At the time of its release, "Wish
You Were Here" received markedly mixed reviews: after the success
of "Dark Side", many thought it was a distinct anti-climax.
However, it has aged very well. The lush strains of the album's
centrepiece, "Shine On You Crazy Diamond", found a new
audience in the late '80s among new agers and ambient house freaks;
while the title track--perhaps the Floyd's most melodic song since the
days of Syd Barrett--remains perennially popular. By 1975, Roger was
missing Syd; the busines was getting to him ("And by the way, which
one's Pink?" from "Have a Cigar" was an actual quote by
an American record exec). The album also shows Gilmour making his
strongest individual contribution yet, with several fine extended guitar
solos and some of the most heartfelt vocals the Floyd have ever
committed to disc.
David Gilmour: "After Dark Side we were really floundering
around. I wanted to make the next album more musical, because I felt
some of these tracks had been just vehicles for the words. We were
working in 1974 in this horrible little rehearsal room in Kings Cross
without windows, putting together what became the next two albums. There
were three long tracks, including Shine On You Crazy Diamond, which I
wanted to record, and Roger said, No, let's take Shine On, divide it
into two, and put in other material around the same theme. And he was
right, I was wrong."
Nick Mason: "This was much a more difficult record to
make. Roger was getting crosser. We were all getting older. We had
children. There was much more drama between us, people turning up to the
studio late, which we generally hate. There was more pressure on me to
make the drumming more accurate and less flowery. But I think as an
album it flows really well. It's like a descedant of Meddle in terms of
the use of repeating themes, and the pacing."
Pink Floyd: The Illustrated Discography says: "During
the WYWH sessions a fat, shaven-headed person wearing grey Terylene
trousers, a nylon shirt and string vest wandered into the studio. The
band ignored the visitor and kept on playing and it was the visiting
Andrew King who finally recognised their guest: 'Good God, it's Syd! How
did you get like that?' To which Syd replied, 'I've got a very large
fridge at home and I've been eating a lot of pork chops.' The whole
event was slightly un-nerving since the theme of the album was based on
Syd and his subsequent madness."
About that, Rick Wright said: "The whole album sprang from
that one four-note guitar phrase of Dave's in Shine On. We heard it
went, That's a really nice phrase. The wine came out, and that led to
what I think is our best album, the most colourful, the most feelingful.
Shine On was in the process of being recorded, the lyrics about Syd were
written. I walked into the studio at Abbey Road, Roger was sitting,
mixing at the desk, and I saw this big bald guy sitting on the couch
behind. About 16 stone. And I didn't think anything of it. In those days
it was quite normal for strangers to wander into our sessions. Then
Roger said, You don't know who that guy is, do you? It's Syd. It was a
huge shock, because I hadn't seen him for about six years. He kept
standing up and brushing his teeth, putting his toothbrush away and
sitting down. Then at one point he stood up and said, Right, when do I
put the guitar on? And of course he didn't have a guitar with him. And
we said, Sorry Syd, the guitar's all done."
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