Why Pink Floyd Chose Roy Harper for ‘Have a Cigar’ and How He Nailed It at Abbey Road

The most interesting part of Roy Harper’s vocal on “Have a Cigar” is that he wasn’t even supposed to be there—he was recording his own album HQ in the studio next door at Abbey Road. Pink Floyd had already cut the track, but Roger Waters felt his own voice was too thin and whiny for the song’s sarcastic takedown of record label schmoozing. The band wanted a vocal that sounded like a cynical, worn-out insider, and Harper—a longtime friend and a weathered folk-rock singer—fit the bill perfectly.

Harper walked into Studio 2, heard the backing track through the monitors, and essentially sang live with the band in the control room. There was no isolation booth or vocal booth pressure; he stood right next to the mixing desk while Waters, Gilmour, and the others played the track back at a loud volume. The setup was loose and spontaneous—Harper later said he did it in two takes, maybe three, and that