Pink Floyd Wish You Were Here

Back in the '70's, bands (especially prog bands) were compelled to have eye grabbing graphics on the their covers.  Hipgnosis was one of the leading designers of prog albums working for Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd among many others.

Here's a package of theirs from the 70's complete with trippy photos in the Hipgnosis style.

Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here  (Columbia 1975)

Released in 1975, but most of the material was previewed live in 1974 along with some tracks that ended up on Animals in 1977.

When one walked into the store looking for the striking visual expected of Pink Floyd, they were confronted with an album wrapped in opaque shrink wrap.  I managed to peel it off the album without tearing it.

Inside on the cover and inner sleeves, we're presented with photographs depicting the four elements.  Each had a flaw representing said element.

1.    Fire - With a little bit of burn on the upper right of the photo.

2.   Earth - With a little bit of sand coming out the bottom.

3.  Wind - With the sides of the photo flapping a bit.

4.  Water - with a bit of water coming out the bottom.

Since water was a bit smaller, we got a postcard.  The photo is of a swimmer doing a hand stand in stinky shallow Mono Lake in Central California.  A very interesting place with tufa spires and brine flies.  It's incredibly salty and it smells.

And of course it came with a special label.

I'm quite fond of this record and Animals. These were the last times the band seemed to actually function as a band.   Sue me -  I hate The Wall.  

I saw them when they did a tour of this material before the album came out.   The Los Angeles Sports Arena  (a moment of silence, it's being torn down as we speak).   April 24, 1975.  Sat in Loge 7 Row 3 Seat 7.

I managed to save a program which features the lyrics to Shine on You Crazy Diamond.  Also lyrics for Raving & Drooling and You Gotta Be Crazy which later saw the light on Animals as Dogs and Sheep.

And a cheery little flier from the LAPD who were very aggressive with the arrests.   For many years, bands wouldn't play a venue within the city limits.  Instead they opted for The Forum in Inglewood or the Arena in Long Beach.  LAPD chief Ed Davis soon went down in a barrage of scandal.