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| Rog at his day job - "the gift of laughter is very precious to me" |
Easygoing, laid-back Rog Waters, iconic bass player for The Pink Floyds [iconic "prog rock" band from the '80s - Ed.], is no stranger to th' Isle O' Foam© [here, and here - Ed.]. He dropped by yestiddy on tour to promote the special iconic anniversary edition of Dark Side O' Th' Moon, and granted us this very special iconic anniversary edition interview!
FT3 Heyyyyy Rog! Lookin' good!
RW Thank you, Farq. One dresses more formally these days, as behooves a winner of the prestigious Nobel's Peace Prize, which a little bird has told me I will almost certainly receive this year!
RW [laughs] Not quite true, Farq! I did employ a team of studio musicians to play exactly according to my instructions. For me, team work is a group of people doing what I tell them. And being grateful.
FT3 Perhaps we could discuss the album track by track? Let's kick off with the opener, Back To The Wall, which prefigures your iconic solo album The Wall.
RW It is? It does? [phone alert: screaming orphans eaten by hyenas] Excuse me, I must get this ... hmm ... another resentful, bitter, envious tweet from the elderly wife of some has-been who wants to join my band. Dream on, Davey-boy!
FT3 The second song, In Your Eyes, is another stripped-back production featuring some great bass playing-
RW [cutting in] Why, thank you.
FT3 -from Keith Relf.
RW [snatches album cover] Where did you get this?
FT3 On an internet. I thought ...
RW [taps irritably at phone] I. Am. Calling. My. Lawyer. Gilmour's behind this. I'm going to sue that thieving fucker for everything he has. Hello? Yes, this is Roger Waters. Put me through to ... what? Waters. W ... a ... t ...
[interview terminated]
Was it really fifty years ago today that I first felt DSOTM had somehow broken with everything I loved about the "dear old Pink Floyd" as Robert Wyatt put it? It wasn't just me - it was them. I remember the bunch of shabby hippies of which I was proud to be a part all curling our lips at this album on release. It's become such an iconic icon since that its iconic status has always been assumed, but at the time we wus unimpressed. Most obvious "fail" (as The Young People Of Today are saying) was the lack of a side-long piece or suite or whatever to act as soundtrack to narcotic reverie. For the first time, the Floyd were selling us music that had no relevance to what we used music for, which was mostly getting stoned. So what was it for? I still have no idea, unless it was to demonstrate hi-fi equipment.
ReplyDeleteIt wasn't just the lack of a lengthy piece you could "immerse" yourself in, it was the feeling of darkness (perhaps the title was a clue?), a major shift away from the spaciness - either cosmic or pastoral - of their music up to that point. And that direction was all down to dear old Rog, who was wrestling with his own demons and determined to make the rest of us suffer.
There've been moments - some of them years long - when I accepted DSOTM and marvelled at its sonic brilliance, although I never carried through to WYWH, which always and forever struck me as a bitter exercise in obligation, nor the rest of their increasingly ghastly discography. It was this period when they picked up most of their audience and sold gazillions of albums and went on enormo-tours, and good luck to everyone who sailed with them.
I haven't actually hear the Medicine Head album yet, but I imagine I'll like it better than the Floyd's version.
agree 1005
DeleteThere is some lovely stuff on the album though it did seem to usher in an ethos of it being respectable in some quarters to perform a complete LP studio live as if the PA were a big big hi-fi. Nowadays there are loads of old farts reprising a classic album in its entirety but the early software-house that was Pink Floyd Inc did it first before the demographics, long-tails of sales, expanded anniversary reissues etc dictated the business case.
ReplyDeleteWaters seems pretty ghastly, and he looks a bit like both Adam Driver and my old boss, onto whom I should very much like to see a large wall collapse.
I haven’t heard Medicine Head’s ‘Dark Side of the Moon’ either, but I’m looking forward to doing so.
ReplyDeleteI have heard Pink Floyd’s ‘Dark Side of the Moon’ more times than I care to remember. Let’s face it, it's tied with ‘Sgt. Pepper’ as the most overrated record in the history of music. Heavy on gimmickry, light on substance, and lyrically depressing. The best solo is Dick Parry’s saxophone on ‘Money’, and the best vocal is by Clare Torry on ‘The Great Gig’ in the Sky’, neither are by an actual member of Pink Floyd.
"Heavy on gimmickry, light on substance, and lyrically depressing" - my thoughts on it, too, neatly encapsulated.
Delete"Atom Heart Mother" is far, far superior - and far better to smoke dope to.
"The best solo is Dick Parry’s saxophone on ‘Money’, and the best vocal is by Clare Torry on ‘The Great Gig’ in the Sky’", and as you say Babs neither is by Pink Floyd, nor - tellingly - sounds anything like Pink Floyd.
DeleteA big fist-bump of support for Atom Heart Mother. Waters was "embarrassed" by it. I'll take Alan's Psychedelic Breakfast over anything of his from DSOTM onwards. It's funny, for one thing (and still raises a chuckle) and light, and a little trippy, and has some lovely Rick Wright keys. He was always the better RW in PF.
Love 'Atom Heart Mother', 'The Piper at the Gates of Dawn' and 'More', but 'Dark Side' is so middle brow.
DeleteIt's Pink Floyd for Gray Suits.
DeleteI feel that DSotM and Sgt Pepper both get their accolades for the technical and production aspects more than for the actual music.
DeleteIn both cases, it's well deserved. The music may be ho-hum (except for "Money", which is much worse). All the same, the work done by Alan Parsons still stands as a master class in recording engineering. The tone and presence of the piano in Great Gig In The Sky (quite different from piano on classical or jazz albums of that period) and the clarity of Nick Mason's drums throughout the album are two aspects that we can appreciate from a casual listen.
He's also the one that persuaded the band to bring in Clare Torry.
"It's Pink Floyd for Gray Suits."
DeleteAnd American "soccer moms".
It was the vinyl equivalent of a coffee table book.
DeleteHere's the Medicine Head album @320:
ReplyDeletehttps://workupload.com/file/dWmDg72BdA3
(It's got rather an obvious flag-raising title, so could be pulled)
Main problem I had, was.. yeah, I liked Floyd .. but, wherever I went it was being played ..and played ..wherever I went!!!! I couldn't seem to escape it!! I also saw it live at Earl's Court (London) .. sat the furthest point from the stage, we had an echo effect from the P.A.!!! and whenever Dave G. pressed a certain effects peddle that's all we could hear ...his geetar!! Special effects were good tho'!!!
DeleteOff Topic
ReplyDeleteWayne Shorter passed earlier today.
He lived a life, though, didn't he?
DeleteIndeed, he did.
DeleteA giant. not sure there is anyone left of his stature in Jazz.
DeleteHey! Kenny G is still alive, pally!
DeleteHow can you tell?
DeleteTry poking him with a stick.
DeleteOn Discogs, under the Medicine Hat LP, there's a list of other albums that share a title...and Badfinger's Wish You Were Here is listed as coming out a year before PF's title.
ReplyDeleteIs this also referred to as A Dark Side Of A Dream?
ReplyDeleteI'll self answer that. After listening to the above mp3, I can see that it isn't the same.
DeleteI have this Mp3 titled Dark Side Of A Dream. It was credited to Pink Floyd, but now it turns out that it was a mix produced for fun by Ray Kolling. Not since Klaatu have so many people had so much fun trying to work out its origin. It is a really good mp3 though.
DeleteI'll risk the oncoming wrath and say that Floyd's "Dark Side Of The Moon" is one of my favorite movie soundtracks...
ReplyDelete... the Wizard Of Oz?
DeleteI have a DVD of 'Wizard Of Oz' synched to 'Dark Side Of The Moon', titled 'Dark Side Of The Rainbow', if anyone is interested.
DeleteThe above Anonymous comment, was by me.
DeleteIndeed, for The Wizard of Oz. The tornado scene set to The Great Gig In The Sky is my favorite part.
DeleteAre you in Kansas?
DeleteThat'll teach me to refresh before I reply...now I sound like a dick...
DeleteFor anyone that has never tried it, playing Echoes along with the "Jupiter And Beyond The Infinite" section (basically the last 24 minutes of the movie) of 2001: A Space Odyssey is also surreal.
DeleteI think it was on You Tube. I remember it being pretty amazing.
DeleteA reggae/dub version of the album by Easy Star All-Stars is really worth checking out, it all works well, especially Money, see link below:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_aYli_1iqs
Babs l would really love to see the wizard of oz synched to DSotM.. it has lived rent free in my head for far too long but l have never actually managed to get hold of a copy… my frail attempts at doing it for myself have all ended in ignominious failure
ReplyDeletethat should have published as michael m
DeleteI’ve split it into 100MBs, so you can download it a little at a time
Deletehttps://mega.co.nz/#!WMAgRILY!N9pvjQQMnLHzjb31rCWpC7ZhLlWrT_WmXbFxjxFDdMo
https://mega.co.nz/#!fcZklaLS!GF7jqxZDzlWnIFowdw19pyy2nHXIe2mDK4pMXCGuHYs
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https://mega.co.nz/#!rUQn1LYL!U5NnyzlWrsmRSMF-lCyr8hTKhY_siYnIdAWely3-YrQ
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https://mega.co.nz/#!mZpnzDyY!01evfDAwZMuszTYG57IAFc6e5VXUrtfXCbkZssuINV4
https://mega.co.nz/#!nAAExA4Q!AfOBmvccXNRgjmXNbTCyH8gvtfa4IdxMi52UJtzWTaU
https://mega.co.nz/#!HF40SR5I!kQTXebZ7pvbPK1iMXXiGzDaBr6IMMmc6Rgv6etooXlo
https://mega.co.nz/#!3dJwwa5T!cbcHAtM_-O264iVKMPCRGGH91rNga_Te_2NB3cuxDiE
https://mega.co.nz/#!7YAFjT5C!YY10RO0UhNtsjFegOJmA_bCfx27akgxyN5eEx1CvryA
https://mega.co.nz/#!GEIQgLDA!C6AaHx3_ZsB4Vlw5fp1UnxL5YKo3tOtrf7-FlpN_0OA
https://mega.co.nz/#!yNBSUCSB!V_Pd_2OgWXSp62gjdgxM2nf9_qIHZGNw0l8-4-YRp3g
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https://mega.co.nz/#!7YI0yDQY!qMmE-apKAQ0rszO8TTkt2HHVCxP65UIQE-QVNNo0J5A
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https://mega.co.nz/#!XBxUDSRa!lvjLTx1ejd_1WZKoce9Cx3cMBGPUK36ulPiJ4v_Cb4U
https://mega.co.nz/#!mJgEACIK!z0N-P8I0yfWLxxUSskawJp3jmlNCaWbNjLIRFrWVWfA
https://mega.co.nz/#!GUhCyBDT!MPPGtdZnKKp6wBw5wElCjgrn9QlNmX3J2Md2fDMdwsk
https://mega.co.nz/#!CZhxjCCA!3_lZ0aUF_EJ5bQv-BJzCmXoJKmcokn-_KGUkvpfI168
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https://mega.co.nz/#!3c5gUAiY!bIU_RgUguD2RiFyPEjVXJo9LgNnX6fe1c7upSAEszcM
https://mega.co.nz/#!KZQ2FLSB!ew85YTrfOlEVk9nVma5-boaEhxHcWmkd_d7-V4_ZHEg
You haven't lived until you see Tarkovsky's "Stalker" synched to "The California Raisins Sing the Hit Songs".
DeleteI'm partial to The Three Stooges' 'A Plumbing We Will Go' synchronized to 'Wish You Were Here'
DeleteHere's the skinny:
Start 'Wish You Were Here' and when Part II of 'Shine On You Crazy Diamond' begins (it's the four-note theme B♭, F, G [below the B♭], E), start 'A Plumbing We Will Go'.
Be careful though, I did this once on a few peyote buttons, and ended up in a parallel universe for nearly two and a half weeks!
Many thanks Babs.. much appreciated
DeleteAnother one of my faves; Brendon Benson's first: https://workupload.com/file/RZSTukEtfyb
ReplyDeleteBrandi Snifter
Flew right under my radar, Brandi, and I'm looking forward to listening to it. Thank you!
DeleteI also prefer their early output but at least they didn't jump onto the new wave-punk-synth bandwagon.
ReplyDeleteMaybe you can sit them along some AOR stuff. Too many tags.
Punk Floyd? I'd like to hear that tough...
Bat
How about Polka Floyd?
DeleteI've always liked DSOTM. It was my first Floyd and it resonated with me as a moody teenage stoner at the time I discovered it in high school so I still have a soft spot for it. I hope I do not have to extinguish my torch and leave the island.
ReplyDeleteThe looks you're getting are of concern for your well-being, MrDave.
DeleteKeith Relf also did some fine work with (and was a founding member of) Renaissance, though the two Relf/McCarty period albums were all but forgotten once the classic lineup got rolling. On their Carnegie Hall live album, Annie Haslam referred to Ashes Are Burning as the band's second album - already ignoring the two albums by the original lineup.
ReplyDeleteRelf was working to reunite that original lineup when he tragically died. McCarty did get the group together, and they recorded a few albums under the band name Illusion.