Last year, Pink Floyd co-founder Roger Waters insinuated a re-release of the band’s 1977 album, Animals, was being held back by his chilly relationship with David Gilmour. On Monday, Waters revealed the remaster is finally on the way. In a note published on his website, he also shared liner notes originally intended to accompany the re-release, which he says Gilmour wanted to be removed over a credit dispute.
According to Waters, Gilmour doesn’t “dispute the veracity” of the “redacted” liner notes, which were written by Mark Blake and largely credit Waters for the project’s conception, songwriting, and cover art design. However, Waters claims Gilmour “wants that history to remain secret.”
Waters added, “This is a small part of an ongoing campaign by the Gilmour/[Polly] Samson 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.'”
The Animals re-release, which contains new stereo and 5.1 mixes by James Guthrie, currently doesn’t have a release date. News of its impending arrival comes while Waters claims he is banned by Gilmour from posting on Pink Floyd’s website and social media pages. “I think he thinks that because I left the band in 1985, that he owns Pink Floyd, that he is Pink Floyd, that I’m irrelevant and I should just keep my mouth shut,” Waters said last year, about Gilmour allegedly preventing him from posting.
Besides sharing Blake’s liner notes, Waters said he has been working on his memoir, which will reveal more examples of when Gilmour allegedly claimed too much credit. In the post, he pointed to a 1982 interview in which Gilmour spoke about how the tape loop for “Money” was created. Waters claims Gilmour wasn’t even the room at the time when the effect was made.
“He has no fucking idea what he’s talking about. Why? Because unless he was hiding under the fucking chair, DG wasn’t there when I made that SFX tape loop for ‘Money’ in the studio I shared with my wife Judy at the bottom of our garden at 187, New North Road, Islington, next door to the North Pole Pub where I used to play darts!” wrote Waters. “The full story of what really happened is in my memoirs!”
Last year, Waters spoke about a failed “peace summit” with Gilmour and drummer Nick Mason and said the experience reminded him of why he left Pink Floyd in the first place. He dismissed the idea of a post-COVID reunion as “fucking awful,” while adding, “Would I trade my liberty for those chains? No fucking way.”
In summer 2022, Waters will head out on his rescheduled “This Is Not a Drill Tour.” Find out full details about the North American trek here.
Check out Waters’ post about the Animals re-release here and watch his video about the news below.
