This was in my amazon recommendations, and I dimly remember to have heard it about it when it came out originally, but forgot about it.
Pink Floyd are a part of my life since 1979 when I was eleven and The Wall was released. Have every regular album and all definite compilations on vinyl, that’s how old and dear my love for them is. But I’ve never read an extensive band bio, so sometimes it’s a good start to read one by a band member. Nick Mason always seemed to me an intelligent, calm gentleman, so I suppose he’s able to write a decent memoir of the group he’s been a member of for 50 years. The amazon reviews are very positive, but of course I’d like some insights by our dopers first before making the purchase. Is it worth it?
(if you’ve got recommendations for other Floyd bios, go ahead!)
It hasn’t hit my radar as a worthy read one way or another so I haven’t picked it up - I guess like Bill Wyman’s memoir vs Keith’s (although I read Ron Wood’s but wish I had that time back - boring).
Sorry to reply without giving an answer…I want to know as well so I’ll be paying attention to this thread.
My own Pink Floyd experience is similar to yours and I would gladly purchase a well written memoir of the band. I have read a few less-than-notable ones in the past.
Its been awhile since I’ve read it–I got the hardcover when it first came out in 2004. I can’t offer much of an opinion on the text, but the book is full of great photos and artwork. I would think any PF fan would enjoy it.
That’s another dilemma for me. I’ve read about the amazing photos and that the hardcover is kind of a coffee table book, but I can only afford the kindle version, and you know how shitty graphics appear on a paperwhite. So if the most important quality of the book is the artwork and the story is shit, it’s no use for me.
IIRC that’s him laughing during Brain Damage and the other speaking parts on DSOTM.
ETA, I couldn’t have told you his name, just that it’s “Naomi Watts’ dad” that did that. At some point in my life I probably knew the story but not any more, now it’s just a random piece of trivia I have squirreled away.
The pictures are interesting, but I thought Mason’s stories were very interesting. Gave a lot of insight into the early years of the band and the personal dynamics. I did get it from my local library.
I’m in a rural part of Germany and local public libraries are by far not as common as in the US. The next major library from here is at my old uni, but that’s 50 km away. I know their music department and doubt that they have this book.
I’m giving this one bump because I still hope there are some more dopers who have read the book and can tell about it. Or if not, maybe someone can recommend a different worthwhile biography of the band.
I couldn’t give you a detailed review because I read it on release some 25 years ago but I remember Saucerful of Secrets being worth reading (the Amazon reviews seem to back me up). As I recall, Waters made a last minute decision not to speak on record for the book but the other band members did and there’s a lot of accounts of Waters from other media appearances or people who knew him.
Sounds interesting. According to the reviews, it focuses heavily on the Syd Barrett years and is biased against Roger Waters, but you can’t write a biography without being subjective, so that’s okay. Maybe I’ll get me both books to compare the view of an outsider with that of a band member.
I don’t really remember it being “biased” against Waters so much as (a) Waters declined to give his own version of events so the author had to use second-hand quotes & accounts and (b) from everything I’ve heard, Waters is a bit of a pill so it’s natural for the story to reflect that.
But, again, I read it ages ago and found it interesting (it is somewhat Barrett-era heavy but gave a full overview up until its publications in the early 90s) but can’t swear by the details.