The Pink Floyd book industry isn’t far behind that of The Beatles. Shelves creak with biographies, autobiographies (well, Nick Mason’s) and accounts of specific albums, as well as Mark Blake’s definitive overview Pigs Might Fly. Mike Cormack gives reason for this proliferation: “They astonish and intrigue and move you like no other group.” And their story, with its pathos, estrangements and resentment, though well-known, still beguiles.
Everything Under The Sun seeks to be a definitive volume in the Floyd canon: a high-level analysis of the band’s music and, as it says, the first serious survey of their work and achievements. With a cultural timeline offered as well, it’s clear that it seeks to be the equivalent to Ian MacDonald’s Revolution In The Head (a high bar).
Cormack – an academic who has written extensively on China – displays a gentle wit through the book. He got into Floyd through his father and uncles, who played their music incessantly: “Although basically a pot-head allergic to work and responsibility, Dad always made it his mission to convert the people around him to what he liked: Gandalf with a spliff instead of a staff.”
Divided into three sections, (Explorations 1967-72, Exaltations 1973-79 and Echoes 1982-2022), Everything Under The Sun begins with Arnold Layne and ends with Hey Hey Rise Up. Each song is explored with facts, context and opinion, and Cormack avoids both the intra-band tiffs and Roger Waters’ political views unless they directly influence the work.
His scoring system becomes cumbersome; 13 songs out of the canon are awarded the full 10/10, most of which seasoned Floyd aficionados could guess. Meanwhile, the footnotes are a thing of wonder – “It’s notable that of the best-selling singles in the UK in the 1960s, not one is by a university graduate,” he notes insightfully at one point.
An assured voice is essential, but at times it comes across as superiority
There’s also an extensive bootleg guide (whether it’s needed after such a highbrow exploration is a different matter), and three interviews round out the book: Guy Pratt, always a reliable, irreverent witness; longtime studio collaborator James Guthrie; and, interestingly, Stevie Mac from The Australian Pink Floyd Show, who have been touring for at least 20 more years than the actual Pink Floyd did.
So, is Everything Under The Sun in tune? Partially. An assured voice is essential in taking on a task like this, but at times it comes across as superiority. However, its ambition must be admired, and its place on that fat old shelf is assured.
Everything Under The Sun: The Complete Guide To Pink Floyd is on sale now via The History Press.
