I’ve been a Pink Floyd fan since 1969 when my brother John introduced me to their first album “Piper At The Gates Of Dawn.” John had been away from home for a year at a Swiss boarding school. I missed him like crazy, and when he finally returned in early summer ’69, he brought back some cool things from his stay in Europe.
He’d already mailed me two Italian switchblades while he was in Switzerland — I got into trouble playing around with those! My father ended up secretly confiscating them, and for years I wondered where they’d vanished to — until one day I found one of them in his chest of drawers.
John also brought back a European (mono pressing) of Pink Floyd’s first LP, “Piper at The Gates Of Dawn.”
Piper at the Gates of Dawn
John Fenton and Rufus 1969
The album cover looked pretty exotic and the music was too! In Canada we had never heard of (The) Pink Floyd, as they were called early on. They had not received any radio play in Canada and even though I religiously listened to the top 20 countdown on my little transistor radio while taking a bath every night, I never heard any Pink Floyd.
At first listen, Piper was too far out and “adult” to my 15-year-old ears. “Astronomy Dominie” was cool, “The Gnome” and “Flaming” were nice and of course “Bike” was just great. But after the introduction to “Interstellar Overdrive” I was lost! I thought to myself “I’ll like this music when I’m a bit older.”
At Christmas 1969, Santa brought John Pink Floyd’s second album, “A Saucerful Of Secrets.” I gave the album a listen, but except for “Jugband Blues” the music was still too weird for me. To this day, “Jugband Blues” remains an all-time favourite song.
In early ’69 I made a trip to Montreal. There were some great record stores there, and I bought the newly released “Ummagumma.” I brought the double album back to Ottawa and it quickly became a favourite at our neighbourhood acid parties.
We continued listening to Pink Floyd and in 1973, a bunch of us took a bus to Montreal to see Pink Floyd’s “Dark Side of The Moon” tour. It was a great concert and Floyd also played songs from “Ummagumma” and “Obscured By Clouds.” We were blown away by the whole event. I yelled to David Gilmour (at a distance before the concert) “Hey Dave, how’s Syd?” He acknowledged me with a brief nod.
In early 1972, I read a fantastic article in Rolling Stone magazine written by Syd Barrett’s friend Mick Rock. I had been going through some rough teenage times and I could really relate to Mick’s description of Syd’s shellshocked condition. Years later, my wife Cathy and I hung out with Mick at a cool New York, Greenwich Village bar one night.We talked about Syd, Rory Gallagher and Mick Ronson. It was fun to smoke a joint with Mick on a dark, foggy NYC street late at night!
Paul U.K. photo booth summer 1972
As time went by, I began to just adore “Madcap” and a few months later I bought the 2nd Barrett album “Barrett.” Before going to sleep every night I would listen to Rory Gallagher and Syd with headphones. Sometimes I’d drop off to sleep with the music playing. I’m sure that the music went deep into my subconscious and stayed there — I’m positive it did!
In spring of ’73 I began my professional career as a guitar player. I eventually could do a passable Dave Gilmour imitation on guitar. I used a Big Muff fuzz pedal with a metal slide and we’d jam on “Echoes” for hours. I continued my love affair with Pink Floyd and bought every album they made as soon as they were released. In 1975, Floyd played at the Autostade in Montreal and although I couldn’t go to the concert, my friends recorded it on a cassette recorder. I got a copy of the tape and continued my woodshedding, trying to soak in Gilmour’s great guitar style. I particularly loved the live version of “Shine On You Crazy Diamond” that Roger Waters dedicated to Syd Barrett at the concert.
In 1987 I was back in Ottawa for a gig. “The Fenton Brothers” had just relocated to Toronto to try and get further along in the music business. I was in my hotel room alone, having an afternoon beer and playing some guitar, getting ready for our gig that night. The telephone rang and I picked it up — it was a friend who worked with a local music promoter, “Bass Clef.” My friend said “hi,” then she asked me “do you want to meet Pink Floyd?” I couldn’t believe it — of course I told her that I’d love to! She told me to head down to the Ottawa Civic Center and there would be a “working band” pass waiting for me.
I grabbed a couple of my guitars to bring along just in case I met David Gilmour, so I could show them to him. I brought my 1928 National Tricone resonator guitar and a cool Valco “Jetsons” Airline model. I jumped in a cab and rode to the Civic Centre. When I arrived I picked up my pass and headed for the green room. There were a few radio people, and a photographer that I knew was already there. As we waited, I looked out of the second story window and down below and saw two men walking towards our building. Someone said “there’s Dave Gilmour!” I left my guitars and rushed out. There he was, in the flesh! I boldly walked up to Gilmour and the other man — I said “Hi Dave, I’ve got some guitars to show you.” He replied “I’ve already got 800 guitars!” There wasn’t much I could say after he told me that.
Dave Gilmour and Paul Fenton
David was a bit shy at first, but as we talked, he became very sweet and friendly. I showed him a photo of my ’61 pink Strat and he told me that he owned the famous serial number 001 Stratocaster. We talked about echo units and I told him that I had an old Echoplex tape model. David told me all about his Binson echo unit (an Italian tube model made in the 60s that gave Pink Floyd its otherworldly sound (especially on the track “Echoes.”) I later found one of these (impossibly rare) Binson Ecorecs in New York City — instant Pink Floyd!
Paul’s “Jimmy Page” model Ecoplex
While we were discussing “Madcap” and “Barrett,” I told Dave, emphatically, that his bass playing was “10/10” on the Barrett song “Baby Lemonade.” It was so great to see him blush with pleasure at my sincere praise! I’m quite sure no one had ever complimented him on that before.
I also asked David about his slide playing, especially on “One of these Days.” David showed me his minor tunings on my old National Tricone — an open D minor tuning and an open G minor. With a quick turn of the machine head the tuning went from major to minor. I’d been struggling for years playing in minor, as I normally tuned my guitars to open G and D major. Every time someone would say to me “Okay, the next song is in a minor key” I’d panic — it was so unwieldy to try and play minor when you’re in a major tuning! Dave also got a real laugh, when I told him how I’d tried to learn the slide guitar on “Shine On You Crazy Diamond.” I’d thought he had played the slide (on that song) on a regular guitar. Some of the notes he’d played were very high — sometimes an octave above the neck. He chuckled when I told him I tried to play it on my Strat — he explained that he played it on a lap steel!
I told him how much I loved his singing too. Dave Gilmour is one of my favourite singers, and he can do real justice to Syd Barrett songs when he covers them. He was so handsome and cool — and just to hear his soft, cultured, Cambridge accent! When my brother John and I went to Cambridge, while on tour in the UK, we agreed that Pink Floyd could only have come from such a beautiful, idyllic place.
Paul at Syd Barrett’s house
Dave Gilmour autographing Paul’s guitar
Mick Rock autograph to Paul
In 1972 my friend Rick Braden and I took a trip to England and Scotland for the summer. We had never been there before and it was cool to see the birthplace of the “British Invasion” firsthand. The ’60s were just over but the place still had that vibe. I was introduced to the music of Rory Gallagher on that trip, and I bought two albums while I was there that were to have a profound effect on me through the years. One was Rory Gallagher “Live In Europe” and the other was Syd Barrett’s “The Madcap Laughs.” I didn’t have access to a record player then, as we were hitchhiking around, and later living in the stone-walled keep of Dover Castle with two down and out tramps. I finally got a chance to listen to my new albums when we returned to Canada. The Rory Gallagher album was easy to digest (Rory later told me that he was a fan of Syd’s and had seen the original Pink Floyd line up, but Roger Waters’ bass headstock was in the way of Syd’s face onstage.) “The Madcap Laughs” took me a while to appreciate. I listened to side 1 in my grandmother’s basement, and it was only when I heard the last song, “Here I Go” with that nice music-hall groove that I started to enjoy the album.
Paul and Rick Braden U.K. photo booth summer 1972
I followed Dave and his friend (who turned out to be his bodyguard) to the green room building. At the door the bodyguard turned and faced me and said “You can’t come in.” I cockily pointed at the Pink Floyd working pass that was stuck to my shirt lapel. David looked at me and said in a quiet refined voice, “Let him in.” We walked up to the green room together and when we arrived my photographer friend said offhandedly, “Hi Dave, hi Paul!” I thought that was hilarious! I sat down with Dave and we did hit it off. What was especially nice was that everyone in the room left us alone like two friends talking.
Meanwhile, I saw that the remaining members of the band — Richard Wright and Nick Mason — had arrived. All three of the “Floyds” lined up and we all shook hands. Rick Wright looked just like his pictures — handsome. He shook hands with me in a soft, gentle English way. Nick Mason looked rested and radiant.To me it was like meeting The Beatles — I couldn’t believe it! After meeting the band, Dave and I continued our talk. There were so many questions I had thought of asking him, and I did remember to ask most of them. I told him that I was a big Syd Barrett fan. I could see Dave stiffen up as soon as I mentioned Syd’s name. I had read and heard many times that Gilmour was very protective and private about anything to do with his friend Barrett (especially as Syd was still alive at the time and was very reclusive.)
Paul’s Binson Ecorec
I asked David what it was like to produce Syd’s albums — “It must have been quite an experience!” He rolled his eyes and agreed that it was. I later read that it had indeed been a gruelling task to get both LPs (“The Madcap Laughs” and “Barrett”) completed. What acoustic guitar did Syd use on his solo albums? “A J-45″ Dave replied. Syd didn’t own a Gibson acoustic so Dave lent him his own. As soon as I was able, I found a J-45 similar to Dave’s, with a beautiful cherry “sunburst” finish from the mid-‘60s.What beautiful guitars they are — so warm, like The Beatles’ “Rubber Soul” sound! There was no information anywhere, that I was aware of, about what acoustic guitar Syd played on his beautiful solo albums, so I was delighted to learn this detail.
Paul’s Gibson J-45
Paul and John in Cambridge
Later I gushed to Dave “I know you hear this every day, but it’s such a pleasure to meet you!” He had spent a lot of time with me that day, and had to get ready for his show — Pink Floyd were opening their World Tour in Ottawa that night. I asked him to autograph my white Valco Airline.
I asked Dave if he would like a copy of my band’s new record. He said he would, and I gave him one, then he asked me if he could have two copies … I thought about that later, and I realized what a sweet guy he was — a big star like him, giving me all of his precious time (before his show no less) and then asking for another copy of my shitty little record!
David left the room and the other guests and I sat around with Nick Mason and chatted for a while. Nick was very relaxed and easygoing. He said that “Floyd” wanted to tour China. I watched the band play later and they opened with “Echoes” — they sounded great! It was tough to have to leave the show halfway through Echoes and go to my own humble, little gig that night. I ended up having a “long night” and I woke up feeling trashed. But it sure had been worth it!