"Shine On You Crazy Diamond" | |
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Composition by Pink Floyd | |
from the album Wish You Were Here | |
Published | Pink Floyd Music Publishers Ltd |
Released | 15 September 1975 |
Recorded | 13 January– 28 July 1975 ("Wine Glasses" on 5 January 1971) [1] |
Studio | Abbey Road Studios (Studio One, Two and Three) |
Genre | |
Length | 25:57(all parts) 13:33 (parts I–V) 12:24 (parts VI–IX) 17:32 ( Echoes: The Best of Pink Floyd version) 11:05 (The Best of Pink Floyd: A Foot in the Door version) 10:41 ( A Collection of Great Dance Songs version) 3:53 (single edit) |
Label | Harvest (UK) Columbia/CBS (US) |
Composer(s) | |
Lyricist(s) | Roger Waters |
Producer(s) | Pink Floyd |
"Shine On You Crazy Diamond" is a nine-part Pink Floyd composition written by David Gilmour, Roger Waters, and Richard Wright, which was first performed on Pink Floyd's 1974 French tour and appeared in Pink Floyd's 1975 concept album Wish You Were Here . The song is written about and dedicated to founder member Syd Barrett, who departed from the band in 1968 after dealing with mental problems and substance abuse.
The song, originated from a riff composed by guitarist David Gilmour and later developed by the guitarist himself, bassist Roger Waters and pianist Richard Wright, was conceived and written as a tribute and remembrance to Pink Floyd founder member Syd Barrett. [7] Barrett was eased out of the band in 1968 because his LSD use and deteriorating mental health were affecting his ability to integrate with the other band members and create and perform as a musician. He was replaced by his former school friend David Gilmour, who had initially been brought in as second guitarist. The remaining members of the band felt guilty about having removed him, but although they admired Barrett's creativity, they were concerned about his severe mental decline and felt it had been necessary. [8] "Shine on You Crazy Diamond" was first performed on Pink Floyd's 1974 French tour and was recorded for their 1975 concept album Wish You Were Here. The track was originally intended to be a side-long composition, like "Atom Heart Mother" and "Echoes", but was ultimately split into two parts and used to bookend the album, with other newly composed material acting as a bridge. [9]
Bassist Roger Waters commented, as the sessions were underway, that "at times the group was there only physically. Our bodies were there, but our minds and feelings somewhere else." [10] Eventually an idea was raised to split the song in two, Parts I–V and Parts VI–IX. [10]
According to guitarist David Gilmour and drummer Nick Mason on the Wish You Were Here episode of In the Studio with Redbeard , Pink Floyd recorded a satisfactory take of "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" but because of a new mixing console which was installed at Abbey Road Studios, it needed to be re-recorded as excessive 'bleed' from other instruments could be heard on the drum tracks. As explained by Gilmour,
We originally did the backing track over the course of several days, but we came to the conclusion that it just wasn't good enough. So we did it again in one day flat and got it a lot better. Unfortunately nobody understood the desk properly and when we played it back we found that someone had switched the echo returns from monitors to tracks one and two. That affected the tom-toms and guitars and keyboards which were playing along at the time. There was no way of saving it, so we just had to do it yet again. [11]
On part 3, a piano part seems to have been added "live" to the final mix, making it absent from multitrack masters. That part was re-recorded at British Grove Studios by pianist Richard Wright during the multi-channel mix used for the album Immersion Edition and the SACD release. [12]
Nick Mason said:
With the invention of 16-track and 2-inch tape there was the belief for quite a while that there would be something wrong with editing tape that big. Consequently whenever we played these pieces, they had to be played from beginning to end. Particularly for Roger [Waters] and myself being the rhythm section, which would be laid down first, this was [chuckling] a fairly tough business because the whole thing had to be sort of right. [13]
The song would be the first song to be started and the last song to be recorded for the album. On 24 February, a sequence that was titled "Wine Glasses" was overdubbed onto part 1 of the song, titled after how the band used wine glasses to record it. The sequence was recorded on 5 January 1971, originally intended to be a part of a series of musical experiments the band conducted titled "Nothings". [14]
On 5 June 1975, Barrett, by this point heavyset, with a completely shaved head and eyebrows, wandered into the studio where the band were recording. They did not recognise him for some time because of his drastically changed appearance, but when they eventually realised who the withdrawn man in the corner was, Roger Waters became so distressed about Barrett's appearance that he was reduced to tears. [9] Someone asked to play the suite again for Barrett and he said a second playback was not needed when they had just heard it. When asked what he thought of the song, Barrett said it sounded a "bit old". He subsequently slipped away during celebrations for Gilmour's wedding to Ginger Hasenbein, which took place later that day. [15] Gilmour confirmed this story, although he could not recall which composition they were working on when Barrett showed up. [16] [17] Mason has also stated that he is not certain whether "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" was the piece being recorded when Barrett was there.
The episode is related by Wright as follows:
Roger was there, and he was sitting at the desk, and I came in and I saw this guy sitting behind him – huge, bald, fat guy. I thought, "He looks a bit... strange..." Anyway, so I sat down with Roger at the desk and we worked for about ten minutes, and this guy kept on getting up and brushing his teeth and then sitting – doing really weird things, but keeping quiet. And I said to Roger, "Who is he?" and Roger said "I don't know." And I said "Well, I assumed he was a friend of yours," and he said "No, I don't know who he is." Anyway, it took me a long time, and then suddenly I realised it was Syd, after maybe 45 minutes. He came in as we were doing the vocals for "Shine On You Crazy Diamond", which was basically about Syd. He just, for some incredible reason picked the very day that we were doing a song which was about him. And we hadn't seen him, I don't think, for two years before. That's what's so incredibly... weird about this guy. And a bit disturbing, as well, I mean, particularly when you see a guy, that you don't, you couldn't recognise him. And then, for him to pick the very day we want to start putting vocals on, which is a song about him. Very strange. [18]
This section possibly contains original research .(April 2011) |
As neither the original 1975 vinyl release nor the CD re-release delineate the various parts precisely, the make-up of the parts below is based on a comparison of the recorded timings with the identifications in the published sheet music.
The song is in G natural minor (Aeolian) scale, but with hints of the G Dorian mode with the inclusion of the E (raised sixth) note in various parts throughout, most prominently in the four-note theme in Part II. Gilmour's solos are largely blues-inspired, with a few notes hinting the inclusion of the G melodic minor scale. [19] [20] [21]
Part I(Wright, Gilmour; from 0:00 to 3:54) There are no lyrics in Part I. The instrumental begins with a fade-in of a G minor chord created with an EMS VCS 3, ARP Solina string synthesizer, a Hammond organ, and a wine glass harp (recycled from an earlier project known as Household Objects ). This is followed by Wright's Minimoog passages leading into a lengthy, bluesy guitar solo played by Gilmour on a Fender Stratocaster (neck pickup) using a heavily compressed sound and reverb. Part I ends with the synthesizer chord fading into the background. During the fade-out, some very faint conversation in the studio can be heard on the left channel, although this has not been confirmed.
Part II(Gilmour, Wright, Waters; from 3:54 to 6:27) [22] begins with a four-note theme (B♭, F, G [below the B♭], E), known informally as "Syd's theme", repeated throughout much of the entire section. This theme leads the harmony to C major (in comparison to the use of C minor in Part I). Mason starts his drumming and Waters his bass playing after the fourth playing of the four-note theme, which is the point where the riffs get into a fixed tempo, in 6/8 time. The chord leads back to G minor (as from Part I), followed by E♭ major and D major back to a coda from G minor. This part includes another solo by Gilmour.
Part III(Wright, Gilmour, Waters; from 6:27 to 8:41) begins with a Minimoog solo by Wright accompanied by a less complex variation of Mason's drums from Part II. This part includes Gilmour's third guitar solo, in the G natural minor scale, and ends with a fade into Part IV. When performed on the Animals tour, Gilmour added distortion to the guitar for this solo. This solo is often dropped in live performances while the rest of part III is still played—notably on Delicate Sound of Thunder and Pulse .
Part IV(Gilmour, Wright, Waters; from 8:41 to 11:08) Waters sings his lyrics, with Gilmour, Wright and backing vocalists Venetta Fields and Carlena Williams on harmonies.
Part V(Gilmour, Waters, Wright; from 11:08 to 13:33) Part IV is followed by two guitars repeating an arpeggio variation on the main theme for about a minute with the theme of Part II. A baritone saxophone overlays the sounds, played by Dick Parry. The saxophone changes from a baritone to a tenor saxophone, as a time signature switch from 6/8 to 12/8 creates the feeling that the tempo doubles up. The sax solo is accompanied by a Solina string synthesizer keyboard sound. A machine-like hum fades in with musique concrète and segues into "Welcome to the Machine".
Part VI(Wright, Gilmour; from 0:00 to 4:56) begins with a howling wind from the preceding song "Wish You Were Here". [23] As the wind fades away, Gilmour comes in on the bass guitar with a continuing riff pattern. Waters adds another bass. Then Wright comes in playing a Solina String Ensemble Synthesizer and after a few measures, several rhythm guitar parts (Gilmour played the power chord rhythm part using his black Fender Stratocaster before switching to lap steel guitar for the solo in live performances from 1974 to 1977. Snowy White performed the rhythm guitar parts on this track on the band's 1977 In the Flesh Tour) and drums come in, as well as a Minimoog to play the opening solo. At the two-minute mark, Wright's Minimoog and Gilmour's lap steel guitar play notes in unison before Gilmour performs a lap steel guitar solo (the lap steel had open G tuning with the high D string tuned to E) with some counterpointing from Wright's synthesizers. It lasts for about three minutes (four when played on the band's In the Flesh Tour) and Gilmour played each section an octave higher than the previous one. The highest note he hit on the lap steel/slide solo was a B♭6, followed by a reprise of the guitar solo from Part IV (which was played by White live on Pink Floyd's 1977 tour so Gilmour could switch back to his Fender Stratocaster). The song then switches time signatures to 6/8 (found in Parts II–V), giving the appearance of a slower tempo and reintroducing the vocals.
Part VII(Gilmour, Wright, Waters; from 4:57 to 5:58) contains the vocals, in a similar vein to Part IV though half the length, before segueing into Part VIII. Waters again sings the lead vocals with Gilmour, Wright, Fields and Williams providing backing vocals.
Part VIII(Wright, Gilmour, Waters; from 5:58 to 9:03) brings in Waters to play a second electric guitar for a high-noted sound riff while Gilmour plays the arpeggio riff that bridges Parts VII and VIII. A solid progression of funk in 4/4 plays for about two minutes before very slowly fading out as a single sustained keyboard note fades in around the nine-minute mark. Throughout this section, Wright's keyboards dominate, with the use of a Minimoog synthesizer, and a Hohner Clavinet. Originally the section clocked in at 8 minutes before it was edited down to three minutes on the final version (the unedited Part 8 without the electric piano and Minimoog overdubs surfaced on a bootleg called The Extraction Tapes). When performed on the "In the Flesh" tour in 1977, the section would be extended to between 5 and 10 minutes as it would feature guitar solos from Gilmour (which would vary from funky power chords to a proper solo as the Animals tour progressed) and Snowy White. In addition to their guitar solos, there was also occasional trading of leads from Gilmour and White instead of the keyboard sounds as heard on the record.
Part IX(Wright, from 9:03 to 12:24) is played in 4/4 time. Gilmour described Part IX as "a slow 4/4 funeral march... the parting musical eulogy to Syd". [24] Again, Wright's keyboards dominate, with little guitar input from Gilmour. Mason's drums play for much of this part, and the keyboards play for the final minute before fading out. On the fade-out, a short keyboard part of the melody of "See Emily Play" (at 12:07), one of Barrett's signature Pink Floyd songs, can be heard. This was allegedly added after Barrett visited the studio. Part IX, and the album, ends in G major, a Picardy third. When performed early on the Animals tour, the part begins with the piano (as heard on the record) then the synth solo is played (as on the record) by Dick Parry with some slide guitar accompaniment by Snowy White would then change to half synthesizer/half harmony lead guitar solo for the remainder of European leg and first US leg. At the beginning of the final US leg, the piano would play, then David played a bluesy guitar solo, then Snowy played a guitar solo, and then White would play the high harmonies while Gilmour played the low harmonies; but after a show in Chicago, White’s solo was dropped and the harmony guitar solo from earlier in the tour by Gilmour and White (Gilmour playing the highest parts) was reinstated and then ending like on the record. This was the final solo writing credit Wright would receive in Pink Floyd during his lifetime, as well as his last writing credit of any kind until The Division Bell in 1994.
This section needs additional citations for verification .(June 2013) |
The song series was first performed as "Shine On", [25] during the band's French tour in June 1974. It was introduced as "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" on the British tour in November 1974. The set was originally performed as one whole suite with some of the parts differing from the album versions, and samplings of Barrett's solo song "Dark Globe" during the opening of the performance. The version from the British tour was included on the 2011 Experience and Immersion editions of Wish You Were Here. The multi-part version of "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" was first performed on the band's 1975 North American tour with "Have a Cigar" in between the two halves of the piece. The 1975 versions were close to the final versions, except parts one and nine were still not refined yet. The band performed the whole nine-part "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" as part of the Wish You Were Here portion of their 1977 In the Flesh Tour, with extra musicians White on guitar and backing vocals and Parry on saxophones and additional keyboards.
Parts I–V became a staple of Floyd's performances from 1987 to 1994. The track (without the Gilmour solo in part III) opened shows for most of the A Momentary Lapse of Reason Tour, including its final performance at Knebworth in 1990 with Candy Dulfer on saxophone. [26] The first eleven performances had "Echoes" as the show opener before the band proceeded to play all of A Momentary Lapse of Reason in the rest of the first half in a slightly different sequence to the album. A condensed edition of the track (again without the Gilmour solo in Part III) would then open the second half of the shows on the group's 1994 The Division Bell Tour, except in shows where all of The Dark Side of the Moon was performed, in which case "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" opened the first half of the concert. In the last month and a half of the tour, the band added part VII to Parts I–V (as documented on the live album Pulse ). A similar version was also played during David Gilmour's Rattle That Lock Tour in 2015 with the according screen film on display.
Gilmour performed almost the whole suite (save parts III, VIII and IX) at his 2001 and 2002 semi-unplugged concerts (documented on his 2002 David Gilmour in Concert DVD). "There was," he said, "a moment of thinking, 'Shall I attempt an acoustic guitar version of the long, synthesised opening?' It came to me one day how I could do it, and it worked out not too badly." [27]
Gilmour performed parts I–II and IV–V (in a new arrangement) on his 2006 On an Island concert series. Part III was omitted and Parts I and II were simplified and more guitar-focused. Gilmour performed Parts I–V on his Live in Gdańsk album on disc two and on the DVD in the four-disc edition of the album. The five-disc edition and the online downloads available in the three and four-disc editions include Parts I–V recorded in Venice and Vienne in 2006. In many of his performances, solo and with Pink Floyd, Gilmour alters the vocal melody to avoid the higher notes that were originally sung by Waters.
Waters has also performed the epic on his In The Flesh concert series, documented on the live album of the same name which was a condensed parts I, II, IV, VI, VII, and VIII. Part VI on these performances had a lap steel solo from Jon Carin then guitar solos from Doyle Bramhall II and White. Then on Waters' 2002 tour, he played all nine parts like on record (although parts I, VIII and IX were shortened). An abridged version of parts I–V was performed on Waters' 2006–07 The Dark Side of the Moon Live, Waters also performed the song on the 2016 concerts, including the free concert of the Mexico City's Zócalo, and the concert at the Desert Trip festival; besides the parts VI–IX, Waters performed all the Wish You Were Here album live in order. During Waters' This Is Not a Drill, he played the B side of Wish You Were Here in order, including parts VI through VIII (excluding part IX) but dropped Part VIII after a few shows to end with Part V.
with:
"Shine On You Crazy Diamond" features on all the below releases:
Albums
Video/DVD/BD
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
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Italy (FIMI) [30] Parts I–V | Gold | 50,000‡ |
United Kingdom (BPI) [31] Parts I–V | Silver | 200,000‡ |
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. |
In December 2018, the song was the subject of an episode of BBC Radio 4's Soul Music, examining its cultural influence, including an interview with Gilmour about how the song was created. [32]
David Jon Gilmour is an English guitarist, singer and songwriter who is a member of the rock band Pink Floyd. He joined in 1967, shortly before the departure of the founder member Syd Barrett. By the early 1980s, Pink Floyd had become one of the highest-selling and most acclaimed acts in music history. Following the departure of Roger Waters in 1985, Pink Floyd continued under Gilmour's leadership and released the studio albums A Momentary Lapse of Reason (1987), The Division Bell (1994) and The Endless River (2014).
Wish You Were Here is the ninth studio album by the English rock band Pink Floyd, released on 12 September 1975 through Harvest Records in the UK and Columbia Records in the US, their first for the label. Based on material Pink Floyd composed while performing in Europe, Wish You Were Here was recorded over numerous sessions throughout 1975 at EMI Studios in London.
"Sheep" is a song by the English rock band Pink Floyd, released on the Album Animals in 1977. It was performed live on tours in 1974. It was written by bassist Roger Waters.
David Gilmour in Concert is a DVD of Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour's solo concert that took place at the Royal Festival Hall, London in June 2001, as part of the Robert Wyatt-curated Meltdown festival. It also features footage filmed during three concerts at the same venue in January 2002. The track selection includes several Pink Floyd songs, in addition to Gilmour's solo works. Guest appearances are made by Floyd colleague Richard Wright, as well as Robert Wyatt and Bob Geldof. It includes the first performance of "Smile", a track that would appear almost five years later on Gilmour's third solo album, On an Island. Gilmour also plays two Syd Barrett songs.
Barrett is the second and final studio album of new material released by former Pink Floyd frontman Syd Barrett. Recording began at Abbey Road Studios on 26 February 1970, and lasted for 15 sessions until 21 July. The album was produced by Pink Floyd's David Gilmour and Richard Wright, who also contributed on bass and keyboards respectively, along with previous Madcap contributor Jerry Shirley on drums.
"Have a Cigar" is the third track on Pink Floyd's 1975 album Wish You Were Here. It follows "Welcome to the Machine" and on the original LP opened side two. In some markets, the song was issued as a single. English folk-rock singer Roy Harper provided lead vocals on the song. It is one of only three Pink Floyd recordings with a guest singer on lead vocals, the others being "The Great Gig in the Sky" (1973) with Clare Torry and "Hey Hey Rise Up" (2022) with Andriy Khlyvnyuk. The song, written by Waters, is his critique of the rampant greed and cynicism so prevalent in the management of rock groups of that era.
"Atom Heart Mother" is a six-part suite by the progressive rock band Pink Floyd, composed by all members of the band and Ron Geesin. It appeared on the Atom Heart Mother album in 1970, taking up the first side of the original vinyl record. At 23:38, it is Pink Floyd's longest uncut studio piece. Pink Floyd performed it live between 1970 and 1972, occasionally with a brass section and choir in 1970–71.
"Pigs (Three Different Ones)" is a song from Pink Floyd's 1977 album Animals. In the album's three parts, "Dogs", "Pigs" and "Sheep", pigs represent the people whom the band considers to be at the top of the social ladder, the ones with wealth and power; they also manipulate the rest of society and encourage them to be viciously competitive and cut-throat, so the pigs can remain powerful.
"See Emily Play" is a song by the English rock band Pink Floyd, released as their second single on 16 June 1967 on the Columbia label. Written by original frontman Syd Barrett, it was released as a non-album single, but appeared as the opening track of Pink Floyd, the US edition of the band's debut album The Piper at the Gates of Dawn (1967).
"Welcome to the Machine" is the second song on Pink Floyd's 1975 album Wish You Were Here. It features heavily processed vocals, layers of synthesizers, acoustic guitars as well as a wide range of tape effects. The song was written by bassist Roger Waters.
"Dogs" is a song by English rock band Pink Floyd, released on the album Animals in 1977. This song was one of several to be considered for the band's 2001 compilation album Echoes: The Best of Pink Floyd.
"Astronomy Domine" is a song by the English rock band Pink Floyd. The song, written and composed by the original vocalist/guitarist Syd Barrett, is the opening track on their debut album, The Piper at the Gates of Dawn (1967). The lead vocal was sung by Barrett and the keyboard player Richard Wright. Its working title was "Astronomy Dominé ". Domine is a word frequently used in Gregorian chants.
Pink Floyd is an English progressive rock band, formed in the mid-1960s in London.
Roger Keith "Syd" Barrett was an English singer, guitarist and songwriter who co-founded the rock band Pink Floyd in 1965. Until his departure in 1968, he was Pink Floyd's frontman and primary songwriter, known for his whimsical style of psychedelia, English-accented singing, and stream-of-consciousness writing style. As a guitarist, he was influential for his free-form playing and for employing effects such as dissonance, distortion, echo and feedback.
Pink Floyd are an English rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experiments, philosophical lyrics, and elaborate live shows. They became a leading band of the progressive rock genre, cited by some as the greatest progressive rock band of all time.
Richard William Wright was an English keyboardist and songwriter who co-founded the progressive rock band Pink Floyd. He appeared on almost every Pink Floyd album and performed on all their tours. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996 as a member of Pink Floyd.
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The Wish You Were Here Tour, also referred to as the North American Tour, was a concert tour by the English progressive rock band Pink Floyd in 1975 in support of their then-forthcoming album Wish You Were Here. The tour was divided in two legs in the United States, West Coast and East Coast, and a gig in the UK at the Knebworth Festival.
"Wish You Were Here" is a song by English rock band Pink Floyd, released as the title track of their 1975 album of the same name. Guitarist/vocalist David Gilmour and bassist/vocalist Roger Waters collaborated in writing the music, with Gilmour singing lead vocals.
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As far as the Floyd selection here, not a bad choice - a nice performance of "Shine On", with a lovely solo from the Dutch saxophonist Candy Dulfer, and "Run Like Hell", which ended the concert.