Who sings on Pink Floyd's 'The Great Gig in the Sky': all about the song and Clare Torrey

All true fans Pink Floyd are more than familiar with the song "The Great Gig in the Sky" from their classic 1973 album "The Dark Side of the Moon", whose iconic prism cover is well known to people who don't even know the band (although how is that even possible?). The legendary record is filled with excellent numbers, and "Great Show in the Sky" is no exception. Perhaps this is the track that made the album work and resonate with listeners for decades after its release - so much so that its place in eternity is almost certain.

As it was with so many great songs, "The Great Gig in the Sky" It took a little time and experimentation before it became the track that is so beloved today. If some sources are to be believed, the tune started out as an organ instrumental piece with bible verses playing over the top. However, at some point in the creative process, the decision was made to turn it into a a piano rock song with female vocals, a choice that was quite groundbreaking for Floyd.

So, today. "The Great Gig in the Sky" is familiar to millions of music lovers all over the world! Many people are delighted with this composition. But... only a few people know about Claire Torreyto the woman whose voice is behind this great classic ...

The recording process, or the merging of Pink Floyd and Clare Torrey in the studio

When the decision was made to grace "The Great Gig in the Sky" with female vocals, almost everyone was excited and excited... But the question of where to find a singer who could do the job (after all, we are talking about the kings of psychedelic rock with a particularly subtle vision) was still relevant. Luckily, the album's sound engineer Alan Parsons happened to know one such performer who could do what the band wanted. And that saviour turned out to be Claire Torreywho at the time was a little-known but extremely talented session vocalist.

Torrie was invited to record the track and the band members advised her to think about the dark thingslike death while she improvised her vocals. In just two and a half takes (Torrie stopped in the middle of the third take because she felt she had given it all she had), she created a powerful vocal that became the defining moment of the song.

Remarkably, Torrie was kept in the dark about the project, and she didn't even know her voice was on the album until she bought the record in a shop and noticed her name in the credits. Many years later, journalists interviewed her interviewin which she talked about recording the song in the studio with the band. According to her, her first attempt to sing over the track was a failure because she was mouthing the actual words while being told to sing longer notes. She recalls:

"Then I thought, 'Maybe I should just pretend I'm an instrument.'" It worked, and Alan Parsons got a lovely sound in my voice: an echo, but not too pronounced. I closed my eyes during the recording and it was just all-encompassing... We got a beautiful vocal sound, and that's the kind of result that's always inspiring."

Claire's later life and career

Unfortunately, the brilliant vocals for one of rock's most legendary tunes were not enough to propel Clare Torrey's career very far. The singer subsequently appeared on only a handful of recordings in the 1970s, including songs for the Olivia Newton-John and Serge Gainsbourg.. She even teamed up with the man who recommended her to Pink Floyd, Alan Parsons, for a track on his project, "Don't Hold Back"! But it didn't bear any weighty fruit. Torrie had more success in the 1980s when her voice was featured on Tangerine Dream's "Yellowstone Park" and Culture Club's "The War Song", and reunited with Pink Floyd's Roger Waters for his solo album "Radio K.A.O.S.".

Torrey is in many ways stayed in the shadows. This continued until friends persuaded her to sue Pink Floyd and their record company EMI in 2004. The lawsuit targeted songwriting credits and lost wages for "The Great Gig in the Sky", which was eventually settled out of court but included her as a co-writer on future releases of "Dark Side of the Moon". Her new appearance in the spotlight was followed by the release of a compilation of her previous solo work titled "Heaven in the Sky" in 2006 so that listeners could appreciate her great talent even when she wasn't singing on the Great Show in the Sky.