without deliberately trying to do so i now realise that in terms of my specific description of the "locus classico" Pink Floyd fan i identified Jeremy Clarkson in all but name .
Syd Barrett was receiving substantial royalties (I heard £40k/month) right up until his death and this was down to Dave Gilmour who made sure he got what was rightly due to him and agree of all the band he seemed the most affected by Syd's demise. For me Gilmour is one of the really great rock guitarists and the rift between him and Waters I believe started with an argument about musical competancy and the right to lead the band. Whatever they have a body of work that stands the test of time and that is what counts. When they reformed for Live8 they were truly mesmerising and even an old punk like Bob Geldorf was quoted as saying that he couldn't he believ how four old geezers could stand on a stage and play so beautifully and effortlessly. If they reform I predict it will be the biggest selling tour of all time and I for one will be scrapping for a ticket.
The story of when Syd turned up to the studio when they were recording wish you were here, overweight, shaved off all his body hair on his head, jumping up and down trying to brush his teeth etc after years of not seeing anyone from the band is heartbreaking.
without deliberately trying to do so i now realise that in terms of my specific description of the "locus classico" Pink Floyd fan i identified Jeremy Clarkson in all but name .
Obviously a long way off the mark then. Love floyd, hate cars, hate top gear, hate Clarkson.
Syd Barrett was receiving substantial royalties (I heard £40k/month) right up until his death and this was down to Dave Gilmour who made sure he got what was rightly due to him and agree of all the band he seemed the most affected by Syd's demise. For me Gilmour is one of the really great rock guitarists and the rift between him and Waters I believe started with an argument about musical competancy and the right to lead the band. Whatever they have a body of work that stands the test of time and that is what counts. When they reformed for Live8 they were truly mesmerising and even an old punk like Bob Geldorf was quoted as saying that he couldn't he believ how four old geezers could stand on a stage and play so beautifully and effortlessly. If they reform I predict it will be the biggest selling tour of all time and I for one will be scrapping for a ticket.
The story of when Syd turned up to the studio when they were recording wish you were here, overweight, shaved off all his body hair on his head, jumping up and down trying to brush his teeth etc after years of not seeing anyone from the band is heartbreaking.
Biggest advert for avoiding lsd possible. Wouldn't believe it was the same person.
Syd Barrett was receiving substantial royalties (I heard £40k/month) right up until his death and this was down to Dave Gilmour who made sure he got what was rightly due to him and agree of all the band he seemed the most affected by Syd's demise. For me Gilmour is one of the really great rock guitarists and the rift between him and Waters I believe started with an argument about musical competancy and the right to lead the band. Whatever they have a body of work that stands the test of time and that is what counts. When they reformed for Live8 they were truly mesmerising and even an old punk like Bob Geldorf was quoted as saying that he couldn't he believ how four old geezers could stand on a stage and play so beautifully and effortlessly. If they reform I predict it will be the biggest selling tour of all time and I for one will be scrapping for a ticket.
The story of when Syd turned up to the studio when they were recording wish you were here, overweight, shaved off all his body hair on his head, jumping up and down trying to brush his teeth etc after years of not seeing anyone from the band is heartbreaking.
Biggest advert for avoiding lsd possible. Wouldn't believe it was the same person.
Wouldn't say it was LSD, acid is actually proven to be one of the least harmful drugs in existance, I would say it was the amount of LSD he was doing, coupled with the stress and exhaustion he underwent at the time, possible depression on top of all the other drugs he was doing permanently destroyed his brain chemistry.
Can't remember the who or why, but a customer from Cambridge told me about a mate of his who cut the hair of this slightly odd bloke for years. He used to sometimes talk about his younger days in a band, and they didn't take him all that seriously until one day after he left, a new customer said "do you know who that is...". Took him a bit more seriously after that.
Syd Barrett was receiving substantial royalties (I heard £40k/month) right up until his death and this was down to Dave Gilmour who made sure he got what was rightly due to him and agree of all the band he seemed the most affected by Syd's demise. For me Gilmour is one of the really great rock guitarists and the rift between him and Waters I believe started with an argument about musical competancy and the right to lead the band. Whatever they have a body of work that stands the test of time and that is what counts. When they reformed for Live8 they were truly mesmerising and even an old punk like Bob Geldorf was quoted as saying that he couldn't he believ how four old geezers could stand on a stage and play so beautifully and effortlessly. If they reform I predict it will be the biggest selling tour of all time and I for one will be scrapping for a ticket.
The story of when Syd turned up to the studio when they were recording wish you were here, overweight, shaved off all his body hair on his head, jumping up and down trying to brush his teeth etc after years of not seeing anyone from the band is heartbreaking.
Biggest advert for avoiding lsd possible. Wouldn't believe it was the same person.
Wouldn't say it was LSD, acid is actually proven to be one of the least harmful drugs in existance, I would say it was the amount of LSD he was doing, coupled with the stress and exhaustion he underwent at the time, possible depression on top of all the other drugs he was doing permanently destroyed his brain chemistry.
Gilmour joined a few weeks before Barrett's final break down and him leaving the band. Gilmour allied with the remaining three others, eventually took the Floyd in a very different direction. Pre Gilmour, it was very much Barrett's show. The first time I saw Floyd was at the Bromley Court Hotel in the lateish 1960s. They were dressed in sgt pepper type gear with helmet hair cuts and on stage, their backcloth was a white sheet onto which were projected moving psychedelic images generated by heating oil slides controlled by two freaky girls from a control panel in the middle of the dance floor. Their 'music' was like telstar meets white noise and the BBC radiophonic workshop output. Gilmour had not yet joined. It was Barrett's band, he and Wright were the 'freaks in control'. Barretts demise led to Gilmour, a bluesman at heart taking the band onto a very different road. Water's doomsday lyrics and Gilmour's mournful plucking usurping acid influenced musical tripping. This approach has appealed to million upon million record buyers and made the Pink Floyd one of the all time most influential and wealthiest as well as long lived bands in the world. Water's objection to the Floyd after he was 'sacked' or left or whatever, was that it was his compositions that were being played to sell out crowds all over the world while he was playing to tiny crowds in small auditoria. You know what it's like, big egos, big bucks, big fall out. Reforming the 'Pink Floyd' is impossible. Wright, a very important yet underrated member is dead. And to my mind the Mason/Gilmour/Waters/Plus New KeyBoard Wizard band just will not be the same.
Excellent posting Lincs..... I think that Dave Gilmour was a friend of Syd's. I agree with you about Wright, and as I stated it was not about an individual, but the 'collective' . Syd was the creative director of the floyd in the early days, of course it is all speculation about what direction they might have gone, but I am pretty sure it would not have been the obvious. The Bromley court was an important gig venue around these parts Hendrix played there on his first tour, although I have never heard anything on bootleg. Reading through the litigation that followed it is rather sad that in ended at that stage with the lawyers. Just glad I saw them at Hyde Park in 1970, and on the dark side tour I think in 74 in London.
PortsmouthAddick mentioned the Earls Court 94 shows; Were these the shows where one of the structures holding a section of the audience collapsed? If memory serves, and I may be well off the mark here, they were supposed to have a 'plane' flying over the audience during, I think, On The Run, but couldn't do it for health and safety reasons due to the collapse and, as a result, performed Astronomy Domine instead. I remember being in the crowd for the show the night after the collapse and being amazed that they played AD as I didn't think they'd played it for years!
I may be remembering this all wrong though - happy for someone to correct me!
PortsmouthAddick mentioned the Earls Court 94 shows; Were these the shows where one of the structures holding a section of the audience collapsed? If memory serves, and I may be well off the mark here, they were supposed to have a 'plane' flying over the audience during, I think, On The Run, but couldn't do it for health and safety reasons due to the collapse and, as a result, performed Astronomy Domine instead. I remember being in the crowd for the show the night after the collapse and being amazed that they played AD as I didn't think they'd played it for years!
I may be remembering this all wrong though - happy for someone to correct me!
No, I think you are spot on. I was there the night after the collapsed structures.
I saw them in 94 a week or so after collapse and they flew the plane. My sister lived with one of the tour managers who got me tickets. You couldn't get them for love nor money at the time. I managed to get Mason to sign my copy of the WYWH cd at the goodwood revival a couple of years ago
I loved them up to and including Dark Side of the Moon. IMO much more adventurous, artistic and intelligent in the earlier days. I felt they became too predictable and ordinary. Genesis went through a similar but much worse slide into 'ordinariness'.
Excellent posting Lincs..... I think that Dave Gilmour was a friend of Syd's.
They studied together at arts college in Cambridge and then later Gilmour joined Pink Floyd mostly because Syd Barrett was becoming too unreliable. The intention was to let Syd be the songwriter and do occasional studio work while the others did the gigs although they were getting better known at that point things were still a bit make or break and they couldn't afford to lose gigs because Syd was off on another LSD trip. Then after one no-show by Syd Barrett they simply decided to carry on without him.
Excellent posting Lincs..... I think that Dave Gilmour was a friend of Syd's.
They studied together at arts college in Cambridge and then later Gilmour joined Pink Floyd mostly because Syd Barrett was becoming too unreliable. The intention was to let Syd be the songwriter and do occasional studio work while the others did the gigs although they were getting better known at that point things were still a bit make or break and they couldn't afford to lose gigs because Syd was off on another LSD trip. Then after one no-show by Syd Barrett they simply decided to carry on without him.
the story's so sad, they just didn't bother to pick him up one day and virtually never heard from him again
I said previously in this thread that I simply couldn't see Gilmore, Mason and Waters ever doing one last tour as Pink Floyd.....but I've just found this and now i'm not so sure!
Excellent posting Lincs..... I think that Dave Gilmour was a friend of Syd's. I agree with you about Wright, and as I stated it was not about an individual, but the 'collective' . Syd was the creative director of the floyd in the early days, of course it is all speculation about what direction they might have gone, but I am pretty sure it would not have been the obvious. The Bromley court was an important gig venue around these parts Hendrix played there on his first tour, although I have never heard anything on bootleg. Reading through the litigation that followed it is rather sad that in ended at that stage with the lawyers. Just glad I saw them at Hyde Park in 1970, and on the dark side tour I think in 74 in London.
thanks for those kind words Ken. the Bromley Court Hotel was THE place in S E London for 'prog rock' in the 60s and 70s. I saw and met Hendrix there twice, I am pretty sure that his 1st BCH appearance was just his second live UK gig. Hey Joe hit the charts a few weeks later and he was serious box office. He was originally billed as the Guy Who Plays the Guitar Behind his Back and With his Teeth .. though not at the same time. Later he was taken VERY seriously of course Other bands I saw at the BCH .. Cream, John Mayall, Jeff Beck/Rod Stewart (regulars until Beck and Stewart had a fight on stage), Pato, Fleetwood Mac (P Green version), Chicken Shack (Christine McVie), L J Baldry, Caravan, Pink Fairies, Soft Machine, Van der Graaf, Bonzo Bog Doo Dahs, U S Bluesmen by the score .. loads and loads. Another great venue was the Mistrale by Beckenham Junction Station, now a pole dance venue I believe .. Free, Nice (K Emerson), Desmond Decker, G Baker's Airforce, Juicy Lucy, Geno Washington, Cliff Bennett, Alan Bown (with R Palmer) .. and who could forget the Witchdoctor at the Savoy in Catford above the notorious Mr Smiths' Club, where every (more 'pop oriented) band under the sun played, from the prototype Deep Purple to the Tremeloes, the Who ... this is great, I feel 17 again !!!!!
Excellent posting Lincs..... I think that Dave Gilmour was a friend of Syd's. I agree with you about Wright, and as I stated it was not about an individual, but the 'collective' . Syd was the creative director of the floyd in the early days, of course it is all speculation about what direction they might have gone, but I am pretty sure it would not have been the obvious. The Bromley court was an important gig venue around these parts Hendrix played there on his first tour, although I have never heard anything on bootleg. Reading through the litigation that followed it is rather sad that in ended at that stage with the lawyers. Just glad I saw them at Hyde Park in 1970, and on the dark side tour I think in 74 in London.
thanks for those kind words Ken. the Bromley Court Hotel was THE place in S E London for 'prog rock' in the 60s and 70s. I saw and met Hendrix there twice, I am pretty sure that his 1st BCH appearance was just his second live UK gig. Hey Joe hit the charts a few weeks later and he was serious box office. He was originally billed as the Guy Who Plays the Guitar Behind his Back and With his Teeth .. though not at the same time. Later he was taken VERY seriously of course Other bands I saw at the BCH .. Cream, John Mayall, Jeff Beck/Rod Stewart (regulars until Beck and Stewart had a fight on stage), Pato, Fleetwood Mac (P Green version), Chicken Shack (Christine McVie), L J Baldry, Caravan, Pink Fairies, Soft Machine, Van der Graaf, Bonzo Bog Doo Dahs, U S Bluesmen by the score .. loads and loads. Another great venue was the Mistrale by Beckenham Junction Station, now a pole dance venue I believe .. Free, Nice (K Emerson), Desmond Decker, G Baker's Airforce, Juicy Lucy, Geno Washington, Cliff Bennett, Alan Bown (with R Palmer) .. and who could forget the Witchdoctor at the Savoy in Catford above the notorious Mr Smiths' Club, where every (more 'pop oriented) band under the sun played, from the prototype Deep Purple to the Tremeloes, the Who ... this is great, I feel 17 again !!!!!
Lincs, I was at the first of those Hendrix gigs, stood three feet from him whilst he was playing....(not sure he did a second one there?) though he did two Chis Caves gigs. The audience was mostly mods and I can honestly say we had no idea we were watching someone who would go on to be a musical legend; had I have done so I would have savoured the moment like no other. It cost 5 shillings....(25p in todays money), to stand next to him for 2 hours whilst he performed.....one can scarcely believe it! Can't help feeling you and I know each other....I hailed from Catford and was a complete OTT mod. I go up to Lincoln regularly (my sister lives in Waddington), so maybe we can link up next time I'm up. Whereabouts was it you live.....I'm sure you have told us? By the way The Bromel club was run by Tony Hayes........I bumped into him in Holborn about 10 years ago.
Slightly off topic, Re The Hendrix comments, my dad saw him at the Black Prince, I think. When he came home dad and mum had a row, she accused him of being pissed cos he told her he had seen a black guy play the guitar with his teeth!!
I remember seeing Eric Clapton and later Elton John (Reg Dwight as he was then) playing keyboards for John Mayall at The Glenlyn Ballrooms in Forest Hill....it's now (sadly) a snooker club.
@SoundAsa£ .. I'm in Grimsby, a nice 35 mile cross country drive from Waddington where the red arrows hang out. Next time you're up here drop me a note and perhaps we can meet up. About Hendrix .. I got chatting to him at the Bromel gig you're talking of, but that is another story !! .. and the Glenlyn .. I'd forgotten about there ..
Slightly off topic, Re The Hendrix comments, my dad saw him at the Black Prince, I think. When he came home dad and mum had a row, she accused him of being pissed cos he told her he had seen a black guy play the guitar with his teeth!!
Hendrix's manager was Chas Chandler, one time bass player with the Animals. He once wrote that Hendrix looked so weird that the only way he could persuade places to book him was by saying .. 'yeah, he's the black geezer who plays geetar with his teeth' .. so Jimi started off as a novelty act .. !!!
Comments
The first time I saw Floyd was at the Bromley Court Hotel in the lateish 1960s. They were dressed in sgt pepper type gear with helmet hair cuts and on stage, their backcloth was a white sheet onto which were projected moving psychedelic images generated by heating oil slides controlled by two freaky girls from a control panel in the middle of the dance floor. Their 'music' was like telstar meets white noise and the BBC radiophonic workshop output. Gilmour had not yet joined. It was Barrett's band, he and Wright were the 'freaks in control'.
Barretts demise led to Gilmour, a bluesman at heart taking the band onto a very different road. Water's doomsday lyrics and Gilmour's mournful plucking usurping acid influenced musical tripping. This approach has appealed to million upon million record buyers and made the Pink Floyd one of the all time most influential and wealthiest as well as long lived bands in the world.
Water's objection to the Floyd after he was 'sacked' or left or whatever, was that it was his compositions that were being played to sell out crowds all over the world while he was playing to tiny crowds in small auditoria. You know what it's like, big egos, big bucks, big fall out.
Reforming the 'Pink Floyd' is impossible. Wright, a very important yet underrated member is dead. And to my mind the Mason/Gilmour/Waters/Plus New KeyBoard Wizard band just will not be the same.
I agree with you about Wright, and as I stated it was not about an individual, but the 'collective' .
Syd was the creative director of the floyd in the early days, of course it is all speculation about what direction they might have gone, but I am pretty sure it would not have been the obvious. The Bromley court was an important gig venue around these parts Hendrix played there on his first tour, although I have never heard anything on bootleg. Reading through the litigation that followed it is rather sad that in ended at that stage with the lawyers. Just glad I saw them at Hyde Park in 1970, and on the dark side tour I think in 74 in London.
Were these the shows where one of the structures holding a section of the audience collapsed?
If memory serves, and I may be well off the mark here, they were supposed to have a 'plane' flying over the audience during, I think, On The Run, but couldn't do it for health and safety reasons due to the collapse and, as a result, performed Astronomy Domine instead.
I remember being in the crowd for the show the night after the collapse and being amazed that they played AD as I didn't think they'd played it for years!
I may be remembering this all wrong though - happy for someone to correct me!
They studied together at arts college in Cambridge and then later Gilmour joined Pink Floyd mostly because Syd Barrett was becoming too unreliable. The intention was to let Syd be the songwriter and do occasional studio work while the others did the gigs although they were getting better known at that point things were still a bit make or break and they couldn't afford to lose gigs because Syd was off on another LSD trip. Then after one no-show by Syd Barrett they simply decided to carry on without him.
youtube.com/watch?v=uZqS7LAyup4&feature=relmfu
thanks for those kind words Ken. the Bromley Court Hotel was THE place in S E London for 'prog rock' in the 60s and 70s. I saw and met Hendrix there twice, I am pretty sure that his 1st BCH appearance was just his second live UK gig. Hey Joe hit the charts a few weeks later and he was serious box office. He was originally billed as the Guy Who Plays the Guitar Behind his Back and With his Teeth .. though not at the same time. Later he was taken VERY seriously of course
Other bands I saw at the BCH .. Cream, John Mayall, Jeff Beck/Rod Stewart (regulars until Beck and Stewart had a fight on stage), Pato, Fleetwood Mac (P Green version), Chicken Shack (Christine McVie), L J Baldry, Caravan, Pink Fairies, Soft Machine, Van der Graaf, Bonzo Bog Doo Dahs, U S Bluesmen by the score .. loads and loads.
Another great venue was the Mistrale by Beckenham Junction Station, now a pole dance venue I believe .. Free, Nice (K Emerson), Desmond Decker, G Baker's Airforce, Juicy Lucy, Geno Washington, Cliff Bennett, Alan Bown (with R Palmer) .. and who could forget the Witchdoctor at the Savoy in Catford above the notorious Mr Smiths' Club, where every (more 'pop oriented) band under the sun played, from the prototype Deep Purple to the Tremeloes, the Who ... this is great, I feel 17 again !!!!!
Can't help feeling you and I know each other....I hailed from Catford and was a complete OTT mod.
I go up to Lincoln regularly (my sister lives in Waddington), so maybe we can link up next time I'm up.
Whereabouts was it you live.....I'm sure you have told us?
By the way The Bromel club was run by Tony Hayes........I bumped into him in Holborn about 10 years ago.