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Poles Apart

Does Clare Torry deserve songwriting royalties for "The Great Gig in the Sky"?

Torry undeniably defined the melody of "Great Gig"

[Editor's Note: In 2004, Clare Torry declared her intent to file suit against Pink Floyd and EMI, claiming that she should be awarded a half-share of copyright ownership for "The Great Gig in the Sky", as well as half of all the songwriting royalties, both past and present. There were also reports that she was seeking damages as well. In April of this year, the band and label settled out of court with Torry for an undisclosed sum. Torry called her suit "a moral issue, a principle, and a little bit of justice" rather than being "fueled by a monetary thing".]

It is a tough spot to be in, but I think I would find myself siding with Clare on this one. The question really comes down to whether or not Clare Torry should be given songwriting credit for "The Great Gig in the Sky". I think she should.

With all due respect to Pink Floyd, they did not present her with pre-existing music to reproduce in the studio.

They gave her no melody line to follow, no lyrics, and no real foundation or guidelines to go by. They simply said "go in there and try something." In essence, she 'jammed' with the band, and came up with what we all know as "The Great Gig in the Sky".

We've all heard the pre-album concert performances of The Dark Side of the Moon, and let's face it, with the exception of "On The Run" which became a completely different piece altogether, "The Great Gig in the Sky" underwent the biggest evolution in the studio. Pink Floyd didn't know what they wanted, but they knew it needed something more. Clare gave it that extra something.

Now, certainly nobody could have predicted that The Dark Side of the Moon would go on to become the monstrous hit and rock landmark it did, and at the time, Clare didn't think much of her vocal session, so it's understandable that there wasn't much push for credit at the time of recording.

But considering the success of the album, and how well-known the melody line of "The Great Gig in the Sky" became, it seems to me that paying her a songwriting royalty makes all the sense in the world. The melody line of just the first two measures--originally thought up (composed, if you will) by Clare Torry--has been faithfully reproduced by the Floyd's backing vocalists at every Pink Floyd show I've ever seen. Anyone who sings that song simply must start it off with that melody--the melody created by Clare Torry.

And finally, we know that there should be no problem with crediting a writer outside the band. Ron Geesin was credited on the "Atom Heart Mother" suite, and Bob Ezrin was credited on "The Trial". And just read the writing credits on A Momentary Lapse of Reason or The Division Bell: Samson, Manzanera, Carin, Moore, etc.

I think it's simply a case of a moment, which was deemed insignificant at the time, becoming one of the most significant moments in recorded rock music history.

For that, Clare Torry deserves credit, and her royalties. I'm glad the band decided to pay her a settlement.

Johnny Valenzuela is a staff writer for Spare Bricks.

Torry's contribution was merely that of a hired session soloist

I'd like to begin by saying that my following comments in no way reflect my opinion of Clare Torry's performance on "Great Gig". It is a stirring vocal performance. It's technically brilliant, flawless. But it's a solo. As in "guitar solo," or "saxophone solo," or "drum solo." It's a brief improvisational composition (this word will become very important) intended to highlight a certain instrument within the context of the song.

The piece existed for months before the band hired a session musician to add something to it, and had been performed numerous times as an instrumental with various sound effects playing over it.

Once in the studio, it was decided to try a human voice. Alan Parsons suggested Torry, who happened to be available. Since the session was on a Sunday, Torry asked for (and received) double the standard session fee. Already, she came out ahead.

But did Clare Torry "compose" her part? To a certain extent, yes, as the final choices of notes, vibrato, execution and volume differences were left up to her. Within this definition of composition, you could say that Eddie Van Halen 'composed' the guitar part for "Lost Boys Calling". Does this mean that he deserves songwriting credit?

A guitarist by the name of Lee Ritenour was tapped to do something with the rhythm guitar track on "One Of My Turns" when Gilmour couldn't come up with anything that everyone felt satisfied with. Does this mean Ritenour deserves songwriting credit or additional royalties from album sales?

Totally unrelated to Pink Floyd, Sinead O'Connor recorded a version of the Prince composition "Nothing Compares 2 U". Her vocal performance when compared to the Prince version is completely unique. She adds certain inflections to the lyrics that are steeped in Irish music as opposed to Prince's bluesy reading of the song. She adds a totally new dimension to the song and makes it her own. She brought something to the song that did not exist before. Does this mean she deserves a songwriting credit?

The answer to all three examples is the same: no.

I've done a little independent research into this issue. Unless special arrangements are made between the involved parties, the "composition" credit typically goes to the person who decided what chords are used and in what sequence those chords make up the "song." The composer is the person responsible for the melodic, harmonic and structural composition of the song. In this case, Richard Wright.

What Clare Torry did was improvise within the melodic and harmonic parameters dictated by Richard Wright. Apparently, no special arrangements were made between Torry and Pink Floyd as to additional royalties and credits. Why should there have been? The song was already composed before she came into the studio. The track was pretty well finished, and Torry simply added a solo.

It is true that Torry's vocal gymnastics add a layer to the song that was absent, but it's not as though the song were re-arranged according to her part. It remained loud where it was loud before she came on board, and it remained quiet where it was quiet before she came on board.

In short, her part was suited to the existing composition. It was a work for hire.

She was hired, she did her job, and she received her pay. End of story. Had Clare Torry been in the room with the boys when they were putting the song together, preparing her part at the same time that they were preparing theirs, it might be a different story.

But she wasn't.

And it isn't, if you ask me.

Sean Ellis is a staff writer for Spare Bricks.


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Who is the Strongest, who is the best

The Top Ten female Floyd moments

For some 30 years, many people (including, apparently, the Floyds themselves) have strongly associated female backing vocals with Pink Floyd's signature sound. So important to the Floyd mystique was this female vocal sound that in the years following the Waters-Floyd split, both camps have faithfully included female backing vocals on their albums and tours. Women have even been given a few notable lead vocals, to great effect. So presented here are some of the greatest female moments in Floydian history.

10. Gilmour's appearance at the 2001 Meltdown Festival

Proving the point that the Floyds associate female vocals with their own sound, Gilmour's use of a nine-piece (mostly female) choir to back him up at this concert was quite effective. Their appearance on "Coming Back to Life" marks a dramatic change from the original Floyd version, and the soft backgrounds on "Smile" and "The Dimming of the Day" are the perfect accompaniment to Gilmour's acoustic guitar. (Caroline Dale's lovely cello playing is also worth a mention.)

9. Polly Samson's contributions to The Division Bell

Say what you will about the post-Waters Pink Floyd; The Division Bell is a terrific sounding record, even if it fails to pack consistently the same punch as The Wall or Dark Side. The lyrics are much stronger than almost anything on A Momentary Lapse of Reason, largely due to the influence of Polly Samson, who co-wrote every lyric save one. "High Hopes" is a particular standout, comparing favorably with anything Waters ever wrote.

8. "Molly's Song" - Radio KAOS

Here's an obscure one: the best female vocal from Radio KAOS wasn't even released on the album, but rather as the B-side of the "Who Needs Information" single. Doreen Chanter does a tremendous job, and reprised the role of Molly during the KAOS concerts. Sure, she's a little too soulful for a working class Welsh woman, but let's not get technical. So many of the female vocals on KAOS (and Waters other solo projects, from When the Wind Blows to Pros and Cons, and even The Final Cut) are relegated to brief, lyrical bursts that merely punctuate Waters' lead vocal, without adding much serious depth to the song. It's nice to hear the lady take the lead on this one.

7. "Reaching for the Rail" - Broken China

While I don't have the same disdain for Sinead O'Connor as Roger Waters does, I have certainly never been a fan. Her work on Broken China has forced me to rethink my position on her talents. Her haunting voice provides a marvelous contrast to Wright's, and her performance oozes with emotion. "Breakthrough" is another fantastic tune featuring O'Connor, though it doesn't call for the quite the same drama.

6. The Pros and Cons of Hitch Hiking

There's not one single moment from this record that stands out as particularly memorable or important, but there are plenty of little moments that demonstrate very effective use of backing vocals. Nearly every song has snatches of female vocal 'ooh'ing and 'aah'ing, often as the songs build to climaxes. They also sing lyrics here and there, scattered phrases or even just a single word for emphasis. Lines like 'the one with the waggly tail' from "Sexual Revolution" or the 'leaving all our hopes and dreams to the wind and the rain' verse from "Go Fishing" are used to great effect. (The 'fuck it then' line in "Go Fishing" is especially reminiscent of the 'fuck all that' lines in "Not Now John" from The Final Cut.) The female vocals are used so often on Pros and Cons that you expect to find them even in places where they aren't.

5. "Learning to Fly" - A Momentary Lapse of Reason

The backing parts to this song complement the lead vocal so perfectly that you almost don't notice them. The harmonies add depth to the song, and there is just the right balance between the places where they sing 'ooh's and the places where they sing lyrics. There is a bootleg recording of the Floyd's backing singers running through their parts for "Learning to Fly" a cappella at a soundcheck which is absolutely gorgeous.

4. "What Do You Want From Me" - The Division Bell

Most of this song sounds like a very deliberate (albeit pleasing) attempt to recreate the classic Floyd sound--the plodding tempo, the Hammond organ, the lilting backing "oohs" with the occasional lyric. But there is a brief moment (at approximately 3:30, just before the line "You can lose yourself this night") where Mason lays down one of his perfect, sparse drum fills, followed by a brief empty space. When the backing vocals come in on the next downbeat--just a tad louder, and an octave higher--giving the whole song a little added 'oomph' as Gilmour belts out the final lyric. Then at 3:50, as the song builds to a climax, the backing vocals sing an ascending line that draws you up, up, out of your seat and makes you absolutely yearn for that final resolution at the end. It is a powerful moment, and one that signaled 'The Floyd sound is back'.

3. "The Great Gig in the Sky" - The Dark Side of the Moon

Clare Torry's dramatic wailing is truly one of the most memorable vocal moments in rock history. She doesn't deserve a songwriting credit (anymore than Dick Parry deserves a songwriting credit for his solo on "Us and Them", for example), but she certainly had an important impact on the song. (We'll overlook her butchery of the same tune some 17 years later at Knebworth.)

2. "Perfect Sense, part 1" - Amused to Death

I consider "Perfect Sense" one of Waters' greatest solo songs, for the beauty of the music, the impact of the lyrics, and not least of all for P.P. Arnold's inspired lead vocal. The melody she sings is a tough one, and Waters had the sense to let a real singer handle this section; it turns a good song into a great one. Her performances on the recent "In the Flesh" tours were absolutely show-stopping.

1. The Dark Side of the Moon

Clare Torry's transcendent work on "The Great Gig in the Sky" has already been covered, but we mustn't overlook the contributions of Leslie Duncan, Liza Strike, and Doris Troy, who provide equally dramatic vocals on "Time", "Us and Them", "Brain Damage", and "Eclipse". Just as this album propelled the band to superstardom, it was this album that most clearly defined the presence of female backing vocals as part of the classic Floyd sound. Only one song ("Shine On You Crazy Diamond") on the next two albums has any female vocals, and while dense layers of backing vocals were used to great effect on The Wall, most of these were done by men. But despite their scarcity on these classic Floyd albums, female backing vocals are considered an integral part of the classic Floyd sound, primarily due to their prominence and effectiveness on Dark Side. That's what makes these backing vocals on the most important female contributions to Floydian history.

Mike McInnis is a staff writer for Spare Bricks.


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