PINK FLOYD "WISH YOU WERE HERE" US FIRST PRESS '75 BLUE SHRINK 5A/4C PITMAN NICE

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PINK FLOYD "WISH YOU WERE HERE" 1975 US FIRST PRESS BLUE SHRINK 5A/4C PITMAN
PINK FLOYD "WISH YOU WERE HERE" LABEL: COLUMBIA PC 33453 RELEASED: SEPTEMBER 12, 1975 EDITION: FIRST US PRESSING ~ BLUE SHRINKWAP w/ STICKER DARKER BLUE, YELLOW DOT CUSTOM 'HANDSHAKE' LABELS & PRINTED INNER SLEEVE DOES NOT INCLUDE THE POSTCARD RECORDED AT ABBEY ROADS STUDIOS LONDON JANUARY 13th to JULY 28th 1975 ENGINEER: BRIAN HUMPHRIES PRESSING: COLUMBIA RECORDS PRESSING PLANT PITMAN ('P' in MATRIX) SLEEVE DESIGN/ARTWORK ~ HIPGNOSIS & GEORGE HARDIE MATRIX (SIDE A): P AL 33453-4C 1A MATRIX (SIDE B): P BL 33453-5A  B(?)
CONDITION:  VINYL VG++   SLEVE & JACKET: VG++ (A BEAUTIFUL COPY!)
I've been going thru my massive vinyl record collection these past few weeks and pulling out some LPs that I thought that someone else would want for their collection. I've been collecting records for over 45 years and it's time to pass some of them on to the next generation of collectors.
This week on EBay I am offering up this original U.S. First Pressing of Pink Floyd's classic 1975 album 'Wish You Were Here'
This is a very nice First Pressing that still has it's dark blue shrink wrap cover and the original 'mechanical handshake' sticker in the upper left corner. Nearly impossible to find one like this anymore!
This is my original copy, purchased back in the mid 70's, shortly after it's release, that I've taken great care of for many years. See details on Condition below.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The songs on this classic album include:
Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Part 1-5) Welcome To The Machine Have A Cigar Wish You Were Here Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Part 6-9)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Wish You Were Here" is really a classic, epic album which blends all the right elements, mixing blues and psychedelia with that classic, spacey Pink Floyd atmosphere. 
Despite their differences, this album is where the three founding members really gelled and worked best together. The keyboards, bass, guitar and drums are all brilliant. The music has beautiful soundscapes and emotional depth.
Musically this album is a bit of a return to Floyd's earlier, proggy material, with long instrumental passages, at least in the suite.
The longer songs allow Gilmour's bluesy guitar work to shine and flow freely. He contributes some incredible textures, riffs and licks. Also, Gilmour's vocals are some of his most powerful and emotional ever.
Rick Wright had a lot of creative license on this album and he plays amazing, swirly, proggy synthesizer, Clavinet and Piano.
Waters Bass playing is excellent and his vocals deliver poetic lyrics describing his views on Barrett’s plight and the music industry.
Nick's drumming is great as well; tight, competent and crisp, adding just the right rhythmic flow to the songs.
~~~~~~~~~ In 1975, Pink Floyd was facing a tough question. How do you follow 'Dark Side of the Moon', one of the best regarded and biggest selling albums of all time? 
The answer was easy, make another masterpiece!
Pink Floyd’s 1975 album 'Wish You Were Here', released on September 12, 1975, is an undisputed rock classic, one of Pink Floyd’s best-selling and most revered albums.
'Wish You Were Here' has to be the best follow up to a masterpiece ever and is classic Pink Floyd from beginning to end.
'Wish You Were Here' became an instant commercial success. Both Gilmour and Wright have cited this album as their favorite by the band.
'Wish You Were Here' has since been frequently regarded as one of the greatest albums of all time, and is generally ranked as one of the greatest progressive rock albums. It's on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time, rightfully so.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ After the success of Dark Side the band finally had some respect, a strong fan base, and some financial freedom to pursue other projects.
In 1974, Pink Floyd did a short European tour, mostly playing the 'Dark Side' album live for appreciative audiences, with 'Echoes' being a commo encore song.
In addition to playing their 'hits', the group also sketched out three new extended compositions, "Raving and Drooling", "You Gotta Be Crazy" and "Shine On You Crazy Diamond".
Pink Floyd, unlike many bands, played their 'new' songs live in concert and had the luxury of being able to refine them and sharpen them onstage, before recording them for vinyl.
Of the 3 new songs that Floyd developed on the '74 Tour, two of these, “Raving and Drooling” and “You Gotta Be Crazy” would be held over and reworked as the tracks “Sheep” and "Dogs” respectively on the 1977 album 'Animals'. 
The third piece, the long “Shine On You Crazy Diamond” would become the centerpiece around which the new album would be built.
Pink Floyd premiered 'Shine On You Crazy Diamond' on the 1974 British Winter Tour.
After the 1974 UK tour ended, the band was exhausted. They had been touring constantly for several years, promoting the 'Dark Side' album and now they finally had some time to themselves. They wanted some space from the crowds and from each other.
~~~~~~~~~~~~ The huge success of 'Dark Side Of The Moon' propelled Floyd from being a relatively anonymous prog rock act to mainstream popularity.
Following the worldwide success of 1973’s 'Dark Side of the Moon', the band had new 'power'. They dropped Capitol Records, the American distributer for Harvest, and negotiated a new contract with Columbia Records, who gave them a reported advance of $1 Million dollars to develop the new album.
Columbia, their new record label, had great expectations from the band and wanted a lot more of the same, another 'Dark Side Part II' and there was tremendous pressure to come up with the goods.
~~~~~ On January 13, 1975, Pink Floyd convened at EMI’s newly refitted Studio 3 at Abbey Road to start work on their new album.
Floyd was not interested in "topping" themselves after 'Dark Side'; they were simply interested in expressing new thoughts and feelings - and with this album, they succeeded brilliantly.
The group found it difficult at first to devise any new material, but slowly started to work on a new conceptual piece they called 'Household Objects', which became a prolonged and agonizing project of trying to create an entire album using only sounds produced by common and not so common household objects.
They were lost of any ideas about what to do next. 
The early sessions were “very laborious and tortured,” according to Waters, who often felt that they all wanted to be somewhere else. 
"no one was really looking each other in the eye, and it was all very mechanical.” The recording process became very protracted and fragmented.
One of the problems and notable differences was the loss of their preferred engineer Alan Parsons. Parsons was a master of the mixing board at Abbey Road studios, but was not available as he was busy forming his own band, 'The Alan Parsons Project', and recording his own albums.
'Wish You Were Here' was produced by Pink Floyd as a band along with the assistance of engineer Brian Humphries, who had previously worked with the group on the 1969 soundtrack album 'More'. Humphries was not familiar with Abbey Road studios which led to some recording problems, but he eventually figured it out and did a fine job, as you can hear.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ After incessant touring, the band was starting to become detached from both the music industry world and from each other. They all wanted some space and freedom.
Both Gilmour and Mason sought refuge in projects outside of the band. Gilmour helped the band 'Unicorn' launch their career. He also discovered a talented teenage singer-songwriter by the name of Kate Bush who he promoted. 
Dave Gilmour was also becoming increasingly frustrated with Mason, whose failing marriage at the time caused malaise and sense of apathy, both of which interfered with his drumming. Nick Mason also got sidetracked from Pink Floyd by entering the record production world, supervising various recordings.
Mason's drumming on this album is fantastic, as always, but much more laid back and straightforward. Both Gilmour and Waters were mad enough at Nick Mason's enthusiasm, that his name is actually left off this album's credits, as they felt his contributions were minimal.
Things felt disconnected and directionless. The guys had become multi-millionaires and cash cows for a corporate record label, and the camaraderie that once existed between them had grown strained. 
Further tensions surfaced and sometimes band members became increasingly disinterested in turning up for sessions at all.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The band was becoming stagnate, so the record company forced them out to Tour America again, partly for the income, partly for promotion for the upcoming album, and partly to continue to work on the new material and tighten up the band.
The US Tours were very popular with fans. They sold out everywhere they went and developed their stage show & Light show, which became legendary.
The band was forced to do promotional spots and interviews in the various cities they visited. Pink Floyd had a huge fanbase, but it was mostly underground and stoner based, and commercial radio stations were confused about the whole Floyd phenomenon, who they were, or what they were all about. The band functioned as a unit and didn't have a clear frontman, like Mick Jagger or Robert Plant.
A news reporter famously asked "Which one is Pink?" which really demonstrated to Roger how much they were 'Product' , part of the music company machine, and how far they had drifted from their earlier progressive, art rock days.
Roger was quickly becoming disenchanted with the whole US Tour. The band played massive Stadiums and the 'connection' between the band and the audience was lost.
Back then, in the days before video screens, much of the crowd was detached from what was happening onstage and Roger felt that much of the audience was there for the 'party & the experience' not for the art, lyrics, technology and performance of the band. They were performing to audiences who didn't seem to care about the music, just the 'scene'.
Roger, and the other members of Floyd, felt they were becoming 'alienated' from the audience and being turned into a giant touring cash cow. He was very resentful of the whole American experience.
~~~~~~~~~~~ When Pink Floyd reconvened at Abbey Road, on October 1, 1973, they were aware of their somewhat detached lives, but pulled together and restarted work on the new album. Despite cracks, the music remained at the forefront.
One of the first decisions was to toss out the 'Raving/Drooling' and 'Gotta Be Crazy' pieces they had developed, saving them for "Animals", and keeping and developing the "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" suite.
'Crazy Diamond' would become the backbone of the new album.
Some of the “Household Objects” recordings were also saved and an experimental piece using 'tuned' wine glasses played by hand, ARP synth, and Hammond organ was developed and became the odd introduction section to “Shine On You Crazy Diamond”
While working up the "Shine On" suite, Gilmour, just noodling around, came up with the famous 4 note phrase which Waters loved. It sounded like something that would have fit on their first 2 albums and fired Roger Waters’ imagination, reminding him of the 'absent' lingering ghost of former band-member Syd Barrett.
The bulk of the album, 26 minutes, is taken up by "Shine On You Crazy Diamond", a nine-part, really 2-part, tribute to founding member Syd Barrett, whose LSD fueled mental breakdown had forced him to leave the group seven years earlier.
Waters wanted to split up the long "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" suite and sandwich new songs between its two halves. Gilmour wanted to keep it intact, but was outvoted. Also, the whole suite wouldn't fit on an album side and would need to be 'cut' anyhow.
'Shine On' was split into two halves: Parts 1-5 and 6-9. Part 5 featured their tour saxophonist Dick Parry. The album begins with a long proggy instrumental preamble and segues into that classic 4-note guitar phrase, followed by Roger's amazing heartfelt lyrics about Syd.
The Suite eventually turns into a funky clavinet-driven section led by Wright, with Gilmour's guitar lead over increasingly funky rhythms by Nick Mason and the rest of the band.
~~~~~~~~~~ Pink Floyd had the "Crazy Diamond" suite nearly completed, split to start and finish the album, but needed material to fill the 'gap' in the middle. Those songs in between turned out to be some of the band's best. Despite the slow start, the band managed to write some excellent, memorable songs.
Waters and Gilmour came up 3 additional songs: “Welcome To The Machine,” “Have A Cigar,” and “Wish You Were Here.” 
The band returned to the jamming/idea swapping process that had characterized the creation of earlier classics like “Echoes”
“Wish You Were Here” is the true highlight of the album, featuring Gilmour’s gruff and folksy vocals. 
After the first half of "Crazy Diamond", the sound changes abruptly, by way of a car's tinny AM radio knob twisting thru stations, then out comes the title track with Gilmour's crisp, delicate 12-string guitar work.
As the track melts into some swirling wind sounds, we are blown back into the 2nd part of the "Crazy Diamond" suite.
"Have A Cigar" is Water’s superb, cynical take on a record company executive's ignorance, and contains the immortal line: ‘Oh by the way, which one’s Pink?’ 
After David and Roger's attempts at lead vocals, "Have a Cigar" ended up featuring the legendary Roy Harper on vocals. 
"Welcome to the machine", a sharp criticism of the greed and gains that have dominated the inner workings of the music industry, has loads of electronic sounds and effects.
The mechanical sounds reflect the cold, inhuman aspect of the music biz. 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ During the recording session, Waters realized that the tight camaraderie that had served the band well in the past, was largely absent. Waters started to write new music based on the idea of "Absence" and "Detachment". 
Absence from the fans, absence of group cohesion, and absence of old friends, which got him thinking about his old buddy Syd Barrett. Waters, who wrote most of the material on this album, started focusing more and more on Syd.
Waters realized that, if Syd was still around, he would be the 'glue' that would hold the band together and drive them forward with new ideas and new energy.
Barrett’s old bandmates could still feel Syd's presence at Abbey Road. Or maybe it was his absence – the absence from Pink Floyd, from reality, from himself – that resonated throughout the studio.
The absence of Syd had a profound effect on Roger Waters and David Gilmour, who wound up dedicating 'Wish You Were Here' to their 'lost' friend.
They devoted the entire album to musical and lyrical themes of loneliness, alienation, isolation, absence, fame, greed, ambition, and his scathing cynical criticism of the music industry, all while keeping it an homage to departed founding member Syd Barrett and the demons that plagued him.
In one of the strangest coincidences in Pink Floyd lore, on June 5, 1975, precisely the day the band began the final mixes of their extended tribute to him, "Shine On You Crazy Diamond," Syd wandered into Abbey Road studios, but nobody recognized him at first.
Only 29 years old, he had the appearance of a disheveled, middle-aged man, obese and with a shaved head and shaved eyebrows. Unrecognizable.
He was in town to attend David Gilmour's wedding and dropped in unannounced and unexpectedly at the studio. Syd’s appearance that day was unsettling, to say the least. Syd was unable to partake in a normal conversation and had no idea that he was the subject of the song that they were mixing that day. 
It pained Waters and Gilmour to see their friend so lost, so detached, so disengaged from the world around him. After that visit, no member of Pink Floyd saw Syd Barrett again until they attended his 2006 funeral.
Syd Barrett was much more than just a a mad genius and his ghost would continue to haunt the band all the way into the present.
Waters and Gilmour were haunted by the words of the song “Jugband Blues”, the last thing Syd wrote for Pink Floyd: “It’s awfully considerate of you to think of me here, and I’m much obliged to you for making it clear, that I’m not here.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ DETAILS OF THE 'WISH YOU WERE HERE' ALBUM JACKET
This was the first major Pink Floyd album that didn't come in a Gatefold jacket, but the amazing lavish artwork more than makes up for that. It's an elaborate package.
The artwork for the Jacket and sleeve was once again created by the Hipgnosis team, who created the artwork based on the group's suggestion of themes based on 'absence.'
Almost all of the strange images on the Jacket are very specific visual representations of 'absence.' 
The front cover photograph, (Which I used photos of another copy of the album I own), was taken at Warner Brothers studios in LA, and features 2 stuntmen dressed up as businessmen, one on fire. It represents the idea of someone getting ripped off, or getting burned, as he agrees to an empty, shady, business deal with a handshake. The right hand edge of the photograph even has the look of being singed or burned.
On the back cover is another hidden message in the form of a faceless salesman without wrists or ankles, in an 'empty suit', who sells his 'absent' product in the desert. Hipgnosis boss Storm Thorgerson claims the salesman is "selling his soul" in the desert. 
Elsewhere a diver doesn’t disturb the water on entry; the splash and ripples are missing. The photo was taken at Mono Lake in California, again emphasizing the theme of 'absence'.
The inner sleeve shows a veil concealing and obscuring a nude woman in a windswept grove of trees. There's also a piece of red gauze floating freely in the wind.
The superb Hipgnosis artwork also includes images of the 4 elements of life, something that Pink Floyd felt were 'pure', present, and couldn't be faked; Earth, Air, Fire and Water.
Earth is represented by the sand pouring out of a hole in the jacket. Air represented by the twisted red scarf in the forest, Water represented by water pouring out of another hole in the jacket, and Fire, represented by the cover image and the burned ede of the picture.
Original pressings also included a Postcard of the Diver image, meant to be sent to someone, saying "Wish You Were Here". This does NOT have the postcard. I think I sent mine to someone.
All this artwork was encased in dark blue shrink-wrap plastic (Black in the UK), so that the cover art was 'absent' from the eye, and could only be seen after opening the record.
The sticker on the front, and the record labels themselves, have two mechanical robotic hands engaged in a handshake, and also has four sectors, representing the 4 Life elements. The sticker and label art was designed by George Hardie of the Hipgnosis team.
~~ One of the easiest ways to tell the various early pressings of this album is obviously by the Matrix numbers, but also by what's written on the spine. This record still has the blue shrink covering up the spine, but it should be the early "PC 33453 PINK FLOYD WISH YOU WERE HERE 1975 Pink Floyd Music Limited COLUMBIA STEREO X698" price code spine. Also, there should be no Bar Code.
Also, the very early pressings of this album had a darker blue color on the labels, which was quickly replaced with a brighter 'sky blue' color, as the band didn't like the darker color. Early labels also had a Yellow dot, which was later switched to White.
This pressing has the darker "navy" blue labels with the Yellow dot.
There are no track timing durations on early copies as well. These were added later for easier DJ airplay use.
On first pressings, like this one, the rim text around the bottom edge of label starts at 7 o'clock and says: "R "Columbia," [logo] Marcas Reg. Printed in U.S.A."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ CONDITION: I tried to show good hi-resolution photos of the cover, labels and vinyl in my pictures.
I purchased this copy back in the mid 70's, 50 years ago, and have taken great care of it since.
VINYL: The vinyl looks excellent. Clean and bright. Maybe a tiny hairline, but No serious scuffs, palpable scratches, or dings. It looks fantastic and I'm sure you'll be very happy with it.
The Deadwax has the first pressing Matrix numbers. The 'P' represents a Pitman pressing. See the full Martix above.
I tried to show some close-up pictures of the vinyl to show how good it looks. I'm sure you'll be pleased with it.
I haven't messed with it or cleaned it, other than my trusty 'DiscWasher' brush, in 50 years, since Gerald Ford was in office. It could use a good deep cleaning to make it even bettter looking and better sounding than it already is. 
LABELS: This is pressed with the custom 'Handshake' labels. This has the early darker blue color and Yellow dot.
The labels are clean and bright. No marks or damage. The spindle holes are still sharp and clean, suggesting minimal playing and my careful handling over the years.
JACKET: As you can see from my pictures, this still looks very nice for a 50 year old OG copy. 
This thick, all white is notorious for showing ringwear, dirt, scuffs and damage, but this copy is still in it's original dark blue shrink wrap, keeping the cover clean & crisp.
The original shrink and cover sticker are both in excellent condition. The corners are sharp, the spine straight, and an excellent copy of this classic Floyd album.
The inner sleeve is clean and crisp. The spine is straight. A nice survivor.
Overall, I'll call the whole record VG++, to keep everyone happy, but it's a rare beautiful copy.
This record has been sleeved and stored properly for years, and is still quite nice for an original pressing. You can see from my pictures it's a beauty. This copy is all original, and a real gem. I'm sure you'll love it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~ ** NOTE: I'm selling this rare 'Collector' record "AS IS" and "NO RETURN". It's rare and as described and I'm sure you'll be very happy with it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I’m recently retired and downsizing and letting go some gems and rarities from nearly 45 years of vinyl record collecting. Check out the many other fantastic 45s and 33s coming soon to my page!
All records have been carefully evaluated and graded by me. I visually inspect all records under bright light, personally gently clean them with a soft cloth and then, if unsure, play them on a modern high-end turntable to get a true picture of condition. Please look at all the high-resolution pictures I added. They are all my own and are of the actual record being sold. The pictures are part of the description and can show small details, label variations, and condition better than I can put into words. 
My grading is fair and honest. I have had over 3,400 happy and satisfied EBay customers over the years, with 100% positive feedback, and I have been buying/selling on EBay for well over 25 years, so please bid with confidence!
I'm a 0ne-man operation, this is a hobby, not my job. I do this for fun. I do this because I love music, love collecting vinyl and want others to share in that same experience. I take my time listening, researching, grading, listing and packaging. I will NOT sell any record that I personally would not want in my collection.
As you well know, packing and shipping rare records requires special care and attention, therefore, shipping cost within the lower 48 states is $5.00 on this item. If you would like insurance, or anything faster than Media/Economy Mail, please let me know and I can arrange it for you. I’ll work with you to make sure you’re happy!
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THANK YOU for looking and reading if you got this far.  -- JOHN
HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO YOU AND YOURS AND WE WISH YOU MUCH PEACE AND PROSPERITY IN THE YEAR TO COME!!