Rock Reads: Pink Floyd: Behind the Music By Mike Evans

Evans is a musician who was on the R&B and rock scenes in the U.K. in the 1960s before transitioning to writing a decade later, becoming a regular contributor to "Melody Maker" as well as penning books about Woodstock, the blues and the Who. So he knows how to do research and present his findings in an interesting way and that's what he does here with his Pink Floyd tome which is unofficial and unauthorized, meaning that there was no cooperation from band members in its making. Nevermind; what Evans presents is a very thorough and thoughtful look at the band that Floyd fans will really enjoy, especially the more scholarly of the bunch. After a brief introduction, Evans chronicles the band's career with a chapter dedicated to each album, beginning naturally with debut album The Piper at the Gates of Dawn. Critically, this chapter also tells how the band (Roger Waters on bass, Richard Wright on keyboards, Nick Mason on drums and Syd Barrett on guitar) came together (like lots of bands, most members met in college) and amongst all the info given fans of rock trivia will be pleased to learn that before the name Pink Floyd was settled on that the guys played out under names like The Screaming Abdabs and The Megadeaths. The chapter also explains how and why the band was pitched by management as a pop band instead of a psychedelic band. The Piper ... was also the zenith for Barrett, whose influence would wane when David Gilmour joined the band for A Saucerful of Secrets, the last album that Syd would appear on. Fans will also enjoy the chapters on pre-superstardom Pink Floyd, from the soundtrack to the film "More," through Ummagumma, Atom Heart Mother, Meddle and Obscured by Clouds. Most fans didn't come on board until the blockbuster The Dark Side of the Moon album but the scene around the preceding albums really shows how the band developed ("behind the music" indeed!) as they altered their sound and their performance style and Evans makes a great story of it all. One thing Evans doesn't do is play favorites; his affection for the band is obvious but he leaves it to the reader to obsess on any particular album, most likely Dark Side, Wish You Were Here, Animals or The Wall. He also doesn't dwell on things like the band fracturing after The Wall; that story is well-known and he just presents facts, albeit in a way that many fans may find enlightening. Loaded with pertinent quotes from band members and their people (culled from various sources) and including a well-chosen bunch of photos, "Pink Floyd: Behind the Music" will thrill music-loving visitors when left out on the coffee table and be a cherished piece for any Floyd completist.

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