Aug 24 2012 – This documentary starts off with footage of what would be Pink Floyd‘s last ever show together with all four members (Roger Waters, David Gilmour, Nick Mason and the now deceased Rick Wright) performing the song Wish You Were Here,. That show was in 2005 at Hyde Park for Live 8. The documentary tells us “The high point of their set was the title song of the album they had recorded 30 years earlier.”
Welcome to Pink Floyd: The Story of ‘Wish You Were Here’
This record started off in 1974 and interestingly enough, it all came together with Gilmour hitting a sequence of four notes that triggered Waters thoughts, feelings and words to create the song “Shine On You Crazy Diamond“. As an avid Pink Floyd fan and historian I was surprised to not have known that tidbit about the album. What I and every other Pink Floyd fan do know is that Shine on You Crazy Diamond was a song that is inspired and written about Waters‘ former bandmate Syd Barrett. This documentary details how that song and all the other songs (Wish You Were Here, Have a Cigar, Welcome To The Machine) were created to compose one of the best rock albums of all time.
The backstory of Barrett would make an incredible Hollywood epic biographical film. Barrett was the leader of Pink Floyd, their guitarist, their vocalist and really what the whole band was based around. He was artistic, well- versed, charismatic, and well respected in the London music circuit in the mid 60’s. Barrett however suffered from undisclosed mental disorders which along with great LSD forced the other members of Pink Floyd to replace Barrett with Gilmour. Barrett disappeared from the public eye and lived as a recluse in Cambridge until his death in 2006 at the age of 60. That is the backstory of the song “Shine On You Crazy Diamond” which has been very well documented in the annals of rock history. In the documentary Mason states “I think what was so important, was to not try and write him out of history”.
This Blu-Ray provides a 60 minute detailed recollection of the making of Pink Floyd’s Wish You Were Here record – a record has sold over 19 million copies wordwide (I personally own the record, the cassette, and the CD) and although is almost 30 years old now, still maintains its relevance as a testament to musicianship in the mid 70’s. This excellent documentary includes concert footage of Syd Barrett, interviews with Gilmour, Mason, Waters and even Wright before his death. Storm Thorgerson the genius behind many of Pink Floyd album covers also adds his thoughts along with the recording engineer of the record Brian Humphries. Pink Floyd fans will also know that the song Have a Cigar was sung by guest vocalist Roy Harper (the same guy that Led Zeppelin wrote about in their song Hats Off To (Roy) Harper). Harper is also on this documentary recounting how he came about to be the vocalist of this Pink Floyd staple.
This excellent documentary draws you in and adds a deep context to an incredible album. The viewer gets insights and feels like a fly on the wall at Abbey Road Studios in 1974/75. Central to the whole story is the segment when Barrett shows up in the recording studio out of the blue on the day that Pink Floyd were recording Shine On You Crazy Diamond. Totally unannounced, totally unexpected Barrett at the peak of his mental illness had shaved off his hair and eyebrows, gained 50 pounds and stood there spaced out staring at the band. Bizarre twist of coincidence to say the least.
Verdict: 4.5 out of 5. You do not have to be a Pink Floyd fan to enjoy this well done documentary, however as a massive Pink Floyd fan I can say with certainty that fans of The Floyd should consider this a must own Blu-Ray. Excuse me because now I am off to listen to the whole record with big headphones.
You can purchase the Blu-Ray above and if you like to learn more about the tragic Syd Barrett story you can check out this extensive book on him and his life.
