Thanks to everyone who sent me email and posted regarding my question:
Who Sang Which Pink Floyd Songs? I received a lot of different replies.
I am posting a summary, with a few corrections, of the list that was
most complete. (Thank-you Carl Johnson and Scott Bodarky).
Most people erred in identifying the singer(s) on the earlier
(pre-WALL) albums. Most people agreed that Roger Waters has a voice
which is more "whiny" and David Gilmour has a voice which is more
"lovely". However, this whiny quality in Roger's voice seems to be
particular to _The Wall_. He did a lot of singing on earlier albums
before this quality of his voice became so noticeable.
I heard a David Gilmour interview on a late-night interview a couple
of weeks ago. In this interview he described Roger's voice as
"venomous". I like this description. Also, the songs that David
Gilmour is credited with co-writing on the Wall, or Dark Side of the
Moon, or Wish You Were Here, are all MUSICAL contributions, not
lyrical contributions. In the same interview, David mentioned that he
prefers a "fuller more orchestral sound", and Roger prefers
"a minimalist sound". He said that one of the reasons the release of
_Dark Side of the Moon_ was delayed was because of a complete
disagreement on how the songs on that album should be mixed.
I think this is one of the reasons the "Gilmour songs" get more radio
air play. They sound more "poppy" than Roger's songs. That isn't to
say "poppy" is bad, just more main-stream.
Also, several people asked why I didn't include all the PF albums for
analysis. I guess I just figured people wouldn't have heard of a lot
of the earlier albums, or that they wouldn't be sufficiently
interested. It seems I was wrong. Two albums that people
specifically commented on were _Piper_ and _The Final Cut_. I include
these below too.
Colleen
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PIPER AT THE GATES OF DAWN
All, or at least a morjority of the songs here are sung by
Syd Barrett; Barrett left the band after this album because
of drug problems.
>DARK SIDE OF THE MOON
> Breathe in the Air
D. Gilmour
> Time
D. Gilmour "Ticking away...show you the way,"
R. Wright "Tired of lying...the starting gun,"
D. Gilmour "And you run...closer to death"
R. Wright "Every year...something more to say"
(Breathe Reprise - D. Gilmour)
(The Great Gig In The Sky - Clare Tory)
> Money
D. Gilmour
> Us and Them
D. Gilmour
> Brain Damage
R. Waters
> Eclipse
R. Waters
>WISH YOU WERE HERE
> Shine on You Crazy Diamond (parts I-IX)
R. Waters (Gilmour joins for "Shine on you crazy diamond!")
> Welcome to the Machine
D. Gilmour (Waters is mixed lower but is there too)
> Have a Cigar
Roy Harper (who happened to be in the next studio)
> Wish You Were Here
D. Gilmour
>ANIMALS
> Pigs on the Wing
R. Waters
> Pigs
R. Waters
> Sheep
R. Waters (I have no idea who does the synthed Lord's prayer)
> Dogs
D. Gilmour "You gotta be crazy...dying of cancer" <long solos/jam>
D. Gilmour "And when you lose control...by the stone <stone> <stone>"
R. Waters "Who was born in a house...by the stone."
>THE WALL
> In the Flesh?
R. Waters
> The Thin Ice
D. Gilmour "Mama loves her baby...ooooh babe"
R. Waters "If you should go skating...claw the thin ice"
> Another Brick in the Wall (Parts 1-3)
R. Waters (yes, part 2 as well)
> The Happiest Days of Our Lives
R. Waters
> Mother
R. Waters sings "Mother..." verses (from Pink's view, of course)
D. Gilmour sings "Hush now baby..." verses (from Pink's mom's view)
> Goodbye Blue Sky
D. Gilmour
> Empty Spaces
R. Waters
> Young Lust
D. Gilmour (Waters joins for "Ooooh I need a dirty...")
> One of My Turns
R. Waters
> Don't Leave Me Now
R. Waters
> Goodbye Cruel World
R. Waters
> Hey You
D. Gilmour "Hey you, out there...I'm coming home"
R. Waters "But it was only a fantasy...divided we fall"
> Is There Anybody Out There
R. Waters
> Nobody Home
R. Waters
> Vera
R. Waters
> Bring the Boys Back Home
R. Waters with choir
> Comfortably Numb
R. Waters "Hello...where it hurts?"
D. Gilmour "There is no pain...comfortably numb"
R. Waters "Okay...there'll be no more"
D. Gilmour "Aaaaaaaaahhh!"
R. Waters "But you may feel...it's time to go"
D. Gilmour "There is no pain...comfortably numb"
> The Show Must Go On
Not sure who's doing the 50's doo-op.
D. Gilmour "There must be some mistake...will I remember this song?"
R. Waters and others do "Oooh ma!"s and "The show must go on"
> In the Flesh
R. Waters
> Run Like Hell
D. Gilmour "You better make your face up with your favorite disguise"
R. Waters "With your button down lips and your roller blind eyes"
D. Gilmour "With your empty smile and your hungry heart"
R. Waters "Feel the bile rising from your guilty past"
...alternates till end.
> Waiting for the Worms
This one's confusing (more 50's doo-op), so the only thing I'll
commit to is R. Waters on megaphone, and D. Gilmour singing the
low lines ("Sitting in a bunker" "In perfect isolation").
> Stop
R. Waters
> The Trial
R. Waters (yes, all parts; Pink's judging himself, after all)
Bob Ezrin (The Judge at the trial, though I like the
explanation above better.)
> Outside the Wall
R. Waters
THE FINAL CUT
Roger Waters wrote this entire piece and sings the entire piece.
This is the final album under the Pink Floyd name that has Roger
Waters as a contributor.
col...@telesoft.com (Colleen Wirth @second) writes:
> WISH YOU WERE HERE
> Welcome to the Machine
> D. Gilmour (Waters is mixed lower but is there too)
Ach. Roger Waters sings this. He has commented in the past that
they had to do some tape manipulation because part of the vocal
was out of his range.
> THE WALL
> Run Like Hell
> D. Gilmour "You better make your face up with your favorite disguise"
> R. Waters "With your button down lips and your roller blind eyes"
> D. Gilmour "With your empty smile and your hungry heart"
> R. Waters "Feel the bile rising from your guilty past"
> ...alternates till end.
Waters sings this in its entirety (except for the Run...Run...Run... bits).
There are alternating vocal lines, but they are Waters overdubbed on
himself. If you listen to Gilmour's hapless attempts to perform this
song on his more recent material, this will be clear.
I know that there is at least one person out there who is insistent
that Gilmour sings some of this material. I am insistent that Waters
sings the whole thing. Let's not argue about it further, please.
> The Trial
> R. Waters (yes, all parts; Pink's judging himself, after all)
> Bob Ezrin (The Judge at the trial, though I like the
> explanation above better.)
Waters sings the whole song. There is a large cadre of singers
who are credited on the album--Ezrin is not one of them. As on
earlier albums, tape manipulation was used to effect the part of
the judge.
Richard Wright sings backup on most of the songs on which Gilmour
sings lead. The 50's doo-wop stuff is done by the three singers
plus the backup singers who are credited as such.
--
-Scott Bodarky | "You can't run a race with a book of religion,
bod...@cme.nist.gov | Not with a heap, or a lump, or a smidgeon,
| Of foolish rules of ancient date,
| Designed to make you all feel great,
The National Institute of | While you fold, spindle, and mutilate,
Standards and Technology | Those unbelievers from a neighboring state." -FZ
Which song(s) on "The Wall" did Toni Tenille (sp?, she of "Muskrat Love")
sing on?
--steve
--
H. Stephen Anderson | email: ande...@hobbes.osgp.osc.edu
The Ohio Supercomputer Graphics Project | Phone: (614) 292-3274
1224 Kinnear Road |
Columbus, Ohio 43212 |
'Hey You' from _The Wall_ : Doesn't Waters sing the more "angry" verse
near the end??
The one that ends; "....Hey you, don't tell me there's no hope at
all...Together we stand, divided we fall" ????
I thought that was almost certainly Roger.
Also, Gilmour *does* sing on _The Final Cut_
'Not Now John' --> Gilmour: "Fuck all that..."
Water: "Make 'em laugh..."
Just my 3 cents (inflation, you know ;-) )
Jeff
--
@xxxxx{==============- giac...@pilot.njin.net -==============}xxxxx@
| or |
| giac...@apollo.montclair.edu |
| |
| "There can be only one..." - (Highlander) |
@xxxxx{==============- -==============}xxxxx@
I don't want to argue pointlessly either, nor with a fellow Floydian. So
consider this good-natured commentary on your corrections. I do have a good
stereo, multi-media versions of each album, many live bootlegs. And I have
listened to Pink Floyd enough to discern the respective singers. I was able
to do that whole list from memory, after all. Still, the record (ignore any
possible puns) could stand some more commentary, apparently.
>> WISH YOU WERE HERE
>> Welcome to the Machine
>> D. Gilmour (Waters is mixed lower but is there too)
>Ach. Roger Waters sings this. He has commented in the past that
>they had to do some tape manipulation because part of the vocal
>was out of his range.
And Gilmour is present too. I listed him first, since Roger's voice is not
as prominent in the mix. The old tape manipulation factoid caused me to
mention Waters at all, but he's certainly not singing alone. Listen to the
track, and Dave is foremost. After that, listen to some bootlegs, and
you'll hear them both sing (and Roger does come out more in those mixes).
Should I have simply said they both sang it and been done with it? Probably
so, but Gilmour's voice was so much more discernable, and I thought that was
the essential point of asking about who sings which.
Here's our only disagreement:
>> THE WALL
>> Run Like Hell
>> D. Gilmour "You better make your face up with your favorite disguise"
>> R. Waters "With your button down lips and your roller blind eyes"
>> D. Gilmour "With your empty smile and your hungry heart"
>> R. Waters "Feel the bile rising from your guilty past"
>> ...alternates till end.
>Waters sings this in its entirety (except for the Run...Run...Run... bits).
>There are alternating vocal lines, but they are Waters overdubbed on
>himself.
Talk about learning how to distinguish their voices. This is a difficult
track to do so, and I didn't get it for a long while either. I thought the
same individual sang both parts, but then I got the seed from Gilmour's
tours. During the About Face tour, it was obvious that Dave tried not to
sing any of the lyrics Roger sang originally, and had other's take over for
Roger's parts, much to the dismay of Comfortably Numb fans (Dave did sing
for 'Another Brick...' though). With Roger's Pros and Cons tour, it was
apparent Roger was observing the same 'rule,' also mangling Money in the
process.
Anyways, back to the story. Relistening then to The Wall album, the separate
voices on Run Like Hell became readily apparent. Somehow, I wasn't the only
one who came to that conclusion either, since at least two others have posted
saying the same thing. It's easier to believe that the difference between
the parts is simply not very noticeable, then to believe that several of us
are imagining a difference, and the exact same one, with Dave odd's and Roger
even's, where there is none. The record is more straight if we conclude
both sang, then if one did.
One more thing: Scott would be correct if we were considering the version
from the movie. There Roger definitely redubbed the song so that his voice
sang both parts, and it's almost too obvious, since the levels are clearly
different. Not only is the alternating volume levels on the lyrics annoying,
but that he combined the synth solo with the second verse, making the song
much shorter, ruined that track, in my opinion. But, to the point, why would
Roger redub the song if he sang both parts originally?
>I am insistent that Waters sings the whole thing. Let's not argue about it
>further, please.
Well, you still haven't listened to it again, so please give it a try. With
the idea in mind, the distinctive voices might be more apparent to you.
Next, a half-disagreement:
>> The Trial
>> R. Waters (yes, all parts; Pink's judging himself, after all)
>> Bob Ezrin (The Judge at the trial, though I like the
>> explanation above better.)
>Waters sings the whole song.
That's what I thought too, since it fits with the theme better, as I said,
and we may both be correct. Still, the tape effects explanation doesn't
explain why Roger didn't sing the Judge part live, as he has other bits
where he had manipulated tape. Don't know who it is myself, but I would say
it was Roger on the album anyways. Someone else did claim it was Bob Ezrin,
though, and that jived too well with the concert evidence. Maybe Michael
Kamen?
>Richard Wright sings backup on most of the songs on which Gilmour
>sings lead. The 50's doo-wop stuff is done by the three singers
>plus the backup singers who are credited as such.
Do I hear Echoes? (...groan...)
- Carl Johnson
(As far as the Toni Tenniel part, I still think it's dueting with Dave on
Comfortably Numb, and not the prostitute's ramblings in One of My Turns.)
Yep. And the bit before it too ("But it was only a fantasy..."). And that's
exactly what I said in the summary.
>Also, Gilmour *does* sing on _The Final Cut_
>'Not Now John' --> Gilmour: "Fuck all that..."
> Water: "Make 'em laugh..."
Correct again. Don't know how someone missed that.
- Carl Johnson
Singing voices OK....but who did the talking bits such as "You know I'm
mad; I've always been mad..." and "I've been mad for f***ing years"?
Waters, I suspect.
Inquiring minds want to know....
--
Andy Clews, Computing Service, Univ. of Sussex, Brighton BN1 9QN, England
JANET: an...@syma.sussex.ac.uk BITNET: andy%syma.sus...@uk.ac
INTERNET: p...@bradley.edu
ARPA: cepu!bradley!p...@seas.ucla.edu
This was discussed in earnest on the Pink Floyd mailing list a few months ago...
If I remember correctly, the band handed out cards with questions on them to
people hanging around the studio (janitors, etc...). They taped the people
answering the questions and used them on the album. That's my basic
understanding, correct me if I'm wrong. I'm pretty certain that it's not
anybody in the band.
Doug
I read in a David Gilmour interview several years ago that most of the
Dark Side voices were just average folk who were recorded in and around
the Abbey Road studios. They just took a microphone outside and asked
passing people things like, "What do you think about dying?" and recorded
the responses.
Much more was recorded than was used. I believe some comments by Paul
and Linda McCartney were recorded but not used. Dark Side would have
been a very different album if Paul's voice were to suddenly wander
through.
Alan McNeely
mcn...@pedev.columbia.ncr.com
Someone else, in e-mail I think, said that the "mad laughter" heard on
_Brain Damage_ or _Eclipse_ (I don't remember, maybe both) was
done by Roger Waters.
> Andy Clews, Computing Service, Univ. of Sussex, Brighton BN1 9QN, England
Colleen
I remember reading (or being told) that the laughter was from a
particularly stoned roadie called "Eddie the Hat"....
Jon
Someone else, in e-mail I think, said that the "mad laughter" heard on
_Brain Damage_ or _Eclipse_ (I don't remember, maybe both) was
done by Roger Waters.
Colleen
I'm sorry, but that isn't right! The mad laughter was an roadie.
Gilmore and Waters had interviewed a lot of people for the voices
in that song, and Roger The Hat, thats the roadie, told with a
joint in his hand, a nice story, how he was giving a mad driver a
thrashing - and then he laughed.
Ingo
--
i...@wedel.hanse.de
Ingo B. Boelck, Hoernstrasse 1, D-2000 Wedel
Tel.: 04103/85490
PLEASE do NOT send LONG MAILS - we have to pay $0,30 per kilobyte. Thanks.
In fact several of the comments are from Eddie the Hat, including "mad, I've
always been mad" and "why should I be a-frightened a-dying? There's no reason
for it".
Andy Simms (asi...@datlog.co.uk)
Depends on *which* "Pros and Cons" tour you're talking about.
There was the 1984 tour with Eric Clapton and the 1985
tour where Waters hit the road without Clapton, Tim Renwick,
and Chris Stainton (replacing them with Jay Stapely
and Andy Fairweather-Low). I saw both tours.
The 1984 version was about a hundred times better!!!!
(he only played 4 US cities - Hartford, E. Rutherford_NJ(NYC), Philly,
and Rosemont_Ill(Chicago) - and only two other N. American cities -
Toronto & Montreal).
Andy Fairweather Low sang "Money" on the second Pros and Cons
tour but I'm almost positive that Waters sang it on the first
Pros and Cons tour (Clapton, Renwick, or Stainton definetly
didn't sing it)...
One other thing - when I listen to Dark Side Of The Moon -
I'm very aware of Doris Troy singing harmony - if you knew
her voice you wouldn't be able to miss her - the female
"lead" near the end of Brain Damage (right before Eclipse)
is Doris Troy - most people probably believe this to be Claire
Torry... it's not...
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"I don't know where the money is... Math was never my subject"-Ron Decline
rutgers!bellcore!nvuxe!txb or nvuxe!t...@bellcore.bellcore.com
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t...@nvuxe.uucp (22314-T Bowers(1604)) writes:
>[...-ice] (Ice) writes:
>>With Roger's Pros and Cons tour, it was apparent Roger was observing the
>>same 'rule,' [of not singing parts Dave sang on the studio versions-ice]
>>also mangling Money in the process.
>Depends on *which* "Pros and Cons" tour you're talking about.
Certainly, the one with Clapton would have to be an improvement. Too bad he
left the tour so soon. But Roger kept up his subsequent "Money" mangling in
his _Radio K.A.O.S._ tour.
>Andy Fairweather Low sang "Money" on the second Pros and Cons tour but I'm
>almost positive that Waters sang it on the first Pros and Cons tour
>(Clapton, Renwick, or Stainton definetly didn't sing it)...
What about the guy I saw sing it on both tours, and is credited with the
vocals on the single: Paul Carrack? I believe he probably sang Money
throughout both tours, though I wasn't at the shows you saw, so I could be
wrong. But he did sing "Money" at each show I saw.
>the female "lead" near the end of Brain Damage (right before Eclipse) is
>Doris Troy - most people probably believe this to be Claire Torry... it's
>not...
Weren't you the one who said some weeks ago that Doris was also in "Great
Gig ...?" If so, I would like to ask a question of you. Why was Clare Tory
the only one singled out as singer for that song? Certainly they both
deserve credit. (An honest question really. I don't doubt Doris is there.)
- Carl Johnson
>What about the guy I saw sing it on both tours, and is credited with the
>vocals on the single: Paul Carrack? I believe he probably sang Money
>throughout both tours, though I wasn't at the shows you saw, so I could be
>wrong. But he did sing "Money" at each show I saw. [...]
What single?
__________________________________________________________________________
Nicholas Lubofsky e-mail: lubo...@aerospace.aero.org
The Aerospace Corporation ----------------------------
Los Angeles voice-mail: (213) 336-5454
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
| When they kick at your front door, |
| How're you gonna come? |
| With your hands on your head, |
| Or on the trigger of your gun? |
>What single?
One of the _Radio K.A.O.S._ singles, I believe it was for "Sunset Strip," was
backed with a live version of "Money," vocals credited to Paul.
- Carl Johnson
gilmour at the greek actually cycled the number back a verse when
it was fu'd, much to the chagrin of the fellow playing bass and
responsible for the other half of the duet at the time.
on the other hand, waters and co. just seemed to blast on through.
with his usual careful attention to detail, how can this
have been accidental?
are the mangled presentations just new versions, like gilmour's
"jazzicised" version of money (which i thought was an equipment
failure the first time i saw it)
/----------------\ NB: as you can see there is only one
ttfn, | ( (o) (o) ) | of me in this space.
bear. | ( __ ) | this is my personal view.
h.w.neff | ( \/ ) |
be...@tcs.com | ( ---- ) | bear /-/^/\/=/-/-
\----------------/
o/__________________________________________________________________________
o\ detach here before...
>One of the _Radio K.A.O.S._ singles, I believe it was for "Sunset Strip," was
>backed with a live version of "Money," vocals credited to Paul.
>
>- Carl Johnson
Actually, it's the single for "The Tide is Turning". Three tracks; the
title is the original album version. "Money" is indeed live with Mr.
Carrack on vocals; even has a cute "Lear jet" sound rush across the
stage (leave it to Roger to overstate his point with sound effects :-).
The last track (final cut?) is a demo, "Get Back to Radio", sounding
like an outtake from The Final Cut or Pros and Cons; lots of whiny
sax, plenty of vocal double tracking (one mumbling, one screeching,
as usual :-). Supposedly the inspiration for KAOS, although it sounds
not a bit like the album ...
I doubt the single is widely available these days; I bought mine two
years ago and it was getting tough to find then -- import to US from
UK, cost about US$14. I believe the only other single was for "Radio
Waves", which contained a remix at least; I don't know what else was
on it. I passed it up once and have kicked myself since.
Dennis
--
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Dennis Hilgenberg Kilt him a b'ar when he was only tree
s...@en.ecn.purdue.edu Kevin, Kevin Damerell, king o' the wile frontier
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