Why Pink Floyd's Roger Waters was disappointed when he met John Lennon? 

Both Lennon and Waters were the most acerbic and moody members of their respective bands, so it's no wonder they didn't get along. Either way, they were both geniuses, and you can see some influence of Lennon on Roger's lyrics.

The irony is that Paul M and David Gilmour became close friends. The Beatles were known for not liking outsiders in their working environment.

In 1967 the beatles were on top of the world and pink floyd was a little known underground band. They were worlds apart at that time.

One sad takeaway from all this is the realization that the Beatles were friends and truly loved / cared for each other ( even though they could have some wicked fights ), and Pink Floyd weren’t. As a Pink Floyd fan that’s kind of difficult to hear, but the fact is that right now you have two old men who don’t seem to give a damn about each other, and another doing his own thing. I believe Gilmour has said that he didn’t have any friends in the band - more of a working relationship.

As a somewhat “Acerbic” person myself, my encounters with people like that often start not so well. But, once guards are let down they can turn out to be your best buddies.

It...is ...so...wonderful...to..have..a ...computer...narrate... John and Roger in the same room and it went bad? What a surprise.

Well, I wouldn't blame the Fab at all. After all, they were at work, they were on the clock and fully absorbed in the process. This was no socializing time. Besides, who were the Pink Floyd in those days? Their golden time was still yet to come.

Pink Floyd were actually mentioned in the 1968 Hunter Davis biography of The Beatles. It's mentioned that they stopped into the studio. This was probably not a very formal introduction and The Beatles probably just thought they were just another group of the many they probably met. This may have been a huge deal for Pink Floyd but not one for the fab four.

I ran into Peter Jenner at a Billy Bragg concert (I think around 1990-1991), I had no idea who I was talking to at first, he was talking a lot about Syd and Floyd’s early days. We talked for quite awhile, I was a little taken aback when he told me who he was…he told me about bits and pieces of the recording of Piper and how the Beatles were right next door at Abbey Road and that they were very interested in Syd and how creative he was, and peaked in from time to time while the Floyd were recording.

David Gilmour and Paul McCartney have worked together quite well. The Beatles didn't know The Floyd from Adam and Waters and Lennon were not the friendliest of people.

Both Waters and Lennon are my heroes. It doesn’t matter if they didn’t get along. They both contributed a lot to the music industry.

I mean what were they supposed to do, stop the session and have some tea and crackers? The fact that they got close enough to have an interaction as an unknown band and even got to sit in on a session seems like proof to me that The Beatles were somewhat down to Earth.

They can go and be disappointed all they want, McCartney has been on record as saying Dark Side of the Moon is one of his favorite albums

The truly sad thing to me is that at the time just a couple years before Lennon’ murder, he seemed to be really changing and becoming less abrasive and more of a family man and sweet man. I’ve always been more of a McCartney guy but to this day the murder of Lennon is still such a tragedy on so many levels.

Those 2 albums were made in the same year 1967 but the music was t0taly different I lean towards Sgt it was and still ls one of the best albums ever made

The Beatles are unique and unreachable

Nicely speaking of John Lennon and Roger Waters 💚. They were very similar, if not identical, in their EGO's !!! GOD blessed both of them with a tremendous TALENT !!! Jerry.🗽

It's only natural to have competitive attitudes towards each other. With the Beatles' enormous success, and meeting them in studio while creating another hit album with fresh ideas. Then "the pink floyd" walks in. Their songs are not about "love". Their first hit single Arnold Layne is about a clothesline thief. On the evening of 21 March 1967 They were brought together in Abbey Road and exchanged hellos. And paul and john went to see them at the Music & Art event, listening to "Interstellar Overdrive". So they were all very aware of each other and their talents. Lennon was a very down to earth guy, and Waters is a show off sort. There is a place for all, and I like ALL of their albums!!!

I think a more interesting meeting would’ve been if Lennon and Waters met while they were recording Dark Side of the Moon. I think Lennon would’ve been amazed at what the Floyd were doing. One fact is that the Floyd’s engineer was Alan Parsons and he’d worked on the Abbey Road album as well

I wouldn't have thought they would have had much in common. The Beatles were slumming around rough clubs in Liverpool and Hamburg when they were teenagers, they're basically scallies made good. Whereas Pink Floyd always came across as very middle-class, brought up in big houses with gardeners and attending independent schools.

That is typical John. We love him anyway.

The Beatles liked so much what PF were doing Over in the other studio Room,that they made and put a Song a lá The Piper at the Gates, on their Sgt Peppers album.

Two of the most important musicians of the 20th Century in the same control room. WOW!

Why should The Beatles have been interested? The Beatles were tired of meeting new people and Pink Floyd were largely unknown and unproven in 1967. Having said that, love both The Beatles and Pink Floyd!

"Which one's Pink?" - John Lennon.

I met Jason Bonham back in 1990? on his first US tour, bumped into his entire band in an outdoor men's room (Baity's W-S, NC). he was very nice, shook my hand. And also met Joe Strummer & Paul Simenon(another accident) outside of Carmichael Auditorium in Chapel-Hill, NC (UNC-CH campus). Their bus pulled up in front and they walked in(no security) for a soundcheck, very humble guys, great show that night.

Early Pink Floyd's off the wall 🧱 music didn't inspired The BEATLES ! In other hand The BEATLES inspired Pink Floyd, to become one of the best and monumental band in the history of Rock music ! All credits go to The BEATLES, for producing so many great BANDS !!! 👍🇺🇸*Jerry.🗽

I consider the Piper at the Gates of Dawn an absolute masterpiece. I met the Floyd when they were playing their best psychedelic music and they were nice. Check!

As much as I enjoyed the Beatles, Pink Floyd got way further out there, right where I wanted to go. Genius.

Great sounding Mexican Robot

I had met both bands in the late 60's. The Beatles in Jermyn St. London on there way to impresario Bernard Delfont's office. I met Pink Floyd whilst traveling on the train after a gig at Newcastle City Hall. I talked a little to them as we all were sharing the same carriage to King's X. Roger Walters was not a problem to approach, all of them were tired--they were also on the cusp of --fame and fortune! Still listen to them to this very day!

Anyone know the name of the instrumental that plays 00:25 onwards?

When i see a star i pretend to not know who they are and go about my business.

As if John Lennon would be impressed by meeting an unknown band like Pink Floyd.

Legend says it, of the three months in studio, it took two for Roger to tune his bass.

I love both bands dearly

Lennon was frequently spotted at the UFO club in London where Pink Floyd were the 'house band' at the time. I don't think you can read anything into that meeting.

I wish RU-vidr's would stop using robot voices for their videos.

Arnold Layne / Candy And A Currant Bun, SHOWED the brilliance Floyd were capable of.

I didn't know about Pink Floyd until the spring of 1973 when everyone was talking about Dark Side Of The Moon, which is the 4th best selling album of all time, behind Michael Jackson's _Thriller_ AC/DCs _Back In Black_ and Meatloafs _Bat Out Of Hell._

I love Pink Floyd, but it just shows you the quality of the songwriting and musicianship of the Beatles and those around them... that Sgt. Pepper was being worked on at the same time as Piper. Sgt. Pepper is clearly superior in every way.

Waters makes several references to yoko oh-no in his albums.Also touches on Lennons themes such as his Mother, absent Father + anti war.☮ I would say Roger was influenced by John more than you think.

I'm pretty sure John was like that most of the time, at least in the 1960s. That was just his personality. I don't think he meant to be rude or anything like that. The fact that Roger was also a bit like this didn't help either.

The Beatles and John Lennon were quite competitive about being considered number 1... it is one of the things that drove them... and in any event, they were quite busy making a masterpiece

From the moment they were number one, no one could enter the studio without an appointment. Then they invited friends but only on certain occasions and only they decided who. The problem here was that Norman Smith had stopped working with them so he was no longer welcome. It was an ill-advised decision on Smith's part to show up as it created a climate of tension as Waters says at the end.

From one day to the next we can all be very different in terms of our personalities 🤷

Roger doesn't like too many people. If he likes you count yourself lucky.

Apparently McCartney and Gilmour are friends. With the egos and attitude though, you could see how Watters and Lennon might not gel. I could see Harrison and Wright being pals, and Mason and Starr seem very much alike.

When was Roger Waters ever not disappointed

The Beatles were in 'the zone' creating a masterpiece. Everything outside of that was white noise. But the idea of Floyd's debut and the Sgt. Pepper being recorded under the same roof at the same time is jaw dropping to think about. Truly an apex as far as modern music goes.

Funny? I had EXACTLY this question bouncing around my noggin yesterday and WTF? Stranger things happen without you even thinking about them. Love both your bands, and of course I was blown away myself when initially meeting Bill Wyman, but that’s another story for now.. Enjoyed the surprise!

The Beatles were at that time already schooled performers and a huge success. Pink Floyd sure were progressive and artsy, the Beatles could not guess how interesting they were.

Poor Roger. He caught John at a "bad time." LOL

It was the fault of Norman Smith for bursting in with Pink Floyd in tow when the Beatles were not expecting the visit and were preoccupied with recording Rita. Plus they (Beatles) were not very comfortable with people they didnt know showing up at their recording sessions. Paul thought Floyd was a very interesting band, he was very aware of them and thought they would be ones to take 'progressive music" to new levels. Whereas the Beatles were done with the big production except for Walrus they really were down another alley with their next real album, White Album. Floyd, King Crimson, Yes and a few others would do very well with those types of albums in the future.The Beatles as a band never really went down further down the road with that unless you want to count John's avant garde stuff with yoko and Revolution 9 which was really just self indulgent of John. He should have kept it on his solo stuff with Yoko.

Imagine sitting in on the recording of lovely Rita...what a tune

All you need really is the original interview, Waters is quite eloquent.

The Beatles had so much attention since 1963 you couldn’t believe it. They were into there 4th year of mayhem and honestly they don’t have time to make everyone’s meeting them experience a nice one. He was working in that studio. He maybe could’ve said a quick friendly gesture but I get why it played out the way it did. Floyd didn’t even have an album out yet so it must’ve been like this new stranger band wants to meet you. Oh another one?

What did he expect? They didn’t know him, and they had been mobbed by all of humanity for the previous 3 or 4 years at that point. They were probably like get this dude out of here so we can get back to work

4:14 of my time on Earth I can never get back.

I love Pink Floyd, but they were nobodies in '67 and it's not like the most popular band on the planet can share tea with every up and coming band. Waters isn't exactly a amiable person; I do respect his self-awareness in admitting he has some responsibility for the disappointing encounter. If you want to keep admiring your heroes, best to keep them at a distance and don't look too deeply.

John probably could be pretty snotty and acerbic then...he was still just 26 yrs old and had an inflated sense of his own ego when they were recording "Pepper". Seems he toned that aspect of his personality down after they broke up..

67 by far the best year for music.

I’m Comfortably Numb All We Need Is Love

Pink Floyd were nothing until David Gilmour joined an wrote Dark Side Of The Moon & Wish You Were Here (and The Wall) ..and certainly nothing Floyd did pre-Gilmour is even remotely comparable with the Beatles

Muy buen aporte y la verdad no sabía que cuando Pink Floyd estaba grabando junto a Syd Barret el disco "The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn", y The Beatles, grabando "sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band". Si diré mi comentario muy personal y honesto. Pink Floyd nadie puede negar su excelente calidad musical, acá estaban prácticamente debutando con su disco, pero The Beatles estaba grabando lo que es considerado el disco del siglo. Muchos han comentado de Jhon Lennon, que no siempre cayó bien, y de esto y lo otro... pero hay que dejar bien claro, que The Beatles, esta claramente por sobre Pink Floyd. the Beatles desde el año 1962 revolucionaron toda la música a nivel planetario y para siempre. Pink Floyd fueron influenciados por sus pares británicos. The Beatles no por nada y a la fecha, definitivamente NO EXISTE nada comparable a ellos musicalmente hablando. Los 4 chicos de Liverpool, marcaron, marcan y seguirán marcando un estilo que de no ser por ellos, simplemente no hubieran existido Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Queen, etc. The Beatles algo así como Jesús, las otras bandas discípulos... Obviamente sin ofender, pero es la realidad guste a quien guste. Bye and good luck !!!

It’s funny, as one gets older any semblance of ego diminishes into a more self effacing outlook. This obviously hasn’t happened to Waters, whose ego seems to continue to grow in his own sad mind. Never mind, he’s only a musician!

I struggled to hear this even on full volume

A 2 yr old James Hetfield met Lennon in Abbey Road....John ignored him....What a jerk!!!

I think it was Ray Davies who described McCartney and Lennon this way: “McCartney was one of the most competitive people I ever met! Lennon wasn’t competitive at all. He just thought everyone else was shit.”

I'm sure when he met Lennon pink Floyd was NOT a HUGE act.... THEY grew very slowky

Doesnt sound like a situation that would lend itself to a great social interaction. Beatles were in the middle of a session and Pink Floyd didn’t even have an album under their belt yet. “Nice to meet you, thanks for stopping by” It’s the only time John and Roger met. Doesn’t sound so much that they didn’t get along than sparks didn’t fly. Also, Syd wrote all of Pink Floyd’s stuff back then so it’s not even like it was a meeting of the two genius songwriters at that time. If John was even the slightest bit aware of Pink Floyd through the studio and Norman Smith connection , he would probably view Syd as the bandleader.

Meanwhile, David has only had nice things to say about the members of the Beatles.

Just saw this title. WHO FOOKIN’ CARES? !

Personalities don’t matter. Bruised egos don’t matter. What matters is that Waters is carrying on Lennon’s legacy of using his fame and considerable popular influence to call attention to the blight of war and imperialism. His music and lyrics, like John’s, speak to our common humanity and ability to overcome hatred and division. That’s all that matters. ✌️ ❤️

Storm in a teacup. The Beatles were in the middle of a recording session Lennon would have too much on his mind to be meeting people. If they met in a restaurant, they'd probably have had an interesting conversation.

Read Howard Kaylan's autobiography for an insight into how Lennon belittled other musicians who worshipped him. Also a great story about Tom Jones and 'Wendell'.

I’m sure there were a lot more people disappointed by meeting waters than Lennon honestly

I do believe that Paul, George & Ringo all worked with Gilmour at one time or another but none ever worked with Waters. Think that says a lot..

Paul McCartney already knew them. He went to watch The Pink Floyd play at the UFO Club many times in late 1966. See Steve Turner, Beatles ’66: The Revolutionary Year (2016).

Lennon was a quick wit and extremely intelligent and he suffered from manic depres

John Lennon stopped and signed an autograph for the man who shot him. Roger Waters spat on the fans that bought a ticket to his concert.

pink floyd is a great band, but beatles will always be #1

Oh, the mumbling, heavy french accent REALLY helped here 🙄

I wonder how they would’ve gotten on had they met again in the mid 70s.

what robot narrates these videos? lol

1. The Beatles were musical geniuses and they were WORKING. Would you walk into Picasso's studio while he was painting and inspired and expect him to stop and chat with you? Everyone wanted to talk to The Beatles, if they kept stopping they would lose creative momentum and we wouldn't have Sgt Peppers. 2. Roger Waters is a prick. EVERYONE says he is a prick. He argues with everyone and no one can stand to work with him. I know people that have worked with him only for a few hours and they say he is a prick. I know someone whose husband was in a band with him for decades and she says he was absolutely impossible to work with or get along with.

Don't forget, " *Pink Floyd"* was just recording their first album. I'm sure none of The Beatles knew who they were? And I bet after a while, they could've been good friends. And don't forget about " _Norman Hurricane Smith"_ had a transatlantic Hit with " *Oh Babe, What Would You Say"* back in 1972. Loved the song!!! Sadly Norman passed in 2008. He was 85 Years old. Good run! He's back in that engineer booth in "Heaven" producing John and George and many more! ❤✳⛪🛐✝

Couldn't find a better narrator than this??

Little did John Lennon know at the time but Syd Barrett would turn be the famed psychedelic genius and Roger Waters would write an album (Dark Side Of The Moon) that would eclipse any of the Beatles albums.

What;s incredible is that PATGOD is actually better then Pepper

I wouldn’t want to socialize if I was working hard either.

You can't judge anyone by one moment on a given situation. maybe they would became close friends if they would hang out 1 month or something... John just saw an unknown shy kid... Did he had to stop focusing on what he was doing and be like a sunshine with that kid??? Why??

Waters was a combination of Lennon & McCartney. His temperament and lyrics were like Lennon and his concepts, domineering control of the band later on was like McCartney.

I think Roger was disappointed when he met everyone lol

Exactly turned out to be true, they were just another group

I love them both

Waters who ??

Waters seems to have snide comments about a lot of people, envy is not a good trait in a person.

Roger Waters looks far better as an older man than he did in the 60s and 70s

I know Roger Waters once said he couldn't decide between John Lennon and Bob Dylan who was his favourite songwriter. If you think. In the 1970s it took Floyd 2 years to make each album, but in the 1960s the Beatles were making 2 albums a year to begin with, 3 singles a year, making a film, '64, '65, and touring constantly. Even when they gave up touring they were still coming up with albums like Rubber Soul (Just before they stopped touring), Revolver, Sgt. Pepper, White album, Get Back sessions, Abbey Road, singles like the double a-side Day Tripper/ We Can Work It Out, Paperback Writer/ Rain, Strawberry Field's Forever/ Penny Lane, Hey Jude/ Revolution, Get Back/ Don't Let Me Down, Come Together/Something. Dylan was coming out with The Freewheelin, The Times They Are A Changing, Another Side Of, Bringing It all Back Home, Highway 61 Revisited, Blonde On Blonde, John Wesley Harding, Basement Tapes, Nashville Skyline. The Rolling Stones were making The Last Time, Satisfaction, Get Off My Cloud, Play With Fire, Good times, Bad Times, Tell Me, 19th Nervous Breakdown, Paint It Black, Have You Seen Your Mother Baby, Standing In The Shadows, Let's Spend The Night Together, Ruby Tuesday, We Love You/ Dandelion, Jumping Jack Flash/ Child Of The Moon, Aftermath, Between The Buttons, Their Satanic Majesties Request, Beggars Banquet, Let It Bleed, Sticky Fingers, Exile On Main Street. The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and Bob Dylan at their peak's were much better songwriters than Roger Waters ever could be. I love Syd Barrett's Piper At The Gates of Dawn, and I think they done a good job with A Saucerful of Secrets. Arnold Layne, See Emily Play, Apples and Orange's, Paintbox, Biding My Time, Julia Dream, Point Me at the Sky, Careful with that axe, Eugene. The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, The Who, The Kinks, The Byrds, Donovan, Simon and Garfunkel, Them, The Yardbirds, Cream, Jimi Hendrix, Love, Velvet Underground, Jefferson Airplane, Buffalo Springfield, Captain Beefheart, Country Joe and the Fish, Booker T and the MG's, Curtis Mayfield, Led Zeppelin, Van Morrison, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Cat Stevens, Crosby, Stills and Nash, Neil Young, Marvin Gaye, Smokey Robinson, Joni Mitchell, Syd Barrett, James Taylor, Moody Blues, Carole King, David Bowie, The Band, Traffic, Elton John ('69-'75). These were the artists that made albums and singles that have stood the test of time and had such a profound influence on everything that followed. Also Chuck Berry, Buddy Holly, Little Richard, Johnny Cash, Everly Brothers, Sam Cooke, Jackie Wilson, Roy Orbison, Dion, Del Shannon, Phil Spector, Motown. So many of the greatest artists ever all influencing each other to bring us the classic albums we all love. ✌️