Clare Torry

Clare Torry ( born 1947 ) is a British singer who was known for her vocal improvisation in The Great Gig in the Sky from the album The Dark Side of the Moon by Pink Floyd in 1973. This album is more than 50 million records sold one of the best selling albums of all time worldwide.

The first years

Clare Torry came from a middle-class family and attended as a pupil boarding school in Battle ( East Sussex ). Since it is difficult to get along with the conservative norms of the school, her talent could hardly be promoted as a singer and songwriter.

From the late 1960s Torry worked as a professional musician. First they sang a lot of cover versions of popular songs from the charts. She also wrote himself pop songs, some of which were adopted by other musicians. However, a great financial success was not involved. Consequently, she was from mid- 1972 jobs as a studio background singer on a work that you are indeed appeared artistic unattractive to their revenue, but she was instructed.

Thus they also met Alan Parsons, who later became the founder of the Alan Parsons Project, who was then still an unknown sound engineer. While Parsons believed later on an album of cover versions of popular songs Torrys, including Light My Fire to remember, the singer can not remember having this song ever interpreted. It is certain, however, that Parsons was deeply impressed by her voice.

Recording of The Great Gig in the Sky

When Pink Floyd were looking for a studio musician as a singer for The Great Gig in the Sky in the short term, recommended Parsons Torry. The commitment would be almost did not materialize, finally a date was the same day, a Sunday evening, made ​​out. The instrumental part was already finished recorded, and Torry should improvise her singing part. She received only rough guidelines, such as, no text to sing to keep the sounds longer or to use their voice as an instrument. Finally, the group was satisfied with the result, and Torry got the usual fee for one-day studio recordings on a Sunday.

She suspected the recording would not be used because her voice had been present to cawing, and thought no more about it. It was not until later in a record store a big Pink Floyd poster discovered and then read her name on the album cover, she bought the plate. And they liked it.

Other activities

Clare Torry continued to work as a studio musician and background singer for numerous productions, such as Kevin Ayers, Olivia Newton-John, Matthew Fisher, Meat Loaf and for several BBC - TV productions. On the album Eve by The Alan Parsons Project 1979 she sang in the song Do not Hold Back the lead vocal. In a manner similar to The Great Gig in the Sky 1984 she sang in the song The War song on the album Waking Up with the House on Fire by Culture Club and 1985 Yellowstone Park in the song on the album Le Parc by Tangerine Dream.

1990 there was a public appearance with Pink Floyd, in the years before a co-operation and some live performances with the new band of Roger Waters, who left Pink Floyd in 1985.

Recognition as a composer of The Great Gig in the Sky

For her 1973 improvised play The Great Gig in the Sky it until 30 years later rose judicial entitled to royalties because they had been paid as part of the studio work only for singing, but not for the composition. This claim was confirmed in an out of court settlement in 2005, about whose details were not disclosed. Richard Wright and Clare Torry Since then apply together as a composer of this piece.

Publication

Published in 2006, Clare Torry their CD Heaven in the Sky, a collection of songs from the 1960s and 1970s.

References (English)

• Singer
• Briton
• Born in 1947
• Woman