The album "Wish You Were Here" - The ninth studio album by "Pink Floyd", was released on September 12, 1975.
Here are 15 interesting facts about the Masterpiece album:
1. After the meteoric success of "The Dark Side Of The Moon", the band considered creating an album called "Household Objects", which will include sounds that will be played from wine glasses, food mixers, and various household items.
2. The album is a kind of tribute to singer, writer, and guitarist Syd Barrett, who was fired from the band in the late 1960s, due to his deteriorating mental state.
3. The piece "Shine on You Crazy Diamond" is a kind of lament for Syd Barrett, and its initials spell the name "Syd" as follows: Shine On You Crazy Diamond. The total length of the work is 26 minutes, it is split into two different tracks, one opens and the other closes the album, and it is divided into 9 parts.
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4. While performing the mixes for the song "Shine on You Crazy Diamond", Syd Barrett suddenly appeared in the studio. He was fat, his eyebrows were shaved and the band members barely recognized him. It was also the last time they saw him alive.
5. It was the last song Rick Wright got writing credit for, before Waters threw him out of the band during the recording of the album "The Wall".
6. Another sign that this album was the "beginning of the end" of the band as one solid unit, Is the fact that Nick Mason was deleted from the album's credit list, since his contribution was minor.
7. Another testament to the disintegration of the band begun on this album, is the fact that David Gilmour refused to sing "Have a Cigar", after Roger Waters tired his voice during the recording of "Shine on You Crazy Diamond". This is why the singer and songwriter Roy Harper was brought into the studio to record the vocals for this song.
8. The song "Wish You Were Here" was also written about Syd Barrett. This is an exclusive collaboration of Gilmore-Waters that was not so common. Gilmour arrived at the studio with the guitar parts at the beginning of the song. Waters asked him to play it slower and from there everything developed as they both wrote the verses and the chorus together.
9. At the opening of the song there is an effect of changing stations on AM radio. This was recorded in David Gilmour's car as he switched radio stations.
10. The musical section at the end of the effect of changing radio stations, just before the beginning of the song, is taken from Tchaikovsky's Fourth Symphony.
11. At the end of the song when the wind effect is heard, the sharp-eared among you will be able to hear the violin playing of the jazz player Stéphane Grappelli. He was in a nearby studio, together with the violinist Yehudi Menuhin and was asked by the band to play in the final part of the song. He was paid £ 300 but did not get credit because the band thought his recording was so low on the mix that it would hardly be heard.
12. The song "Welcome to the Machine" is a protest against the "money machine" of the record companies that put pressure on the band and to which Waters attributes the deterioration in Syd Barrett's condition.
(Photo: Redferns)
13. The song "Have a Cigar" also points an accusing finger at the music industry that Waters hated so much. It was the last song written and recorded for the album.
14. Roy Harper who as mentioned sang the song, recorded his excellent album "HQ", in which David Gilmour contributed guitar playing, in the nearby studio.
15. The album cover that includes the two people shaking hands and one of them catching fire, also symbolizes a kind of protest against the music industry when the handshake symbolizes the record company that "burns" the artists.
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