I
remember where I was when I first heard 'Shine On You Crazy Diamond'.
First, a little background. I wasn't really aware of Pink Floyd when
they brought out their debut album seven years earlier in 1967. They
were led by the charismatic Syd Barrett, the darling of the band's
fans. Their first single was 'Arnold Layne', a song about a
transvestite who stole women's clothing from washing lines. It
charted at no.20 and gave them a little useful publicity when Radio
London banned it for being unsuitable. Their next single was 'See
Emily Play'. By now, the band were getting noticed. Three appearances
on Top of the Pops followed, and they found themselves at no.6
in the singles chart - in those days it took a lot of sales to break
into the Top Ten. Syd refused to appear on TOTP again, saying “if
John Lennon doesn't have to do it why should I?” ('Emily' will
return to the story later.)
 |
| Syd - bright, talkative and charming (May 1967) |
The
post-Barrett Pink Floyd have been prominent in the soundtrack to my
adult life since the early 70s. From sharing a flat with music
obsessed friends to working shifts with prog-rock devotees, I've
lived and worked with 'Abbey Road', 'Tubular Bells', Cream, Hendrix,
Zeppelin, Santana, The Who and many others, but Floyd eclipsed them
all (excuse the pun). 'Dark Side of the Moon' changed everything. It
was astonishingly successful because of the combination of musical
and lyrical excellence, it's thematic flow with the unlikely subject
of madness (Barrett inspired?) as the central strand, and its
emotional tug. Now they had the problem of writing and recording a
follow up to their monster selling album!
In
1974 they were in Abbey Road recording studios creating the new album
'Wish You Were Here' when a disheveled shaven headed fat fellow in a
trench-coat wandered in. The band didn't recognise him and had to be
told - it was Syd! Everyone was shocked at the change. Bass player
Roger Waters said “when he came to the 'Wish You Were Here'
sessions - ironic in itself - to see this great, fat, bald, mad
person, I was in (expletive) tears.” Rick Wright recalls “He
had shaved all his hair off – I mean his eyebrows – everything!
He was jumping up and down brushing his teeth. It was awful!”
Barrett's
visit was more than ironic, it was astonishing timing. The album's
magnum opus was the mercurial 'Shine On You Crazy Diamond', a song
which expressed sadness about Syd, his disintegration and the waste
of his talent. The song was co-written by Gilmour, Waters and
keyboard player Rick Wright. Waters was responsible for the lyrics
which described Syd as both a “seer of visions” and a haunted,
frightened “target for faraway laughter” who “wore out his
welcome”. Whether Syd was aware of the significance of the album
title ('Wish You Were Here') or the lyrical content of 'Shine On'
cannot be known.
It
was at Trentham Gardens Ballroom in November, 1974 when I first heard
'Shine On'. Pink Floyd were touring Britain and the Stoke-on-Trent
venue was midway through their schedule. They were playing the 'Dark
Side of the Moon' set, but they started off by introducing three new
songs written for the next album, which was still to be recorded. It
turned out that the first two songs didn't make that album. They had
to wait for the following one ('Animals'). The third song was called
'Shine On You Crazy Diamond' and it was just amazing. It's a lengthy
song - mainly instrumental, with a mournful, repeating 4 note guitar
theme1
which Dave Gilmour discovered whilst 'doodling' in the rehearsal
room. “I don't know where it came from, it could have just been an
accident. It did seem to have a haunting quality and I repeated it a
few times”, he recalls. “That moved something in Roger and it
started the whole process off which became 'Shine On'. It was
specifically about Syd and his problems.”
The
final recording appears on 'Wish You Were Here' in two parts2
which bookend the other three tracks. Both parts together comprise of
almost 26 mins of musical brilliance, equalling anything the band
have produced before or since. It is a lament rather than a tribute,
but there is a final moment of respect to the band's former leader
when, as the last notes of 'Shine On' fade out, Rick Wright on
keyboards plays a few ghostly notes from the vocal melody of 'See
Emily Play' (“Emily tries but misunderstands”). Most
people will probably have missed that poignant reference (including
perhaps the damaged Syd Barrett?) but Wright clearly wanted to leave
a personal message to his old friend.
The
reason I remember when and where I first heard 'Shine On' is that I
still have that concert program from 1974. I made a note of the set
list too. After the new songs they played the entire 'Dark Side of the Moon' set.
Finally, for an encore, we were treated to the magnificent 'Echoes' from
their earlier album ('Meddle'). Amazing! I only saw
Floyd one more time when they were touring with 'Animals' (remember the flying
pig?) – they were always spectacular but, for me, nothing could match that
night at Trentham!
footnotes
1The
four-note theme (B♭, F, G [below the B♭], E)
2SOYCD
was recorded in 9 sections. Part One itself comprises five sections
(confusingly labelled as parts 1 to 5 on the original vinyl album.)
Part Two comprises a further 4 sections (labelled as 6 to 9 on the
vinyl album).
A
few links …..
Shine
On You Crazy Diamond (full version – parts 1 - 9)
Wikipedia
– Shine On (detailed
breakdown of all 9 parts)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shine_On_You_Crazy_Diamond
Top
of the Pops (July, 1967) –
this badly damaged
footage of 'See Emily Play' is all that is left.
https://youtu.be/ns4fR7tw2DA
BBC2
Arts program (May, 1967) – a dreadfully conducted interview
with Syd and Roger. (Syd is bright, talkative and charming – so sad
how it all went wrong so quickly!)
https://youtu.be/otyfo2KuaNQ
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