Syd Barrett Died

[raintown boy]

A work colleague phoned me up yesterday and told me this. It was the night for our weekly movie quiz in the cinema's bar, so we told our quiz-goers the sad news and played Syd's music all night.

I've been to Cambridge where Syd lived, and where a great many people, students and residents alike, travel by bicycle. I doubt I would have recognised him anyway - and certainly wouldn't have bothered him if I did - but I often wondered if one of the more elderly gentlemen I spotted riding about on two wheels could have been the man himself.

I think what is particularly sad for fans like myself is that Syd wouldn't - or couldn't? - acknowledge his place in rock music history. On the rare occasions that he was approached he would insist that he was plain Reg Barrett and didn't know any Syd. He should, of course, have been left alone at all times, but it would be nice to think that he was aware of the great pleasure he gave to a great many people.

[gus danger]

I couldn't believe this when I heard it on the radio yesterday!
They played a lot of Pink Floyd in tribute but I wish they would have dug out the older stuff with Syd! I'm not too familiar with that era!

R.I.P. Syd Barrett.

[ellanoize]

Syd Barrett, Founder of Pink Floyd, Dies
Jul 11, 9:26 AM EST


The Associated Press

LONDON -- Syd Barrett, the troubled genius who co-founded Pink Floyd but spent his last years in reclusive anonymity, has died, a spokeswoman for the band said Tuesday. He was 60.

The spokeswoman ? who declined to give her name until the band made an official announcement ? confirmed media reports that he had died. She said Barrett died several days ago, but she did not disclose the cause of death. Barrett had suffered from diabetes for many years.

Barrett co-founded Pink Floyd in 1965 with Roger Waters, Nick Mason and Rick Wright, and wrote many of the band's early songs. The group's jazz-infused rock made them darlings of the London psychedelic scene, and the 1967 album "The Piper at the Gates of Dawn" ? largely written by Barrett, who also played guitar ? was a commercial and critical hit.

However, Barrett suffered from mental instability, exacerbated by his use of LSD. His behavior grew increasingly erratic, and he left the group in 1968 ? five years before the release of Pink Floyd's most popular album, "Dark Side of the Moon." He was replaced by David Gilmour.

Barrett released two solo albums ? "The Madcap Laughs" and "Barrett" ? but soon withdrew from the music business altogether.

He spent much of the rest of his life living quietly in his hometown of Cambridge, England, where he was a familiar figure, often seen cycling or walking to the corner store.

Despite his brief career, Barrett's fragile, wistful songs influenced many musicians, from David Bowie ? who covered the Barrett track "See Emily Play" ? to the other members of Pink Floyd, who recorded the album "Wish You Were Here" as a tribute to their troubled bandmate.

The band spokeswoman said a small, private funeral would be held.

[SouthwestRanger]

You can download a 1967 UK cinema newsreel of Syd, and the rest of the original Pink Floyd at:

http://www.britishpathe.com/product_...36&Search.y=19

Pink Floyd wander around corn fields to the accompaniment of their song 'The Scarecrow'. 21/09/1967

[raintown boy]

I know Pink Floyd fans who are not too keen on Syd's stuff, but I prefer it to the gloomy stuff that Waters wrote in Floyd's latter days - he himself admits today that he's surprised that he got away with the sixth-form schoolboy standard of some of his lyrics. Barrett's songs, on the other hand, had a real childlike quality (he was a big fan of Edward Lear's Nonsense Poems), even a real optimism about them, which is bittersweet considering what came to pass.

Floyd's first album, 'The Piper At the Gates of Dawn', is one of my favourite of theirs, while Syd's solo album, 'The Madcap Laughs', is one of my all time favourite albums. His second album, 'Barrett', was made when his psychiatric problems were really taking hold and can be painful to listen to.

Thanks for the link, S.R.

[SouthwestRanger]

Syd also had problems with mental illness compunded from LSD usage and diabetes....

He will be missed...

We also lost Hollywood Actress & Legend June Allyson and actor Barnard Hughes...

Such a shame