The 1972 Brighton Dome 'Free Four' – Slide Guitar and Altered Vocals

The audience recording from the Brighton Dome show on January 22, 1972, catches Pink Floyd in transition, just a month before Obscured by Clouds was released. The studio version of “Free Four” is driven by a choppy acoustic guitar and a harmonium drone, with Gilmour’s electric guitar keeping a low profile. On this night, though, Gilmour plays a prominent slide guitar line that shadows the vocal melody, adding a slippery, country-blues feel that never made it onto the record.

The backing vocals also differ. The studio mix doubles Roger Waters’ lead vocal with a slightly detached, almost spoken harmony. Live, the band (likely Gilmour and Rick Wright) sing a more conventional close harmony on the choruses, smoothing out the track’s deliberately jagged edge. The Brighton Dome arrangement essentially “rock-ifies” a song that the studio version intentionally kept brittle and distant.