Remembering the legendary Pink Floyd co-founder and early frontman / principal songwriter Roger Keith "Syd" Barrett on his heavenly 80th birthday, his music had a huge impact on me .A poster of him hangs in my hallway. An unquestionably brilliant musician and artist.
"Syd" was born 6 January 1946 in Cambridge, England. He acquired the nickname "Syd" at the age of fifteen, a reference to an old local Cambridge drummer, Sid Barrett. Syd changed the spelling in order to differentiate himself from his namesake.
Starting in 1964, the band that would become Pink Floyd underwent various line-up and name changes such as "The Abdabs", "The Screaming Abdabs", "Sigma 6", and "The Meggadeaths".
In 1965, Barrett joined them as The Tea Set (sometimes spelled T-Set), and when they found themselves playing a concert with a band of the same name, Barrett came up with the name "The Pink Floyd Sound" (also known as "The Pink Floyd Blues Band", later "The Pink Floyd"), possibly after two obscure bluesmen, Pink Anderson and Floyd Council.
Sadly, Barrett was musically active for less than ten years. With Pink Floyd, he recorded four singles, their wonderfil debut album The Piper at the Gates of Dawn, portions of their second album A Saucerful of Secrets, and several unreleased songs.
Syd Barrett’s life came to be defined by withdrawal – a gradual slipping away from music, fame, and the self he once inhabited. By the late 1960s, heavy LSD use and an underlying mental fragility led to erratic behaviour, vacant absences, and moments where reality seemed to lose its coherence.
He nevertheless recorded two charming albums, The Madcap Laughs (1970) and Barrett. They sold poorly at the time, though a devoted cult of believers has tended to his flame all the way to this day.)They are shamefully often overlooked by critics more concerned by the legend of Barrett’s drug-induced psychosis.
During the period of his solo records Syd lived quietly in his sparsely-furnished London flat among his stereo equipment, piles of paintings and a heap of battered LPs. He took things easily, composing, writing and painting as inspiration came, and making some plans for the future.
In 1972, Syd formed a short-lived band called Stars with ex-Pink Fairies member Twink on drums and Jack Monck on bass. Though the band was initially well-received, one of their gigs at the Corn Exchange in Cambridge proved to be disastrous and Barrett decided to leave soon afterwards.
Syd had one noted reunion with Pink Floyd in 1975 during the recording sessions for Wish You Were Here. Syd attended the Abbey Road session unannounced and watched the band record Shine On You Crazy Diamond - coincidentally, a song about him.
In 1988, EMI Records released an album of Barrett's studio outtakes and previously unreleased material recorded from 1968 to 1970 under the title Opel. In 1993 it issued another release, Crazy Diamond, a box set of all three albums, each loaded with further out-takes from his solo sessions that illustrated vividly Barrett's inability or refusal to play a song the same way twice.
His tracks like "Astronomy Domine", "Bike", and "See Emily Play" carried a playful surface but hinted at something deeper and more fragile underneath. His lyrics bent language into new shapes while his guitar work refused to follow rules. It was experimental without trying to be clever. It was honest because it came straight from wherever his thoughts happened to be travelling that day.His guitar work shimmered with invention, bending noise, melody, and texture into something no one had heard before.
Syd Barrett is remembered not for what he lost but for what he gave.
Syd in his later years reverted to using his original name Roger, continued to live in his late mother’s semi-detached home, and had returned to painting, creating large abstract canvases. He was also said to have been an avid gardener. His main point of contact with the outside world was his sister, Rosemary, who lived nearby. He was reclusive,and strictly guarded his privacy until his death while his physical health declined, as he suffered from stomach ulcers and type 2 diabetes. Barrett died at home in Cambridge on 7 July 2006, aged 60, from pancreatic cancer.
His death was reported five days later. He was cremated at a funeral at Cambridge Crematorium on 18 July 2006; no Pink Floyd members attended. Dave Gilmour said: "Do find time to play some of Syd's songs and to remember him as the madcap genius who made us all smile with his wonderfully eccentric songs about bikes, gnomes, and scarecrows. His career was painfully short, yet he touched more people than he could ever know."
NME produced a tribute issue to Barrett a week later with a photo of him on the cover. In an interview with The Sunday Times, Barrett's sister, Rosemary Breen, said that he had written an unpublished book about the history of art.
A tribute concert, "Madcap's Last Laugh",was held at the Barbican Centre, London, on 10 May 2007 with Barrett's bandmates and Robyn Hitchcock, Captain Sensible, Damon Albarn, Chrissie Hynde and Kevin Ayers. Gilmour, Wright and Mason performed the Barrett compositions "Bike" and "Arnold Layne", and Waters performed a solo version of his song "Flickering Flame".
In 2006, Barrett's home in St. Margaret's Square, Cambridge, was put on the market and attracted considerable interest.After over 100 showings, many to fans, it was sold to a French couple who knew nothing about Barrett. On 28 November 2006, Barrett's other possessions were sold at an auction at Cheffins auction house in Cambridge, raising £120,000 for charity. Items sold included paintings, scrapbooks and everyday items that Barrett had decorated.
This fragile genius didn’t just help invent British psychedelia – he embodied its most poetic possibilities. He reminded us that in music imagination matters, vulnerability can be powerful, and that sometimes the most lasting art comes from those who burn brightly with utter brilliance even if only for a moment.
His legacy in psychedelic music will live on forever. His short but influential career left an indelible mark on music history, inspiring countless artists and shaping the direction of Pink Floyd's later, highly successful work who showed wonder through his music, influential with and without Pink Floyd. A poetic soul, fearless creativity, and timeless influence. "Now there's a look in your eyes, like black holes in the sky." Shine on you crazy diamond
In his honor, check out the mini-doc Understanding Syd Barrett as well as a rather fine bootleg of some of his amazing songs.
'I don't think I'm easy to talk about. I've got a very irregular head. And I'm not anything that you think I am anyway. ' - Syd Barrett
Understanding Syd Barrett
Syd Barrett - Melk Weg {Full album playback}
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