The Pros and Cons of Hitch Hiking: The story behind Pink Floyd's 'Wish You Were Here'

2012/08/30

The story behind Pink Floyd's 'Wish You Were Here' - Digital Journal,Aug 10, 2012

The story behind Pink Floyd's 'Wish You Were Here'

Pink Floyd's 1975 album, "Wish You Were Here", has been considered a favorite among fans and members of the band alike. The follow-up to the largely successful "Dark Side of the Moon", WYWH has gotten a Blu-ray documentary about how this gem was created.
The iconic Pink Floyd album, Wish You Were Here, is now having its true story told thanks to Eagle Rock Entertainment. The Blu-ray documentary, Pink Floyd: The Story of Wish You Were Here, documents the band's production of the 1975 follow-up to the smash hit, Dark Side of the Moon reports Laughing Squid.
According to Open Culture, the behind-the-scenes look at WYWH kicks off with the creation of the ethereal tune that is "Shine on You Crazy Diamond," inspired by the tragic fall of the group's first front-man, Syd Barrett.

The recording sessions for Wish You Were Here were some of the last Barrett was seen in public. He showed up at Abbey Road Studios with his head and eyebrows shaven, appearing quite portly as well. His former bandmates initially didn't even recognize him. The experience even led Barrett to be the main influence of Bob Geldof's character, Pink, from the motion picture, The Wall.
Barrett finally went into permanent seclusion in 1978 up until his death from pancreatic cancer in 2006, sans a brief trip to London in 1982. He had also been battling diabetes for several years.
Wish You Were Here is often touted as a favorite Pink Floyd album by fans, as well as bandmembers David Gilmour and the late Richard Wright.
The following is a short synopsis for the film:

"This program tells the story of the making of this landmark release through new interviews with Roger Waters, David Gilmour and Nick Mason and archive interviews with the late Richard Wright. Also featured are sleeve designer Storm Thorgerson, guest vocalist Roy Harper, front cover burning man Ronnie Rondell and others involved in the creation of the album. Original recording engineer Brian Humphries revisits the master tapes at Abbey Road Studios to illustrate aspects of the songs construction.
"Bonus Features: The Blu-ray contains additional bonus material not featured in the TV broadcast version, including further interviews with Roger Waters, David Gilmour and Nick Mason plus Roger Waters and David Gilmour performing excerpts from the Wish You Were Here album."

By Abigail Prendergast
From www.digitaljournal.com

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George Roger Waters

George Roger Waters (born 6 September 1943) is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. He was a founding member of the progressive rock band Pink Floyd, serving as bassist and co-lead vocalist. Following the departure of bandmate Syd Barrett in 1968, Waters became the band's lyricist, principal songwriter and conceptual leader. The band subsequently achieved worldwide success in the 1970s with the concept albums The Dark Side of the Moon, Wish You Were Here, Animals and The Wall. Although Waters' primary instrument in Pink Floyd was the bass guitar, he also experimented with synthesisers and tape loops and played rhythm guitars in recordings and in concerts. Amid creative differences within the group, Waters left Pink Floyd in 1985 and began a legal battle with the remaining members over their future use of the group's name and material. The dispute was settled out of court in 1987, and nearly eighteen years passed before he performed with Pink Floyd again. It is estimated that as of 2010, the group have sold over 200 million albums worldwide, including 74.5 million units sold in the United States.

Waters' solo career includes three studio albums: The Pros and Cons of Hitch Hiking (1984), Radio K.A.O.S. (1987) and Amused to Death (1992). In 1986, he contributed songs and a score to the soundtrack of the animated movie When the Wind Blows based on the Raymond Briggs' book of the same name. In 1990, he staged one of the largest and most elaborate rock concerts in history, The Wall – Live in Berlin, with an estimated 200,000 people in attendance. In 1996, he was inducted into the US and the UK Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Pink Floyd. He has toured extensively as a solo act since 1999 and played The Dark Side of the Moon in its entirety for his world tours of 2006–2008. In 2005, he released Ça Ira, an opera in three acts translated from Étienne and Nadine Roda-Gils' libretto based on the early French Revolution. On 2 July 2005, he reunited with Pink Floyd bandmates Nick Mason, Richard Wright and David Gilmour for the Live 8 global awareness event; it was the group's first appearance with Waters in 24 years.

In 2010, he began The Wall Live, a worldwide tour that features a complete performance of The Wall. During this tour, at The O2 Arena in London on 12 May 2011, Gilmour and Mason once again appeared with Waters, Gilmour performing "Comfortably Numb", and Gilmour and Mason joining Waters for "Outside the Wall".

He has been married four times and has three children. In 2004 he became engaged to actress and filmmaker Laurie Durning; the duo married in 2012.