Breaking News from
the Real Pink Floyd!
I will now let you read a correspondence I had with Alvin "Little
Pink" Anderson, the son of Pink Anderson:
(Friday the 28th of September 2001)
I wrote:
My name is Alexander Ahlstrand and I live in Sweden.
I am one of numerous Pink Floyd fans who have your late
father to thank for so much and just that...
I want to tell you that your fathers music on "Gospel,
street blues & blues" made me realize what great wealth
there is in "old" music.
I often listen to that album with great satisfaction. It
was just yesterday I found myself humming "He's in the
jailhouse now" when pondering around the university where I study.
This may not really mean anything, but it proves that
the music still is very much alive.
Yours Truly
Alexander Ahlstrand
I recieved this 40 minutes later:
Thank you,
It means a great deal to me. I also have materials for
sale. But we have a project going on to save my fathers
house. Donations are excepted and I have a book mentioned
on my site and all the proceeds from that go towards the
house fund. Check my site and get back to me.
Thanks again, Little Pink
Now call me a sentimental
sucker but I cannot have the MP3s up on this site anymore. It's a question
of respect and all I can do is urge you to visit Alvins site and possibly go buy a Pink Anderson CD!
Not that a Pink Floyd fan is obliged to anything, but I personally will
contribute to Alvins project of saving Pinks House. That is the least I
can do!
For The Real Floyd - Alexander Ahlstrand
Two bluesmen from the U.S gave
young Syd Barrett a fling of divine inspiration and named a psychedelic
rock band from Britain.The music of Pink Anderson and Floyd Council has remained,
more or less, unavailable from Pink Floyd fans for decades in the dusty archives of Jazz
and blues studios in the american mid-west. But, now we can give you a
little taste of what these two men contributed during their living years
in the early days of Rhythm and Blues.
We have taken great interest tracking
down recordings by these men as writings about them. Sadly, Floyd
Council seem to harder to find than
Anderson. We hope for contirbutions if you have something we don't.
All material is protected by current
copyright laws and should not be misused. This compilation of
information should only be used for studies.
The following document was original written by Ken
Langford and was first published in Floyd Fanzine 'Amazing Pudding' in
1993. This transcribtion is from the rerelease in Bruno McDonalds: Pink
Floyd - Through the eyes of the band, their friends.....
Which one is
really Pink? by Ken Langford
When
the suits of the record industry began to see profit potential in our
young heroes, they were ill prepared for the enigmatic moniker ‘Pink
Floyd’. ‘Ok, which one of you guys is Pink?’ asked the besuited
gravy train engineer, with a certain look in the eye and an easy smile.
After some embarrassed umming and ahhing it
was probably explained that there was no real Pink, that is was just the
name of the band. But as question persisted, so did it find its place
among the lyrics of ‘Have A Cigar’.
Pink finally found life as the hero of the Wall
epoch. Having accepted this drone-faced friend as ‘the’ Pink, fans
were shocked in 1987 to be presented with a choice of Pinks, the biggest
character controversy since the Walrus.
I was even called Pink by friends, owing to
a certain obsession of mine. But there is a true Pink, known primarily
on a trivial basis by hardcore Pink Floyd fans. In fact, there is a
Floyd too. Let’s meet the men behind the beloved, ‘warm comfy’
name.
Miles’ Visual documentary introduces
most fans to Pink Anderson and Floyd Council. We were invited to believe
that the name ‘appeared to [Syd] in a vision’, although Miles
continues: ‘Actually, it is taken from the Georgia bluesmen Pink
Anderson and Floyd Council who Syd had a record of.’
Barrett biography Crazy Diamond provides
a more detailed account; Syd had travelled to Cambridge from London,
looking for a front man for his band. Leonard’s Lodgers. The trip
‘failed to unearth a singer, but he did return with a new name for the
band.’ As he patiently explained to Bob Klose, he had a couple of
records by two grizzled Georgia bluesmen named Pink Anderson and Floyd
Council. How about putting the two names together?
‘Later he would often claim that the
peculiar name was transmitted to him from an overhead flying saucer.’
Nicholas Schaffner’s Saucerful of secrets refers briefly to the
two ‘Georgia bluesmen’, adding only the years of their births and
deaths.
That is all of the readily available
information on the men whose names have passed our lips Lord knows how
many times. Precious few fans have taken the time to actually seek out
their music. For those who have, it can be discouraging to discover that
Floyd is virtually unheard of, even amongst blues aficionados. Four
years of actively seeking his music turned up only a tape of one song.
Finally,
in May 1992, I located and purchased his complete catalogue. Pink
isn’t as obscure, but is not well known. Here, then, is the most
comprehensive profile of the two men.
Pink
Anderson
Floyd Council
Sleeve
notes from the LP
"Gospel, blues and street blues"
Link
Contact: alexander.ahlstrand2@telia.com
Latest
site update: 2001-09-29
Added Link Section
Added Alvin Anderson Mail
Removed Trading information
Removed the MP3 Samples
