When talking about psychedelic rock bands, which band first comes to mind? I’m sure there are many, but certainly, one band pops up in everyone’s mind, and that band is Pink Floyd. They are among the first psychedelic pioneers to emerge from London. Formed by Syd Barrett, Nick Mason, Roger Waters, and Richard Wright, David Gilmour joined the band later in 1967.
Being one of the most popular rock bands, they have recorded numerous songs. However, did you know that Pink Floyd also recorded a Christmas song? Well, now you do. But what song are we talking about here? find out further in the article.
The Christmas song Pink Floyd recorded
In late 1969 Pink Floyd released their fourth album “Ummagumma” and shortly thereafter, they cut a caustic Christmas song for the BBC. The song is titled “Merry Xmas Song,” and surprisingly, it was sung by the drummer of the band, Nick Mason, and Richard at the keys.
Talking about their album Ummagumma, it was also kind of a new beginning for the band as Gilmour had joined the band replacing the original vocalist Syd Barrett because of his drug addiction and mental condition. However, Gilmour, or rather the whole band, was heavily influenced by Barrett’s style, so even though Barrett was not around, they were able to create Barrett-styled psych-rock music.
Similarly, after Syd was outed from the band in April 1968 while the band was working on recording their second album A Saucerful of Secrets, and the album contains one of Syd’s compositions, “Jugband Blues.”
It seems that Pink Floyd members have somewhat guilt about Syd’s departure, in an interview with Ultimate Classic Rock, Nick Mason said, “I think there’s a lot of mixed emotions with the whole Syd thing. Because, in some ways, he was so smart in so many ways. I think there’s a bit of sadness now looking back on it – and a little bit of guilt. Not really guilt, but we handled Syd very badly.”
David Gilmour also stated that the band feels that they “owed him something.”
After Std’s departure from the band, they continued playing together for years; however, Roger and David started having problems with each other, hence starting the inner conflict. Later, Roger left the band in 1985, and he even sued the band for using the name Pink Floyd and his material. However, Pink Floyd won the lawsuit and continued playing without Roger.
Roger then started doing solo music, however, in July 2005 he reunited with the band for their final performance together.
