The Making of Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon and other Classic Albums

One of the high-points at almost every Durango Songwriters Expo is the Words and Music songwriting workshop that Jeffrey Steele presents frequently at the three-day event. It's a tremendously educational and inspiring (and entertaining!) workshop by one of the hottest songwriters in the world as of this writing in September, 2006.

In one of Jeff's workshops he talks about the very positive impact the DVD of the making of Elton John's classic Goodbye Yellow Brick Road album had on him.

I related immediately to what he was saying because while I hadn't seen the "making of" the Elton John GBYBR album (one of my favorites), I had seen the original VH-1 showing of the Making of Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon, part of the same Classic Albums series as the GBYBR DVD that Jeffrey had seen.

Anyway, long story short, these are BOTH tremendously important "must-sees" for aspiring (and accomplished) songwriters. But when I went looking to buy them for myself I also found a bunch of other "making of" DVDs that may be of interest. So, to save you a bit of time and trouble, I've pulled them together for you here:

From Amazon.com

The most phenomenal recording in rock & roll history is thoroughly examined in Pink Floyd: The Dark Side of the Moon. The Floyd's 1973 masterpiece remained on bestseller charts for nearly 14 years, and its enduring importance is honored here by all four members of Pink Floyd and key personnel (engineer Alan Parsons, mixing supervisor Chris Thomas, sleeve designer Storm Thorgerson, and others) who played essential roles in the landmark album's creation. Produced for the Classic Albums series that originally aired on VH-1, this thorough and thought-provoking study highlights a track-by-track dissection of the LP's master tapes (including the spoken-word passages that bookend the album), superbly interlaced with archival footage, early demo tapes, concert animations, and latter-day acoustic performances by David Gilmour, Roger Waters, and Richard Wright to demonstrate each track's contribution to the final mix--a sonic exploration that extends to the illuminating bonus features. Informative interviews abound (including Rolling Stone senior editor David Fricke), and much-deserved credit is given to saxophonist Dick Parry, solo vocalist Clare Torry, and former Capitol Records chairman Bhaskar Menon, who fostered the album's U.S. commercial success. For Floyd fans, musicians, and studio technicians alike, this is a must-have addition to any DVD library. —Jeff Shannon

The Making of More Classic Albums