The battle between Pink Floyd‘s Roger Waters and David Gilmour rages on. Waters took to social media to announce not only was he working on his autobiography, but the release of the band’s long-awaited remastered version of its 1977 Animals collection. The new set, which does not yet have a release date, will feature new stereo and 5.1 mixes by James Guthrie.
Waters aired some of the band’s dirty laundry in revealing that Gilmour — and allegedly his wife, Polly Samson — would only allow the remastered Animals set to be released if they did not contain noted Floyd and Who biographer Mark Blake‘s Waters-centric liner notes. Waters signed off on the project and has decided to post the essay on his official RogerWaters.com website.
Above the Animals liner notes, Waters wrote:
A note from Roger Waters to Pink Floyd fans:
As I am banned by Dave Gilmour from posting on Pink Floyd’s Facebook page with its 30,000,000 subscribers, I am posting this announcement here today and in full on rogerwaters.com.
First, a warm welcome back to our little band of brothers and sisters who have always kept an open mind, let’s hope some of the fans whose access to my words is suppressed by Gilmour find their way here and discover some truth.
What precipitated this note is that there are new James Guthrie Stereo and 5.1 mixes of the Pink Floyd album Animals, 1977. These mixes have languished unreleased because of a dispute over some sleeve notes that Mark Blake has written for this new release. Gilmour has vetoed the release of the album unless these liner notes are removed. He does not dispute the veracity of the history described in Mark’s notes, but he wants that history to remain secret.
This is a small part of an ongoing campaign by the Gilmour/Samson camp to claim more credit for Dave on the work he did in Pink Floyd, 1967-1985, than is his due. Yes he was, and is, a jolly good guitarist and singer. But, he has for the last 35 years told a lot of whopping porky pies about who did what in Pink Floyd when I was still in charge. There’s a lot of “we did this” and “we did that,” and “I did this” and “I did that.”
I am agreeing to the release of the new Animals remix, with the sleeve notes removed. Good work James Guthrie by the way, and sorry Mark Blake. The final draft of the liner notes was fact checked and agreed as factually correct by me, Nick (Mason) and Gilmour. Here they are, enjoy, there’s nothing controversial, just a few simple facts.
To read author Mark Blake’s unused liner notes to the Animals reissue, log on to: https://rogerwaters.com/animals-new-mix-update/
FAST FACTS
- Roger Waters left Pink Floyd in 1985. He was under the impression that his exit would signal the end of the band forever.
- David Gilmour and drummer Nick Mason — who now own the name — decided to carry on with then-ousted, late-co-founder and keyboardist Richard Wright once again joining on as a salaried employee. A long and bitter lawsuit was settled with Gilmour and Mason owning and controlling the Floyd brand.
- Obviously, in the case of reissues or vault releases, Roger Waters is consulted and his approval is deemed necessary before any box sets or retrospectives can get the green light. However, due to the legalities, “Pink Floyd” is ultimately — and legally — a vehicle for David Gilmour, just as “Roger Waters” is one for himself. Two completely different brands.
CHECK IT OUT: Roger Waters — Animals (New Album Mix Release) (Update):
CHECK IT OUT: Pink Floyd’s 1977 Animals track, “Pigs (Three Different Ones) Part 1”: