Today we have some more new music from respected guitarist Chester Kamen, for all those of you who have been patiently waiting for his next creation. We know that a good number of you have been enjoying these songs. Amongst many other artists, Chester has toured with Roger Waters, joining his band in 2002 and playing on subsequent tours, and with David Gilmour on his 2016 Rattle That Lock tour. He first played with David back in 1985 during the Live Aid show - David and Chester were both part of Bryan Ferry's band for that show (as was Jon Carin).
Chester has, like many musicians, kept himself busy whilst lockdowns and restrictions due to Covid-19 have called a halt to many things - in particular, live performance. In October 2020, he shared his new piece of music called Take This, that runs for over 23 minutes. Chester told us that Take This is the first side of an album he is currently working on - following, or inspired by, the old Floyd blueprint of one long piece and several songs on the flip side. Since then we've seen the first songs on the second side of the album: Brand New Day, Swimming, I'd Love To Turn You, Lover's Lane, Come The Revolution, Child Of The Damned, Stories, The Wife Of The Spy Who Came In From The Cold, Coat Of Many Colours, and a cover of the 1961 song by Tommy Cooper, Don't Jump Off The Roof, Dad. As albums go, we suspect Chester is starting to look at a double!
Chester told us that the new song, Made Up My Mind, features "a very stripped down approach to this one. I didn’t think it needed anymore." On the YouTube description, Chester notes that it is "essentially a sorry tale of the difference between deciding and doing. Rhythmically inspired by a poem by my dear friend Gerald Kenny. Kept this one simple just because I could." It's a lovely, gentle song, and we hope you like it.
We'll update you as he progresses with the rest of the album, as we know from feedback we've had that the songs are proving very popular.
Bjorn Riis, a long time friend of Brain Damage, and the guy who runs the excellent Gilmourish.com website, which focuses on David Gilmour's sound and equipment, is an accomplished musician in his own right, and at the end of next month, releases a four track EP, A Fleeting Glimpse, which includes a familiar sounding vocalist.
His new new single, Dark Shadows (part 1), features long-time Pink Floyd backing vocalist Durga McBroom on vocals; the track will appear on the EP, which will be released on September 30th. He told us: "My goal has been to write original material and trying to capture an authentic Floyd vibe without actually copying or doing covers. I’m performing lead vocals and guitars."
Riis is a founding member of the highly successful Norwegian progressive rock band
Airbag. With his new EP, he said: "This is a work of passion. It's a chance for me to go back to my musical roots and pay a respectful homage. All four songs could easily have fitted on one of my albums but there is a seamless Pink Floyd vibe in all of them." The new music is said to capture the essence of Pink Floyd, from the mellow psychedelic soundscapes of the early 70s to the bombastic stadium rock of the 80s and 90s.
"I wanted to make it sound authentic, using gear and sounds that Pink Floyd would employ on a
certain song or album. It really took me back to when I started to play guitar and experiment with
tone and sounds." Apart from Durga McBroom, other guest appearances feature Arild Brøter, from Norwegian prog band Pymlico, on drums and Per Øydir on Farfisa organ.
If the taster, below, tempts you, you can order A Fleeting Glimpse at KarismaRecords.no.
In what seems quite a coincidence, bearing in mind our earlier story, this evening a newly reworked video for A Great Day For Freedom 2022 has just been released.
With the video, is accompanying wording talking about the background to it:
Using A Great Day For Freedom as the B-side of the new Pink Floyd single, Hey Hey, Rise Up seemed like an obvious and relevant choice. And David has, for some time, wanted to record a simpler more direct version of the song.
So here it is, with a newly edited video taken from a Pulse rehearsal during Pink Floyd’s two-week run at Earl’s Court, London, in 1994. The recording, using the original drums and bass by Nick and David, has keyboards by Rick and backing vocals by Claudia, Sam and Durga taken from the Pulse rehearsals. New piano, Prophet 5 synthesiser and Hammond are played by David, as on the original demo.
Looking online, and going by some of the emails we've received here at Brain Damage, there seems to be a bit of confusion in some quarters over the credits for A Great Day For Freedom 2022, the new version on the physical, 7" and CD single release of Pink Floyd's Hey Hey Rise Up, which has been released to raise funds for Ukraine Humanitarian Relief. We've had it confirmed by Pink Floyd management that the credits on the single are 100% correct. The piano was re-done, the main synth was from David Gilmour's original demo, and the backing vocalists were added on to replace the orchestra.
For those who haven't seen them yet, here are the credits:
- David Gilmour: Vocals, guitars, keyboards
- Nick Mason: Drums
- Richard Wright: Keyboards
- Sam Brown, Claudia Fontaine, Durga McBroom: Backing vocals
We hope this information helps clarify what the situation is with this new version of A Great Day For Freedom, in particular, the personnel on it.
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Looking online, and going by some of the emails we've received here at Brain Damage, there seems to be a bit of confusion in some quarters over the credits for A Great Day For Freedom 2022, the new version on the 
