Pink Floyd Essays - Harvest Records Artists,

Pink Floyd Music in the 20th century is something that has evolved from early days of jazz and blues music, to Rap, R&B, alternative, and rock & roll. It has become evident that some bands stand apart from others. The influences of Pink Anderson and Floyd Council have helped one of the greatest rock bands of all time emerge, Pink Floyd. The use of synthesizers, guitar and solid vocals has made them a musical force to be reckoned with. The band's name was arrived at after blues musicians Floyd Council and Pink Anderson. However, this was not the first of the names given to the band. Sigma6 was the first on a list of many names to come for the band. ?The band had many names at different times such as, The Screaming Abdabs, T-Set, The Meggadeaths, and The Architectural Abdabs, until Syd came up with the name The Pink Floyd Sound, inspired by two jazz artists Pink Anderson, and Floyd Council? (pinkfloyd.com). The band had roots in the early 1960's in Cambridge, England where future rock legends Syd Barrett and David Gilmour grew up. The band would generally gather at Barrett's house to play in his lavish home, using makeshift instruments to play the tunes of current rock stars; that is up until member Roger Waters blew his college grant money on his first guitar (Povey 8). Now as to the use of the name ?Pink Floyd,? there is much to wonder. Contrary to popular belief, the name did not come from a hallucination Syd Barrett had while using LSD. In his record collection he possessed two records, one by Pink Anderson, master of ragtime, blues and folk, and the other by bluesman Floyd Council, through which he simply combined first and last names to come up with a band name. Other options came up such as ?Anderson Council,? but the group opted for another name (Povey 14). Pink Floyd was born. Getting back to the origin of the groups members is a lengthy issue. Each member had been in other bands before coming together, each gaining knowledge and experience in a different aspect of the music. The initial, most important gathering was in the early 60's when Richard Wright, Nick Mason, and Roger Waters joined a band called Sigma6, along with other talents, then becoming the Architectural Abdabs due to their involvement in college (Povey 13). Eventually, a band called The Spectrum Five was formed, including Richard Wright, Nick Mason, Roger Waters, Bob Close, and founder Syd Barrett (Povey 19). ?Like a supernova, Roger Syd Barrett burned briefly and brightly, leaving an indelible mark upon psychedelic and progressive rock as the founder and original singer, songwriter, and lead guitarist of Pink Floyd? (allmusic.com). It was not until the beginning of 1965 that the band took on the name The Pink Floyd, after being called The Pink Floyd Blues Band, and The Tea Set (Povey 19). With all of these names and changes, one would wonder what kind of people stand behind the band's name. They go as follows: Syd Barrett was born on January 6, 1946 in Cambridge, England, and was musically inclined from a young age. He was the foremost important member of the band, largely because he was responsible for the majority of their first album, The Piper at the Gates of Dawn. Soon after the release of this album, Barrett was released from the band due in part to his uncontrolled mental health from the use of psychedelic drugs (allmusic.com). His mental stability created a whole other aspect for the band to deal with, something that would eventually shape the way they would play forever. Roger Waters, born in Bookham, Cambridge, England on September 6, 1944, also played a large role in the bands development. He wrote the majority of the lyrics on Dark Side of the Moon, as well as singing a great number of songs from The Wall. As bassist for Pink Floyd he did indeed take over a leadership role when Barrett was no longer part of the group (allmusic.com). However, as a leader he eventually became sickened with the band, and no longer wanted to pursue a career as Pink Floyd. He put in a court