To mark the 50th anniversary of the release of Pink Floyd’s mythical album The Dark Side of the Moona brand new book has just been published with more than 130 unpublished or rare photos of the English group during its tours from 1972 to 1975. It was the Quebec publisher Cardinal who managed to obtain the French-language rights to the book for Canada.
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45-year-old Antoine Ross Trempe was not born when The Dark Side of the Moon. But like many people, the general manager of Éditions Cardinal fell in love with British training during adolescence.
Photo courtoisie Storm Thorgerson et Aubrey « Po » Powell, Hipgnosis, Pink Floyd Music Ltd
November 1974 Nick Mason impersonating American comedian Jimmy Durante, and band friend Nick Sedgwick backstage at Usher Hall, Edinburgh, UK.
Photo courtoisie Storm Thorgerson et Aubrey « Po » Powell, Hipgnosis, Pink Floyd Music Ltd
November 1974, Pink Floyd fans forming pyramids with their hands, at Wembley Empire Pool, London, UK.
In October 2022, when he saw the new Pink Floyd book during the Frankfurt Book Fair in Germany, the publisher quickly inquired if the rights to the French book were available.
“I was told that no one had acquired them yet, neither in France nor in Quebec,” he said. It was like an anomaly somewhere. I thought it was an opportunity to treat myself to a trip. »
Photo courtoisie Storm Thorgerson et Aubrey « Po » Powell, Hipgnosis, Pink Floyd Music Ltd
November 1974, David Gilmour and Richard Wright, backstage at the Empire Theatre, Liverpool, UK.
Photo courtoisie Storm Thorgerson et Aubrey « Po » Powell, Hipgnosis, Pink Floyd Music Ltd
November 1974, Roger Waters on stage, at Wembley Empire Pool, London, UK.
A small publishing house specializing in beautiful books, Cardinal rarely published music books. “It’s a niche that we want to exploit,” says Ross Trempe.
Once the agreement was reached with the British house Thames & Hudson, Cardinal’s team had barely a week to translate the book. Fortunately, the book only has captions for the dozens of photos.
Photo Courtesy Archives of Jill Furmanovsky
November 1974, Roger Waters performing, at Usher Hall, Edinburgh, UK.
Photo Courtesy Archives of Jill Furmanovsky
December 1974, David Gilmour performing, at the Hippodrome, Birmingham, UK.
Stage and backstage
In this book, which contains 80% unpublished photos, we follow Pink Floyd during the last year of creation of The Dark Side of the Moon and during the few years of touring that followed.
“There are photos taken by members of the group and photographers who accompany the tour, mentions the editor. There are stage photos, behind-the-scenes photos, photos taken during breaks when they drink wine. »
Photo courtoisie Storm Thorgerson et Aubrey « Po » Powell, Hipgnosis, Pink Floyd Music Ltd
April 1975, Richard Wright performing at the Los Angeles Memorials Sports Arena, United States.
Photo courtoisie Storm Thorgerson et Aubrey « Po » Powell, Hipgnosis, Pink Floyd Music Ltd
April 1975, David Gilmour playing steel guitar, at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena, USA.
The most surprising photos? The one where we see the musicians… playing squash! “It made me laugh, with the look of the rackets from the 1970s. They are all in white. You don’t really imagine rockers playing squash. »
With the 50th anniversary of The Wall album arriving in 2029, has Antoine Ross Trempe already requested the rights for a future book? “I’m kept informed,” he replies, laughing. We’ll see, get there. But it would be fun, that’s for sure. »
Photo courtoisie Storm Thorgerson et Aubrey « Po » Powell, Hipgnosis, Pink Floyd Music Ltd
April 1975, Nick Mason playing his Ludwig drum set adorned with the Hokusai Wave artwork, hand painted by Kate Hepburn, at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena, USA.
Photo courtoisie Storm Thorgerson et Aubrey « Po » Powell, Hipgnosis, Pink Floyd Music Ltd
April 1975, Roger Waters and David Gilmour, backstage at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena, USA.
- The book Pink Floyd The Dark Side of the Moon – 50e anniversaire is available on editions-cardinal.ca and in all bookstores.