New official website launched on what would have been his 70th birthday.
Any favourite musical moments welcome…..
Syd Barrett
by 38 Comments
Comments
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Musings on the byways of popular culture
Musings on the byways of popular culture
by 38 Comments
New official website launched on what would have been his 70th birthday.
Any favourite musical moments welcome…..
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Interstellar Overdrive, live at UFO, January 1967
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oV5rDUhXzBc
Interesting site. Thanks for posting.
I was just looking at the Family & Student photos and noticed one from 1978. I may be mis-remembering but wasn’t there a story about Syd visiting Abbey Road when Pink Floyd were recording ‘Wish You Were Here’ (1975?) and nobody recognised the fat bald bloke he had become? If this story is correct then he clearly wasn’t looking bald or, indeed, fat in 1978.
Can anybody correct my memory of this story?
That’s true. It’s on the WYWH Wiki page, I think. There’s a rather tragic polaroid out there if you want to look.
I seem to remember one of his biographers claiming it was his fondness for Guinness that made him put it on a bit. Perhaps, as with the head-shaving, it was part of a strategy to go unrecognised.
Thanks. The photograph of Syd in his garden from (allegedly) 1978 doesn’t seem to fit with the story though. I know people can change in 3 years but the generally perceived view of Syd is that his life was pretty much on a downward spiral from the early 70s onwards which suggests a slimming regime of the type required after 1975 is a bit unlikely. The garden photo is of a pretty normal looking bloke in his 30s, maybe a bit out of shape but no more.
I think the garden photo does look closer to the Syd who turned up during the WYWH sessions (pic below) than to the beautiful Syd of Floyd days. From what I’ve read in Floyd interviews, I think his sister felt he was reasonably stable as long as she kept him well away from the world of stardom and showbiz. So the 1978 pics are of him having achieved a degree of post celebrity stability. He did, after all, manage to live a quiet, independent and dignified life for another 28 years.
http://i1070.photobucket.com/albums/u495/StingOno/image_zpsbzoxalrn.jpeg
Next to the garden pic is one from 1981 with Syd, Rosemary and their mother. He looks pretty good in that one – relaxed, happy, and handsome Syd once more (male pattern baldness aside).
“How’d you get so fat, Syd?”
“There’s a big fridge in the kitchen and I’ve been eating a lot of pork chops…..”
I think it was Dave Gilmour who said: “Syd’s eyes were always bright and full of life. And then one day, it just looked like someone had turn the lights off”.
Wonderful Floyd whimsy:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SmW17QvUhRM
One of my greatest personal achievements was finally “getting” The Madcap Laughs. It took a long time, and a lot of listening, but then one day it (sort of) made sense.
This is always a fave of mine
Once put it to Syd-head Graham Coxon that he ripped off ‘Wined & Dined’ riff and vibe for Trimm Trabb. He blamed it all on Damon
Blimey never heard that Barrett song before. Exactly the same riff!
Dark Globe – magnificent
Big favourite ….. and a cracker of a backward solo……
@dogfacedboy That riff’s a total steal. Hilarious.
As for the site: It’s great to see his paintings from this millenium, and that he found comfort in art in spite of whatever else was going on.
There was something on the BBC Radio Cambridgeshire news this morning about his paintings going on exhibition later this year in the Cambridge Corn Exchange.
I’m a bit sketchy about details as I was driving at the time.
Paintings…sketchy…arf! (Oh, please yourselves…)
A four and a half year callback – that’s quite impressive!
It’s just attention seeking, really – I’m trying to gain some traction with the young Stockholm cognoscenti….
Stay under the radar – that’s my advice.
There was the exhibition on in Cambridge in 2011 which I visited.
https://www.pinkfloydz.com/other-exhibits/syd-barrett-art-letters-exhibition/
Finally hearing this song was a big deal. It was one of those tunes , pre-internet tunes which I’d read about, was intrigued by but couldn’t find it anywhere. The title haunted me.
Scream Thy Last Scream.
It’s not the best version, but it’s the only one on You Tube
Love this Mick Rock photo of Syd outside his Earl’s Court flat in Autumn 1969. Syd looks like the coolest guy on the planet here. Great hair, great clothes, the American Pontiac car (and even the Triumph Herald estate across the road). It’s all great.
http://i.imgur.com/SteJh91.jpg
I absolutely love this photo (and Syd). For me, he’s the epitome of make beauty and cool.
Somehow the photo is both of its time and timeless.
Anyone here see Floyd when Syd was in the band? Just me then?
Saw them in May 1967, before Piper (August), before See Emily Play (June). In fact the only record they had out at that point was Arnold Layne.
Although they certainly played material from the LP.
Bloody Hell.
That’s all very well Johnny, but I saw Dumpy’s Rusty Nuts at the Venue in Edinburgh in 1987.
So ner ner ner ner ner.
I guess that’s Top Trumps for you then.
But wait – I sold a copy of Dumpy’s Rusty Nuts Rock The Nation 12″ EP last week. So how do you like them apples!
http://i.imgur.com/3eVyrmd.jpg
Sufferin’ Succotash!
There’s something so irresistible about a man with a beard AND make-up.
And a rapidly receding hairline
I’ve just found out that Succotash is a real thing and not just a curse in Looney Tunes! It’s sort of sweetcorn and beans I think.
I’ve heard it a million times, but I’m pretty sure that’s the first time I’ve seen it written down.
It’s the combination of sibilance and alliteration that makes it work so well.
Just missed him – first saw Floyd at Middle Earth in ’68.
Middle Earth in Covent Garden? I went there on occasion. We might have passed like ships in the night Mike.
As so often….turning out at dawn and going off in search of a fry-up, not hard with the market still in full swing. You could get a pint too, if I remember rightly – or was that Smithfield?
I wasn’t a drinker then but I’m sure the Covent Garden pubs were open at dawn for the market workers.
I spent most of my evenings back then at Jim Haynes’ Arts Lab in Drury Lane. Some great independent films and theatre, although usually accompanied by the mixed aromas of smelly feet and patchouli oil.
The Record Store Day release of early Floyd material from 1965 is now on iTunes by the way.
I have the Harvest Heritage double vinyl of Madcap Laughs and Barrett. I like both but Barrett is my favourite. It benefits from the accompaniment of a band. Dominoes and Maisie are both great. One of his best solo tracks is Baby Lemonade. As has been mentioned Blur have a debt and his music does seem to fit with the retro guitar band style of some 90s indie.
I would also mention the wonderful Lucifer Sam off the debut. This seems to prefigure a certain post punk/new wave sound, thinking of Wire and the like.
https://youtu.be/wbIMx2MYNXk