Nick Mason recently sat down with the Sun, recalling how Paul McCartney and his Wings bandmate and wife, Linda, almost got to sing in a Pink Floyd hit.
In the early-to-mid ’70s, Abbey Road was a place where you could possibly witness a busy McCartney family coming in and out while a young and potentially grumpy Pink Floyd also made their way into the studio to record what would fascinate the next few generations of rock fans.
The sessions of ‘The Dark Side of the Moon’ were both a bliss and a challenge, as Roger Waters took the creative vessel and had others follow his lead. So, it was no wonder the bassist often took most of the credit to himself, though his bandmate, Nick, had some reservations regarding one particular credit.
Mason recalled how he was the one who came up with adding the pre-decimal coin sound into the track, ‘Money,’ though Waters claimed it was him. So, whenever they got together and chatted, the former bandmates would discuss who actually had the idea first, though it was to no avail since the drummer was quite firm on his stance.
The rocker then dove deep into the recordings of ‘Money,’ disclosing how Macca and Lady McCartney, who were also recording in Abbey Road at the time, were almost featured in the song, among the section where random voice snippets accompanied the melody. However, since Paul and Linda’s voices were distinctive, they chose not to use them.
Pink Floyd drummer on arguing with Waters and almost featuring Paul:
“Well, Roger and I discuss this [taking credit for the coil sounds] at length almost every time we meet, but I definitely made it, yes!
[He continues by discussing how the McCartneys’ voices almost made it into ‘Money’] But they were too distinctive. We didn’t want people to pick up on a celebrity element. Interestingly enough, Henry McCullough [Wings guitarist] and his wife were used on our record.”
Although it could’ve been a nice cameo to have the McCartneys over ‘The Dark Side Of The Moon,’ Pink Floyd decided they didn’t want to have well-known rockers take place in ‘Money’ since a celebrity element would possibly distract people from the song and overshadow its anti-capitalist lyrics.
