David Gilmour says that it’s “pretty unlikely” that he and Roger Waters will resolve their differences over a planned reissue of Pink Floyd’s Animals.
Last week, Waters posted a lengthy statement on his personal website to explain, from his perspective, why a mooted re-release for the band’s 1977 album Animals has yet to see the light of day. Waters revealed that he and Gilmour are at odds over the inclusion of liner notes written by Classic Rock contributor and Pink Floyd biographer Mark Blake on the re-release, stating “Gilmour has vetoed the release of the album unless these liner notes are removed.”
“This is a small part of an ongoing campaign by the Gilmour/Samson camp to claim more credit for Dave on the work he did in Pink Floyd, 1967-1985, than is his due,” Waters stated. “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.”
Waters revealed that he has now agreed that the album can be released without the disputed liner notes… before posting Blake’s essay in full on his website.
In a new interview with Rolling Stone, conducted before Waters issued his update, David Gimour says that it’s “pretty unlikely” that the pair will resolve their differences, although he did acknowledge that their disagreement over the inclusion of the new liner notes was the sticking point.
“A very lovely Animals remix has been done [by James Guthrie, who worked as Floyd’s studio engineer from 1978],” Gilmour stated, “but someone has tried to force some liner notes on it that I haven’t approved and, um, someone is digging his heels and not allowing it to be released.”
Referring to Waters, Gilmour added, “he’s just getting a bit shirty. You know how he is, poor boy.”
When Rolling Stone writer Kory Grow expressed his hope that a “détente” might be agreed in future, Gilmour replied, “Pretty unlikely, I’m afraid.”
“There’s a lot of misinformation,” he said. “And I’m not keen on constantly responding to every bit of untruth that I hear about myself and what I’m doing. There are packs of lies and information I’ve allowed to sit out there but my general view is to swallow and … it’ll all come right one day in one way or another.”
In the wake of Waters’ update, Rolling Stone asked Gilmour if he wished to respond to his former friend’s comments, but the guitarist issued no further comment.
