Money

Pink Floyd, 1973. Solo by David Gilmour.

Three distinct solo sections in 7/4 and 4/4.

Gilmour's solo occupies the 4/4 middle section of a song otherwise built in 7/4, and he split it into three contrasting passes. The first is drenched in reverb and double-tracked, the second is completely dry so it suddenly sounds close and exposed, and the third moves to a 24-fret guitar for the extreme upper register with double-tracking to widen it. The shifting sound makes the long solo feel like a journey through different rooms. It is a clever piece of studio thinking as much as guitar playing. Listen for the moment the reverb vanishes and the dry section begins; the guitar seems to step right up next to you.

Money by Pink Floyd is ranked #77 in our consensus of 79 guitar-solo lists. The solo is played by David Gilmour and the song was released in 1973. It appears on 9 lists, placing as high as #21 (Ranker).

The story of Money

Roger Waters wrote Money as a sardonic jab at greed, and he later admitted that he found wealth fascinating and had once badly wanted a Bentley. He worked out the central riff on an acoustic guitar in the small studio in his garden shed. His demo, pitched in G-sharp minor, sounded to him afterward rather prim and English, a long way from the swaggering, American-flavoured blues the band eventually recorded.

The song is a twelve-bar blues in B minor, but Waters set the verses in the lopsided meter of 7/4, which gives the riff its limp. After two verses, Dick Parry's tenor saxophone takes a twenty-bar solo, then the band pivots into straight 4/4 for a guitar section twice the length of a standard blues chorus before sliding back into seven. David Gilmour, who oversaw the time changes, joked that he gave himself 4/4 while leaving the sax player stuck in seven.

The famous intro is a tape loop Waters assembled by hand. He recorded coins, a cash register, ripping paper and a counting machine, then razor-spliced the fragments into a seven-beat cycle that ran around microphone stands to keep it taut. At Abbey Road in June 1972 the band cut the backing track live, with Richard Wright's Wurlitzer fed through a wah pedal and Nick Mason re-recording drums the next day; Parry added sax that October, and engineer Alan Parsons faded the loop in and out.

The fade into Us and Them carries fragments of interviews Waters held with people around the studio, including Wings guitarist Henry McCulloch; Paul McCartney was also asked, but his answers went unused. Money was issued as a US single in May 1973 in an edited form and reached No. 13, Pink Floyd's first real American hit. The band declined to release it as a single in Britain.

The solo

David Gilmour's solo occupies the 4/4 middle section, stretching to twenty-four bars, and he deliberately split it into three contrasting passes for dramatic effect. The first is drenched in reverb and double-tracked, with Wikipedia citing a Fuzz Face and Binson Echorec in the chain. The second is recorded completely dry, with no reverb or delay, so it suddenly sounds close and exposed. For the third, he switched to a custom Lewis guitar with a 24-fret neck, giving him access to the extreme upper register, and automatic double tracking was applied to widen it. Songfacts says the first two passes were played on a Fender Stratocaster. Mix supervisor Chris Thomas also asked Gilmour to double the descending riff and bass line on guitar, adding extra weight before the song drops back into 7/4.

Legacy

Money turned Pink Floyd from a cult act into a mainstream American draw, which brought louder crowds demanding the hit at shows. It was the only Dark Side track to make Billboard's year-end list for 1973. Guitar World ranked Gilmour's solo No. 62 among the greatest ever, and Rolling Stone placed the song No. 69 among its greatest guitar songs. In concert Gilmour stretched the solo section to around twelve minutes, and the song remains a staple of his and Waters' solo shows.

Top 10 facts about Money

Waters wrote the riff on acoustic guitar in his garden shed, and his demo was in G-sharp minor rather than the final B minor.
Wikipedia
Gilmour said he set the solo section in 4/4 for himself while leaving the saxophonist to play in 7/4.
Songfacts
Sounds in the intro loop include coins tossed into an industrial mixing bowl and tearing paper, razor-spliced into a 20-foot tape loop.
Songfacts
For the quadraphonic mix, the loop was spread over four tracks so it seemed to circle the listener.
Wikipedia
Richard Wright played a Wurlitzer electric piano through a wah-wah pedal on the backing track.
Wikipedia
Gilmour recorded three solo passes: one heavily reverbed and doubled, one completely dry, and one on a 24-fret Lewis guitar.
Wikipedia
Dick Parry, an old friend of Gilmour's, recorded the saxophone solo on October 27, 1972.
Wikipedia
Paul McCartney was interviewed for the album's spoken fragments, but only Henry McCulloch's answers made the final cut.
Wikipedia
In 1981 Gilmour re-recorded the song almost single-handedly for A Collection of Great Dance Songs because Capitol would not license the original.
Wikipedia
At a July 6, 1977 Montreal show, Waters spat on a disruptive fan, an incident linked to the genesis of The Wall.
Wikipedia

Live versions

Delicate Sound of Thunder (Nassau Coliseum) (1988) Recorded August 1988 on the post-Waters tour, with Scott Page on saxophone.
Pulse (Modena, Italy) (1995) Recorded September 17, 1994 during The Division Bell tour; an expansive near nine-minute reading.
Live 8, Hyde Park (2005) Waters' first performance with Pink Floyd in over two decades; the solo was kept to album length.
Montreal (In the Flesh tour) (1977) In the Flesh tour encore where Waters spat at a fan, an event tied to The Wall's origins.

Notable covers

Easy Star All-Stars (2003) Reggae version sung by Gary 'Nesta' Pine and Dollarman on Dub Side of the Moon.
Velvet Revolver (2003) Hard rock version recorded for the soundtrack of The Italian Job.
The Flaming Lips featuring Henry Rollins (2009) From the Lips' full-album remake of The Dark Side of the Moon with Stardeath and White Dwarfs.
Roger Waters (2023) Slow, near-whispered reworking released as the lead single of The Dark Side of the Moon Redux.

In our lists

The Road Trip 50 — #19
The 25 Greatest Classic Rock Guitar Solos — #17
The 25 Greatest Prog Guitar Solos — #5
Solos in Hit Singles — #19
Best of David Gilmour — #4
Played on a Stratocaster — #24

Sources

Who played the guitar solo on Money?

David Gilmour played the solo on Pink Floyd's Money (1973).

What guitar was used on the Money solo?

A fender stratocaster through a Hiwatt amp, according to widely reported accounts.

Where does Money rank among the greatest guitar solos?

#77 in the GreatestSolos consensus of 79 published lists; it appears on 9 of them.

Who wrote Money by Pink Floyd?

Roger Waters wrote the music and lyrics, while David Gilmour shaped the time changes and guitar solos.

What time signature is Money in?

The verses are in 7/4, the guitar solo switches to 4/4, and the song returns to 7/4 before ending in 4/4.

What guitar did David Gilmour use on the Money solo?

Songfacts says a Fender Stratocaster for the first two passes, and Gilmour switched to a custom 24-fret Lewis guitar for the final high-register section.

How was the cash register sound in Money made?

Waters recorded coins, a cash register, tearing paper and a counting machine, then spliced them into a seven-beat tape loop.

What is Money by Pink Floyd about?

It is an ironic critique of greed and materialism, often misread as a celebration of wealth.