Rock record that was considered “fundamental” and had a profound impact on Pink Floyd
An album that fully changes the trajectory of the history of music is something that happens once in a blue moon occasionally. These are the records, such as Pet Sounds or The Velvet Underground and Nico, that profoundly influenced the direction that popular music would take in the future. Pink Floyd is an example of a band that has consistently worked toward the creation of albums that are considered to be pioneering. They have been successful in this endeavor on several occasions, as seen by the fact that they have written famous recordings such as The Dark Side of the Moon and The Wall, amongst other albums.
Back in 1965, when the early incarnation of Pink Floyd first got together, musicians from all over the world were conjuring up methods to revolutionize mainstream music. Pink Floyd was one of the first organizations to do so. It was during the 1960s that musicians began to place a greater emphasis on experimentation and creativity within the realm of music. Gone were the days of three-minute love songs and commercial appeal. Pink Floyd were probably among the most prominent and sonically diverse of the bands that emerged from this environment, which was responsible for the formation of a multitude of history’s most renowned bands. Psychedelic expression, which was driven by the talent that was Syd Barrett, has a long and illustrious history for those early days.
It is impossible to deny the influence that Barrett had on Floyd, and the sheer quality of his songwriting on The Piper at the Gates of Dawn may be on par with that of any other artists working during that time period. Therefore, when the visionary was kicked out of the band in 1968 due to his drug use and deteriorating mental health, the remaining members of Pink Floyd were somewhat disoriented and without a sense of purpose. As luck would have it, the band had a plethora of sources of inspiration and ideas from which to draw. Roger Waters asserts that one particular band had a significant impact on the time that followed the Barrett era.
When it comes to explaining the history of Pink Floyd or the motivation behind the band, Waters has never been shy about being honest. The songwriter has always been eager to explain his musical influences, despite the fact that his feelings toward his previous band frequently range from feelings of nostalgia to feelings of pure hate. Waters cited The Band’s Music from Big Pink as a significant source of inspiration for Pink Floyd in an interview that he gave to the Dallas Morning News in the year 2008.
As he explained, “That one record completely altered the course of my life.” The Band’s debut album, which was released in 1968, was a beautiful work that showcased the Canadian-American band’s ability to incorporate a wide variety of musical influences, ranging from country to funk and soul. It was a song that exemplified the revolutionary moment in music that occurred in the late 1960s, with its distinctive composition and wide range of songwriting. Moreover, Waters poured praise onto the record, claiming, “After Sgt. Pepper, it’s the most influential record in the history of rock and roll.”
Furthermore, Waters went on to add that “it affected Pink Floyd deeply, deeply, deeply.” This is despite the fact that there is a possibility that Waters is sensationalizing the record a little bit. It’s possible that other records, such as John Lennon’s debut solo album, were more significant from a philosophical standpoint. Nevertheless, in terms of the sound quality and the structure of the record, I believe that Music from Big Pink is an essential component of everything that developed after it. Without a doubt, the album was published during a time in Pink Floyd’s history when they were at a pivotal point in their journey.
Since Syd Barrett had left the band, Floyd were still having trouble adjusting to their new musical direction when Music from Big Pink was first broadcast. It is possible that Waters and the rest of the band would not have been able to achieve the stratospheric heights of records such as The Dark Side of the Moon a few years later if they had not been guided by the great influence of The Band, which served as their guiding light.
The decade of the 1960s witnessed the publication of a multitude of recordings that had a profound impact on the music industry; nonetheless, in Roger Waters’s opinion, Music from Big Pink was among the most significant of these records. It was an album that was unlike any other due to its wide range of goods and beautifully original composition, which frequently drew inspiration from Bob Dylan, who was a collaborator of The Band. In a similar vein, Pink Floyd endeavored to produce music that was distinct from anything else that was available in the existing landscape of rock and pop music.