Clare Torry's Improvised Wordless Vocal on Pink Floyd's "The Great Gig in the Sky"

British vocalist Clare Torry, who was brought into the studio at the last moment by producer Alan Parsons, wasn't particularly enthusiastic about Pink Floyd; she later expressed that she would have been thrilled if the session had been for The Kinks. When asked about the band's requirements, she noted that "they had no idea." Her only direction was to avoid lyrics, prompting her to "pretend to be an instrument." With David Gilmour's direction and a Heineken in hand, she "had a little go" and created the iconic wordless gospel vocal for "The Great Gig in the Sky," featured between "Time" and "Money" on Dark Side of the Moon. An isolated track from Parsons' 1973 mix highlights piano, drums, slide guitar, and Torry's voice. Earlier live renditions included Bible readings and speeches by conservative writer Malcolm Muggeridge, but the final version substituted these with responses from the band's crew and friends about death. Torry's unique contribution led to a 2005 settlement granting her co-songwriting credit with Richard Wright, a decision some experts deem warranted due to her creation of a new melody. An earlier version of this article was published on Open Culture in 2017.