Pink Floyds co-finder and bassist Roger Waters has shared on his social media pages and website, the liner notes written for the remastered edition of their 1977 album ‘Animals’. The musician states that the ex-bandmate and guitarist David Gilmour wanted these liner notes removed because of credits disagreements. He says that the guitarist and singer wanted to ‘claim more credit…than is his due’.
In the very long and detailed message released on the 31st of May, Waters claims that David Gilmour ‘does not dispute the veracity’ of the liner notes. In fact, the album sees the bassist as the most important figure of the creative process of the album making, including songwriting and the cover design. Instead, Waters thinks that his ex-bandmate ‘wants that history to remain secret’.
The musician continues in his statement:‘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.’
He continues: ‘This is a small part of an ongoing campaign by the Gilmour/Samson [Polly, Gilmour’s wife] 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”.‘
Waters also shared that he started working on a possible memoir during the lockdown caused by the pandemic that will reveal more about Gilmour being given too much credit. Animals, released in 1977, reached number 2 in the UK charts and number 3 in the States, and is considered one of the best Pink Floyd’s releases along with ‘The Dark Side of the Moon’, ‘The Wall’ and ‘Wish You Were Here’.
