“Breathe”
from Pink Floyd’s THE DARK SIDE OF THE MOON
has remarkable chord changes.
What I found incredible was that she made all the vocals up on the fly. I can’t remember her name because it wasn’t even listed on the original album. I think I saw it on a “Making of” video once. Truly a gross oversight for a person of such talent.
djm
Clare Torry.
edit: But did she sing on Breathe? I know she was in Great Gig and Eclipse…
edit #2: Confirmed, she does not sing on Breathe.
When watching Floyd on the Live 8 thing, I was struck by just how good a guitar player David Gilmour is.
When watching Floyd live I was amazed at the number of trippin’ retirees being hauled out by security (and paramedics). Great show, though.
Oops! You’re right. Those days get a bit foggy from time to time …
Gilmour does all sorts of weird and wonderful things, like replace his 6th string with an extra 3rd string so he can jump to extra notes that ordinary humans can’t get.
djm
I watched a documentary recently on the making of Dark Side of the Moon and it does turn out that she improvised the vocals on “Great Gig.” Even more odd, she immediately went in to the control room afterwards and apologized and was embarassed and wanted to do it again.
I don’t think rock musicians get better than David Gilmour.
Maybe I’ve just got a blind spot, but I’ve never understood the claim that anybody in Floyd was anything special as an instrumentalist and I’ve listened to them since their formation, seen them live in their heyday, seen them on film and so on.
It’s always seemed to me that Soft Machine, and other prog bands, had the virtuosos while Floyd had the flair for spectacle, the marketing smarts and the dull mediocrity that made them ‘accessible.’ In fact, I thought there was a direct connection between their lack of musical substance and their popularity.
At least I have several of their albums (all early to mid period) and enjoy them, without being really impressed. I have no Yes or Genesis at all, so I suppose I really don’t like the popular 70s dinosaurs. OTOH, I really like the quirky risk taking prog bands of that era like Gentle Giant, Henry Cow, Can and early Soft Machine.
Maybe it is just a mater of taste but, being a guitarist, I usually appreciate technique even if it doesn’t move me.
I liked PF stuff. But never was a great fan. I never saw them in concert and heard they did a pretty good show.
I read an article that said Syd Barret was “addicted” to LSD. What a laugh. He may have taken a lot of acid and been addicted to something but I had to laugh at that. Maybe the suppliers were cutting it with Meth or something.
I was more a fan of ELP.
Yes, you have. You seem to prefer unmusical noise because it is technically clever, rather than listening to the music for the sake of the music. Gentle Giant is a good example - clever, but not very musical. I run into this a lot with musicians who can’t step back from the technical aspects of the perfomance to listen to the music as a whole - not just guitarists, but keyboardists are just as bad. I would not say DG is a technically superior guitarist, but what he does fits the music the group is making, and for those who listen to the music, this is what matters most.
djm
I don’t know that there was anything particularly special about the others in the band, but I find the inability to appreciate David Gilmour puzzling. Oh well, to each his Zone.
Dale
Do I really? Perhaps that’s why I’m so fond of Duke Ellington, Muddy Waters and Hank Williams.
I actually very rarely listen to any 70s rock. When I want to listen to music for the sake of music, Pink Floyd would not be a band that naturally springs to mind as being very promising. Of all the bands I mentioned, my favourite is the first Soft Machine album which is mostly highly melodic; much more so than anything Floyd was doing at the time. But I’d much rather listen to 60s jazz than any 70s rock. In that area I like music that is advanced and challenging but not noise fests or freak outs. My preferences expressed above can be summed up simply: better something interesting happening than nothing. I honestly experience mid to late Floyd as muzak for hippies.
I concede I might well have a blind spot here but if, so, it has nothing to do with a love of unmusical noise.
Maybe if I gave this stuff a listen with Gilmour’s role in mind I’d hear what you hear. What tracks should I be listening to? (If it’s late Floyd, I probably don’t have the CDs or LPs but a friend will have.)
I guess I’d suggest Dark Side of the Moon and Wish You Were Here. The Wall, too. There’s also a fine 2-disk “best of” called “Echoes,” I believe.
There’s a lot of Pink Floyd that never really grabbed me and, at times, Roger Waters struck me as a bit too self-indulgent. But three or four of their albums are among my all-time rock & roll faves.
Dale
Yes, I think Dale’s on the right track. We are talking personal tastes, and no-one can be right. Wombat’s personal assaults are directed towards others’ tastes, and vaunt his own preferences, which to me are crap, but that’s just my own tastes, and I can’t be more right than anyone else, either.
djm
Speaking from the right track, let me ask that you just take it easy. I think you’re overreacting to Wombat’s posts and meeting what you believe to be a personal attack with a personal attack of your own.
Are you speaking personally? 
djm
I have no idea what you mean but I like owls.
Me too. They’re way cool. Is that the Holy Hand-grenade of Antioch in the trunk?
I loved Alan’s Psychedelic Breakfast …
djm
