Published at 1:16 am. Updated at 7:00 a.m.
The album The Dark Side of the Moon, released in March 1973, marks a turning point in Pink Floyd's work. The group's psychedelic influences remain, but the album no longer contains lengthy instrumental explorations. It's no longer about looking for sound textures, but about being up to the task. The group manages to sublimate the avant-garde technological innovations of the time in shorter and more melodic songs that, despite everything, continue to rise. The effect of the sounds is impressive and nothing is superfluous.
As the album begins the cycle of Roger Waters as primary composer, David Gilmour's great guitar playing tops the record. Even the words become clearer and more direct.
PHOTO FROM ALAN PARSONS WEBSITE
Alan Parsons in his studio
The effectiveness of the Beatles
Engineer Alan Parsons' contribution to the album's sound is undeniable. Parsons had studied at the Beatles' famous Abbey Road studio. He notably recorded the Beatles' albums “Let It Be” and “Abbey Road”. One of his last collaborations with the Beatles dates back to the group's famous concert on the roof of the Apple Corps studio, which was also their last show. His work on the album earned him a Grammy nomination.
A breathtaking voice
PHOTO MONTAGE THE PRESS
Clare Torry
We have Alan Parsons to thank for the genius of bringing in backup singer Clare Torry. The frail Brit drives the magnificent vocal solo heard in The Great Gig in the Sky, an anthology piece. Like the musicians, Torry didn't know what to do with this piece.
After a few uninteresting shots, she decides to sing as if she were an instrument herself. She performs her long improvisation in one go. The singer tries again, but stops in the middle and finds the recording unnecessary. She leaves the studio without knowing whether her performance will be accepted.
Clare Torry only found out about her involvement in the album when she bought the record.
Oddly enough, a few years later, Torry only sang this song once on stage with the group. She was paid just £30 (C$60) for this appearance on the album and had to sue EMI and Pink Floyd to have her copyright recognized. His entry was finally approved in 2005.
The prism
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The famous prism from the cover of Dark Side of the Moon
Graphic designer Storm Thorgeson was friends with Syd Barrett (first singer of Pink Floyd) and bassist Roger Waters, whom he met in high school in Cambridge. Thorgerson and Aubrey Powell founded the Hipgnosis agency, which produced a legion of record covers for very popular groups such as Led Zeppelin, Genesis, Styx, Yes, Black Sabbath, Paul McCartney, etc.
PHOTO FROM THE VIDEO SQUARING THE CIRCLE
Storm Thorgerson
Keyboardist Richard Wright, the only member of the band who was really interested in cover design, had asked Thorgeson to design a simple and eye-catching cover. Thorgerson was the author of several other Pink Floyd covers and his art perfectly added to the band's mystique. Five concepts were proposed, but the idea of the prism in which the light is split was popular. The album cover has become a classic.
Pink Floyd pouch created by Thorgerson and Hipgnosis
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1968 A saucer full of secrets
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1969 More
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1969 Ummagumma
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1970 Atomic Heart Mother
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1971 interference
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1972 Obscured by clouds
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1975 I wish you were here
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1977 animals
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1987 A temporary loss of reason
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1994 The Bell Division
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2001 Echoes: The Best of Pink Floyd
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The deck of cards and the last words
Voices declaim short sentences throughout the album. “I'm not afraid of dying…” can be heard on The Great Gig in the Sky. These recordings are the result of a strange little game played by the group. Every person who entered Abbey Road Studios was given a card with a question on it. The question could sometimes be trivial, sometimes profound, but the answer was recorded.
Technicians, roadies, wives…everyone goes through it. Even Paul McCartney, whose parts we couldn't remember. The studio doorman, Irishman Gerry O'Driscoll, sums up the last quote with his thick accent: “There is actually no dark side of the moon. In fact, everything is dark,” the album concludes. In fact, he added that it is the sun that makes the moon bright. A part that was considered too optimistic to appear on the album…
Money is a crime
The song “Money” is a sarcastic criticism of consumer behavior and the best-selling excerpt. The album remained on the Billboard 200 charts for 736 consecutive weeks. The 45 million albums sold generate enormous income.
A strange irony for a band that paid singer Clare Torry a pittance and paid engineer Alan Parsons £35 a week for the duration of the recording session. The cash register sound effects from the beginning of the song still resonate…
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The Black Strat David Gilmour's 1969 Fender Stratocaster, called the Black Strat, used on the album sold at auction in 2019 for nearly $4 million, the most expensive guitar sale ever.
It took studio musician Clare Torry just three hours to record her famous contribution. Disappointed by her performance, which she described as a long meow, she apologized to the musicians after the session.