Our very best wishes, and many happy returns, to David Gilmour who is celebrating his birthday today (March 6th)! Born and raised in Cambridge, David became involved with various bands in the area, principally Jokers Wild who were a popular draw when they played, before joining Pink Floyd in 1968. More recent years have seen David concentrating on his solo career, and helping out chums on their musical projects on an ad hoc basis. In 2019, some 120+ of David’s guitars were auctioned, raising $21.5 million (including some record-breaking amounts for individual instruments) which went to the environmental charity ClientEarth (https://clientearth.org). He also appeared as a guest performer at the Richard Thompson 70th Birthday Concert (https://www.brain-damage.co.uk/latest/david-gilmour-guest-appearance-at-richard-thompson-70th-birthday-co.html), playing Dimming Of The Day and Fat Old Sun, and joining the encore. In 2020, on February 25th, shortly before all activity stopped around the world due to Coronavirus, David joined the stellar bill for the Mick Fleetwood Friends Celebrate The Music of Peter Green and The Early Years of Fleetwood Mac (https://www.brain-damage.co.uk/latest/mick-fleetwood-friends-concert-box-set-available-to-orde.html) concert at London's Palladium, which has now been released as a 4LP, 2CD, Blu-ray and book box set (https://www.brain-damage.co.uk/latest/mick-fleetwood-friends-concert-box-set-available-to-orde.html). The concert was in aid of the Teenage Cancer Trust charity (https://teenagecancertrust.org). It just remains for us to wish David a very happy day! If you want to add your thoughts and wishes, you can do so at our Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/BrainDamageUK)…
Following a slight delay to its originally announced publication date, The Art Of Pink Floyd The Wall is now available and shipping to those who have already ordered it. This is a beautiful new, 288-page hardback book, in landscape format housed within a cardboard sleeve (shown to the right) that reveals a huge amount of rare and previously unseen sketches, paintings and more, created by Gerald Scarfe principally for The Wall project, but also includes earlier materials, for Wish You Were Here and Animals, for example. It is an expensive book, but the work involved bringing together the breadth of material within, and the quality of its presentation, help to justify the price tag – and it is completely different to any previous books on Scarfe’s artwork for the Floyd. From the first ideas for The Wall, through to the finished images that we are all familiar with, there’s such a wealth of material that steadily progresses through the album/film/concert staging, that you can quickly feel quite overwhelmed with the amount that Scarfe clearly created during his time on this project. And, for the first time, an incredible amount of that work has been revealed. Our review of The Art Of Pink Floyd The Wall (https://www.brain-damage.co.uk/books/gerald-scarfe-the-art-of-pink-floyd-the-wall-hardback-book.html) is worth checking out if you are interested in the book. However much you think you know The Wall, and Scarfe’s artwork for it (and earlier Pink Floyd projects), this book will reveal far more than you could imagine. One wonders if there was anything left in his archive that wasn’t included? That’s not a criticism, but a note of thanks for bringing in so many early sketches and ideas to sit alongside finished designs and images. This is a truly incredible book that will appeal equally to Pink Floyd fans, to Scarfe enthusiasts, and to those interested in production design for film and concert stage. This really is an exemplary collection of Scarfe’s work for the band, and the image reproduction throughout is top notch. Yes, it has a hefty price tag, but putting together a book like this was never going to be a quick and cheap affair. Some retailers are offering discounts thus reducing the price a little. As a special exclusive treat, Gerald had this video shot especially for Brain Damage, so you get a feel for what the book includes, and the format it comes in. Thanks Gerald! For those who would like to add this incredible book to their Floydian bookshelves, you can order it through the following links. Ordering through our links also helps with BD’s ongoing running costs, and we really appreciate it: Amazon UK (https://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/1408714329/braindamage-21), Amazon France (https://www.amazon.fr/exec/obidos/ASIN/1408714329/braindamageon-21), Amazon Germany (https://www.amazon.de/exec/obidos/ASIN/1408714329/braindamage0f-21), Amazon Spain (https://www.amazon.es/gp/product/1408714329/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8 tag=braidama01-21 linkCode=as2 camp=3626 creative=24822 creativeASIN=1408714329) and Amazon Italy (https://www.amazon.it/gp/product/1408714329/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8 camp=3370 creative=24114 creativeASIN=1408714329 1 linkCode=as2 tag=bradamonl-21). Some stores might not yet have the book available to order (at time of writing this, Amazon.com and Canada still don’t list the book) so please keep checking back as it should be available from all stores, soon. If your chosen store doesn’t stock it, try other Amazon stores as they will ship books worldwide. There is another option if you can wait until 3rd November 2022 – a paperback version of the book is due for publication then. You can order it now from UK retailer WH Smith (https://www.whsmith.co.uk/products/the-art-of-pink-floyd-the-wall/gerald-scarfe/paperback/9781408714331.html), and we’ll also add links for Amazon stores once they list this correctly. Amazon’s current listings show a paperback version as currently available, BUT that’s an error, as it is an older book and not The Art Of Pink Floyd The Wall!
Here’s a selection of some of the best tracks that we’ve discovered this week: DUNX – I Land At Sea Ireland based Alt-Rocker Dunx really demonstrates the uniqueness of his sound on the new single ‘I Land At Sea’, capturing an essence of 70’s rock whilst still retaining a modern, commercial edge. Blending layers of …
Just announced is the release of Pink Floyd’s A Momentary Lapse Of Reason – Remixed & Updated on physical and digital formats (including some unusual ones) in October 2021. Remixed and updated from the original 1987 master tapes for âThe Later Yearsâ by Andy Jackson with David Gilmour, assisted by Damon Iddins, the album on Pink Floyd Records (PFR37) will be available from 29 October on 2LP heavyweight 180g vinyl (cut at 45rpm for enhanced sound quality), CD, CD DVD, CD Blu-ray and digitally with stereo and 5.1 mixes. In addition, for the first time, and from 19 October 2021, the album will be presented in 360 Reality Audio (https://www.sony.com/electronics/360-reality-audio), a new immersive music experience that closely mimics the omni-directional soundscape of live musical performance for the listener using Sonyâs object-based 360 Spatial Sound technologies. This new edition of AMLOR will also be released in Dolby Audio and UHD in addition to 360 Reality Audio, all of which will continue with other Pink Floyd releases. The release of The Later Years project in 2019 gave an opportunity for a fresh overview of A Momentary Lapse Of Reason, originally released in 1987. By returning to some of Richard Wright’s original keyboard takes, and by re-recording new drum tracks with Nick Mason, producers David Gilmour and Bob Ezrin have restored a better creative balance between the three Pink Floyd members. Nick and David explain: David Gilmour said: “Some years after we had recorded the album, we came to the conclusion that we should update it to make it more timeless, featuring more of the traditional instruments that we liked and that we were more used to playing. This was something we thought it would benefit from. We also looked for and found some previously unused keyboard parts of Rickâs which helped us to come up with a new vibe, a new feeling for the album.
