For this edition of Brain Damage, The doctor explores other instances where Roger Waters took some creative license. It’s a fully loaded Roger podcast as he was the biggest offender of reworking his own songs since he went solo.
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Donovan Unveils New Song Featuring David Gilmour ‘Rock Me,’
Donovan, David Gilmour - Rock Me
Donovan has released a collaboration with David Gilmour, “Rock Me,” in anticipation of a new album, “Gaelia,” set to arrive 2nd December.
“I met up with David at Lord Michael and Lady Marina Cowdray’s country estate,” Donovan says. “These two dear, noble friends of Linda and mine were holding amazing salons where the most futuristic creatives in music and awareness would gather. Soon Linda and I were headed with Michael and Marina and His Holiness the Tibetan Gylwang Drukpa of Ladakh up into the Himalayas to found a school in Ladakh. But back to the salon.”
“That night at Marina’s,” he continues, “David and I chatted about how he had bought my cottage in the ’60s when I married Linda and moved on. Why, I asked? He said my album track ‘Three Kingfishers,’ off my ‘Sunshine Superman’ album of 1966, had launched him in a celestial music direction, and so when I was selling my cottage, where so many of my songs were written, he wanted to be in my creative space. Makes sense in a Floyd sort of way,” he notes.
“David had already learned to fly (he wrote a song about it, too ) and flew himself in to Ireland for the session. David brought his guitar roadie, who set up two amps in the studio, handed David his pink Strat, and his unique signature sound enthralled us all.”
Donovan further describes the single as “another acoustic-rock fusion of mine, which opens acoustic, like ‘Hurdy Gurdy Man,’ then morphs into power guitar. It is said that Jimmy Page took note when John Paul Jones and I made the ‘Hurdy Gurdy Man’ recording, and soon a session guys band was born,” he notes, referring to Led Zeppelin.
“Gaeilia” is an album populated by a cast of musicians that Donovan describes as “my traditional Irish music friends, and two guests from England,” i.e., co-producer Nigel Kennedy and Gilmour. “Yet,” he points out, “Kennedy is of course a Gaelic name, and Gilmour is an anglicization of the Gaelic names ‘MacGille Mhoire’ (Scotland), or ‘MacGiolla Mhuire’ (Ireland).”
The song can be streamed on all major DSPs here. The forthcoming album can be pre-saved here, as well as purchased at the singer’s webstore.
Roger Waters Announces “Lock Down Sessions” Release And Potential New Album Entitled “The Bar”
Roger Waters Announces Lock Down Sessions Release And Potential New Album
In a recent interview Roger Waters joins The Grayzone’s Max Blumenthal and Anya Parampil, and Going Underground host Afshin Rattansi to discuss his politically charged “This Is Not A Drill” world tour and the creative process behind his pandemic-era ballad, “The Bar.“
Within this interview, Roger discusses that there will be a new physical and streaming release of his “Lockdown Sessions,” which were recorded between 2020 and 2022 during the COVID-19 global pandemic. Various songs were recorded and posted on Rogers’ official YouTube channel, including “Two Suns In The Sunset And The Gunners Dream” from Pink Floyd’s 1983 The Final Cut album, “Mother, Vera, and Bring The Boys Back Home” from 1979’s Pink Floyd The Wall, and a new arrangement of “The Bravery Of Being Out Of Range” from Rogers’ 1992 Amused To Death album. According to the latest interview, the new version of the recently released This Is Not A Drill Tour’s “Comfortably Numb” arrangement will also be included, the album is currently being mastered, and a physical and streaming release date has yet to be announced.
Further to the lockdown sessions was an interesting passing announcement that a new album is being worked on entitled “The Bar,” which is centred around a brand new song of the same name that currently features in the set-list for the current This Is Not A Drill 2022/2023 tour. In comments made as part of the interview, “Crystal Clear Brooks,” which debuted at the Newport Folk Festival in 2015, and an unreleased song co-written with Patrick Leonard many years ago could be included. A brief description of the concept was given as “If only we could get central people to talk about things, we could sort this mess out in a heartbeat.”
We will, of course, bring you more information on these planned releases as more information becomes available.
AFG : Sending Support To Andy Fairweather Low
Our dear friend Andy Fairweather Low (long-serving Roger Waters collaborator, 1985–2006) has recently announced the cancellation of all remaining live shows up until September 2023 with immediate effect.
Andy was told in October that his wife was suffering from a terminal illness and would require 24-hour care.
We are extremely saddened to hear of this terrible news and want to take this moment to express our deepest gratitude and make a personal note to send him our love and support in this very hard time.
A statement posted on the Andy Fairweather Low & The Low Riders Facebook page reads: “It is with deep regret that we announce that, with immediate effect, the remaining dates on the Andy Fairweather Low & The Low Riders tour have been cancelled. Andy now must be home to give full-time, 24/7 care to his wife, who is battling a terminal illness. There will not be any further announcements until, in due course, plans for 2023 become clear.“
Roger Waters Releases New Version Of Comfortably Numb
Roger Waters - Comfortably Numb 2022
Roger Waters has released a new version of the classic Pink Floyd song “Comfortably Numb.” Titled “Comfortably Numb 2022,” this update takes on a more ominous tone than the original.
“During lockdown, I made a demo of a new version of ‘Comfortably Numb’ as an opener for our new show This Is Not a Drill,” Waters said in a news release. “I pitched it a whole step down, in A Minor, to make it darker and arranged it with no solos – except over the outro chord sequence, where there is a heartrendingly beautiful female vocal solo from Shanay Johnson, one of our new singers.”
Ten musicians contributed to “Comfortably Numb 2022,” delivering strings, percussion, bass, guitar and more. Waters co-produced the track, as well as handling vocals.
Originally included on 1979’s The Wall before being released a single in 1980, “Comfortably Numb” remains one of Pink Floyd’s best-known songs. Its lyrics were inspired by an incident in 1977 when Waters, suffering from hepatitis, was injected with tranquilizers before taking the stage to perform. “That was the longest two hours of my life,” he later told Rolling Stone. “Trying to do a show when you can hardly lift your arm.”
“Comfortably Numb” also holds a unique place in Pink Floyd history: They closed a reunion show at Live 8 in 2005 with this song, and that would be the last performance for Pink Floyd’s classic quartet lineup. Richard Wright died three years later.
More than four decades after its release, “Comfortably Numb” is still a consistent part of Waters’ solo set lists.
His This Is Not a Drill tour continues into Europe in 2023, with 40 shows across 14 countries beginning March 17 in Lisbon, Portugal.
Abbey Road Documentary Ft David Gilmour & Roger Waters Gets Trailer, Disney+ Streaming Date
If These Walls Could Sing | Official Trailer | Disney+
Disney Original Documentary has unveiled a trailer for If These Walls Could Sing, at the same time announcing that its doc serving as a love letter to to London’s Abbey Road Studios will debut on Disney+ on December 16.
The first feature helmed by Paul McCartney’s daughter, Mary McCartney, If These Walls Could Sing is billed as a personal work of memory and discovery, juxtaposing the filmmaker’s experiences of the iconic recording studios with their impressive history.
Abbey Road Studios is the heart of the music industry. Fans journey every year to have their photo taken at the world-famous zebra crossing to feel close to the music they love. Artists strive to follow in the footsteps of their heroes and to harness some of the studio’s magic for themselves — to leave their mark on music history, too.
The studios have been a part of Mary’s life for as long as she can remember, a home from home and the place her parents made their seminal records. Her documentary sees Abbey Road Studios open up their doors for the first time, as Mary guides the viewer through nine decades to tell the stories of some of its most iconic recordings and the people who made them happen.
If These Walls Could Sing features some of the biggest names in music and film, including Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Elton John, Liam Gallagher, Noel Gallagher, John Williams, Cliff Richard, Jimmy Page, Dame Shirley Bassey, George Lucas, Nile Rodgers, Kate Bush, Ye, Celeste, Roger Waters and David Gilmour. The film exploring Abbey Road’s breadth, diversity and ingenuity, from classical to pop, and film scores to hip-hop, tells its story by pairing its A-lister interviews with vivid archive footage and session tapes.
If These Walls Could Sing was produced by John Battsek (The Rescue, Searching for Sugar Man).