Floyd's Mason Keeps It Clean

The veteran drummer refrains from dishing dirt in Inside Out

Inside Out: A Personal History of Pink Floyd.

By Nick Mason. Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 359 pp., $60, hardcover.

Two types of Pink Floyd fans have emerged since the band first got together in London 37 years ago: supporters of the original Syd Barrettí‚ ­fronted lineup who worship the group's formative psychedelic innovations; and those who prefer the post-Barrett unit that, with the addition of singer-guitarist David Gilmour, created the multimillion-selling Dark Side of the Moon and The Wall.

Constant in both incarnations was tasteful and reflective drummer Nick Mason. The exhaustive Inside Out is Mason's telling of the Pink Floyd story and the first time any band member has taken up the substantial challenge of documenting the group's ascension from copycat R & B combo to the highest possible reaches of rock's aristocracy. If you're looking for dirt, this is not the book for you. What you will find is a firsthand document of the general inner workings of an iconic unit.

Pink Floyd developed out of the early Cambridge friendships of Barrett, Gilmour, and bassist Roger Waters, and then from a meeting of the minds in the architecture program at London's Regent Street Polytechnic, where Waters, Mason, and keyboardist Richard Wright went to school in the early '60s. Calling itself the Tea Set, the group played a standard blend of American rhythm-and-blues, Bo Diddley, and Rolling Stones covers. It wasn't until Barrett came onboard in 1964 that it changed its name in tribute to obscure blues guitarists Pink Anderson and Floyd Council.

Inside Out covers Pink Floyd's history with tremendous detail. Writing in a dry, concise, and occasionally witty style, Mason can't be accused of not giving credit where he sees it due. The book reads like a thank-you list to a steady stream of engineers, producers, stagehands, and lighting crews, a clear reflection of the teamwork, help, and support the group has received along the way. Most readers, however, will be left with questions. Was Barrett the only member of Floyd who tried acid? And where are the hedonistic tales of sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll? You'd think a career as long and as varied as this would be filled with such indulgences, but if it was, nobody's talking. Perhaps this is why Pink Floyd has lasted so long.

Inside Out explodes with brilliant pictures, but it's a shame that the book isn't accompanied by a musical CD. Alas, this is billed as Mason's personal history, and while an able percussionist, he wrote very little of the music. Perhaps an anthology treatment on DVD would be a more effective way of telling the tale. Oh, but that would mean Waters, Gilmour, Mason, and Wright would need to work together again--and given their history of bitter infighting, that's not likely to happen. But perhaps their ongoing feuding--Pink Floyd's Wall-era edition hasn't worked together since 1981--isn't a bad thing, seeing as how their days of musical innovation ended long ago.

The real tragedy is that Barrett hasn't recorded anything since the two crazed and disconnected solo albums, The Madcap Laughs and Barrett, he issued in 1970. I guess that means you know what kind of Pink Floyd fan I am.