Pink Floyd will be releasing a deluxe 50th anniversary reissue of its classic 1975 album Wish You Were Here on December 12. One of the bonus tracks featured on the expanded release is a newly mixed 25-minute-long recording that pieces together the epic multiple-part “Shine On You Crazy Diamond.”
Videos by American Songwriter
The original Wish You Were Here album begins with “Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Pts. 1-5) and ends with “Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Pts. 6-9).” The newly combined “Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Pts. 1-9)” has now been made available as an advance digital track from the box set. The piece was mixed in stereo by longtime studio collaborator James Guthrie.
“Shine On You Crazy Diamond” was written as a tribute to late original Pink Floyd frontman Syd Barrett, whose erratic behavior due to mental-health and drug issues led to his departure from the group in 1968. At time, the band was working on its second album, A Saucerful of Secrets.
In a memorable incident during the making of Wish You Were Here, Barrett unexpectedly showed up at Abbey Road Studios in London while Pink Floyd was mixing “Shine On You Crazy Diamond.” Syd’s appearance had changed so drastically since his bandmates had last seen him several years earlier (he’d shaved his head and had gained a lot of weight) that they didn’t initially recognize him.
About the New “Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Pts. 1-9)” Video
In addition, a music for “Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Pts. 1-9)” has debuted at Pink Floyd’s YouTube channel. The clip features footage of British actor, comedian, TV presenter, and artist Noel Fielding creating one of a series of paintings of Barrett. Fielding, a huge fan of Syd and Pink Floyd, was specially commissioned to do the paintings.
In addition, a video featuring Fielding discussing his love of Barrett and Pink Floyd’s music has been posted at the band’s YouTube channel. In the clip, Noel also shares his appreciation of Wish You Were Here’s surreal cover photo.
“My relationship with Syd Barrett has always been constant,” Fielding began. “He was always my favorite. … I love all the Pink Floyd. … [T]hey’re amazing. But Syd is like this sort of weird beacon. … I liked his style. I liked his walk. I liked the way he talks. You know, there’s something very English … about Syd Barret—gardens, flowers, sheds, ponds … dragonflies.”
He then talked about “Shine On You Crazy Diamond.”
“What a song. … It’s like classical music,” Noel maintained. “Pink Floyd almost transcend genre. … When you think about the soundtrack to your life, it’s always something like Pink Floyd. … [I]t’s cinematic and it’s classical and it’s cool and it’s … amazing.”
He added, “When I listen to [‘Shine On You Crazy Dimaond,’] the lyrics are fantastic, and the guitar is so good. And you just think of Syd. It’s like a beautiful tribute, isn’t it?”
Fielding then said the Wish You Were Here cover, which shows a man shaking hands with another man who’s on fire, was “a masterpiece.” He added that the album itself also is a masterpiece, “and it’s based on Syd Barrett, who is a walking masterpiece.”
More About the 50th Anniversary Wish You Were Here Reissue
Pink Floyd’s 50th anniversary Wish You Were Here reissue will be released in multiple formats and configurations, including as a deluxe box set.
The reissue, which can be pre-ordered now, also will be available as a two-CD set, a three-LP vinyl collection, on Blu-ray, and digitally. All versions feature the original five-track album, plus nine alternate takes and demo recordings. Six of the bonus tracks are previously unreleased.
The digital and Blu-ray versions of the Wish You Were Here reissue also feature a recording of a 16-song Pink Floyd concert at Los Angeles Sports Arena in April 1975. The recording will receive its first official release as part of the reissue.
The Blu-ray features all of the aforementioned recordings, and includes multiple mixes of Wish You Were Here. Among them is the first Dolby Atmos mix of the album, created by Guthrie. The Blu-ray also boasts concert-screen films from Pink Floyd’s 1975 tour, and a 2000 short film by Storm Thorgerson, co-founder of the famed Hipgnosis design agency.
About the Deluxe Wish You Were Here Box Set
The box set features the CDs, LPs, and Blu-ray. It also boasts a clear-vinyl LP featuring performances from a 1974 show at Wembley Empire Pool in London, and a 7-inch vinyl replica of a Japanese single featuring the Wish You Were Here tracks “Have a Cigar” and “Welcome to the Machine.”
The package also comes with a hardcover book containing unseen photographs, a comic-book tour program, and a Knebworth concert poster.
About Wish You Were Here
Wish You Were Here was Pink Floyd’s ninth studio effort, a follow-up to the band’s massively successful 1973 album The Dark Side of the Moon.
In addition to the classic title track and “Shine On You Crazy Diamond,” Wish You Were Here features two songs that turn a critical eye on the musical shallowness and greed of the music business—“Have a Cigar” and “Welcome to the Machine.” “Have a Cigar” features guest lead vocals by British folk artist Roy Harper.
Wish You Were Here topped the Billboard 200 for two weeks in October 1975. It also spent a week at No. 1 on the U.K. albums chart that same month. The album has gone on to sell more than 6 million copies in the U.S.
(Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)
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