George Roger Waters was born on this day in 1943 to a coal mining father and workers rights activist and a school teacher mother. His father got a conscientious objector deferment during the onset of WWII that allowed him to drive an ambulance in London instead of bearing arms. Not long after, he dropped his C.O. position to join an  infantry battalion and rose to the rank of Second Lieutenant.  He died in the battle of Anzio in Italy in February, 1944 when Roger was just five months old.

 

Roger got acquainted with David Gilmour because he lived nearby when the two were young. He met Syd Barrett met while attending junior high school together.  Waters would meet Richard Wright and Nick Mason when the three of them were enrolled at Regent Street Polytechnic.  Waters and Mason's interest in studies faded in favor of music and they were joined by Wright in a series of bands with a singer named Keith Noble and bassist Cliff Metcalfe playing under the names Sigma 6 and the Meggadeaths.  Metcalfe and Noble quit in 1963 to start another group, and Barrett was invited to join what at the time was a band with Waters, Wright, Mason and guitarist Bob Close named the Abdabs.  They rifled through a few other names before becoming the Pink Floyd Sound in 1965, and the Pink Floyd Blues Band before shortening it to simply Pink Floyd in 1966. 

The following year, Barrett's state of mind began to deteriorate and by year's end he'd become so erratic and unreliable that the other band members decided he'd have to be replaced. In March of 1968, the decision was made to sever musical ties with Barrett.  David Gilmour was introduced as the group's new guitarist the following month.

 

With Barrett's departure, Waters became the most prolific writing member of the band.  He also assumed a much more leading role in the overall direction of the group.  Many of his lyrics would draw on the traumatic events going on in his life in the world around him during his youth.  The Wall in particular is viewed as a musical version of his life story.  His 1985 parting with the group was messy, with Waters filing suit to prevent Gilmour and Mason from continuing to use the name Pink Floyd.  He later expressed regrets for having done so.  Of the surviving members, Waters remains by far the most musically active, having mounted multiple massive solo tours featuring the music he created while in Floyd.

 

Other Noteworthy classic rock events on September 6 include...

 

1961 Bob Dylan does first New York City performance at the Gaslight in Greenwich Village.

1961 Judas Priest’s Scott Travis born.

1967 Dylan documentary Don't Look Back premieres in New York City.

1968 Beatles record While My Guitar Gently Weeps with Eric Clapton on guitar.

1970 Jimi Hendrix does last concert at Isle Of Fehmarn in Germany.

1974 T.Rex opens a US tour. 
1980 U2 opens Boy tour in Coventry, UK.

1982 Paul McCartney releases Tug of War.

1988 Elton John auctions thousands of items from his personal collection of memorabilia.

1990 Creedence Clearwater Revival veteran Tom Fogerty dies at 48 of TB and AIDS.

1994 Keyboard great Nicky Hopkins dies  after undergoing intestinal surgery.

1994 Pink Floyd members dine with President Havel in Czech Republic.

1995 Bruce Hornsby plays National Anthem at Camden Yards in Baltimore before Orioles game.

1997 David Bowie opens a North American tour in Vancouver.

1999 Stone Temple Pilots troubled leader Scott Weiland draws a 1 year sentence for violating parole conditions.

2005 Rolling Stones release A Bigger Bang.

2008 Great Whit pays $1 million to families that lost someone in the Station night club fire in Rhode Island.