A remastered Live at Pompeii has recently appeared on YouTube and it is absolutely wonderful. I have very happy memories of buying this on video years ago and I still recall being taken aback by the visual presentation and the performances. Live at Pompeii has, I feel, aged extremely well. Many very valuable performances from the late 60s have been rendered almost unwatchable by the director’s over-reliance on gimmicky graphics and uncertainty as to where to place the camera and switching between camera angles at the most inopportune moments. Director Adrian Mabel evidently understands and appreciates the music because the visual presentation always feels in sync with the music rather than fighting it. Speaking as someone who grew up with the blocky visuals of the VHS version, this remastered version looks absolutely marvellous. The source material has been very sympathetically handled and the colours are reproduced very naturally. And it sounds amazing.
I believe this is online for a limited time only so I strongly recommend a viewing this evening.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=5m5yprC6_Zw
Pink Floyd’s Live at Pompeii
Pink Floyd’s Live at Pompeii
Gryphon Diablo 300, dCS Rossini (with matching clock), Kharma Exquisite Mini, Ansuz C2, Finite Elemente Master Reference.
Re: Pink Floyd’s Live at Pompeii
Ah brilliant Paul! I have an ancient DVD version which is pretty decent so it'll be an interesting comparison exercise. There's just something about Floyd at Pompeii isn't there? The last vestiges of the ancient world in an equally ancient time (from this stand point) populated by long haired aliens from another planet!mcq wrote: ↑Fri Apr 24, 2020 7:59 pm A remastered Live at Pompeii has recently appeared on YouTube and it is absolutely wonderful. I have very happy memories of buying this on video years ago and I still recall being taken aback by the visual presentation and the performances. Live at Pompeii has, I feel, aged extremely well. Many very valuable performances from the late 60s have been rendered almost unwatchable by the director’s over-reliance on gimmicky graphics and uncertainty as to where to place the camera and switching between camera angles at the most inopportune moments. Director Adrian Mabel evidently understands and appreciates the music because the visual presentation always feels in sync with the music rather than fighting it. Speaking as someone who grew up with the blocky visuals of the VHS version, this remastered version looks absolutely marvellous. The source material has been very sympathetically handled and the colours are reproduced very naturally. And it sounds amazing.
I believe this is online for a limited time only so I strongly recommend a viewing this evening.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=5m5yprC6_Zw
I'll say one thing though : Richard Wright was the real deal. To me he is the forgotten member of Pink Floyd. Yet at the flick of a wrist he could improvise at will and, as here, summon the Gods of Pompeii on a crazy dance across the volcanic debris along with the rude awakening of those long dead unfortunates still caked in volcanic ash.
Re: Pink Floyd’s Live at Pompeii
....and this is the best version of Echoes with Richard. His last tour too.....Completely and utterly outstrips the rather limp original version though I still love the still compelling middle section as performed by guess who :)
Re: Pink Floyd’s Live at Pompeii
It’s interesting that you bring up Richard Wright, Dermot. I always thought his treatment by Roger Waters was particularly shoddy and it is difficult to take Waters seriously nowadays. I look at this image he has manufactured for himself as this great social justice warrior and I find it impossible to reconcile this public image with the bitter, self-aggrandising man that Waters has grown into. And, in a similar way, when Wright passed away in 2010, Waters issued a statement - “It is hard to overstate the importance of [Wright’s] musical voice in the Pink Floyd of the Sixties and Seventies” - that appeared totally at odds with his treatment of the man especially as the Seventies progressed.
I still remember being surprised when I heard the story about Wright’s dismissal from the band by Waters prior to the world tour in support of The Wall and his subsequent hiring as a salaried session musician for the live shows and yet, no official announcement was made about this at the time. The reason which was later given by Waters - that Wright was not providing any original material yet still claiming an equal share of production royalties - was surprising given that The Wall and The Final Cut were personal projects for Waters rather than genuine group efforts. Wright’s reason for his lack of productivity during the sessions for The Wall - namely, the breakup of his first marriage and a desire to spend more time with his children - seems far more credible. By this stage, Waters had his own musical vision in mind for Pink Floyd and the rest of the band’s contributions were becoming increasingly secondary.
Waters was and still is a very forceful and dominant personality. Admittedly, this was necessary during the recording of Wish You Were Here when a lot of time was being wasted in the studio and he was apparently a very galvanising influence on the rest of band. However, as time went on, this galvanising influence became a destructive one as the rest of the band saw their contributions dismissed by Waters and, by the time of The Wall, this had reached a toxic tipping point where Waters appeared to view himself solely as Pink Floyd. To my mind, Pink Floyd’s best music was the collective result of four individual musical identities putting their egos to one side and placing themselves solely at the service of their music, but, over time, the rampant, attention-grabbing, ego-driven Waters elbowed his band mates aside to claim Pink Floyd as “his” band and a vehicle to channel his private neuroses.
Wright has always struck me as a gentle, unassuming type of person who was happiest in the background and seemed to avoid the limelight of stardom. And I imagine that this is exactly the kind of personality which Waters would have loathed and enjoyed exercising control and dominance over. The other band members are not entirely blameless here and must have been aware and even witnessed Waters’ demoralisation of Wright but apparently did not intervene. I think this lack of intervention is something that Nick Mason and particularly David Gilmour have regretted with the passage of time.
Wright was also guilty of a great deal of complacency and was evidently happy to enjoy his money rather than knuckle down and craft a solo career. I think of Steve Hackett who, following the 1977 album by Genesis, Wind and Wuthering, became frustrated at the number of times his contributions were being rejected by his band mates and decided to quit the band and embark on a solo career. This was a very brave move in light of the massive commercial success that he would have enjoyed with Genesis, but in later interviews, he spoke of his feeling of liberation and the freedom of development of his personal musical expression that his solo career afforded him and would have been denied him had he stayed with Genesis. Unlike Hackett, whilst Wright was undoubtedly a gifted musician, he was not a creative self-starter and needed galvanising external forces to push him and drive him on.
And yet, going back to the days immediately following Syd Barrett’s departure, it was Wright whose contributions proved practical and vital to the continuation of the band - namely his songwriting contributions in Barrett’s absence, his arrangements of Waters’ and Gilmour’s earliest attempts at songwriting, and his transporting and setting up of the band’s gear before their concerts. And then, as the band flourished, his interest in improvisation and jazz combined with his formal musical training proved pivotal in the musical maturation of the band’s creative vision.
As you rightly say, Dermot, Richard Wright was the real deal and it is tragic to see how many of his contributions to Pink Floyd were overlooked during his lifetime in favour of the self-serving myth-making of Roger Waters.
I still remember being surprised when I heard the story about Wright’s dismissal from the band by Waters prior to the world tour in support of The Wall and his subsequent hiring as a salaried session musician for the live shows and yet, no official announcement was made about this at the time. The reason which was later given by Waters - that Wright was not providing any original material yet still claiming an equal share of production royalties - was surprising given that The Wall and The Final Cut were personal projects for Waters rather than genuine group efforts. Wright’s reason for his lack of productivity during the sessions for The Wall - namely, the breakup of his first marriage and a desire to spend more time with his children - seems far more credible. By this stage, Waters had his own musical vision in mind for Pink Floyd and the rest of the band’s contributions were becoming increasingly secondary.
Waters was and still is a very forceful and dominant personality. Admittedly, this was necessary during the recording of Wish You Were Here when a lot of time was being wasted in the studio and he was apparently a very galvanising influence on the rest of band. However, as time went on, this galvanising influence became a destructive one as the rest of the band saw their contributions dismissed by Waters and, by the time of The Wall, this had reached a toxic tipping point where Waters appeared to view himself solely as Pink Floyd. To my mind, Pink Floyd’s best music was the collective result of four individual musical identities putting their egos to one side and placing themselves solely at the service of their music, but, over time, the rampant, attention-grabbing, ego-driven Waters elbowed his band mates aside to claim Pink Floyd as “his” band and a vehicle to channel his private neuroses.
Wright has always struck me as a gentle, unassuming type of person who was happiest in the background and seemed to avoid the limelight of stardom. And I imagine that this is exactly the kind of personality which Waters would have loathed and enjoyed exercising control and dominance over. The other band members are not entirely blameless here and must have been aware and even witnessed Waters’ demoralisation of Wright but apparently did not intervene. I think this lack of intervention is something that Nick Mason and particularly David Gilmour have regretted with the passage of time.
Wright was also guilty of a great deal of complacency and was evidently happy to enjoy his money rather than knuckle down and craft a solo career. I think of Steve Hackett who, following the 1977 album by Genesis, Wind and Wuthering, became frustrated at the number of times his contributions were being rejected by his band mates and decided to quit the band and embark on a solo career. This was a very brave move in light of the massive commercial success that he would have enjoyed with Genesis, but in later interviews, he spoke of his feeling of liberation and the freedom of development of his personal musical expression that his solo career afforded him and would have been denied him had he stayed with Genesis. Unlike Hackett, whilst Wright was undoubtedly a gifted musician, he was not a creative self-starter and needed galvanising external forces to push him and drive him on.
And yet, going back to the days immediately following Syd Barrett’s departure, it was Wright whose contributions proved practical and vital to the continuation of the band - namely his songwriting contributions in Barrett’s absence, his arrangements of Waters’ and Gilmour’s earliest attempts at songwriting, and his transporting and setting up of the band’s gear before their concerts. And then, as the band flourished, his interest in improvisation and jazz combined with his formal musical training proved pivotal in the musical maturation of the band’s creative vision.
As you rightly say, Dermot, Richard Wright was the real deal and it is tragic to see how many of his contributions to Pink Floyd were overlooked during his lifetime in favour of the self-serving myth-making of Roger Waters.
Gryphon Diablo 300, dCS Rossini (with matching clock), Kharma Exquisite Mini, Ansuz C2, Finite Elemente Master Reference.
Re: Pink Floyd’s Live at Pompeii
......and so say all of us! Thanks for that Paul I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. Like you I've come to absolutely loath (is there a stronger word?) Mr. Waters for all the reasons you've already mentioned. He was important in the early stages before he just became a whining bore. I'll say no more.....
Re: Pink Floyd’s Live at Pompeii
I’m not sure if you’re familiar with this footage, Dermot, but here is Pink Floyd jamming with Frank Zappa on Interstellar Overdrive at a festival in Belgium in 1969. Check out the opening scenes where a clearly freaked Waters approaches Zappa who just calmly tunes up his guitar and nods with feigned interest at Waters.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=zz9bn24rxrI
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=zz9bn24rxrI
Gryphon Diablo 300, dCS Rossini (with matching clock), Kharma Exquisite Mini, Ansuz C2, Finite Elemente Master Reference.
Re: Pink Floyd’s Live at Pompeii
Wow! That is hilarious and priceless. '"Interstellar Overdose" indeed.....mcq wrote: ↑Sun Apr 26, 2020 9:54 pm I’m not sure if you’re familiar with this footage, Dermot, but here is Pink Floyd jamming with Frank Zappa on Interstellar Overdrive at a festival in Belgium in 1969. Check out the opening scenes where a clearly freaked Waters approaches Zappa who just calmly tunes up his guitar and nods with feigned interest at Waters.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=zz9bn24rxrI
Re: Pink Floyd’s Live at Pompeii
State of Waters he looks insane. Zappa looks bemused, great link thanks.