than Roger solo. And if you think they are boring you obviously have not seen the Pulse video. Concerts just don't get any better than that people, what else can you ask for??? [other Ben] ******* Is Pink Floyd boring? Well, maybe to some young snot-nosed wanna-be no-talent doc marten-wearing useless (did I mention fake?) punk. David Gilmour is a HUGE influence to my playing. I must admit, though, that they aren't as good without Waters. [Patrick] ******* "About Pink Floyd, I loved their Pulse album, also I liked Floyd after Roger Waters left, although I'm sure that I'll get flamed for saying this. Waters would have been cool if after he left Floyd he wouldn't have started all the whining super starcrap that he did, about how Floyd was his music and couldn't be used by the remaining members" [Daniel"TexasBluBoy"Kimball] ******* What's obvious is that days of an enthusiastic,innovative David Gilmour, Nick Mason and Rick Wright are in past tense -- even though they can turn out an album that still has a uniqueness about it that no one else can but the problem comes in when they begin to sound like a parody of their former sound and seem to be very self-conscious of it but keep on doing it for the cash. In contrast, Roger Waters seems to still have the enthusiasm that his former bandmates now lack.Even if you are among those who absolutely hate everthing Pink Floyd has ever done, with or without Waters, it's impossible to miss that spark that Waters seems to have in him and the continued fascination he has about recording and performing. If the remaining Floyd members just slog along as a "corporation" and Waters can't get his stuff recorded and his concerts sponsored that'll be a real loss to those of us who want to hear a "young 55-year-old" who's easily able to keep pace with people 30 years his junior. [SausageGutz] ****** "Brain Damage" From "Dark Side of the Moon"
The lunatic is on the grass
The lunatic is in the hall
And if the dam breaks open many years too soon
The lunatic is in my head
And if the cloud bursts, thunder in your ear ****** Hi! I was fascinated by the recent blurb on the Floyd/Oz issue - 2 years ago I produced a paper on the subject while I was studying for my BA in Cont Music. I posted it on my mp3 radio station if you are interested - I received a High Distinction for the paper so I guess it is good! [Theresa Therese] DARK SIDE OF THE MOON AND WIZARD OF OZ SYNCHRONICITY:
CONTENTS: Dark Side of the Moon (DSOTM) by Pink Floyd (PF) has a unique claim to fame - it stayed on the US Billboard Album charts for a record 15 years (1973 - 1988). It was also the fourth best selling album with total sales of 24 million. Understanding this phenomena is a voyage through psychedelia and its cultural meaning.
1) The Setting:
Three of the four original members (Wright, Waters and Mason) studied architecture in London, the fourth and most flamboyant figure, Syd Barret, studied painting. Barrett is perhaps most responsible for PF's large cult following (still in strong evidence on the world wide web). He symbolises the mad monk who intrigues with that appealing and creative lack of conformity. Schaffner (p.30) sums up Barrett by quoting Arthur Rimbaud: 'A poet makes himself a visionary through a long, boundless and systematic disorganisation of all the senses. All forms of love, of suffering, of madness ... he exhausts within himself, all poisons, and preserves their quintessences.' Pink Floyd's name came from two obscure names in Barrett's record collection - Pink Anderson and Floyd Council, both Georgian bluesmen. What set PF apart from other R&B bands (in 1965) were Barrett's instrumental breaks. They incorporated distortion, feedback and creative improvised FX (eg. rolling ball bearings down guitar strings). Early in 1966, someone put a film (of a paraplegics view of London) behind them as they were performing; thus the magical mixed media formula was born - the theatrics and light show becoming an intrinsic and ever more fantastic ingredient in the Floydian success story. The FX technicians became Floyd innovators in their own right. Peter Jenner (PF's Manager of the time), remembers early experimentation with color slides and at the time he thought that they were just doing what was happening in NY and California. He notes that very few of them had been to America and that the rock press, import records and air travel were not the norm of the time. The PF multimedia machine appears to have based its' avant garde creations on vague rumours about the Velvet Underground and Jefferson Airplane. It is interesting to note Jenners' summary of this phenomena (Schaffner p.36): '... not really knowing what's going on ... but wanting to do it ... they make their own scene. That's what happened in England in the 60's'. Another phenomena took place in the 60's which had a profound effect on Barrett. In fact, it eventually led to Barrett being replaced by Gilmour. Barrett was apparently so far gone that his band simply didn't pick him up for a gig in 1967. What Albert Hoffman discovered in 1943 (from a fungus grown on Rye) had a profound effect on a generation eager to enlarge the scope of their minds. It could also create artificial schizophrenia in susceptible individuals. LSD hit the streets in large batches in 1965 and many people in the know blame the drug for Barretts' loss of sanity. Apparently during Barrett's last gig (1967), his performance consisted of him progressively de-tuning each string of his guitar. On the attitude of the other members of PF, Schaffner (p.102) quotes Storm Thorgerson (creator of many PF album covers): '... the continuing dilemma for the Floyd - having to live with their main creative drive being fundamentally impossible.' That PF recovered from losing the Barrett icon (the originator of the Floydian vision and material, lead singer and lead guitarist), shows perhaps, the kind of persistence and strength that lead to one of the greatest rock albums of time - 'Dark Side of the Moon'. As an antithesis to the Barrett approach, 1968 saw PF using meticulous and elaborate construction instead of anarchic spontaneity. Schaffner (p.124) quotes Peter Brown in saying that PF were one of the first bands to use the studio properly. Brown remarked that they had to, because they weren't really players, they were concept artists. Schaffner also notes (p.125) that: 'the melody and the poetry left PF with Barrett, and this deficiency led to unexpected compensation.' The release of 'A Saucerful of Secrets' in June 1968 saw PF heading in a direction that Mason describes as (Schaffner p.127): 'making something sound professional without using a lot of elaborate technique ... you can provoke the most extraordinary sounds ... finding something that we can do individually that other people just haven't done or haven't tried.' The architectural history of the band gave a unique structural advantage to this experimental approach. A trademark of the Floyd approach is the one chord cosmic space out jams (inherited from Barrett). Critics from their time include NME, who complained of (Schaffner p.128): 'basically good tracks being ruined by the now mandatory bit of extended psychedelic electronics.' Interesting points to note here (Derogatis p.69) is a Mason quote that: 'none of us were tripping except for Syd. We surfed on the psychedelic movement. We used it more than we played a part in it.' A long time friend quoted by Schaffner said: 'The post Barrett Floyd inherited that "acid generation" almost by default and were often mystified by it.' In 1968, after two singles flops, PF became something almost unheard of at the time: an album band (Schaffner p.132).
2) The Album:
As Schaffner notes (p.160), DSOTM was controlled and conceptualised by Waters who used the album and the band to bring his craft (and opinions) to a definitive statement. In Waters' own words he wanted to 'get a bit less involved with flights of fancy and a bit more involved with what we as people are actually involved in.' In DSOTM, Water juxtaposed anti-system cynicism and a compassionate message of self-realisation instead of alienation. The overall theme centers on a young man (Barrett) driven to madness. Hence the album begins with a heartbeat, which then layers with a clock and then a cash register; the theme of human mortality and the material world are thus introduced (good reasons for madness).
3) The Wizard of Oz synchronicity:
Watching the rhythmical element of a good actor is quite an eye opener as to the nature of their craft. In DSOTM, the music seems to follow the craft of the actors in 'Oz'. When you watch the film (with its sound down) and listen to the CD in unison, it seems to give an impression of expressing a lot more than either express when considered individually. It seems to create an odd experience of connection to a quintessential pulse that goes beyond music, words or visuals; not ecstasy, but aliveness and the state of being alive. DSOTM appears to be a blend of synchronicity and serendipity. The artistry of long time engineer Alan Parsons ensured that DSOTM won a grammy award for the best engineered album of 1973. Producer Chris Thomas ensured that Waters and Gilmour did not sabotage the project with musical personality conflicts and Arthur Max ensured that the live and theatric presentation of the album was one never to be forgotten. The same could be said of Storm Thorgerson's pyramid motif and the album conceptual design (which incidentally, goes from black and white, to color, to black and white, just like 'Oz').
4) The Songs:
4) THE GREAT GIG IN THE SKY (Piano and vocal instrumental) (4:47): This was the only song on the album to become commercial with TV - via an advertisement for painkillers. Schaffner (p.162) notes that the specter of death is eloquently invoked by this piece. (Oz: The piece begins as Dorothy leaves the fortune teller - the tornado is the "Great gig in the sky". At 3:35, in the "Pulse" version, a female voice whispers "I never said I was afraid of Dorothy". Side 1 of the album, ending with this piece, is exactly as long as the black and white portion of the film.) 5) MONEY (6:23): PF's first US top 40 hit. Schaffner (p164): 'Waters' home made numismatic sound effects, cleverly synchronised to the unusual 7/8 meter, were the hook.' Parsons is credited for the 'seamless integration into the music', of sound effects throughout the album. Dick Parry's raunchy sax adds to Money's appeal. (Oz: "Money it's a hit, don't give me that goody good bull****" - as this phrase is sung, Glinda, the "cloyingly saccharine" Good Witch of the North appears in her bubble. The theme of Money = Color is evident in 'Oz'. A strong selling point of the film was that it was the first to be made in technicolor. As this song begins, the film turns to color) 6) US AND THEM (7:48): Informally called 'The Violence Sequence' in reference to a 'Zabriskie Point' scene for which the original song was written (and rejected). Zabriskie Point' was a film study of American materialism from a foreigners perspective. The song reached 101 on the US singles charts. Dick Parry contributed a 'wonderfully sated breathy solo' (Rolling Stone, 1973). Schaffner (p.163) notes similarities with the 'Abbey Road' album by the Beatles, with reference here to 'Sun King' vocal harmonies. (Parsons was the apprentice engineer on "Abbey Road" and DSOTM was recorded in the same studio.) Gilmour reflects the style of the time being 'Dear Prudence' guitar sounds, produced by oscillating on one tape machine and wobbling it and putting two microphones out of phase next to each other to get thin, crackly, telephony sounding backing vocals. (Oz: As the word "Black" is sung, the camera pans to the wicked witch and "Blue" refers to the color that Dorothy is wearing. "And who knows which is which (witch?) and who is who" is another interesting synchronistic line.) 7) ANY COLOR YOU LIKE (Instrumental) (3:25): this piece was the B-side of the 'Money' single. (Oz: The tune starts right on the fork of the yellow brick road. During the second repetition of the album, the horse changes color 5 times, the makers of the movie did this on purpose by using gelatin on the horse.) BRAIN DAMAGE (3:50): Schaffner (p.163) compares the song 'Dear Prudence' (from the "Abbey Road" album) with this tune - the guitar riffs in both appear similar. (Oz: Of interest here is "The Scarecrow", which was a Barrett song in the PF album "Piper at the gates of dawn". This album title was chosen from a chapter in Barrett's favourite book, "Wind in the Willows". The tune synchronises with the scarecrow scene - the scarecrow accentuates the wah wah guitar and his dance has a real groove with the music. The lyric "The lunatic is on the grass" is fairly blatant in its reference to the scarecrow".) 8) ECLIPSE (2:06): The live version of DSOTM (before recording) was actually a performance sequence called 'Eclipse'. The actual tune 'Eclipse' was composed later when Waters wanted a piece to round the album off. In this tune Waters has a thematic lyric summarisation of: "and everything under the sun is in tune, but the sun is eclipsed by the moon" Schaffner (p.163) compares the similarity of the guitar riffs to 'I want you (she's so heavy)' on the 'Abbey Road' Album. (Oz: The words "home, home again" - on the third repeat of the album - are sung as Dorothy opens her eyes when she finally comes home.) The doorman at the Abbey Road studios, Driscoll, has the last word on the album - "There is no dark side of the moon really, matter of fact, it's all dark."
5) Success factors:
DSOTM is a classic album with great cross over success. It appeals to the intellectual, the disenfranchised, the rich, the poor, black, white, etc. It has used elements that both validate and dismiss a wide variety of sacred subjects. ("Money - it's a hit" is a statement of contradictory meaning.) It appeals to both pessimist and optimist. It encourages self-empowerment ("Choose your own ground"). Its humanitarian treatment of the human condition is very much in tune with the thematic content of 'Oz'. It seeks to explore and understand the concepts that are oft time taboo within the human psyche - madness, paranoia and violence. It does this in an almost gentle and ordinary way (eg. using the doorman for the parting statement). Thought Waters' presence is strong, DSOTM seems a project of great teamwork and a very deserved success given the perseverance of all involved despite the usual ego and interpersonal clashes that go with the territory. PF seems to appeal because of its anonymity. They seem to remain relatively uncluttered by the waffle/hype that denigrates many artists. Ironically, it is the very human ordinariness that the mass media seeks to cash in on that seems the root of PF's appeal. Underneath the psychedelic creativity that PF strove to understand (about Barrett), lies a story of compassion toward madness and violence (Barrett was renown for both), a longing for something more and a marked cynical attitude toward a society that does not provide it. The psychedelic age seemed full of sensitive, intelligent and unhappy individuals who magnified and exposed the 'void' with which we must all live. For Barrett the antidote to the horror of mortality was LSD and spontaneous expression. PF's antidote was DSOTM and constructed expression from those who contain the seed of understanding, but not the full and dangerously beautiful bloom that beckons a fuller understanding of the human plight. DSOTM offers acknowledgment without dangerous indulgence. Madness for the masses.
7) Bibliography:
From:
http://stations.mp3s.com/stations/12/almost_an_alternative.html See also:
HOW BORING ARE PINK FLOYD?
PINK FLOYD & WIZARD OF OZ
PINK FLOYD @ GUITARSITE.COM
More PF sites:
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