The Great Gig in the Sky

I’m going to break from this blog’s consumption focus for today in order to honour one of the greatest heroes of rock music, Richard Wright, founding member and keyboardist of prog-psych pioneers Pink Floyd.

Wright was the gentle spirit of Pink Floyd, and a kind of melodic balance between the volatile Roger Waters and David Gilmour. His atmospheric keyboard work, exemplified by “Echoes” from Meddle (1971), “The Great Gig in the Sky” and “Us and Them” from The Dark Side of the Moon (1973) “Shine on You Crazy Diamond” from Wish You Were Here (1975), and “Marooned” from The Division Bell, all tracks he wrote or co-wrote, often played the part of the battlefield on which Waters and Gilmour waged war—a sort of background feature, but integral to the whole experience. Wright also lent his voice to a number of tracks—his singing is a big part of what makes Obscured by Clouds (1972) one of my favourite Pink Floyd albums—including lead vocal duties on the underrated but superb “Summer ‘68″ from Atom Heart Mother (1970) and “Wearing the Inside Out” from The Division Bell. (Both of these quirky tracks also featuring interesting parts for horns—check them out!) Wright’s style is also a big part of what makes the Waters-free Pink Floyd albums actually sound like Pink Floyd; without him, it is likely that A Momentary Lapse of Reason and The Division Bell would simply have been spiritual follow-ups to David Gilmour’s About Face (1984).

Wright died yesterday, 15 September 2008, after a short battle with cancer. Thanks Rick, for all of the wonderful music and for all of the good that your music did in my life.

“I am not frightened of dying.
Any time will do, I dont mind.
Why should I be frightened of dying?
There’s no reason for it; you’ve got to go sometime.”
— “The Great Gig in the Sky”

Live at Leeds

The Who; 1970
Deluxe Edition 2001

What can be said about this album that hasn’t already been said? Not only is The Who’s first official live album widely regarded as one of the best live albums of all time (the best by some), but it also deserves consideration as one of the best rock albums period. A critical and commercial success, Live at Leeds captures The Who at the height of their ear-shattering powers—Tommy was their previous studio effort, and Who’s Next was to follow. Can anyone name a better album-per-year trio of classics? Rubber Soul – Revolver – Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, I hear you say? Exactly. Suitably legendary.

The album begins in style, with the thunderous high-speed bass and drum opening to the rocker “Heaven and Hell” (penned by Thunderfingers himself, bassist John Entwistle), and it’s clear that the band isn’t going to pull any punches. They rock harder than Led Zeppelin or Deep Purple ever did (and with more conviction, to boot). Musically, the whole album is spectacular. Each member is really on top of his game. Entwistle’s fingers are all over the bass, usually simultaneously. Pete Townshend is his usual sloppy self, but it’s truly inspired. Keith Moon shows why he still hasn’t been topped in terms of raw musical drumming skill. Roger Daltrey gets behind the beat a couple of times on disc two, and he sometimes sounds tired, but it detracts nothing from his vocals.

The set list is about the best you could ask from The Who of 1970. The concert staple rock & roll covers are all there (“Young Man Blues”, “Summertime Blues”, and “Shakin’ All Over”), as are the cutesy chart hits (“I Can’t Explain”, “Substitute”, “Happy Jack”, and “I’m a Boy”). Any concession to studio arrangement is abandoned, though, as the singles are performed with the same driving energy as the rest of the rockers. Speaking of energy, every member of the band gets in on the witty banter between songs. Normally I don’t care for lengthy interruptions between rock numbers, but pretty much everything that comes out of Moon’s mouth (sometimes even in the middle of songs!) is hilarious. And it truly is witty. The set is rounded out with one of the best (of many) versions of the mini-opera “A Quick One, While He’s Away”, an extended “Magic Bus”, and a long and weaving fifteen-plus minute version of “My Generation” that serves as a kind of encore medley finale. And of course, disc two consists of an uninterrupted Tommy set (minus a few songs, like “Underture”, “Sensation”, and “Welcome”, unfortunately).

It’s great to hear Tommy live, and some of the songs benefit a great deal from the band’s concert enthusiasm. Notably, “Eyesight to the Blind (The Hawker)” and “Smash the Mirror” are given a far more aggressive treatment than their album versions, and Daltrey and Townshend deliver “We’re Not Gonna Take It” with a kind of sincerity that doesn’t come through quite as well on the original. The only song that doesn’t work as well as it did on the album (which is a real shame, because it’s one of my favourite studio tracks) is a sloppy and lifeless “Sally Simpson”. Besides this blip in an otherwise excellent performance, there is still a problem with the way in which Tommy was integrated into the concert on this deluxe edition. Due to technological restraints (i.e. the length of the audio CD), Tommy has been removed from its original place in the set list and transplanted onto disc two. This means that the songs that originally closed the album—”Summertime Blues” to “Magic Bus”—now close disc one. This wouldn’t normally be a problem if it weren’t for the fact that the band revives several musical themes from Tommy in the middle of their “My Generation” medley. Instead of acting as a formal return to the themes of the show’s centre-piece, they just sound arbitrary. Still, the presentation (the remastering job and the skilled editing around the transplant) is of such a quality that the altered song order is only really a minor inconvenience for die-hard fans.

I cannot recommend this album strongly enough. It is the definitive document of what The Who were all about in their prime. If you ever find yourself wondering what the big deal about The Who was—and why they were considered such wild rock icons—look no further than Live at Leeds.