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Roger Waters
Date of Birth: Sept. 6, 1944
Instrument: Bass, Vocals (1965- 1985)
The Primary creative force of Pink Floyd for their most popular periods, but was still throughout his career was tormented by the madness of his friend Sud Barret and the death of his father in WWII. Roger Waters was born in Cambridge to a poor single mother and had to struggle a lot throughout childhood. Whe he was 10, he enrolled in an art class and met Syd Barret. When he went to London to study Architecture, he formed a band with Drummer, Nick Mason and Keyboardist Rick Wright, later Barret joined them on Lead Guitar and Vocals. Waters composed a piece on Pink Floyd's first LP, called "Take Up Thy Stethoscope and Walk". Sadly in early 1968, Syd was kicked out of the band becuase of his increasing erratic behavior, and left the bands future very questionable. But, where most bands would have quit, Pink Floyd soldiered on, replacing Barret on Lead Guitar with his best friend David Gilmour, and after Barret's departure, Waters became the main lyricist of pink floyd. In 1969, Pink Floyd released a very experimental Double Album, Umma Gumma. In 1970 they released a much more focused, Atom Heart Mother. And in 1971, the precursor to Dark Side of the Moon, Meddle was released. In 1973, Pink Floyd made their best album to date, Dark Side of the Moon. Roger Waters was the main songwriter on DSOTM, and follow up, Wish You Were Here, which was a tribute to their fallen bandmate, Syd Barret. The bands next release, my favorite, Animals, which was based on George Orwell's novel Animal Farm. That effort was almost entirely Roger Waters, as was their landmark album, The Wall. The Wall was a brooding double album about a rock star who builds an emotional wall around himself. In 1980 after the Wall, claiming he wasnt pulling his weight, Waters fired Rick Wright, the keyboardist. In 1983, Pink Floyd released The Finaal Cut: A Post War Requiem by Roger Waters, performed by Pink Floyd. Eventually the gloomy albums were too much for Pink Floyd, they seemed to be getting nowhere, and in 1984 Roger Waters quit and started his own solo career, releasing the Pro's and Con's of Hitchiking, which is ok, if you liked the Wall. In 1987 Pink Floyd reunited and Roger Waters sued to keep the name rights to Pink Floyd but lost. Although he has achieved modertae success as a solo artist, he says he has never achieved full closure on the problems of life.
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Syd Barret
Date of Birth: Jan 6, 1946 Cambridge, England
Instruments: Vocals, Lead Guitar (1965-1967)
The saga of Syd Barret begins of January 6, 1946 in the English college town of Cambridge. When Syd was 8 and Roger Waters was 10, they met at a Saturday art class and were fast friends. In 1965 Syd, Roger Waters, and his friend Bob Klose on Lead Guitar, they started a band called Pink Floyd, from the name of 2 obscure bluesman. While in London, Syd met Nick Mason, a local Architecture student to play drums and an art student from their apartment named Rick Wright to play Keyboards. Soon after Pink Floyd released "Lucy Laree" and after the single flopped, they immediately fired Bob Klose and Syd took over on Lead Guitar. A local manager Peter Jenner saw Pink Floyd live and got Pink Floyd a contract with Capitol, and they released their first single, Arnold Layne/Candy and Currant Bun. After that single's success, Pink Floyd recorded another single, See Emily Play. By now Syd was showing signs of mental illness from excessive use of LSD. In August of 1967, Pink Floyd released their first full length LP, The Piper at the Gates of Dawn, sadly this album was only released in the UK. But in the fall Pink Floyd planned a tour of America including several television appearances. The other members of the band were now very worried about the state of Syd's mental health. They went through their first television experience unscathed, but the secoond appearance at the Pat Boone show was a disaster, with Syd refusing to lip-synch to "See Emily Play". The third appearance at the Fillmore East, had Syd detune his guitar after 10 minutes. After that, Pink Floyd decided to cancel the entire American tour and return to England. Pink Floyd recorded their third single "Vegetable Man", which flopped on release. Finally Syd grew too erratic for the band to handle, and in early 1968 they replaced him with his best friend David Gilmour. After that Syd went on to record 2 more Solo albums, The Madcap Laughs and Barret, and ever since then has been living as a recluse in Cambridge.
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David Gilmour
Date of Birth: March 6, 1946 Cambridge
Instruments: Guitar, Vocals (1968- ?)
Born in Cambridge to a rich banker family, David had a nice childhood, compared with Syd's and Roger's. He and Syd were childhood friends and when Syd moved to London, David followed and roomed with Syd. Although, he was in another band, he was still good friends with Syd and Pink Floyd. When Syd had an LSD burnout in early 1968, the members of Pink Floyd asked David to play Syd's guitar part for the time being, but when they realized how good he was, they hired him as their full time guitarist. David appears on their Sophomore second album Saucerful of Secrets, on every track except "Jugband Blues", a piece that Barret sung and played. He co-wrote many of Pink Floyd's best songs including, "Money", "Time". He also sang on "Have A Cigar". But with the bands 1977 release, Animals, Roger Waters took over full songwriting duties. The same held true for their next landmark album, The Wall. After the almost entirely Roger Waters album, The Final Cut, he departed the band. Trying to start a solo career, David released, his 1984 album, About Face, which was successful and went gold. But David wasnt saticfied and decided to reunite Pink Floyd with him at the helm. Roger Waters tried to sue to prevent them from touring under the name Pink Floyd, but lost. Under David Pink Floyd has released, 1987 A Momentary Lapse of Reason, 1988's live album, The Delicate Sound of Thunder, the second studio album under Gilmour, 1994 Division Bell, and the live album to follow that, 1995, Pulse. Who knows if Pink Floyd will ever go on tour, it was 7 years between Momentary Lapse of Reason and the Division Bell.
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