Pink Floyd – The Great Gig In The Sky
Pink Floyd
It all started for Pink Floyd in 1965, when three students of the architecture department at London Polytechnic: Roger Waters, Nick Mason and Rick Wright wanted to become rock stars. Fascinated by the achievements of The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and Cream believed that they could offer their listeners a kind of music that they had never encountered before.
Soon, guitarist and composer Syd Barrett joined the group, initially dominating the group’s activities. He also came up with the final name for the formation. He combined the names of two American bluesmen – Pink Anderson and Floyd Council. Pink Floyd.
Initially, the musicians decided to create under the name Pink Floyd Sound, but the name was quickly shortened and as Pink Floyd, the band gave their first concert at the legendary Marqee club. The news of the new band reached EMI Music and resulted in the single “Arnold Layne” released in March 1967. It was then that the line-up of the group crystallized: Syd Barrett – guitar, Roger Waters – bass guitar, Nick Mason – drums and Rick Wright – keyboards. Together they started recording their debut album “The Piper at the Gates of Dawn”. The album was a perfect reflection of Pink Floyd’s musical ambitions. Disturbing, mysterious, full of sound effects, instrumental collage.
The following years saw the removal from the group of Syd, who had serious problems with drug addiction, and thus made it impossible for the band to continue its activity. The young, extremely talented guitarist David Gilmour turned out to be his salvation.
The band became more and more successful at home and abroad, and their albums such as “A Saucerful Of Secrets” (1968), “Atom Heart Mother” (1970) and “Meddle” (1971) became true “milestones” in history. music. When the album “Dark Side Of The Moon” was released in 1973, the success was so overwhelming that it literally “crushed” the musicians with its weight. It seemed that nothing so perfect could be created. However, when the LP “Wish You Were Here” (1975) was released, it was clear that the band was up to the task, made it to the top, and now consolidating their position. During this period, Roger Waters, who had been the author of the vast majority of the group’s lyrics for some time, began to lean towards making the Pink Floyd albums a form of closed stories, in which the music, text and the whole binding are inseparable and together constitute the strength of the publishing house. He developed his own unique style of narration, which culminated in such works as “Animals” (1977), “The Wall” (1979), and “The Final Cut” (1983).
