Pink Floyd released their eighth studio album Wish You Were Here on September 12, 1975, which means that today is that LP's 50th anniversary. Much of the album's running time was given over to "Shine On You Crazy Diamond," the band's nine-part tribute to their troubled ex-frontman Syd Barrett. Wish You Were Here got tepid reviews when it first came out, but it has since achieved the same kind of canonical classic-rock status as its 1973 predecessor Dark Side Of The Moon, and its title track is a dorm-room acoustic-guitar staple. Former Pink Floyd bandmates Roger Waters and David Gilmour seem unlikely to patch things up anytime soon, but they're not in control of the Pink Floyd business entity anymore anyway. Later this year, Sony Music will release a Wish You Were Here box set with some previously unreleased material.
The upcoming Wish You Were Here 50 will include six previously unreleased alternate versions and demos, including Roger Waters' original home demo of "Welcome To The Machine" and an instrumental mix of the title track with David Gilmour on pedal steel. It'll arrange all nine parts of "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" together; they were divided onto separate sides in the original vinyl version. There's also a Dolby Atmos mix of the orignal album from longtime Floyd collaborator James Guthrie and a remastered version of the bootleg live recording that Mike Millard made of Floyd's April 1975 performance at the Los Angeles Sports Arena.
If you spring for the most expensive version of the box, you get all that on CD and LP, as well as a Blu-Ray of three concert screen films from Pink Floyd's 1975 tour, a clear vinyl Live At Wembley 1974 LP, a replica Japanese 7" version of "Have A Cigar" b/w "Welcome To The Machine," a hardcover book, a comic book tour program, and a Knebworth concert poster. That's a lot of stuff! It'll run you $249.98. One of the box set's previously unreleased tracks is "The Machine Song (Demo #2, Revisited)," an early full-band recording of "Welcome To The Machine" that's shorter than the one on the final album. Below, check out that audio and the tracklist for the box set.
TRACKLIST:
Disc 1 (original album):
01 "Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Pts. 1-5)"
02 "Welcome To The Machine"
03 "Have A Cigar"
04 "Wish You Were Here"
05 "Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Pts. 6-9)"
Disc 2 (bonus tracks)"
01 "Wine Glasses"
02 "Have A Cigar (Alternate Version)"
03 "Wish You Were Here" (feat. Stéphane Grappelli)
04 "Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Early Instrumental Version, Rough Mix)" *
05 "The Machine Song (Roger’s Demo)" *
06 "The Machine Song (Demo #2, Revisited)" *
07 "Wish You Were Here (Take 1)" *
08 "Wish You Were Here (Pedal Steel Instrumental Mix)" *
09 "Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Pts. 1-9, New Stereo Mix)" *
Disc 3 (live bootleg, Los Angeles Sports Arena, 1975):
01 "Raving And Drooling" *
02 "You've Got To Be Crazy" *
03 "Shine On You Crazy Diamond (1-5)" *
04 "Have A Cigar" *
05 "Shine On You Crazy Diamond (6-9)" *
06 "Speak To Me" *
07 "Breathe (In The Air)" *
08 "On The Run" *
09 "Time" *
10 "The Great Gig In The Sky" *
11 "Money" *
12 "Us And Them" *
13 "Any Colour You Like" *
14 "Brain Damage" *
15 "Eclipse" *
16 "Echoes" *
Wish You Were Here 50 is out 12/12 on Sony Music. Pre-order it here.
