Syd Barrett Pink Floyd Psychedelic Music Progressive Music

Download Have You Got It Yet?

2012-01-21T14:26:00.000-08:00

Download Have You Got It Yet? Set:

Download them from here ... all working links

Filesonic Links

http://www.filesonic.com/file/4226933215/01.Vol.1.rar

http://www.filesonic.com/file/4212571725/02.Psychedelic Artefacts.rar

http://www.filesonic.com/file/4226933255/02.Vol.2.rar

http://www.filesonic.com/file/4212566955/03.In The Wood - Complete Rarities
1968-1974.rar

http://www.filesonic.com/file/4226933355/03.Vol.3 + Vol.4.rar

http://www.filesonic.com/file/4212555895/04.You Got It Now.rar

http://www.filesonic.com/file/4226933375/05.Vol.5 + 06.Vol.6.rar

http://www.filesonic.com/file/4226933265/07.Vol.7.rar

http://www.filesonic.com/file/4226933305/08.Vol.8 + 09.Vol.9.rar

http://www.filesonic.com/file/4226933235/10.Vol.10.rar

http://www.filesonic.com/file/4226933275/11.Vol.19.rar

http://www.filesonic.com/file/4226933295/HYGIY V.2.0.rar

FileServe Link

http://zpag.es/91Hg

More places to download Have You Got It Yet?

Re: HYGIY Discs

Vol 1&2: http://thepiratebay.org/torrent/4035087
Vol 3-10: http://thepiratebay.org/torrent/3717941
Vol 11: http://thepiratebay.org/torrent/5496150
Vol 12-19: http://thepiratebay.org/torrent/3766073
Errata: http://thepiratebay.org/torrent/4936070

The Madcap Laughs

2012-01-07T08:37:00.000-08:00

January saw the 42nd anniversary of the release of The Madcap Laughs album on Harvest Records. Timeless photos that helped put Mick Rock on the map and the lovely Iggy graced the cover with Syd.

Peter Jenner was Syd's manager since May of 68. The sessions were in and out for over a year. By 1969, Malcolm Jones stepped in and took over. Back in the day at Abbey Road Studios, Jerry Shirley was a session drummer and some of Soft Machine's members were session musicians like Kevin Ayers and Robert Wyatt.

No one but Jones knew why he left the project, my guess is it was getting lengthy. They were playing well together. Waters and Gilmour got involved at this point due to Syd asking Gilmour for his help. They lived close to one another at this time. They were not altogether considerate of Syd's state or feelings at the time.

Syd did backing vocal and guitar tracks and the other musicians filled in. Of course he was a bit erratic on beats and bars so it was a difficult process. The late Robert Wyatt said they'd ask Syd "What key is that in?" and he would reply with a "Yeah!" or a color. That sparked debates to this day whether Syd had synaestesia or not but Hendrix termed chords in color also. Syd said he liked the albums outcome, but wanted it to be a whole thing people would listen to all the way through with everything related and balanced, tempos and moods offsetting one another.

The single "Octopus" was released in November of 69 and it went to #40 on the UK charts, with good reviews of course. Iggy helped supply fun vibes and gave him inspiration for some of his songs. She said they always had a giggly good time and talked how happy Syd was, contrary to some sources over the years.

When the photos were done and Mick Rock arrived, Syd was in his knickers tuning his guitar and having a fag. Iggy was in the kitchen, making coffee or something in her birthday suit. They eventually got dressed and made it out on the street where dozens more shots were snapped off. The late Alan Styles, PF's road manager happened along and made it in a few. Iggy looked smashing in her groovy pantsuit and Syd with tossled hair and Duggie's overcoat. Iggy would line his eyes with kohl and he looked amazing. The photos are iconic, to say the least.

The album was released three days before Syd's birthday on January the 6th. To check out Iggy and her divine adventures you can find her and the reverend Felix Atagong at The Holy Church of Iggy The Inuit. The Laughing Madcaps are the #1 Syd Site online and both are on FaceBook. Let the Goddess smile upon you!

Pink Floyd Avalon Ball Room Poster

2011-12-25T20:14:00.000-08:00

Check out my new poster! It's double matted (black and pink) with a pink frame!

Pink Floyd Avalon Ballroom (San Francisco, CA) Aug 2, 1968 (FD131-PO)

Performers:

Pink Floyd
Chrome Syrcus
The Holy Modal Rounders
Electroluminescense (light show)

Bob Schnepf Designed by: Jerry Wainwright. The poster was printed once before the concert on two different stocks. It measures 14" x 21 1/2".

Hideously Rare Syd Barrett Autograph - 1/67

2011-12-20T12:08:00.000-08:00

Check out this hideously rare Syd Barrett photo; a circa 1967, by photographer Irene Winsby. Winsby shot Pink Floyd in January, 1967 for the British tabloid News of the World, for what turned out to be an expose on drug use by pop groups. She first photographed them at a rehearsal, but band manager Peter Jenner thought the band looked too under-the-influence, and so Winsby returned the next day to shoot them under more controlled (and sober) circumstances. This is an original print shot on the second day, which has been boldly signed in ballpoint pen by Barrett in the lower right corner.

A few years ago, English photo archivist/dealer Mark Hayward discovered 25 of Winsby’s lost photographs of Barrett and Floyd in an album of vintage prints. This was the only signed print found, and indeed, is the only original signed photograph of Barrett we know of that has surfaced to date. Winsby’s Pink Floyd photographs were published in 2011 as part of a limited edition book titled “Barrett,” which documented Barrett’s creative output, and was published with the full participation of the Barrett family and Hayward. To commemorate the publication of "Barrett," an exhibition of Syd Barrett's work was held at London's Idea Generation gallery this past March.

The print measures 8” x 10 1/8" and is printed on pebble-textured photographic paper. It is in overall near-excellent condition with some light spotting, and vertical glue lines on the reverse from having been stored in an adhesive photo album (not visible on the front.) This will frame beautifully. With Recordmecca's written lifetime guarantee of authenticity, and a handwritten letter of provenance from Mark Hayward. Truly unique.

Kiloh Smith - Psychedelic Rock Poster Art

2011-12-19T13:41:00.001-08:00

Check out this video of much of my collection of rock poster art. I began to run out of time so I couldn't show two other rooms or my several portfolios (full) of posters or my huge amount of handbills and cards. But this is a lot.

You Syd Barrett fans will find stuff to oggle and you Texas Psych fans will find stuff to oggle.

Syd Barrett Leaving the band in the Dust

2011-12-05T15:08:00.001-08:00

I’ve always thought that the stories of Syd de-tuning his guitar onstage, playing on chord over and over and over, were people’s attempts at describing his trying to achieve a pure synthetic sound on his guitar. This has been called “Ambient” too.Barrett might have been attempting to take his sound “all the way out” and left his band mates scratching their heads. He might have been seeking a pure/new sound not based in Western music or even by playing notes.

For sure, I see Syd Barrett as a precursor to Robert Fripp and that whole universe that he helped open up.Here are some examples of groups trying something similar at the same time as Syd:

Red Crayola - Boards 1967:Velvet Underground - Melody Laughter 1966:Mothers - The Return of the Son of the Monster Magnet 1966:

Pink Floyd Gyllene Circelen ~ 1967

2011-11-07T14:21:00.000-08:00

Just leaked! Pink Floyd Gyllene Circelen ~ 1967. This was taped off the broadcast and so we hear the applause of both the 1967 audience and the 2010 one.

Rare-as-Hen's-Teeth Pink Floyd Roundhouse & Technicolour Dream Handbills!

2011-11-07T11:44:00.000-08:00

Check out these two, rare-as-hen's-teeth, Pink Floyd handbills. One is the Pink Floyd Roundhouse 1966 and this handbill was for a protest show against apartheid in Rhodesia (now: Zimbabwe). The other is for the fabled 14 Hour Technicolor Dream. Enjoy!

THE PINK FLOYD Saville Theatre, London October 1967 Concert Program

2011-11-01T20:13:00.000-07:00

Very rare original vintage concert program for The Pink Floyd at the late Brian Epstein's Saville Theatre on Shaftesbury Avenue in London on October 1, 1967 along with Fairport Convention, Tim Rose, Tomorrow, and The Incredible String Band. The show was part of a series of concerts during October of 1967 called SUNDAYS AT THE SAVILLE, which also featured the Jimi Hendrix Experience, The Who, Junior Walker, and Cream.

I think that the Jimi Hendrix shows were cancelled as a show of respect for Brian Epstein who had passed away some few months previous.

See the Pink Floyd Saville Theatre Set List below:

Astronomy Domine
Flaming
Lucifer Sam
Matilda Mother
Pow R. Toc H.
Scarecrow
Candy and a Currant Bun
Interstellar Overdrive

Note: Two shows at 18.00 and 20.30.

Second Note: Click the Saville poster art image to read more about this show.

Joe Boyd Speaks

2011-10-14T00:02:00.000-07:00

Check out these Joe Boyd interviews and talks.

The UFO! Underground Freak Out!

2011-09-28T14:02:00.000-07:00

A short walk from the tube trains at 31 Tottenham RD in London was a place that transcended time and space, some say. It had formerly been the Blarney Club, an irish dancehall for the rowdy at heart.When Hoppy found it, he knew it was the right place for his new underground club. John Hoppy Hopkins and Joe Boyd collaborated together to open a new club, cause they needed some extra cash. They didn't know the mammoth purpose this club was destined to serve. It was a vehicle for the counterculture as well as an iconic place where artists, photographers, musicians, and freaks could mingle and the London Underground was launched. On December 23, 1966 the doors opened and the Pink Floyd and Soft Machine played amid the swirling lights and the first all night gigs or Night Trippers. It became the epi center of the counterculture movement for London and possibly, the world for the next nine months.The UFO left a deep imprint on art, music, film, and even politics. Dubbed the first psychedelic nightclub in England. "It was a great location and had all the new talent to die for!" Hoppy remembers. The night trippers were from 10~6 a.m. every Friday night. It allowed you enough time for a good trip and hop a tube train home. As you enter the building there was a very wide staircase still bathed in opulent thirties style. As you went down into the club there was a snow machine set up over the doorway and the swirling lights had a trippy, hypnotic effect that was disorienting like being in a heavy snowstorm. At the bottom of the steps were the heavies who took the bread and tickets. Lots of people sat on the steps and chilled out or rapped to one another between the bands sets. Once you went in it was a very large, long ballroom that could easily hold a few hundred people. It was literally underground and a basement, but it had a groovy laissez~faire vibe going on. The stage was low and small because it had originally been built for irish jugbands. There were two ceiling fans and a large shiny silver ball hung in between them. It had adorned the room since the twenties. They had imported their own psychedelic furniture and decor. Things like large penises stood in the floor. The colorful bubbly lightshows added to the psychedelia and the strong smell of incense made it like home. There was a technicolor strobe which threw out pulsating lights. There were blacklights and half naked girls painted in day glo paint and as they walk by a blacklight they would burst into living color. It was a home for expirimental groups, mixing media, lightshows, music, theatrics, and anything avant~garde!. One or two bands played a couple of sets. Poetry was read, it was the time of the beat poet who rymed a story to light taps on a bongo drum. Political points were made as well. Artists came in and filmed or did various things. Yoko Ono ferried UFO'ers back and forth to a hotel and filmed them walking across a revolving table bare assed. The outcome was titled "Bottoms". Peter Whitehead was introduced to the Floyd by Jenny Spires and he filmed them at Sound Techniques Studio for his "Tonight, Let's All Make Love In London". The Floyd swilled down a fifth of whisky and got mightily stoned and ripped it! There were many musicians who frequented the club. Some stopped in after their gigs at 3 a.m. to see what was going down and jam awhile. The club was a hang out for Hendrix, Townsend, McCartney, Clapton and a few others who came to see what Syd was up to. Hendrix was heavily influenced by Syd's guitar style. In between bands and their sets were the latest records played on a turntable in their entirety by DJ Jack Henry Moore. . There were 4 upright WEM speakers, one in each corner of the room. Chinese Cartoons on 16 mm were shown and as Hoppy put it, ravishing to the tripping eye. Avante~Garde films were also shown and the projectors often swung round so as to keep the crowd moving. They served UFOOD in one corner, veggie and rice type food with no alcohol!. The UFO was known for its groundbreaking lightshows by several artists. Peter Wynne~Willson (still doing lightshows and stage today), Mark Boyle and Joan Hills (the Boyle family today), Jack Bracelin (owned a nudist camp and known for his Sensual Laboratory Lights), Dermont Harvey (projected 3~D liquid projections onto helium filled balloons), and Joe Gannon (16 year old tech whiz who later produced the Mary Tyler Moore Show) were the magicians of light for the club. There were different light shows in each corner of the room. A scaffolding was built to house all the lightshow that trailed across the stage and walls. Joe and Pete did these particular lights and Mark projected from a scaffold in a corner on a muslin cloth which bathed the stage. Pete set up lanterns at the foot of the stage and they casted "spectral" shadows on the backdrop. He alternated switches and flashed lanterns in sequence, creating rippling stroboscopic shadows. Pete went on to be the Floyd's lightshow designer, and Joe Gannon was their first light engineer. Russell Page was their helper. Anthony Stern and Adam Richie took famous photographs there that are still on display today. John Esam as well as Edmond Wolf filmed at the Iconic club. Art was a major topic there also. The first handbills were printed up on Hoppy's offset machine and featured Pete Townsend's girlfriend Karen with a wavy Night Tripper legend printed across her face. Michael English said "it was the first poster I did for the underground before I teamed up with Nigel". A second handbill feautured Barrett in silhouette, onstage at All Saints. A lifelong partnership was born between Nigel Waymouth and Michael English there. They are Hapshash and The Coloured Coat. One album was produced by Hapshash that totally captured the spirit of UFO and it featured The Human Host and the Heavy Metal Kids. Brian Jones, Jenny Spires, and some of the future members of Spooky Tooth and a few assorted freaks did a free for all titled H.O.P.P. Why? . It was released on red vinyl. Hapshash posters mirrored the underground style with wild bright colors, quasi mystical style, and arcane philosophies. There was a turbulent and paranoid time in the freak community when the fuzz sent informants around into suspected drug dealers apartments and parties as the IT warned.. The UFO was a rallying pointand starting point for free speech. The International Times or IT was busted on obscenity charges and even Hoppy got busted. There was a Free Hoppy Movement that went down and some very influential people tried to change the laws and free him. There were demonstrations where a large number of freaks carried a coffin with Harry Fainlight inside from Fleet Street, for a long procession that took several hours to reach it's destination at Portobello Road. After nine months of operation the UFO's fame grew great and wide, deep like outer space!. It became way to overcrowded and things got too heavy so the doors closed on the end of a very hip place. Today is the time of the rave clubs, never again will be one so avante~garde as the UFO.

The Madcap Laughs Video

2011-09-12T15:21:00.000-07:00

Original Video - More videos at TinyPic

See Emily Play - Hideosuly Rare Acetate!

2011-08-29T13:31:00.001-07:00

This is something that you might want to sell yer mother down the river for! From the archive of a South African radio DJ, there is every possibility that this amazing artyfact is a unique one off pressing! Look at the close-up pictures!

Pink Floyd original record company 4-track 10" acetate EP 1967 45rpm

Side 1 See Emily Play (2:52) Apples and Oranges (3:07)

Side 2 Paintbox (3:33) Bike (1:50) not sure why it says 3:20 on the label.

Nick Mason On Possible Syd Barrett Immersion Set

2011-08-26T11:56:00.000-07:00

Recently posted on Laughing Madcaps. News about possible Syd Barrett Immersion Set:

New copy of Uncut just came in the post (Bolan cover) - There's a feature & Nick interview the Dark side Immersions set & his vault. From the article by David Cavanagh

The Floyd story started with Syd Barrett, their first songwriter, their first leader, the man who gave them their name. At a certain point in the interview I look Mason in the eye and as him if 'Why Pink Floyd...? is going to be the point in history when "Scream Thy Last Scream", "Vegetable Man" and other unreleased 1967 tracks are finally, after many dashed hopes and false alarms, going to receive an official release.

Mason [at once]: "Yes. I would love that. If we did an 'Immersion' version of the early stuff, we could have all of those, and then we've got some demos that were made really early on, which I think are just charming. these come from 1965 and include 'Lucy Leave', "I'm A King Bee", "Walk With Me Sydney", and "Double O-Bo". They're very R'n'B. Of course we were yet another English band who wanted to be an American style R'n'B band. We recorded the demo at Decca. I think it must have been, in Broadhurst Gardens. A friend of Rick's was working there as an engineer, and managed to sneak us in on a Saturday night when the studio wasn't operating."

David Cavanagh: "Have you always know of this tape's existence?"

Mason: "Yes, I've always had a copy of it."

Nick came in with a huge box full of quarter tapes which had been sitting in storage. When we trawled through them, there were a lot of early recordings, pre-Piper, when they were playing "Louie, Louie" and being an R'n'B band. Then there were quite a few Barrett-era Floyd tracks that never got released, which were mixed recently as part of [the work done on] An Introduction To Syd Barrett, when we didn't know that they weren't going to get used. There is potentially the material to make an album of unreleased Barrett-era stuff.

David Cavanagh: "In other words [I ask Mason], there'll be an 'Immersion' edition of The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn? Or else an 'Immersion' that twins Piper with A Saucerful Of Secrets?" Mason: "More likely to be the latter, but yes, definitely. Personally I think the two albums go together very well, if you position the tracks suitably, because 'Jugband Blues' on Saucer is Syd's song and it's his farewell moment in a way"

That 1967-68 'Immersion' set will probably come out next summer Mason estimates. It will have been a long, long wait.

Previously UNSEEN 'Stars' gig photo - with NO Syd though :(

2011-08-13T14:30:00.000-07:00

While it's a great shame that Syd isn't in this photo it's still interesting to us Syd fans as it shows his band mates playing live on the site of the Cambridge Market Square in 1972. It shows Jack Monck on bass and Twink sitting in on the drums. Syd is most probably in front of them singing along, maybe, and playing guitar, maybe. There is a pic of Syd playing at, apparently, the same place. I think it's a good enough guess that it was taken the same time as this one. Massive thanks to Jenny Spires who forwarded me this photo and has allowed me to publish it here.

A previous post on this blog which includes said pic of Syd is here:

http://www.sydbarrettpinkfloyd.com/2010/02/syd-barrett-stars-its-so-long-ago-now.html

Here's the info on 'Stars' nicked straight from Wikipedia:

Stars

After a spell in Morocco Twink moved to Cambridge and worked with the 'Last Minute Put Together Boogie Band', initially with vocalist/guitarist Bruce Michael Paine (ex-Apple Pie & star of the San Francisco production of 'Hair')^[6]^[7] and 'The Honk' playing bass, and also played in a band named ZZZ with Alan Lee Shaw and Rod Latter (who later reunited as The Rings). The Last Minute Put Together Boogie Band, now with ex-Delivery bass player Jack Monck, backed American Blues guitarist Eddie "Guitar" Burns at King's College Cellar in January 1972. Jack's wife Jenny Spires, a former girlfriend of both Twink and Syd Barrett (ex-Pink Floyd), invited Syd down to the gig and he brought his guitar along and jammed with them at one point.^[8] The next day, the Last Minute Put Together Boogie Band, with guests Fred Frith and Syd Barrett, played on a bill with Hawkwind and the Pink Fairies.^[9]

Within the next day or two Twink formed the short lived trio 'Stars' with Barrett and Monck. Stars played a handful of shows which were well received.^[10] However, Syd, fragile mentally, quit after reading a negative review by Roy Hollingworth in Melody Maker,^[11] after which Twink moved back to London. During the years 1972 to 1975, Twink periodically performed with fellow Ladbroke Grove community band Hawkwind and with the band Glider, but no recordings were made.^[12] In July 1975, The Pink Fairies staged a reunion gig at the Roundhouse featuring the then-current line-up of Russell Hunter, Duncan Sanderson and Larry Wallis, joined by former members Twink and Paul Rudolph. The reunion show was released as a live album in 1982.

John "Hoppy" Hopkins Pioneer of the Undergound Scene

2011-08-13T12:31:00.000-07:00

One of the pioneers of the London Underground Scene during the sixties. To know him was to have your finger on the pulse of the Hip Counterculture scene of the swinging sixties in London. Also a British photographer, journalist, researcher, and political activist. John "Hoppy" Hopkins was a nuclear physicist and graduated from Cambridge in 1958. He received a camera from a relative for his graduation present, and fell in love with photography and here is where the rubber met the road for his career in photography and journalism. Hoppy arrived in London on January 1, 1960 and landed a job as an assistant of a commercial photographer and within a year was established as Fleet Street Freelancer. He worked for the Sunday Times and The Observer papers in London. He also freelanced a magazine called Queen.In this one he did the first ever article on Cannabis in England. He worked for music magazine Melody Maker and took some iconic beautiful shots of jazz musicians, such as Louis Armstrong, John Coltrane, Miles Davis just to name a few. Hoppy helped out Peace News and the CND magazine Sanity, where he documented the protest movement against nuclear weapons.He was a photographer from 1961-66 during this time he took beautiful photographs of the Beatles, the Stones, Alan Ginsberg, Malcolm X,and the less fortunates of London.He captured the times that are now, long gone.His photos were lost for 30 years and accidently rediscovered and have been on display twice at two London Galleries. Once in 2000 at the Photographers Gallery, a screening for a book on Hoppy and his iconic photos entitled "From the Hip" the first ever publication by Sartoria Communications and Damiani Editore which was quietly sponsored by Lee Jeans. His latest display is at the Adam Street Gallery off the Strand in London, now through September 18. Hoppy took his first lysergic trip in 1964. By 1965 he helped set up the London Free School in Notting Hill. That led to Notting Hill Carnival with the help of Rhuane Laslett. The school newsletter was called "The Gate" and that led to "IT" or the International Times which was known as the 'bible' for the counterculture movement and was published in 66.. The legendary UFO Club was founded was founded by Hoppy and record producer Joe Boyd in 1967. It was without question the hippest trip in London where Syd Barrett and the Pink Floyd's notes floated up and mixed with the incense and snowy colored lightshows that was born there. On June 1, 1967 Hoppy, who had been arrested for a small amount of weed in America,took trial by jury and was slammed into Wormwood Scrubs prison for 9 months by an unhappy judge. The "Free Hoppy" movement set about and Stephen Abrams co-ordinated a campaign for the liberalisation of cannabis laws and hence The Times magazines birth.It published a full page ad on July 24 stating the laws were immoral in principal and unworkable practice. This was signed by Dr. Francis Crick and member of Parliament Graham Greene as well as the Beatles. As a tribute to Hoppy this ad was sponsored by Paul McCartney. In the 70's Hoppy put down his camera and started working with video and researched for UNESCO, and the Arts Council. He edited the Journal of the Centre for Advanced TV Studies. He also worked as a technical journalist in the video trade press. His last gig was macro photography for the University of Westminster. He also founded BIT, an information and agitprop arm. If you live in the UK, you can still catch Hoppy's exhibit at Adam Street Gallery off The Strand. It will run through September 18.

Syd in 'Those Without' - rare photo!

2011-08-12T12:01:00.001-07:00

Another delight to share with you all. This photo was one that Syd gave to Jenny Spires, who met Syd first around the time they did the 'Lucy Leave' & 'King Bee' demo. This photo was taken just before that, in 1964. It looks like Syd may have had an attack of acne when this was taken, but he gave it to Jenny so he couldn't have been that bothered about it. I wonder what song he was singing! :)

New pic of Syd at Cambridge Art School?

2011-08-05T05:47:00.001-07:00

Nearly 2 months ago someone called Elizabeth Hamey posted this photo on a Facebook Syd group. She captioned it "HALCYON DAYS A photo I took of Syd at Cambridge Art School".

I've never seen this photo before and no one seems to have jumped on the fact this has never, to my knowledge, been published anywhere.

So, while that COULD very well be Syd in the middle, he was moving when the photo was taken and is a little blurry. Anyone who knew Syd then confirm it's definitely him or is there anyone who went to Cambridge Art School and they recognise this room?

I'm not saying it's not him, it could be. But also it could be someone who looks a bit like him.

Any comments gratefully received.

Syd Barrett Dark Globe Choral Vocals

2011-08-03T12:40:00.001-07:00

SYD BARRETT DARK GLOBE CHORAL VOCALS

There are actually two versions of this song:

Dark Globe (July 27, 1969 - Choral Version. Peter Jenner 1974 Echo mix)
Dark Globe (July 27, 1969 - Choral Version. Malcolm Jones 1987 Clean mix)

Both versions of Syd Barrett Dark Globe are two sides of the same coin. The ‘Choral’ addition refers to Syd’s delayed double tracked vocals. The main difference between the two is that the 1987 version is somewhat tighter and wider than the 1974 version & clearer to listen to. The 2nd difference is that in the ‘74 Mix Barrett's singing voice is heard quite clearly over the multi-tracked vocals where as on the ‘87 mix the two voices are brought closer together in the mix the difference is not so obvious. The session log seems to omit the fact that there was a session on the 27th of July so we either have to assume that there was no session & the tapes are wrongly labeled ( and the 26th of July was the actual last session ) or the 27th was when the mixes of this track were submitted.

Below this is another version and the LP version:

Syd Barrett Will Always be the One Who Stood Out - by Ben Rayner Toronto Star

2011-07-10T20:26:00.000-07:00

Syd Barrett's Obit in the Toronto Star:

Syd Barrett was introduced to me at a very young age not through his music, but through a class photo.

Not explicitly through the photo, mind you. My dad, for some reason or another, had been coaxed during a long car trip or a hike or some other instance of casual father/son bonding onto the subject of a musician friend who'd declined playing keyboards for a young Manfred Mann mere months before "Do Wah Diddy Diddy" hit - foolish from a financial standpoint, perhaps, but a defensible artistic decision. It led into a discussion of other "celebrities" he'd known during his youth. And the list didn't go much farther than that: There was Martin Amis, whose books I'd seen around the house and have since come to cherish as much as life itself. And then there was Barrett - the same Barrett who died a recluse last week at age 60.

Barrett was a question mark. No more than 10 or 11 years old, I knew Pink Floyd - my parents would both sniff that the band was "pretentious" whenever "Another Brick in the Wall" came on the radio - and had read enough withering reviews of The Pros and Cons of Hitchhiking (probably because of the naked lady on the cover) to know Roger Waters was the frontman. But Barrett's brief, formative involvement in the band was then a complete mystery.

"Who?"

He was gone from Floyd early on, it was explained. Drugs and madness or madness and drugs; either way, a volatile enough cocktail that he'd lived with his mother and passed his days staring into a pool since his 20s. A peculiarly affecting rock 'n' roll tale, even for a kid. Pink Floyd, it was added, had been even stranger before Barrett left.
"He was always into weird stuff, even back then, " Dad noted.

Soon after, whilst snooping one bored afternoon through several tiers of musty files, clippings, university papers and photos neglected on an upstairs bookshelf, I spotted Syd amidst the rows of fresh, uniformed faces captured in a black-and-white portrait from my father's A-level year at Cambridgeshire High School in England.

I found Dad first, since he was the guy who resembled me. Barrett, however, was second - even though, at the time, I had no real idea what Syd Barrett looked like. He might have been a bit taller than his schoolmates but, as I recall in apologetic cliche, it was something about his eyes that made him stand out. And indeed, the same piercing, thousand-yard stare beaming from beneath a tousle of black curls has anchored almost every photo I have ever seen of him since. So no wonder.

In any case, the photograph had the weird weight of an artifact and I regarded it as such, reading up on Barrett even though the Pink Floyd thing would elude me until a confluence of adolescent heartbreak and early experimentation with intoxicants brought me to The Wall a few years later at 15. Combine that with a concurrent obsession for Quebec metal band Voivod's cover of "Astronomy Domine" and a discount cassette of The Piper at the Gates of Dawn, and Barrett's strange presence fully entered my life.

Whoa.

How impossibly less cool was Pink Floyd without Syd?

The three early Barrett/Floyd singles (particularly the transvestite ode "Arnold Layne") were careening psych-pop trailblazers and, like his two fractured 1970 solo albums, The Madcap Laughs and Barrett, are often regarded by the Cult of Syd as somehow more worthy than 1967's Piper. It's this album, though, where Barrett's whimsical, LSD-spiked genius crests, putting a fanciful, lunatic spin on British Invasion pop and English folk without fear of tilting into the avant-garde.

"Interstellar Overdrive" and "Astronomy Domine" - Barrett's lilting verses to which were scrawled reverently on every single one of my high-school scribblers - more or less invented space-rock. "Lucifer Sam" is reverberant proto-punk that would echo through everyone from David Bowie to Adam and the Ants for years to come. "Scarecrow" is durably haunting acid balladry.

And "Bike" ... oh, "Bike." "Bike" is simply the best cracked love song ever written, wherein the author fervently woos a young lady with the bizarre collection of odds and ends at his disposal: a bicycle ("It's got a basket / A bell, it rings / And things to make it look good"), a ripped cloak that's "a bit of a joke, " a homeless mouse called Gerald, a "clan of gingerbread men" and, finally, "a room of musical tunes."

"You're the kind of girl that fits in with my world, " goes the swooning refrain. "I'll give you everything, anything if you want things."

It's one of the loveliest sentiments ever put to tape, and it reveals the sweet side to Barrett - the side that liked to write songs about gnomes and cats - that often gets lost in the stories of his random, hallucinogenic behaviour, onstage breakdowns and his eventual, complete alienation from his music, his fans and the outside world.

There would be no late-career "comeback" appreciation for poor Syd. He received news of his ousting from Floyd, a band he essentially created but was continually sabotaging with erratic stage antics, when the rest of the group simply didn't pick him up on the way to a gig in Southampton in 1968. And while his old bandmates did help out on Madcap Laughs and Barret, and later penned "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" in his honour (David Gilmour has been beaming a photo of Syd behind him during the tune on his current solo tour), he's essentially been relegated over the past 35 years to footnote status in Pink Floyd's degraded legend.

The drugs didn't help, but being pushed aside by his friends likely didn't do much to counteract the looming breakdown that silenced him forever just a couple of years later. And that only deepens the tragedy of Barrett's sad and mysterious existence.
Wherever you are, Syd, maybe you can take posthumous satisfaction from knowing that, during your life, you held sway over some of us born into a world from which you'd already retreated.

And thank you so very, very much for "Bike." I will never, ever stop playing it.
brayner@thestar.ca

Syd Barrett Olympia - Show Upgrade

2011-07-07T10:40:00.000-07:00

There is an upgrade of the Syd Barrett Olympia show on torrent now over at Yeekshul:

"Syd Barrett_1970-06-06 Olympia_16-44

************************************************** **********************************************
Syd Barrett Extravaganza '70 Music And Fashion Festival Kensington Olympia, London 6 June 1970

Lineage: Maxell UD C-60 cassette > *Technics RS-B965-M > Focusrite Saffire Pro 14 > Audacity 1.3 > Wav (24bit/96kHz) ----> Adjustments (32bit/96kHz) > Wav (16bit/44kHz) > CDWave (1.98) > FLAC

*The Technics RS-B965-M is a deck heavily modified by expert tapehead A.N.T.- for details see the Tapeheads.net forum

1 [04:24] Terrapin 2 [01:41] Audience/Tuning 3 [04:58] Gigolo Aunt 4 [01:14] Effervescing Elephant 5 [05:58] Octopus .. [18:17] Total Syd Barrett - guitar and vocals David Gilmour - bass Jerry Shirley - drums
***Neonknight's Notes***

Kbrubaker very kindly sent me this tape amongst a number of others that he obtained around 1980 to see whether it merited transferring and torrenting. My reference point was the late Bernard White's reel copy of the orginal recording, which many trade copies and releases have been made from over the years. After a number of listens it became clear that Kbrubaker's had a smoother, clearer sound.

According to Bernard (I knew him pretty well) the recorder was a 15-year-old who wandered down to Olympia with his girlfriend and tape machine. He chose to stand right in front of Syd's guitar monitor, explaining why his guitar dominates the mix.

The performance probably commenced at around 8pm and Melody Maker announced the festival line-up on 28 March 1970. Promoter Bryan Morrison was quoted as saying "In addition to the pop and fashion attractions, record companies and all ventures allied to the record business will be taking part. There will be film shows and high divers. £10,000 in rent has already been spent so far".

Barrett, Gilmour and Shirley seemingly played for less than twenty minutes. Because of a bad PA the vocals were barely audible until part-way through Octopus when somebody balances the mix out properly. Listen carefully and you'll note that a member of the audience shouts for the vocals to be turned up. At the end of Octopus you can hear where Syd unplugs his guitar before leaving the stage.

It took me a little while to get used to hearing this recording at the correct speed after many years of hearing versions that were too fast. Listening to it afresh really adds to the feeling that this is an underrated performance and the band were showing strong promise for what might have been had they gone on to perform again.

***Littlepieces' Mastering Notes for -Syd Barrett_1970-06-06 Olympia- version***

This recording had a lot of level fluctuations, some caused by the recorder, some by Syd, and some by the person running the board. Neon provided me with three different transfers at different levels to enable me to splice the parts together to complete the show and avoid making broad digital gain changes.

Kbrubaker's cassette is a mono recording that was dubbed as two channel stereo. It has a significant phase shift that varies from 18 to 28 samples and its left channel's output is a little higher than the right channel and it also has more high end than the right channel. Given this is a mono recording, the best solution was to eliminate the inferior right channel which eliminated the phase shift and the channel level differences.

For the corrected version I took steps to diminish a series of buzzes and hums during the 30s preceding Octopus, removed several noise artifacts and edited and smoothed a number of recorder stops and starts. I also adjusted the speed which was very fast and varied a little as well.

When comparing this recording to previously torrented versions I noted that it has 15s more audience/tuning before Terrapin and two separate segments of 76s and 18s more audience/tuning after Terrapin. Also, 15s more audience/tuning before Octopus and 5s more after Octopus. The total additional audience/tuning is 2:09m.

Syd's vocals begin to come back into the mix at about 13:25m, around 35s into Octopus. Shortly after his vocals are more stable and the overall mix seems more balanced and at this point is when the thought came to me..........what if? What if these guys had continued the gig then stuck together for a while. A few minutes later the track finishes and you can hear Syd put his guitar down.

***Littlepieces' Mastering Notes for -Syd Barrett_1970-06-06 Olympia_LPP version-***

To accompany the corrected version I have produced a LPP version. Other common versions that have been torrented previously are EQ'd, dehissed-NRed, and possibly compressed. Generally, these kind of subjective changes are not appropriate for an initial release so I decided to produce a LPP version featuring some additional modifications.

Splicing parts of three transfers completed at different levels helped to even out the differences among large parts of the recording but it couldn't address the many level differences and drop downs within these parts. I applied various gain changes to several dozen segments in order to further reduce and smooth the level differences. These often required a relative reduction in hiss in order to make the transitions transparent. Some of the more significant level changes that were adjusted occurred during the first 35s of Terrapin, the first 10s of Gigolo Aunt, and the first 90s of Octopus.

There wasn't a lot going on after about ~8k, so I rolled off the hiss starting around this point varying my approach according to the gain adjustment of the segment.

Finally, I applied some EQ to the low-mids and a modest increase to the upper end which sloped to zero before 6k. After this point any increase introduced bad artifacts.

Generally the objective was to maintain the natural sound of an unprocessed lower generation source.

Kbrubaker Cassette / Neonknight Tape Transfer/ Little Pieces Production (LPP)/(June 2011)"

Cool Syd Barrett Video

2011-07-06T15:19:00.000-07:00

This is a cool Syd Barrett vid. Check it out.

New 'Amsterdam' pic, 29 April 1967

2011-07-04T10:18:00.000-07:00

Syd Barrett Songs and Bits

2011-07-03T10:30:00.000-07:00

OK, a link was published, on the great Laughing Madcaps Group, to a much, much, much longer page of material on pink-floyd.org. Here it is:
http://www.pink-floyd.org/artint/tap_song.htm

I found it hard to sift through all of the solo material and 'Floyd without Waters material and Waters running 'Floyd into the ground with his iron fist material to find the really interesting Syd Barrett stuff.

Therefore, I cut all of that stuff out and made this handy blog post about it. I don't think that my friend, Vic Moccia, will mind. If he does? Fuck it! Anyway, in the red is his verbiage on his page.

One more thing, obviously, when the song name is followed by a band members' quote that refers to that song. Duh.

The now defunct TAP published an incredibly handy reference guide in segments through its last issues. Unfortunately, I do not own many TAP back issues, but I will endeavor to do the best I can with those that I do own. Perhaps some kind person with the missing issues will fill in the gaps (mail them to v.moccia@pink-floyd.org).

Remember A Day (Wright): From 'A Saucerful Of Secrets', sung by the author. There is evidence to indicate that this track was originally recorded (under the title 'Sunshine' [qv]) for inclusion on 'The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn'. The track was also released as a single in the US backed by 'Let There Be More Light'. The Japanese reversed this pairing for their single release.

Wright: "From every album we issue in America, a single is taken and played on AM stations in order to sell the album. None of the singles makes it, of course."

Reopening (Waters): Generic title applied to 'Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Sun' on the bootleg 'The Early Tours'.

Return Of The Son Of Nothing (Waters, Wright, Mason, Gilmour): An alternative tag for 'Echoes' [qv] as performed in the spring of '71.

Wright: "We went into the studios in January to put down a lot of ideas and called them all bits of 'Nothing', which is where the title comes from. It's 22 minutes long and is a piece we can do live without any of the problems of 'Atom Heart Mother'".

Richard's Rave Up (Wright): An unreleased track recorded in February 1968. It is possible that this is a working title for a track on 'A Saucerful of Secrets', but more plausibly an instrumental later incorporated into the title song on that album.

Andrew King: "You could never tell with Rick what number he was playing; it always seemed to be the same. We used to call it the 'Rick's Fry's Turkish Delight Lick'."

Rush In A Million (Barrett): An alternative title for the early live piece 'One In A Million' [qv]. The mistake is caused by Roger's introduction of the piece at the Star Club Copenhagen 13/9/67 when he laughed making 'one' sound like 'rush'.

Saucerful of Secrets, A (Waters, Wright, Mason, Gilmour): The title track of Floyd's second album. As there is no record of the piece having been recorded, 'Saucerful...' would appear to be a compilation of various instrumentals - such as 'Richard's Rave Up' [qv] - recorded in early '68. This seems to be backed-up by Roger Waters' claim that they were given the last twelve minutes of the album to do with as they pleased. Its earliest confirmed appearance is on the BBC session of 25/6/68 under the title 'Massed Gadgets of Hercules' [qv] [see TAP 39]. The piece became a mainstay of the Floyd's live set, performances varying from under ten to over twenty minutes. Having appeared on "Ummagumma' (where it was divided into four, titled parts: a) Something Else, b) Syncopated Pandemonium, c) Storm Signal and d) Celestial Voices [see TAP 46]) and in the film 'Live At Pompeii', the song was eventually retired on the US tour of Autumn '72. The 'Celestial Voices' section was also performed as the final part of 'The Journey' [qv], titles 'The End Of The Beginning' [qv] [see TAP 39].

Waters: "'A Saucerful of Secrets' allowed you to think of anything that you wanted and because it had echo, people thought it was science-fiction; but it could be anything."

Wright: "We all believed it was going to be one of the best things we'd ever put onto record - which I think it was at that time... Parts of 'Saucerful' on 'Ummagumma' came from the Birmingham gig, which we put together with the Manchester stuff... but the stuff on the album isn't half as good as we CAN play."

Mason: "It contains ideas that were all well ahead of the period, and were very much a route that I think we have followed... [Devices] like provoking the most extraordinary sounds from a piano by scratching around inside it."

Gilmour: "I still think it's great. That was the first clue to our direction forwards, from there. If you take 'Saucerful of Secrets', the track 'Atom Heart Mother', then 'Echoes' - all lead quite logically towards 'Dark Side Of The Moon'."

Scarecrow, The (Barrett) : From 'The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn', sung by the author. The track first appeared as the B-side of the 'See Emily Play' single and subsequently reappeared on 'Masters of Rock'. For some reason Pathe News chose, in 1967, to show a film clip of the Floyd messing about in fields to the accompaniment of this track.

Wright: "Just listen to Syd's songs, the imagination he had. If he hadn't had this complete breakdown, he could easily be one of the greatest songwriters today. I think it's one of the saddest stories in rock'n'roll, what happened to Syd. He was brilliant - and such a nice guy."

Scream Thy Last Scream (Barrett) : The proposed (but later scrapped) third Floyd single, sung by Syd Barrett. This track was recorded by the band in August 1967 shortly after it was announced as a possible follow up to 'See Emily Play'. The public were given the chance to hear this classic as it was part of the Floyd's live set in '67 and was also performed as part of a BBC session in December of that year. It has also been listed as 'Scream Thy Last Scream Old Woman with a Casket' and the slightly shorter 'Old Woman with a Casket'.

Scream thy last scream old woman with a casket, Plan, plan your pointers, point your pointers, Waddle with apples to crunchy Mrs. Stores, She'll be scrubbing bottles of all fours...

Scream thy last scream old woman with a casket, Fling your arms madly old lady with a daughter, Flat tops of houses, mouses, houses, Piddle and diddle, sitting fat...

Watching tele' 'til all hours silly child, Fling your arms madly old lady with a daughter,

(Repeat 1st verse)

Scream thy last scream old woman with a casket,
See Emily Play (Barrett): Pink Floyd's second - and, until 'Another Brick In The Wall part 2', most successful - UK single; reaching the Top 5 in Britain and the Top 40 in the USA. Sung by the author, it was subsequently included on 'Relics', 'Masters of Rock', 'Works', and the US and Japanese releases of 'The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn'. Andrew King explained the idea behind the song: "The Games for May concert was in two parts: there was a Floyd set and a number of individual efforts. I think the individual efforts came in the first half. They were basically pre-recorded tapes; Roger and Rick got some together, but no-one else did really because Syd was in the middle of writing 'See Emily Play' which was like a theme song for that show - 'Games for May' comes in the lyric. The released version was lyrically altered a bit, but it was basically the same song."

Gary Brooker of Procol Harum was played the song as part of a 'Blind Date' singles review: "The Pink Floyd - I can tell by the horrible organ sound. It's much better than 'Arnold Layne'."

Barrett: "Singles are always simple... The whole thing as the time was playing on stage (but) obviously, being a pop group, one wanted to have singles."

A different version of the song had to be recorded for the Floyd's 'Top of the Pops' appearance - a performance that has allegedly been wiped from the BBC archives. The surviving promo (with Gilmour instead of Barrett) can be found on the Rock'n'Roll: The Greatest Years - 1967' video [see review TAP 34].

Wright: "Although it sounds a bit gimmicky, hardly any special effects were used. Take that 'Hawaiian' bit at the end of each verse: that was just Syd using a bottleneck through echo. The part that sounds speeded-up, though, was speeded-up! John Woods, the engineer, just upped the whole thing about an octave. On stage, we have to cut that particular bit out, but then I don't think the audience minds if our reproduction isn't 100% accurate... "I don't think the success of 'See Emily Play' has affected us personally. Sure we get more money for bookings, but the next one could easily be a flop. [Yep! - SF] When I first heard the playback in the studio, I had a feeling it would go higher than it did, but I'm not complaining."

David Bowie, who included a disastrous version of the song on his 'Pin-Ups' album, commented: "Pink Floyd got a hit, and for a few months they were moderately overground. And Syd just didn't want any part of that, so he opted out. And I understood why. I thought "Yeah, right, they're being accepted: nobody wants that' (ironic laughter)."

Arnold Layne (Barrett): The b-side of 'Point Me At The Sky' in Japan and of 'If' in Holland.

Flaming (Barrett): Sung live by Roger Waters in the 60s.

Gnome, The (Barrett): B-side of the US 'Flaming' single.

Interstellar Overdrive (Barrett, Waters, Wright, Mason): The version intended for 'Ummagumma' was pressed onto acetates and given to band members and friends. John Peel had a copy which he loved until it was stolen. Another version appears on a French EP.

Jugband Blues (Barrett): Exists in three official versions: the familiar UK stereo; the UK mono (on which the middle section has slightly more guitar and no vocals over the brass band); and the stereo mix from the Canadian 'A Nice Pair'.

Power Touch (Barrett, Waters, Wright, Mason): Bootlegger's title for 'Pow R Toc H'.

Baby Lemonade (Barrett): From 'Barrett', the Peel Sessions EP and French promo LP 'A Good Harvest'. It was also played for a Radio One 'Sounds of the Seventies' session, broadcast February 1971, with 'Dominoes', 'Terrapin' and 'Love Song'. The name 'Baby Lemonade' was subsequently adopted by a "Glasgow buzzsaw guitar outfit"

Birdie Hop (Barrett): From 'Opel'. The title is rumoured to refer to UFO co-founder John 'Hoppy' Hopkins.

Bob Dylan Blues (Barrett): An unreleased song recorded in 1970. The lyrics boast: "I've got the Bob Dylan Blues / I've got the Bob Dylan Blues / My hair and my hat's in a mess / but I don't give a damn about that."

Boom Tune (Barrett): It has been speculated that this may be an alternative title for 'Here I Go' [qv], in view of the latter's line, "What a boom this tune".

Joe Boyd: "I was looking for a follow-up to the Purple Gang's 'Granny Takes A Trip' single and so I asked Syd to give me a tape of his songs. He had some really cheerful, melodic, wonderful tunes; one of which was 'Boom Tune', which the Purple Gang were definitely going to do. But somehow it never happened, and I lost the tape."

Clowns And Jugglers (Barrett): An alternative version of 'Octopus' [qv] from 'Opel'.

Malcolm Jones: "He called it 'Clowns And Jugglers' and decided to call it 'Octopus' later. I'd have preferred it to be called 'Clowns And Jugglers' actually; I think it's a much nicer title."
Barrett:"I thought the Soft Machine (three of whom play on this track - Eds) were good fun."

Dark Globe (Barrett): From 'The Madcap Laughs'. Another version, titled 'Wouldn't You Miss Me' [qv], appears on 'Opel'... and Roger Waters sings it in the bath.

Peter Jenner: "I think Syd was in good shape when he made 'Madcap'. He was still writing good songs, probably in the same state as he was during 'Jugband Blues'."

Dolly Rocker (Barrett): From 'Opel'.

Dominoes (Barrett): From 'Barrett'.

Gilmour: "The song just ended after Syd had finished singing and I wanted a gradual fade so I added that (end) section myself. I played drums on that, by the way."

Jerry Shirley: "Dave was with Syd trying to get a lead guitar track, but Syd couldn't play anything that made sense. In a brain wave, Gilmour turned the tape around and had Syd play guitar to the tracks coming at him backwards... The backwards guitar sounded great; the best lead he ever played. The first time out and he didn't put a note wrong."

Effervescent Elephant (Barrett): An alternative title for... Effervescing Elephant (Barrett) : From 'Barrett' and the Peel Sessions EP. Apparently one of the first songs Syd wrote, it was played at his appearance with Gilmour and Jerry Shirley at Olympia on June 6 1970; a set that also included Terrapin, Gigolo Aunt and Octopus.

Barrett: "(Performing) would be nice. I used to enjoy it; it was a gas. But so's doing nothing. It's art-school laziness, really."

Feel (Barrett): From 'The Madcap Laughs'.

Gilmour: "It was like one side of the album was six months' work and we did the other tracks in two and a half days. The potential of some of those songs... they could have really been fantastic."

Gigolo Aunt (Barrett): From 'Barrett' and the Peel Sessions EP. Gilmour: "We had baed 'Wouldn't You Miss Me' [qv], appears on 'Opel'... and Roger Waters sings it in the bath.

Peter Jenner: "I think Syd was in good shape when he made 'Madcap'. He was still writing good songs, probabld was lying down some kind of track before and then having him play over it. The third was him putting his basic ideas down with just guitar and vocals and then we'd try and make something out of it all. "It was mostly a case of me saying 'Well, what have you got then, Syd ?' and he'd search around and eventually work something out."

Golden Hair (Barrett, James Joyce): From 'The Madcap Laughs', 'Opel' and the b-side of the 'Octopus' single. The latter also includes an instrumental version of the song.

Barrett: "I've got books lying around at home: Shakespeare and Chaucer, you know. But I don't really read a lot. Maybe I should."

Here I Go (Barrett): From 'The Madcap Laughs'.

Malcolm Jones: "He wrote it, I seem to recall, in a matter of minutes. The whole recording was done absolutely live, with no overdubs at all. Syd changed from playing rhythm to lead guitar at the very end and the change is noticeable. Syd, however, would change like that often... that accounts for the 'drop' during the solo, as Syd's rhythm guitar is no longer there!"

If It's In You (Barrett) : From 'The Madcap Laughs'.

Just Before You Disappear (Barrett) : From the Barrett bootleg 'Melk Weg' (Milky Way). Anyone know what it is? [A careful review of the RoIO database's entry for 'Melk Weg' has failed to turn up this title - so perhaps it's even more mysterious than I'd initially suspected! - SF]

Lanky (Part One) (Barrett): An instrumental from 'Opel'.

Gilmour: "I've listened to 'Opel' and there's nothing on there that really illuminates very much or gives very much to anyone. I didn't approve of it, personally, but it's not my choice."

Lanky (Part Two) (Barrett): The unreleased continuation of the above, consisting of a seven-minute drum track.

Late Night (Barrett): From 'The Madcap Laughs'.

Barrett: "I always write with guitar. I've got this big room and I just go in and do the work. I like to do the words and music simultaneously, so when I go into the studio I've got the words on one side and my music on the other. I suppose I could do with some practice."

Let's Split (Barrett): From 'Opel'.

Living Alone (Barrett): An unreleased song recorded in 1970. The tape is believed to be owned by Gilmour (as is 'Bob Dylan Blues').

Long Gone (Barrett): From 'The Madcap Laughs'.

Love Song (Barrett): From 'Barrett'.

Love You (Barrett): From 'The Madcap Laughs' and the Harvest retrospective, 'Art School Dancing: The Harvest Story Volume 1'.

Malcolm Jones: "Lack of adequate rehearsal gave the Softs' performances a rather ragged aspect, for which I must take responsibility... although I must add that over the years the erratic quality of these tracks has been what has endeared them to Barrett fans. I can't help feeling, though, that the Soft Machine themselves were not very proud of their contributions!"

Maisie (Barrett): From 'Barrett'. The title may have been inspired by either the series of 'Maisie' films from the 30s and 40s, or the 'Perishers' cartoon strip!

Milky Way (Barrett): From 'Opel'.

Malcolm Jones: "He is pretty together there, isn't he?"

No Good Trying (Barrett): From 'The Madcap Laughs'.

Malcolm Jones: "[This] was positively impossible! Syd had, before the session, taken copy tapes... which I presumed were to give to the musicians he was booking to learn... I was wrong; he kept them!"

No Man's Land (Barrett): From 'The Madcap Laughs'.

Octopus (Barrett): From 'The Madcap Laughs' and released as a single (just before the album), in December '69. The song also appears on the 'Harvest Sweeties' promo LP and an earlier version, entitled 'Clowns And Jugglers' [qv], appears on 'Opel'.

Opel (Barrett): From 'Opel'.

Waters: "What was so stunning about Syd's songs was, through the whimsy and the crazy juxtaposition of ideas and words, there was a very powerful grasp of humanity. They were quintessentially human songs and that it what I've always attempted to aspire to. In that sense, I feel a strong connection to him."

Rats (Barrett): From 'Barrett'.

Jerry Shirley said: "'Rats' in particular was really odd. That was just a very crazed jam and Syd had this lyric that he just shouted over the top..."

Barrett: "I don't buy many records... there's so much around that you don't know what to listen to. All I've got at home is Bo Diddley, some Stones and Beatles stuff and old jazz records..."

Rhamadan (Barrett): An unreleased song, recorded in 1968.

Malcolm Jones: "This was a long, boring track, lasting about eighteen minutes, which Syd (or at least, I have always presumed it was his playing) had made... It featured several conga drum overdubs, with no apparent theme or direction."

Rooftop In A Thunderstorm Row Missing The Point (presumably by Barrett): A poem published in Sydzine Terrapin [issue 9 - SF] and an Italian book. The existence of a track of the same name has been neither confirmed nor even rumoured.

Rooftop Song, The (Barrett): An alternative title for the above.

With yellow, red and roomy food, and quivered crouching on a golden cushion undressed himself to disappear through an infinity of pleasure and smiled to free the running me with "Am I my brother's keeper?" his meek hand on devils gloves shaping running blood. The prohecy, to ricreate the truth in visions of a seasonal mood in truth, the only sight he saw lay hidden in the bathroom door and spat on the rug as high is high, so low is low and that's the end of it
She Was A Millionaire (Barrett): Another unreleased version of a song Syd had first recorded with Pink Floyd (see TAP's A-Z, issue 50). This one is believed to have been attempted during Syd's penultimate set of sessions in June 1970. However, neither this nor the Floyd's version has been released, officially or otherwise.
Barrett: "Piper at the Gates of Dawn? That was very difficult in some ways, getting used to the studios and everything. But it was fun; we freaked about a lot. I was working very hard then; there's still lots of stuff lying around from then, even some of the stuff on Madcap."

She Took A Long Cold Look (Barrett): From 'The Madcap Laughs'.

Swan Lee (Silas Lang) (Barrett): From 'Opel'.

Peter Jenner: "I only did a couple of sessions (in 1968): it was reasonably together in a fairly wacky way - at least there were songs and things."

Terrapin (Barrett): Originally from 'The Madcap Laughs', this reappeared on the Peel Sessions EP, of which Strange Fruit's

Clive Selwood said: "It was difficult to find Syd, but once I'd found his brother, who handles his business, that was fine... We also had to have the approval - as we always do - of the other musicians involved. We had to track down Jerry Shirley, who was then working with the new version of Badfinger in the States, and also ask Dave Gilmour. I understand that Syd himself is alive and quite well, has a happy life, spends a lot of time working in the garden and has a decent income from his songwriting royalties. So he's probably got a better life than any of us!"

Of the five songs that Syd performed on the session, only 'Terrapin' came from the album that he was presumably supposed to be promoting. The LP version is also on 'Picnic' and the BBC version reappeared on the compilations 'Before the Fall' (UK) and 'Best of Peel Sessions Par Bernard Lenoir' (France).

Two Of A Kind (disputed credit): From the Peel Sessions EP, officially credited to Syd Barrett but more likely to be the work of Rick Wright.

Untitled (Barrett): Probably an alternative title for 'Let's Split' [qv], recorded in 1970.

Waving My Arms In The Air / I Never Lied To You (Barrett): From 'Barrett'.

Barrett: "I have lots of undeveloped things lying around. I'm still basically like I've always been - sitting around with an acoustic getting it done. I never get worried about my writing."

What's The New Mary Jane (Lennon): A cacophonous Beatles outtake reputed (by entrepreneurial bootleggers) to feature Barrett. There is absolutely no evidence to suggest that this is so.

Wined And Dined (Barrett): From 'Barrett' and 'Opel'.

Gilmour: "He would never do those songs twice the same, ever. He'd change the chords and his way of singing them and everything... extraordinary. But it would take forever with him, because he just wouldn't do it the same twice, so he kept getting it wrong. So you'd be lifting vocal lines off and moving them to a different place on the tape and stuff. Just the method of working was so difficult... and I don't think he had as many good songs as we had for 'The Madcap Laughs'."

Wolfpack (Barrett): Reputedly Syd's favourite track from 'Barrett'.

Barrett: "(The songs) have got to reach a certain standard and that's probably reached in 'Madcap' once or twice and on the other one only a little - just an echo of that. Neither of them are much more than that."

Womb Bit, The (Waters, Geesin): An instrumental from 'The Body'.

Word Song (Barrett): From 'Opel'. Also known as 'Untitled Words' or simply 'Words'.

Barrett: "It would be terrific to do much more mood stuff. They're very pure, the words... I feel I'm jabbering."

Wouldn't You Miss Me (Barrett): An alternative version of 'Dark Globe', from 'Opel'. A US promo 12" features this song on both sides.

Waters: "If our hobby is to be interested in... whether Syd did this or did that, or what colour shoes he wore on March 18th 1967 or whatever, who am I to say that's obsessive? Some people collect stamps! It's better than watching Ninja Turtles on TV, in my view. Being a Syd Barrett fan seems to me to be a perfectly legitimate and reasonable way of spending your spare time.
"He was a very interesting man. He wrote some fantastic songs. There's a body of work; unfortunately it is complete. There won't be any more, I don't think. He was a visionary, he was an extraordinary musician, he started Pink Floyd... well, Syd and I started the band together but if he hadn't been there, nothing would have happened. I'd be working for an architect... I might be my own boss by now - I probably would - but I would not be doing the work that I'm doing, I don't think. He was the key that unlocked the door to rock'n'roll for me."

Corporal Clegg (Waters): The Psychotronic Encyclopedia of Film (Plexus, 1983) claims that Captain Clegg, from Hammer's 1962 film 'Night Creatures', aka 'Captain Clegg', inspired this track. Dogs (Waters, Gilmour) :

Gilmour: "I did one or two very nice, slightly different, guitar solos on it that I was quite pleased with... Three-part, in some cases; it's two-part in the melody sections, but the last line of the first solo, I believe, is a three-part descending augmented chord. Which is quite nice and I was very proud of it; I thought it was very clever. Then Roger went and wiped it out, but mistake, and I had to re-create it."

Flaming (Barrett): Warbling this on French TV's 'Tous en Scene' (November 26, '68; repeated March '91), DG switched lines from the second and third verses, then changed the final lines from "Yippie, you can't see me, but I can see you" to "Hey-ho, here we go, ever so high". Also performed by "Les Pink Floyds" (sic) for this show were Let There Be More Light and Point Me At The Sky.

Golden Hair (Barrett, James Joyce): Our entry for this in TAP 56 gave the impression that an instrumental take appears on the Octopus single, when it in fact appears on the Opel album.

Interstellar Overdrive (Barrett, Waters, Wright, Mason): The plethora of available renditions has defeated our planned guide to the adventures of Interstellar Overdrive. 'Floyds of London' (TAP 46) describes the version used for Piper and 'Tonight Let's All Make Love In London'.

Gilmour: "I've never seen that film. It was before my time, in '67. Ask Nick about that, he would know..."

Mason: "I don't know; I can't remember."

Gilmour: "Wasn't it a live version of Interstellar Overdrive?"

Mason: "No, that was 'San Francisco'."

We concur that the Interstellar on the 'San Francisco' film was indeed a 1968 version, and not, as has been reported, the first recorded version. The one found on a French EP sounds like an edit from the mono Piper mix. This still leaves the version used for the CBC radio interview, repeated as part of Capital's The Pink Floyd Story; another puzzler which we entrust to future Floyd watchers.

Just Before You Disappear (Barrett): Bootleg title for Octopus, from Syd's June '70 Olympia gig.

Let There Be More Light (Waters): Amnesia strikes 'Tous en Scene' again as DG mangles lyrics and moves his solo from the Song's end to before the final verse.

Ian Anderson: "We [Jethro Tull] played the first Hyde Park concert in 1968. Pink Floyd, minus their lights of course, were top of the bill..."

"We'd actually played support to the Floyd a year or so earlier when Syd Barrett was in the band. They were genuinely amazing. It wasn't their songs as much as the way they broke down all musical and presentational barriers. I never did any drugs, so I wasn't particularly interested in the psychedelic aspect of what they were doing. But the way they seemed to mix rock and folk and Eastern influences was fascinating. Very eclectic. It prompted me to pick up an instrument again."

Piggy Got Stoned (uncredited): A "really messy, guitar-focused, instrumental" of dubious authenticity found on a bootleg tape, 'Pink Floyd: Early Freakout Demos'. (Andrew Pask)

Waters: "We don't want people to be stoned out of their minds all the time when they go to hear us. We'd like to induce an experience without drugs. Anyone is free to have that kind of experience."

Pink Jungle, The (Barrett, Waters, Wright, Mason): Alternative title for Pow R Toc H, as played in The Journey, may have been inspired by 1968 adventure-comedy of the same name, starring James Garner.

Rats (Barrett): Ex-Mr Chili Pepper, John Frusciante: "... unless you've heard Rats I can't really explain what it's about. It's mainly acoustic, this riff, but when he comes in with the vocal... It's wild. Real fugitive sound, ya know ?"

Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Sun (Waters):

Waters: "I managed to get hold of a book of Chinese poetry from the late T'ang period - and I just ripped it off. Except for the title: I've no idea where it came from. It came from... within me.

"I'm glad it did, because I got a letter many years ago from a woman whose child had died of cancer. This kid... had listened to this song a lot, towards the end, and it had, in some strange way, really comforted her... I find that, obviously, very touching. I don't know where it came from, and so her connection with it is probably as strong as mine was..."

Karl Dallas has identified the title as a quote from William S. Burroughs.

Syd books?

2011-06-20T11:18:00.001-07:00

Here is my collection of Syd Barrett related books. They all offer something unique, whether it be a unique photo, interview or insight.

Too many for someone who was a recording artist for little over 2 years?

Nahhhhh! :p

Photo upgrades & new shots, assortments of delights!

2011-06-12T04:53:00.000-07:00

As it's my birthday today and I'm going to give YOU all a pressie. Here's a cache of upgrades and new shots that you may or may not have seen that have, mainly, just been sitting in my 'To Be Sorted' folder. Bumper bundle Pink Floyd fundle! Don't forget you can click on the pictures to give you the full sized version. Enjoy!

Nice aren't they?!

Various Artists - "Syd Barrett / I've Got A Room Of Musical Tunes" UPGRADED - 2 CD set

2011-06-08T14:42:00.000-07:00

I thought I would upload this and make it available to all those that want it. This is the UPGRADED version with higher quality mp3s than the version first treed on madcapslaughing about 5 years ago. Both discs are jammed to the brim with goodies. I recently discussed this compilation with the lovely Jenny Spires, one of Syd's girlfriends from the mid 60s, who said that the tracks I chose were pretty spot on! And she should know, she was there!

Tracks from Syd Barrett's record collection:

Disc 1:
1. Rock Island Line - Lonnie Donegan 2:27
2. Rock Around The Clock - Billy Haley And The Comets 2:13
3. That'll Be The Day - Buddy Holly 2:16
4. Nursery Rhyme - Bo Diddley 2:27
5. Walk Don't Run - The Ventures 2:05
6. Back At The Chicken Shack - Jimmy Smith 8:02
7. Quatermaster Stores - The Shadows 2:24
8. Love Theme From 'Spartacus' - Yusef Lateef 4:15
9. Chinq Miau - Yusef Lateef 3:20
10. Bright Lights, Big City - Jimmy Reed 2:39
11. Green Onion - Booker T. & The MG's 2:53
12. Tunji - John Coltrane Classic Quartet 6:32
13. I'm A King Bee - The Rolling Stones 2:39
14. Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere - The Who 2:41
15. The Word - Beatles 2:43
16. Eight Miles High - The Byrds 3:37
17. I Come And Stand At Every Door - The Byrds 3:06
18. East West - Paul Butterfield Blues Band 13:10
19. Lady Jane - The Rolling Stones 3:10
20. Shapes Of Things - Yardbirds 2:24
21. Pledging My Time - Bob Dylan 3:45

Disc 2:
1. Absolutely Sweet Marie - Bob Dylan 4:48
2. Kill For Peace - The Fugs 2:10
3. Skin Flowers - The Fugs 2:24
4. My Little Red Book - Love 2:32
5. Sunny Afternoon - The Kinks 3:34
6. Trouble Every Day - Mothers Of Invention 5:49
7. Hungry Freaks Daddy - Mothers Of Invention 3:29
8. Tomorrow Never Knows (Mono Matrix1 Mis) - Beatles 3:12
9. Sunshine Superman - Donovan 3:16
10. Celeste - Donovan 4:08
11. I Feel Free - Cream 2:53
12. My Obsession - The Rolling Stones 3:18
13. Strawberry Fields Forever - Beatles 4:10
14. Back In The 1960's - Incredible String Band 3:11
15. Painting Box - Incredible String Band 4:04
16. Manic Depression - Jimi Hendrix 3:43
17. Lovely Rita - Beatles 2:42
18. Why Are We Sleeping? - The Soft Machine 5:32
19. We Did It Again - The Soft Machine 3:46
20. Winter - Family 2:25

Disc 1 zip file:
http://www.sendspace.com/file/vqgf3b

Disc 2 zip file:
http://www.sendspace.com/file/g157n1

Art zip:
http://www.sendspace.com/file/q1zlqn

Syd & Rick autographs from Manchester 1967

2011-06-08T07:56:00.001-07:00

Here's a scrap book page containing the signatures of Syd & Rick, obtained here in Manchester when the band played at The Palace Theatre on the 26th November 1967. Sadly I had to wait 3 years to be born so wasn't present at the gig which I'm sure would have been mind bending had I actually managed to make my way down there. But not having any legs or arms, let alone a brain or body, prevented me from doing so! (I did try, believe me!)

A recent picture of 'The Palace Theatre' in Manchester, where these autographs were obtained.

The autograph obtainer, a named girl called Susie, also appears to have cut up a very rare copy of one of the very few colour 'Junkyard' photos in order to illustrate the scribbles. That's a shame as the only copy of that particular frame to surface was covered in biro and sellotape. It was also published as a mirror image, hence Rick looking the OTHER way! I did my best to clean it up using Photoshop and lots of MAGNIFY but the version below is the ONLY copy I've seen. I flipped it too so it displays as it was.

According to the book 'Embryo - A Pink Floyd Chronology' after this gig Syd, along with lighting people Peter Wynne-Wilson and Susie Gawler-Wright, went to visit the poet Neil Oram, one of the English beats. He had settled a few miles away in Haworth, the windswept hillside village best known as the home of the Bronte sisters and the setting for Wuthering Heights. I went to Haworth once not long ago, had no idea Syd had visited there too. Is this is the same Susie who got the autographs? Don't know why, if she knew the band, she'd be after their signatures. Probably not the same (adopts posh Pathe News announcer voice over) 'hip swinging 60s chick dancing away in the discotheque to the latest hits in her pop socks and latest fashion statements'.
Big thanks to Pete Moore for sending me the autograph pic.

UPGRADE to previous new photo!!

2011-06-02T00:29:00.000-07:00

There we go, the whole photo! Superb shot!!

New pic of Roger & Syd

2011-06-01T05:24:00.001-07:00

I've never seen this photo before so here you GO! Don't be slow! Chooga chooga chug chug!

Anyone got it bigger? better? wetter? cigaretta? Loretta? Or more colourful?

If you have pass it along......

New piccies & upgrades

2011-05-25T00:40:00.000-07:00

I'm in a hurry so I can't write much. These were posted on the Late Night group. The 1st one is brand new to me:

As is this one:
And 2 upgrades and 1 brand new shot from the Casa Madrona Hotel, California 11 Nov 67:

Pink Floyd Stockholm Event at the Gyllene Cirkeln (Golden Circle) in Sveavägen

2011-05-09T11:10:00.000-07:00

Here are some compiled conversations and resources regarding the Pink Floyd Stockholm event recently. I didn't bother cleaning up the verbiage. You're going to get it as posted on the Laughing Madcaps Group. Thanks to Cissi for the images. Thanks to Robert Watt for gathering the content.

Short excerpt from Syd Barrett & the Pink Floyd's 10 September 1967 gig at the Gyllene Cirkeln (Golden Circle) in Sveavägen in Stockholm
http://soundcloud.com/motoriksymphonia/interstellar-overdrive-3/s-tEXeE

Gaz Hunter said:
I've just been informed via Facebook by someone who is in contact with someone
who is there now....

Great sound quality although the vocals are low

Cissi said:
Hi all, I just thought I'd give you my thoughts on last night's event. Contrary to what was written before on the floydinternational-blog, song no 6 was See Emily Play not Arnold Layne. Anyway, to me the recording sounded good, but then again I'm no sound engineer. The instruments were separated although the recording was made only by two microphones. Syd's guitar playing was good. The recording was more like an instrumental gig. Some vocals were audible on Matilda Mother and Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Sun though. You could hear Syd say "one, one" between Matilda Mother and Pow R Toc H.

At the beginning of the show the owner of the tape, Anders, pleaded to us not to youtube it (I'll see if I can send some pics to Kiloh of the doppelgangers later on today). Cause if we did that, the EMI will most def not include the recording on the next Piper issue. EMI wanted to buy the tapes and cancel the event altogether but Anders said no (Ha!). The first track, a 7min 20 sec Jam Session, EMI has only heard three minutes of and they apparently thought it was interesting. No matter what, I'l buy the next re-issue of Piper anyway.

Ok, that was it I think.

Best regards...

"Arstider" said:
Cissi was right. I was wrong. It was See Emily Play not Arnold Layne on the tape from Gyllene Cirkeln, Stockholm 1967-09-10. When I heard it tonight, second night. I even remember me singning some of the lines to See Emily Play on Tuesday night. Must have been very tired when I got back home that night. More news about the show on the blog tomorrow.

Arstider said:
Anders did talk about Arnold not Emily after the show, but it might be difficult to hear as Syd had given up to sing at that point, I didn't hear any voice during the song. Did sound more like Arnold to me.

"alsothoughwhat" said:
My Swedish is kind of rough, but they're basically saying "we've got this bad-ass Syd Barrett era Pink Floyd tape we're gonna play. The owner kinda wants to sell it to EMI/PF. EMI/PF are only marginally interested. Probably nothing will happen with it. Do not bootleg the replay event. We've also made cool mannequins. You'll never hear the tape again."
"Arstider" replied:
Your swedish is very rough, nothing right in the translation..... It's just a news report on the event, nothing new.

"Joseph" said:
Looks like the live show is gonna be released with the upcoming Piper reissue.

rich hall said:
Any word on when this piper reissue will come out?

Chris Marsall said:
Like we really need another piper reissue.. they should just release the show on vinyl for the next record store day event...

"felixatagong" said:
I will believe this when I have the CD in my hand, I would prefer an upgraded ASOS though or a box-set with early rarities, demos and live bits... 'wondering and dreaming'.

"Joseph" said:
Jam Session / Matilda Mother / Pow R Toc H / Scream Thy Last Scream / Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Sun / Arnold Layne / Interstellar Overdrive

Robert Watt said:
Regarding the Stockholm gig at Gyllene Cirkeln recently played: Found this on Yeeshkul as well, with a short sample posted there. Hopefully we'll see this released...

--------------------------------------------------------------
The man deserves a lot of respect in my mind. I was there Tuesday, stood front line center and listened intently to the whole thing, and had the chance to speak with him before and afterwards.

He is/was a big fan of Hansson and Carlsson, and recorded every concert of theirs. At least at this venue where they had recurring concerts. His equipment was set up so he asked if it was OK to tape Pink Floyd (at least this is what he now says). Professional equipment ensured a very true replication of what it sounded like that night. In very excellent stereo separation.

As the PA was lousy the singing was hardly audible (and not much chance of repairing this I am afraid) but since most is instrumental it is still a fantastic document.

Mr Lind however did not think too much of it and forgot it for many years. Now he wants to make a few bucks (and I do not blame him) and is negotiating the release of the tapes. I will write to him and ask him to include somthing about a time period during which the recordings must be released. He genuinely seemed interested in wanting this to be heard. Remember that he took the chance of this public event (twice) in spit of legal threats.

We never got to hear the jam session "Before or Since" (as Mr Lind wants to call it, because of the comment Roger made on the tape that this was something not heard before or since). I have a feeling it still is a version of Reaction in G.

Matilda Mother was great as always. Pow R Toc H was very long and lacked some energy in the middle. Scream Thy Last Scream contained the best guitar work of Syd I have ever heard (I have some 40 seconds recorded and it is indeed proto-punk!). Very very intensive. Set The Controls is a Waters number obviously and he can be heard more clearly than Syd. Very structured and pointing forward to the next phase of Floyd. More comments about that below.

See Emily Play was a superb surprise. Very very low vocals unfortunately, but crystal clear instruments. A tricky song to play and Syd being an "intuitive" guitarist makes for some jerky changes in the song. But I love it! I think first Rick and then Syd played the bridge back to the riff. Syd through some very atonal notes, quite fitting I think. The final Interstellar Overdirve was magic. Not very long but extremely well played and focussed. I particularly enjoyed the
drum patterns.

I believe they had three bands that night, and only some 2-300 people in the audience. The set is rather short, I seem to recall he mentioned 48 minutes or so. The whole thing was much better than the Copenhagen recording I listened to before the concert. Better quality obviously but also better played.

Now, the interesting thing here is that Syd was very clearly NOT a basket case. His playing was sharp and disciplined. However, he was never a virtuoso guitar player like Gilmour or many others. More of a painter with the guitar. I think this recording will stand testament to those who think that Syd was pushed out of the group in favour of a new direction. Do not get me wrong, I love the later Pink Floyd and can see how a change needed to happen, but I can also subscribe
to the mainpulating powers of others (read RW) in Pink Floyd. I hope this possible aspect will not hold back the release of this very important recording.

Just my five cents, all of the above. Will also try to get "professional" comments from the band members of supreme Swedish early Floyd cover band The Trees.

a little more info from the yeesh thread:

For what it's worth: The tape has at least been digitally transferred, so the recording is safe. As for speculations about official release, we'll see if anything leaks from Saturday's event. Hopefully it doesn't. If EMI weren't bullshitting Lind, and he wasn't bullshitting us, the concert will be released. If it means another PATGOD, so be it, though I'd much prefer a 2CD 1965-68 rarities set with the Stockholm show on one disc. Just the concert as a standalone release would be fine, too.

It would be extremely out of character for PF to release something as amateurish as this, but if they've expressed an intention to do so, I'm inclined to give them the benefit of the doubt. If Ms. Peelfan is right about the technical possibilities, there may even be a significant upgrade coming our way!

Some more random thoughts:
- the sped-up piano/harpsichord part on Emily was replaced by sort of a primitive stomping riff marking time. That may well have been the way they recorded it before "psyching" it up with tape-magic. - Syd played some dreamy slide guitar. In my mind, he was using his Zippo, but it could have been an ordinary slide. - Roger really stands out as the dominant and driving force, and his playing was actually the most impressive of the four. It's actually not that hard to imagine how a gig with "Zombie Syd" could still have been rather exciting, thanks to the fury of the other three, and Rog in particular. - Rick didn't come through as well when soloing, but his presence was otherwise unmistakable - the performances were quite concise; I don't think even IO exceeded ten minutes (though I wasn't looking at my watch :-) ). This was a good thing, as every mid-song jam was allowed to develop just long enough to reach peak intensity without getting lost in effect-box cul-de-sacs. - I'm hungry to hear that tape again. Damn hungry.

and some more tidbits... from moonwall

Just had breakfast at the hotel

It was fun! The rather look-alike mannequinns were placed on a stage in the same way as on
the real gig in 1967 and with gear from the time. A minus was that they didn't use the lightshow from 1967 as they said they couldn't remember it exactly (never seen old movies, huh?)
The sound of the old tape was superb, although it was mostly instrumental. Syd's PA didn't work properly that night. Among others, we heard a stunning version of STCFTHOTS (with Rogers voice rather clear), a funny version of See Emily Play and a great Interstellar Overdrive.
The funniest part was the audience applauding after every song as if the real Pink Floyd was there .

Now the taper (Anders Lind) told us EMI had tried to stop this event. He had been to the UK to play the tape for them, but he wouldn't let them have it. And he didn't play the whole tape. On the tape is a very rare jam session, that we didn't get to hear this evening. Anders called it "Never and since" as Roger says something like that on the tape.

If I understood it correctly, EMI wants to do a re-release (again) of "Piper At The Gates Of Dawn" and use Anders' tape as Bonus material on it. And because of this Anders' politely asked us not to tape or film. "Nothing on YouTube", he said. He didn't say anything about Yeeshkul, though , but I did not record this. My friend took a lot of pictures that I maybe can post here later.
-------------------------------------------

and this from xpkfloyd:

I really enjoyed the recording, although I thought they should have played it at a little louder volume... I also agree that it was a pity that they didn't try to use a light show as in '67.

Nice improvisations all in all, I think it's rather incredible that they played this good so early in their career. The organizer said that the gig was performed the day before Piper was released in the US. I really liked the version of Interstellar.

Too bad that the vocals were very hard to hear. Otherwise I thought that the quality of the recording was actually very good. I can't say that I have heard all available '67 boots, but this one was probably the clearest one I've heard to date (excepting, of course, radio and tv recordings).

The organizer also said that the "Pink Floyd Estate" (whoever that was) to whom he played some portions of the tape was very surprised that Set The Controls was played so early, with Syd. Apparently they didn't know/remember that...

But I think it was funny that he purposefully hadn't played them the whole show, only snippets from each song In some way, it felt as if telling them: "Now you know how it feels not to get hold of great unreleased material!" Maybe that'll get them thinking...

And the reason for calling the unknown and unplayed jam "Before or Since" (or something like that, my memory fails me?) was that after playing the song Roger can be heard saying something like "That was a song that hasn't been played before or since".

I also really enjoyed the cover band that played afterwards, "Lost In Rick Wright's Wardrobe": three very young girls and three very young boys playing only pre-1970 floyd songs. Very good indeed! Vibraphone, mellotron, flute, gong, organ, piano, guitar, drums, bass, vocal harmonies... Psychedelic shirts and dresses... We got to hear, among others, Astronomy, Interstellar, Paint Box, See-Saw, Remember A Day, Set The Controls, Saucerful (!), Careful With That Axe
(!!!), Green Is The Colour, Cymbaline, ... Awesome! If anybody could get a recording of their gig on Saturday it would be great...

Lost in Rick Wright's Wardrobe played Pink Floyd covers (and more) during the Pink Floyd Happening at Gyllene Cirkeln, Stockholm, May 7 2011.

PINK FLOYD MORE ALBUM ANALYSIS - Neville Harson

2011-05-03T14:58:00.000-07:00

PINK FLOYD MORE ALBUM ANALYSIS - Neville Harson

Soundtrack albums have traditionally been a mixed bag; part blessing, part curse. Pink Floyd’s “More”, the soundtrack album to the movie of the same name, is no exception. More was the third album by Pink Floyd, and their first whole LP without founding member Syd Barrett. It was recorded back in the days when people used to produce legitimate soundtrack albums, not just throw a bunch of (s)hit records together on a CD and call it a soundtrack. So you get a few actual songs, a few mood pieces and a bit of filler. For the band, it was a giant step away from the earlier psychedelia of Piper at the Gates of Dawn and Saucerful of Secrets. In essence, it sounds like the foundation for their "middle period" albums, a sound that would reach it's full fruition on Dark Side of the Moon. Nicholas Shaffner, in his book "Saucerful of Secrets," points out that, ironically, "the More soundtrack features a higher proportion of actual songs to instrumental mood
pieces than several of the Floyd's regular albums." It is a scattershot album, but an intriguing listen, and not without a few (crazy) diamonds in the rough.

Pink Floyd had been attracted to the idea of doing music for films for some time before signing up to work with director (and former associate of Jean-Luc Goddard) Barbet Schroeder on his film More. Besides their fascination with all things multimedia, the band saw soundtrack work as a potentially lucrative venture. They had previously recorded different versions of "Interstellar Overdrive" for a couple of shorter film projects, and doing an entire film soundtrack seemed like a logical next step.

Though this article focuses on the More soundtrack and NOT the film, I think it's worth mentioning how I first came to see the film. I was going to Boston University in the early 1980's and saw that More was being shown in a tiny arts theater in Brookline (it turned out to be more of a community room than an actual theater). I was already very familiar with the soundtrack. As I watched the film I was somewhat confused by a strange temporal gap, and also a short running time. This mystery was solved a while later when, after the movie, the projectionist came running up to a group of us that were talking outside the building and told us that he had forgotten to show the second of the three reels. He offered us free beer and we went back inside to watch the missing reel. So my memory of the movie remains a bit of a jumble. I have seen it only once since then and remember it being a moralistic tale of a guy who gets romantically involved with a woman who turns him on to heroin, and their hellish descent into abuse, and, if I'm remembering correctly, death. Not what you'd call a "feel-good" movie, though I do remember it starting out that way. Here's the trailer:

Here's another scene from the film:

Here's the Green is the Colour Scene:

The main problem that I have with the More soundtrack is not the material, but with the production. If any album in the Floyd canon deserves a thorough remix, it's this one (the album was remastered on CD in 1995). There are not many Pink Floyd albums that were carelessly thrown together; indeed one could say the band made a career out of making albums that were painstakingly labored over. But More, according to both guitarist David Gilmour and drummer Nick Mason, was written and recorded over a period of just eight days. They worked with engineer Brian Humphries, but no outside producer. Apparently they were eager to show that they could produce their own records, and not rely on outside help. Big mistake! The production is generally murky, with some pieces sounding like someone gave the order for everything to be quieter than everything else. The band had not yet mastered the art of sonic foreground and background that would become their stock in trade with the more cinematic albums of later years. They were, however very fond of stereo panning, with almost every song containing instruments that zip from speaker to speaker, or right through the center of your brain if you're wearing headphones.

Even the cover art seems somewhat slipshod. On the front cover we see a solarized still from the movie, with the two main characters tilting at a windmill. The band is credited as "The Pink Floyd", even though they had dropped the "The" long before. On the back cover there is another low-quality image of the couple from the movie sitting serenely on a hillside. The album credits and song titles are seemingly spelled out in rub-on letters, as there are some uneven spots where the letters don't line up quite right. The band members are not listed, except for the songwriting credits.

More has many of the same musical elements as Ummagumma, which was released later that same year. On More, these elements are put together in arguably more accessible ways. Side One, which contains more of the actual songs, is mostly credited solely to Roger Waters. Waters was really growing as a lyricist and the words he wrote for these songs, no matter how rushed, are still a quantum leap forward from his earlier tracks like "Take Up Thy Stethoscope and Walk." Apparently he still wasn't comfortable as a vocalist, and he gives all of the songs to David Gilmour to sing. Overall, the acoustic folk ballads of Side One mirror similar back-to-the-earth movement of the Beatles (Sgt Pepper>White Album), The Grateful Dead (Aoxomoxoa>Workingman's Dead), Bob Dylan (Blonde on Blonde>John Wesley Harding). Gone are the multi-part psychedelic freakouts of yore, with only Cirrus Minor retaining the "space music" motif of the earlier years. It's like they were saying "less is More" (sorry, couldn't resist that one!). According to Nick Mason, the film was pretty much complete when Pink Floyd started working on the music. Using only a stopwatch, they timed the scenes that needed music, and then retreated to Pye Studios to put their ideas on tape.

Song-by-Song

Cirrus Minor
The album opens with "Cirrus Minor", a not-too-distant cousin of Floyd songs like "Grantchester Meadows". Some bird songs from the EMI sound effects library set the scene. A descending chordal pattern gives the effect that you are sinking into something. The chords, coupled with a growing reverb effect on some of the lines, make you feel like you're tumbling down a well in slow motion. There is an organ coda by Richard Wright that sounds a lot like the "Celestial Voices" section of "A Saucerful of Secrets". According to Wikipedia, this track was played entirely by David Gilmour and Richard Wright, even though it was written by Roger Waters.

The Nile Song
The mood set by "Cirrus Minor" is suddenly broken by the power riffing and explosive drumming of "The Nile Song." Although this was my favorite song on the album when I was younger; it is one of my least favorite now. Part of it has to do with Gilmour's forced "rough" vocals, which just don't work for me. Later manifestations of this same Gilmour vocal style are "Young Lust", "Not Now John" and "The Dogs of War", all low points (for me) in the Floyd canon. Gilmour's voice can be a honey balm at times, but he just can't pull off both kinds of voices in the same way that someone like Paul McCartney can (think "Mother Nature's Son" and "Helter Skelter" on Side 3 of The Beatles). The other problem I have with this song is Nick Mason's drum fills. Nobody drums like that anymore, and for good reason. And I'm not sure what Roger Waters was thinking about when he wrote the lyrics, as the Nile doesn't run through Ibiza (where the film takes place) last time I checked. Big and dumb, "The Nile Song" was released as a single in 1969. Needless to say, it didn't exactly rocket to the top of the charts. Listen:

Crying Song
We're back to the more mysterious and moody Floydian realms with "Crying Song." I had totally forgotten about this song until I listened to the album again just before I wrote this article. It has a beautiful intro, with delicate acoustic guitar, vibraphone, and a subtle snare drum pulse. The melody in the first two lines is similarly moody than abruptly becomes hokey in the third line, and the instrumental fill that follows. I think this could have been a really great song if they had gone somewhere else with it.

Up The Khyber
"Up the Khyber" is arguably the first bit of filler on the album. It's Nick Mason and Richard Wright making a kind of generic "exciting chase" music or something. Jazzy tribal drums, percussive piano stabs (though far more conventional than Wright's later keyboard work on Ummagumma), a few tape effects and some lead organ comprise a serviceable piece of film music, but not much more. Although the title could refer to the Khyber Pass, which links Pakistan and Afghanistan, a more probable reference is to cockney rhyming slang (Khyber Pass=Arse).

Green is the Colour
This is a really pretty song that wound up, in extended form, in the Floyd's live repertoire for the next couple of years (where it would often segue into "Careful With That Axe, Eugene", aka "Beset by the Creatures of the Deep"). During The Man & The Journey shows in 1969, the song was known as "The Beginning". As on Ummagumma's "The Grand Vizier's Garden Party", Nick Mason's wife Lindy was recruited to add tin whistle to the song. Waters-as-lyricist is really reaching towards poetic and philosophical musings on this song--until I looked it up, I never realized that the last line was "Envy is the bond between the hopeful and the damned." I'll bet you didn't realize that either. See a live version here:

Cymbaline
Like "Green is the Colour", "Cymbaline" (also known as "Nightmare") stayed in the Floyd's live set for a couple of years, being dropped when the band started performing their Dark Side of the Moon material. The lyrics convey a sense of anxiety, though not specifically about any one thing. The rousing chorus, "And it's high time, Cymbaline" suggest that when the world is getting to be too much for you, it's time to light up. Yes, I know the phrase "high time" can also mean "it's about time", but I think the band was intentionally playing up the double meaning. After all, regardless of the band's appetite for drugs, or lack thereof, they had a psychedelic reputation to uphold. All of this is not meant to take away from the fact that "Cymbaline" is a great Floyd song; an overlooked classic, and perhaps the strongest song on the album. Here's a live version from around this time:

Party Sequence
This is filler, but at just over a minute long, not particularly bothersome. It consists of some well-played hand drums and a bit more tin whistle on top. It's much more disciplined than what usually happens when people pull out hand drums and flutes at a hippie party. According to Wikipedia, the whistle is supposedly playing the melody to "Seabirds", a track that the band recorded for the movie but does not appear on the soundtrack album (nor on any Floyd album thus far)--but to me it just sounds like improvised warbling.

Main Theme
It's a little strange to have the main theme to a movie soundtrack be the first song on Side 2, but what about the Floyd's music isn't strange? This "Main Theme" begins with a gong fading in and a few ominous organ notes before the bass and drums appear. Waters plays a bass line that seems to be a variation on Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun" Gilmour adds some queasy slide guitar. The keyboard melody is peculiarly mechanical and simplistic, sounding more like Kraftwerk than Pink Floyd. Nonetheless, the whole piece gels nicely and sweeps the listener along in waves of something between anxiety and bliss.

Ibiza Bar
This song shares the same heavy main riff as "The Nile Song", but overall, it's a little more restrained, and that's a good thing. Nick Mason's drum fills are simpler, and Gilmour backs off from the harsh voice he uses on "Nile Song." There's even a "pretty section" --the chorus, actually--when the whole band backs off a bit before coming in hard again on the verses. You can listen to the version from More here:

More Blues
It's sometimes hard to believe that Pink Floyd started as a blues band, remember, with founding member Syd Barrett naming the band after two semi-obscure blues musicians. During their concerts in the late 60's and early 70's they would sometimes revert to playing a simple blues jam. "More Blues" is exactly that, with one strange twist. The drums cut in and out, almost like the dub version of a reggae song. I'm not sure why they did this, nor am I sure if it serves the music. One of the many things I would do if I could get my hands on the More master tapes, is let Mason's drums play through the track. Who knows, though, maybe he was just off that day and the band decided to pull the faders down at particularly bad moments. All in all, nothing too spectacular here. Listen here:

Quicksilver
This may be filler, but it's moody and evocative and is the highlight for me of the instrumental pieces on the album. Beginning with strange metallic crashing tape effects the piece meanders through the now familiar gong sounds, with added vibraphone, which is a nice combination. Wright does a couple of gently unsettling keyboard tracks. This is obviously the same band who made the Ummagumma LP, but while the sonic elements are similar, they are played here with far more restraint, and therefore, more mystery. If this piece reminds me of anything, it reminds me of certain works by classical avant-garde composer Morton Feldman. Listen here:

A Spanish Piece
The mood is abruptly broken again with the "comic relief" of "A Spanish Piece. We hear two acoustic guitars, over which someone (Wikipedia says it's Gilmour) hoarsely whispers a bunch of stereotypical Spanish/Mexican catchphrases, like "I keel you", and something about tequila. Embarrassing, but like the "Party Sequence", mercifully brief. Listen:

Dramatic Theme
This is the companion piece to the Main Theme. Waters plays the bass line from "Let There Be More Light" and Gilmour knocks off some heavily echoed guitar notes. Wright has less of a presence on this track than he has on the Main Theme. Seems like it could've been a little longer, but since the band was timing their pieces to certain parts of the film, this is all we get. Check it out:

Honorable Mention: Seabirds (et al).
This track was recorded for the film and used in the background in one scene. It does not appear on the More album. There are versions of it floating around on YouTube but it's almost impossible to make sense of the song behind the characters' dialogue. It appears to be sung by Roger Waters, which is a departure from the rest of the songs on the More album. Rick Wright's organ sound (played through a wah-wah pedal) is reminiscent of Syd Barrett-era Floyd freakouts like "Scream Thy Last Scream." Perhaps for those two reasons, the band decided to leave it off the record. Still, it would make a great bonus track on a remixed and remastered edition. There was one other track, an instrumental known as "Hollywood," that was used in the film but not on the album. Curiously, Glenn Povey, in his book "Echoes: The Complete History of Pink Floyd," lists two more tracks from the More sessions that have yet to see the light of day: "Paris Bar" and "Stephan's Tit".

I will resist the urge to say something like "this album leaves the listener wanting More" (oops, I just said it), but it's kind of true. Listening to the album, I'm left with a sense of regret that they didn't/couldn't work just a little longer on it, perfecting some of the songs and including others. This era of Pink Floyd's musical output was not preserved too carefully, with tracks like "Point Me At The Sky" and "Embryo" (and other tracks that may or may not exist in the Pink Floyd vaults) getting scattered and lost over time. Sometimes these tracks surface in some obscure place, like when the extended "Zabriskie Point" soundtrack turned up a few more unreleased Floyd pieces. When this happens, it's almost always a cause for celebration.

Pink Floyd's next album would be their avant-garde/live space rock masterpiece Ummagumma, followed by the less successful Atom Heart Mother, and the more successful Meddle. After that they would record the album Obscured by Clouds" as the soundtrack to another movie ("La Vallee") by Barbet Schroeder. This album saw the band moving in the less experimental direction that would bring them fortune and fame in the 1970's.
　

Syd Barrett – ‘An Introduction To’ Double Vinyl Edition Review (by sonicabuse.com)

2011-04-16T12:44:00.000-07:00

There is a simple fact that both David Gilmour and Roger Waters overlooked in their loud, very public and rather undignified spat over the ownership of Pink Floyd and that was that the band had already undergone one titanic leadership change when they chose to unburden themselves of the drug-addled, creative, aloof, psychedelic genius that was Syd Barrett after just one album and replace him with Gilmour. True, the bulk of Floyd’s material written following ‘Piper…’ was at least guided by Roger, but the point is the band began with (and for some people ended with) Syd and it was his relentlessly creative streak that created the evergreen classic that is ‘Piper at the gates of dawn’ and his influence that led to the wilfully trippy ‘Saucerful of secrets’ and the epic, elegant ‘Wish you were here’; and while these days it is easy to forget that the Floyd began life as a very different band to the stadium-filling monsters they eventually became, this handy compilation traces Syd’s work from its playful beginnings through to the point where he retired from music altogether to become a recluse, carefully tending his garden just outside Cambridge.

Quite why David Gilmour has become the unofficial keeper of Syd’s flame is something of a mystery, but over the years the guitarist has referenced Syd many times via songs such as ‘wish…’ and through various faithful covers at his solo shows and so it seems right that he should be on board here as executive producer to a compilation that is never anything less than respectful to the original creator’s memory. A two disc effort, the tracks have been gloriously re-mastered, which certainly helps balance the sound, but the real bonus is that no fewer than five of the tracks have been carefully remixed with David Gilmour’s sensitive input and the guitarist has even added bass to ‘Here I go’, making sure that Syd’s erratic back-catalogue is presented in the pristine light that it deserves.

Opening with a selection of Syd’s finest Floyd moments, the first side is taken up with four songs, three of which are taken from singles (‘Arnold Lane’ and ‘See Emily Play’, both of which appeared on Relics, and ‘Apples and oranges’ which was unearthed on the 40^th Anniversary edition of Piper…) and ‘Matilda mother’ which joins two further cuts from Piper… on side two. The songs sound remarkably strong to ears that haven’t heard them in a couple of years or so and the re-mastering job has worked wonders while the new mix of ‘Matilda Mother’ renders it a much stronger recording than the original. Side two is rounded out with three Syd solo tracks including one of my personal favourites – the glorious ‘Terrapin’ (covered by Gilmour on a number of occasions) and the carefully chosen mix allows a new listener to witness Syd at his very romantic best and at his most whimsical (the child-like ‘Bike’ is also here to bemuse a whole new generation of music lovers).

The second disc follows Syd as he explores his creativity strolling from the wonderful ‘Octopus’ through the bizarre and fairly unlistenable ‘if it’s in you’ which sees Syd struggle to hit any note at all to the mesmerising, stunning, beautiful ‘Dominoes’ (memorably covered by Gilmour at the Albert Hall) which, if it was the only song that Syd had ever written, would be enough to justify the respect with which he is held in the music world. Better still, the 2010 mix of ‘Dominoes’ is fantastically clear and it sounds as if it was recorded only yesterday as the bass thumps from the speakers and Syd’s voice, not always so strong, carries one of his most memorable melodies.

Syd wasn’t always this good. The rock and roll life took a heavy toll on a man who gave every last ounce of his personality to every song he wrote and so the full Syd back catalogue contains a huge mix of the great, the sublime, the bad and the mad and it is hard for anyone unfamiliar to wade in without help. This compilation is the ideal primer – a respectful, intelligently chosen selection that offers those who weren’t there or who missed out, the chance to discover a true, eccentric English genius. Released, especially for record store day 2011, on double vinyl with Storm’s typically astonishing artwork reproduced at a sensible size, this is the way to truly appreciate the man’s work and with a beautiful gatefold cover and printed inner sleeves bearing the lyrics and some wonderful pieces of artwork, this is a treasure indeed. If you have yet to discover Syd, or if you just want his finest moments condensed into one simple package, then this is a beautiful and timely release to get hold of.

Chris Cornell - Dark Globe Cover

2011-04-06T16:42:00.001-07:00

Chris Cornell - Dark Globe acoustic Dallas, Texas, 4/3/11.

Jenny & Libby help out

2011-03-31T00:02:00.000-07:00

Jenny Spires, Syd's girlfriend during the mid 60's, has been in touch with me and would like to elaborate on the fantastic picture that has just been published in the new 'Barrett' book of Syd in 1964 posing with one of his huge paintings.

"That photo John Gordon (the photographer) had been saving to go with one of my letters from Syd. I think part of the letter is in the book and at the exhibition - a sketch Syd did of Twinkle and a motor bike etc. , but there were three written pages with the sketch. Part of the letter was about that painting. The gist of the letter is mentioned in the caption I think, but Syd wrote that he was thinking about a new painting he needed to do for his end of term assessment in the summer of 1965 (his first year at Camberwell). He wanted to do a painting of me... Anyway, he wrote that 'last year', meaning 1964, he had done a painting 'with a shirt stuck on a board which they raved about' and that he wanted to do something 'similarly kinky'. That's the photo of Syd in his white jeans, in his mum's back garden, posing with his painting. It was a self portrait. Anyway, I remember those jeans of course:-) He looked just like that when I went out with him first.

The drawing Syd did (which is in the new book!) is in response to a letter I wrote to him - I told him I'd heard Twinkle's single 'Terry'. I also told him I'd hitched a ride on a friends bike, a guy called Mugsy, but that we'd come off it. The road was wet and on turning a corner at the bottom of Hills Road Bridge in Cambridge, the bike slipped out from under us! We just got back on it. Syd drew a picture of what he imagined Mugsy to look like and a beautiful bike Arial 1000. In the background he drew a couple of mod boys and watching it all an old Teddy Boy in the corner. It's a great comment on the times, 1965."
Thanks for that Jenny.
Also I must thank Libby Gausden Chisman (Syd's girlfriend in the earlier part of the 60s) and Jenny for taking the time out to help solve a Syd mystery for us. I asked them if they'd be so kind to listen to the slowed down studio take of "Scream Thy Last Scream" to see if they could clarify if it IS Syd singing the chipmunk voice that mirrors what Nick Mason is singing in real time or not. After all, they would know Syd's voice more than any of us. They knew him and spent lots of time with him. I had a good listen to it again and it became apparent to me that the voice that goes"wahey we're well out there" when the chipmunk voice goes out of time near the end is a SECOND voice and not the same person who is singing the chipmunk vocal. This is apparent as the start and end of that statement overlap the end and restart of the chipmunk vocal. The voice has a different timbre to the singing voice also. I also am of the opinion that the humming at the end is the second voice while Syd is making the "chh chh chh chhhh" vocal noises that accompany the last few bars of the song.
Anyway, Libby & Jenny listened to the track for me and got back to me. Libby said "I think it's Syd" while Jenny wasn't so sure but couldn't discount that it was Syd and was more likely to be him than one of the other members of the group. She said "You are right it doesn't sound like any of the others. I really don't know who else it could be. Certainly at one point it sounds very much like Syd and the way he pronounces t's. It's just that slight strain that was in his voice isn't there."
So there you have it. Since first being able to hear the track slowed down I've been convinced that was Syd's voice, Libby is 100% and Jenny is almost certain it's Syd. I'd say it's not going to be anyone else.
And there you have it, Syd IS singing the chipmunk voice on "Scream They Last Scream".
Big thanks to the delightful Libby and Jenny for taking the time out to help with my request for their help.

King Bee's Letter of 1964

2011-03-30T00:44:00.000-07:00

Tuesday, 29 March 2011
The tracks sound terrific so far, especially King Bee

December, 1964. An 18-year-old aspiring musician called Roger writes an endearing illustrated letter to his girlfriend, Jenny Spires, in which he describes his band's first recording session. It was, in fact, the first of many, and before long both Roger and his band, The Tea Set, would become known by different names: he, as Syd Barrett; his band, Pink Floyd.
This letter was very kindly supplied by Essential Works, publishers of the recently released Barrett: The Definitive Visual Companion to the Life of Syd Barrett, a truly fantastic and highly recommended book full to the brim with previously unseen photographs, letters and artwork by the late frontman. Images used here with permission of Jenny Spires herself.

Transcript:Dear Jen, you are a little dish.
I'll tell you everything that happened at the recording. We took all the gear into the studio which was lit by horrid white lights, and covered with wires and microphones. Rog had his amp behind a screen and Nicki was also screened off, and after a little bit of chat we tested everything for balance, and then recorded five numbers more or less straight off; but only the guitars and drums. We'r going to add all the singing and piano etc. next Wednesday. The tracks sound terrific so far, especially King Bee.

When I sing I have to stand in the middle of the studio with ear phones on, and everyone else watches from the other room, and I can't see them at all but they can all see me. Also I can only just hear what I'm singing.

I hope you got home alright Jen, and that you had a good time. You wouldn't have been able to come in to the recording and anyway it went on till after midnight, and would have been a whopping drag for you.
It was a nice thing to be which was tra tra la. (do not bother to interupt)
Do what you want Jen. I love you very much and want to hear from you and you are very pretty.
I am a bit fed up with everything today and I want to be in Cambridge or Greece but not in London where all I do is spend money and travel. The sun is shining though.
Love, Roger.
Image: Essential Works

Two Pink Floyd Fillmore Auditorium Posters

2011-03-29T20:52:00.000-07:00

Check out these two Pink Floyd Fillmore Auditorium posters. These are the best quality jpg files that I have seen on the 'net. Here they are for you to enjoy now.

Video of new 'Barrett' book, first impressions

2011-03-18T01:38:00.000-07:00

My book came yesterday so I was filmed opening it and my first impressions. I have a good look through the photo section then skim through the rest (the video was getting too long and I didn't want to show everything in the book itself!) so if you just want to hear my impressions, so that the contents aren't spoiled for you then skip to 10 mins and 40 secs in.

More info from: http://barrettbook.com/

Live and direct from 1967! Joe Boyd and Robyn Hitchcock as your tour guides to that galvanizing era

2011-03-11T02:38:00.000-08:00

An Article from Chicago Tribune covering Robyn Hitchcock and Joe Boyd's Chicago show, a part of their "Chinese White Bicycles" US Tour:

What was it like to be at the heart of London’s underground music scene in the late ‘60s? You could do worse than having Joe Boyd and Robyn Hitchcock as your tour guides to that galvanizing era, a role they’ll play March 19 at the Old Town School of Folk Music.

Boyd’s a Harvard-educated music aficionado who opened the London office of Elektra Records in the mid-‘60s and found himself at the center of a musical, cultural and social revolution. He ran London’s UFO club, and worked closely as a producer, adviser and co-conspirator with such ground-breaking groups and artists as Pink Floyd, Fairport Convention and Nick Drake.

Robyn Hitchcock was a young teen when psychedelia reigned and Pink Floyd’s Syd Barrett was the toast of London. An ardent student of the era, Hitchcock went on to incorporate its sounds and attitudes in his music as a solo artist and with the Soft Boys over the last four decades.

Now, Boyd and Hitchcock are teaming up for an evening celebrating that era, with Boyd reading excerpts from his excellent 2006 memoir, “White Bicycles,” and Hitchcock chiming in with the music of Barrett, Drake and other ‘60s heroes and cult figures with whom Boyd collaborated.

In separate interviews, the two discussed the music that forever shaped them:
Hitchcock on Boyd: “Joe happened to be in an extraordinarily intimate position with this metamorphosis of our culture. He’s running this club (UFO) that is like no club before or since, with Pink Floyd as the house band, and Fairport Convention, the Incredible String Band. It was that brief period of music and culture that was called the underground, which is what I was reading about in the Sunday papers at age 13. It was a weird mix of mysticism, drugs, feminism, pornography, music -- it was all one. Drugs were seen as a sacrament rather than just another kick, which is what they turned out to be. It was an era that set people off into two directions, either extreme selfishness or a more spiritually minded view of life, a more tolerant, more life-loving attitude than Christianity had been able to spawn in many centuries of rule.”

Boyd on Hitchcock: “He channels the ‘60s without ever being an imitator. He somehow has that spirit. He’s drunk at the source of Barrett, Nick Drake, the Incredible String Band, but isn’t a slavish copyist. He takes it all in his own direction with an anarchic spirit, which is hard to find these days.

Hitchcock on how the ‘60s influenced him: “Joe was part of that group of people changing the world, and I was the next generation saying, ‘I want to do that.’ My sister was making me wax beads that I was wearing around my neck. I’d get hold of these records, and tried to play along on a guitar I couldn’t tune. By the time I was up and running, it was over. It was over as a movement, but it set in motion a series of attitudes that prevail to this day. Here we are 45 years later, and Joe is nearly 70 and I’m not far off 60. We might be seen as professors with lustful twinkles in our eyes. We’re not kids anymore, but there is that endless, elastic youth that the ‘60s promoted and here we are at the end of our yo-yo strings.”

Boyd on his first recording session as a producer in 1966 with Eric Clapton’s ad-hoc group, Powerhouse: “I didn’t feel intimidated. We were all about the same age and I actually hung out with Clapton a bit. We spent a Saturday at the Elektra office, and we both brought our favorite blues records to choose material for the session. He brought in albums by Freddy King, Albert King, a lot of urban modern blues records, and I brought in a bunch of acoustic blues records, like Robert Johnson and Charlie Patton. He knew them all, but he was not originally thinking that way. So I said, ‘What if we choose a country blues song that might have gone up the river to Chicago but didn’t, and pretend it became a Chicago blues.’ That’s how we did ‘Crossroads.’ He ended up coming up with a hybrid between ‘Traveling Riverside Blues’ and ‘Crossroads’; he adapted a riff from ‘Riverside’ that became a template for the version of ‘Crossroads’ everyone knows from Cream a few years later. The music was all his. But the idea of opening up the scope of what we were looking at is something I suggested. So I earned my keep, I felt.”

Boyd on Pink Floyd founder Syd Barrett: “If you take the 10 to 12 months from August 1966 to June, July 1967, he was incredibly important to everything that happened. You could have a group like Pink Floyd, which liked to experiment with trippy sounds and long improvisations, but with Barrett you had someone who provided a platform of great melody and really witty songwriting. That was one of the miracles of what happened in London during that time. The Floyd had so much confidence, because this soundtrack they were creating for this little coterie of freaks in west London was really, really good. Syd brought real quality to the scene. Later, after he left the Floyd and started breaking down, he made those two solo records, which I found very difficult to listen to; it’s painful to me to hear him sound so damaged. Then years later I was arranging a tribute concert and I had to go back and listen to everything. I was stunned by how good everything was, what an extraordinary talent he was, how seriously accomplished and sophisticated the songs were. One of my great regrets is that Syd once gave me a demo tape of five of the songs that didn’t work for Floyd but would wind up on his first solo album (the 1970 release ‘The Madcap Laughs’). I remember it being superior to the performances on ‘Madcap,’ but I lost the tape.”

Hitchcock on Barrett: “Syd Barrett resonated within my younger self. I altered my molecular structure to absorb him. He is unfortunately better known for his ruination than for what he did before it. His story is an old one, a young, beautiful person being sacrificed in some way and wandering through life as a blighted ruin. I still love his songs. Joe is emphatic that Syd was nothing like the casualty that became widely known. He is known as the guy who started Pink Floyd and went away. I feel his decline and disintegration, his voyage into the darkness was sort of inevitable from the first notes of the first thing he recorded, ‘Arnold Layne.’ It was a doomy voice with a black sense of irony. There was a manic elation in the early Floyd recordings, which hinted that a crash was on the way. What goes up, must come down. What drew me to Barrett was that he had done that art, the material he did just before he dissolved. Joe reckons that he wrote all those songs before things went wrong. I actually became a fan because l liked the later stuff. (Pink Floyd’s 1967 debut) ‘The Piper at the Gates of Dawn’ was great, but what hooked me in was him wandering through the ruins on the ‘The Madcap Laughs.’ I don’t think there was ever a truer record than that. He seems to be the most extreme example of what everyone experienced: that liftoff from 1965 to 1967, and then the terrible comedown. Bob Dylan and John Lennon had it. Brian Wilson. Even Donovan didn’t write any good songs after 1970. Something was in the air that gave those people momentum and then took it away.”

Boyd on his love for Fairport Convention: “It was music I normally turned my back on because they were doing folk songs. I didn’t like the singer-songwriter scene that much. There were a lot of people trying to be Bob Dylan, and to hear these English kids singing Phil Ochs and Eric Anderson songs was kind of bizarre. But the English perspective gave it a charm that most of the American equivalents didn’t have. There was a moment at UFO where they were going to do ‘East-West’ by the Butterfield Blues Band, which I thought was a terrible idea! Mike Bloomfield made it work on the original because he’s a great improvisational guitar player, but I didn’t want to see this English band try it. Then Richard Thompson began to play and cut Bloomfield to pieces. He was 17 years old and already an incredible guitar player. He’s not a blues player. He doesn’t orient his playing around blue notes. Rhythmically he is influenced by Jerry Lee Lewis’ left hand attack. Everybody else on the scene was into blues, but his sound was very Celtic, with shades of North Africa, classical, jazz. Later there was a Coltrane influence. But the thing that knocked me out, on the (1968 debut Fairport) single) “If I had a Ribbon Bow,” he takes a Charlie Christian type solo on it. And I thought, ‘Where did he get this?”

Hitchcock on Nick Drake: “What’s least part of this period is Nick Drake and had the book been published 20 years ago, not many people would’ve care about him. But now he sells more records than just about anyone in the book, because his music was heard on a TV commercial and like a volcano it brought him to the surface decades after he died. Nick Drake was the odd one out, he wasn’t psychedelic. He had nothing to do with rock or hippie culture. He wrote jazzy, thoughtful songs. At the time his records came out (in the early ‘70s), he wasn’t for me. The music was too breathy and jazzy. I liked my singers a bit more nasal, like Dylan and Lennon and Barrett, with that acid clang in the guitars. That sort of spangle. Drake had a bit of a soft edge. Then someone gave me a tape of his music in 1990, and I started listening again. (R.E.M.’s) Peter Buck kept telling me (Drake’s) ‘Pink Moon’ is the scariest song ever written. I was drawn in.”

Hitchcock on drugs: “I took LSD a couple times, but I knew had to be careful. I never surrendered to it. By that time, 1973 or so, I could see what LSD had done to and for the artists I loved. I avoided it through the same self-preservation instinct that has keep from being in the top 20. I’m a cagey fellow. I like to have control over my life, and where my life is. Extreme fame is like extreme drugs -- you can’t control it anymore. I don’t want to come across as a crushingly sober individual, I’ve had far from a temperate life. But I knew I wasn’t going to write those (druggy) songs, I was too late. I do maintain I was the last one to hatch from that era. I popped out and said, ‘Where is everyone?’ ”

Tour dates: http://www.joeboyd.co.uk/

Syd Barrett: The king of freak London

2011-03-11T01:48:00.000-08:00

Friday, 4 May 2007

Legendary rock producer and contemporary Joe Boyd remembers vividly the impact Pink Floyd's Syd Barrett made in 1966

In September 1965, Allen Ginsberg stole the show at the Poetry Olympics at the Albert Hall. The following spring, rumours began to reach London (via antennae in Indica Books) of Ken Kesey's Acid Tests in San Francisco and New York's Lower East Side heroes the Fugs. Month-old copies of the Village Voice carried reviews of underground films by Jack Smith and Jonas Mekas while Situationist happenings occurred in Paris and the drugged and bearded Provos emerged as a political force on the Amsterdam city council.

London had its creative eccentrics, but its primary function in the coming revolution seemed to be as a hub of communication. Extraordinary characters stopped over in London on their way from Paris to Ireland, New York to Morocco or San Francisco to Delhi. The central drama of Don't Look Back is Dylan's visit to London. London, after all, had The Beatles and the Stones and mini-skirts and Kings Road, all well-established and profitable "overground" phenomena. While new, drugs-and-politics-fuelled energy was bursting forth all over the world in the summer of 1966, there was no sign that London's own revolution would be anything special: the excitement, so far, was imported.

Then, in late August, came stirrings in London W11. All accounts of London's "psychedelic underground" start with the Powis Square benefits for the London Free School. The lights, the music, the atmosphere, the Notting Hill freaks, the drugs, Pink Floyd on stage, the dancing... Suddenly, there was a focus, a regular event to talk about, to look forward to, to compare with other events. The ripples of joy that spread through W11 in its wake were palpable. We had lift-off!

The joy lasted just under a year. There are many analyses of the causes of the rise and fall of Freak London during those 11 months and some have much to recommend them. Around the same time as the Stones bust, for example, John Hopkins, editor of International Times, co-proprietor of UFO Club and inspirational figure, was jailed for eight months, plunging most of us - to say nothing of Hoppy himself - into a gloom that took a long time to lift. Weekend hippies began to outnumber the original Freaks at concerts and demonstrations. But those months also mark the arc of Syd Barrett's journey across the London sky. When he retreated into incomprehensible silence, the joy came to an end.

That's way too pat, you're thinking. Too sentimental, too convenient in the week leading up to a Tribute To Syd concert at the Barbican. But let's look more closely at the music that inspired that magical year. The kind of extended improvisations for which the Pink Floyd were famous can be - and usually are - tedious beyond bearing. But if the guitar player at the heart of it is a genuinely original player and if the jumping-off point is a jaunty, slightly demented English music-hall melody, those trippy excursions into the abstract become something else entirely.

"A movement is accomplished in six stages/And the seventh brings return."

Where did that melody come from? It has nothing to do with The Beatles, nothing to do with The Stones or Dylan or anything else afoot in pop music in 1966. It was so surprising - it made a roomful of stoned kids look up and grin, first at the stage, then at each other.

Light shows were central to what happened that year. In the colourful gloom the four members of Pink Floyd were so serious, so self-effacing, as they stared down at their instruments while blobs of light bubbled and covered the stage, you could barely make out any individual features. But there is nothing remarkable about hiding in the murky light unless the audience is trying to pierce it and see someone's face. Syd's sparkling eyes always shone in the murk. Self-effacement was fascinating when the singer was that beautiful.

That year may have marked the birth of a counterculture in which the usual ambitions of capitalism were forsworn, but the London Free School, International Times and the UFO Club were full of driven hustlers, schemers and dreamers. I know - I was one of them. Desires and urgencies surged through the crowds at concerts, even amidst the tripped-out and genuinely loving currents that passed through everyone. Underneath, Syd could have been the most ambitious of us all but he never showed it. His unconcern was the hurricane's eye around which the storm generated such powerful winds. The brilliance of his songs, thrown almost casually into our midst, gave us the confidence to create what we did. We knew the music we were dancing to was world class.

Without Syd, we would have been a colony of the American Cultural Revolution. With him, a new world of unabashedly English music was born, owing almost nothing to the blues that Pink Anderson and Floyd Council had sung in 1930s South Carolina, the blues that had inspired almost all of British pop music up until the spring of 1967.

On 10 May, a diverse group of singers and musicians will pay tribute to Syd. They - the list currently includes Chrissie Hynde, Vashti Bunyan, Kevin Ayers, Mike Heron, Robyn Hitchcock and others we're not allowed to mention - will sing songs from all of Syd's "periods". Many have gravitated towards the "later" songs from the (for me) hard-to-bear solo albums. On those CDs, you hear a damaged man, but you also hear great songs. When did he write them? I sat next to him in the winter of 1966 in his manager's flat as he sang song after song, explaining that the group couldn't use them all and maybe I knew someone else who would like to record them? All appear on the solo albums.

The great bassist Danny Thompson is eloquent in his ridicule of the praise and honours that fall to the recently deceased. "What about when he was alive?" But when Syd was alive, paying homage seemed like an intrusion. Besides, we have to be honest: profits will go to a charity chosen by Syd's family, but we're really doing this to remind ourselves how important he was to us, how beloved he was and how things wouldn't be the same if he hadn't written his curious, oh-so-English songs.

"You're the kind of girl that fits into my world/I'll give you anything everything if you want things."

"If you want things." No American could have written that.

We're stuck with our desires, our all-too-linear ambitions and our compulsion to file greatness in its proper place. If we're very lucky, on 10 May, we'll catch a bit of the off-hand breeze kicked up by Syd's hurricane 40 years ago.

"I know a room of musical tunes/Some rhyme some ching."

Take a couple if you wish, they're on the dish.

Syd Barrett - Madcap's Last Laugh, Barbican, London EC2 (020-7638 8891), 10 May
_______________________________________________________________________________

Now here's a couple of links to see how it was ))) A lo-ve-ly rendition of Emily, hopefully it will remove the cover by Bowie from my memory that seemed to have stuck in my mind as a piece of .... well, don't blame me!

Shaky but lovely vid of Arnold Lane by Dave, Nick and Rick. Was he late with delivery of the first line?...or maybe it was just a poor sound.

Waters' surprise appearance:

A rather horrendous video of Bike's cover

Piper at the Gates of Dawn - Original Pressing

2011-03-07T13:58:00.000-08:00

Check out these shots of the a super rare Russian Piper at the Gates of Dawn and Saucerful of Secrets double LP. The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn/A Saucerful Of Secrets (Rare 1992 Russian Direct Metal Mastering red label eighteen-track two-LP set, gatefold picture sleeve with Russian text & discography on rear.

The Piper at the Gates of Dawn
1. Astronomy Domine
2. Lucifer Sam
3. Matilda Mother
4. Flaming
5. Pow R Toc H
6. Take up thy Stethoscope and Walk
7. Interstellar Overdrive
8. Gnome
9. Chapter 24
10. Scarecrow
11. Bike

A Saucerful of Secrets
1. Let There be More Light
2. Remember a day
3. Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun
4. Corporal Clegg
5. Saucerful of Secrets
6. See Saw
7. Jugband Blues

Pink Floyd London Free School

2011-03-04T19:44:00.000-08:00

PINK FLOYD LONDON FREE SCHOOL STUFF:

March, 1966 saw the founding of the London Free School, a kind of underground Citizen's Advice Bureau and loose-knit quasi-university started by London School of Economics lecturer Peter Jenner and freelance photographer John "Hoppy" Hopkins. An eclectic group of students, activists, poets, musicians, and would-be hippies, they met informally in the basement of 26 Powis Terrace, in Notting Hill.

The London Free School was a community action adult education project inspired by American free universities (and the Victorian Jewish Free School in Spitalfields). The organisers have been described as an ‘anarchic temporary coalition’ of the old guard New Left and CND housing activists from the Rachman days and the new beatnik/hippy generation. The former included George Clark of the Notting Hill Community Workshop, Richard Hauser (who ran a community scheme after the 1958 riots), Rhaune and Jim Laslett-O’Brien, Bill Richardson of the Powis and Colville Residents Association, Andre and Barbara Shervington.

To varying degrees of involvement, the hippy contingent numbered John Hopkins, Michael X, Courtney Tulloch (IT), Lloyd Hunter, Peter Jenner (who was just starting to manage Pink Floyd), Joe Boyd of Electra Records and UFO, Andrew King, Michael Horovitz, John Michell, Julie Felix, Jeff Nuttall, Mike McInnerney(Tommy artist), Graham Keen (IT), Neil Oram (The Warp), Dave Tomlin (IT), Felix de Mendelsohn (Children of Albion), Nigel Waymouth of Granny Takes a Trip, John Essam, Alexander Trocchi, the jazz writer Ron Atkins, the Warhol star Kate Heliczer, Harvey Matusow (the McCarthy witchtrials saboteur), R. D. Laing and ‘the Belsize Park shrinks’, Emily Young, Anjelica Huston and Pink Floyd.

According to Jeff Nuttall, ‘Ultimately the Free School did nothing but put out a local underground newsletter and organise the 2 Notting Hill Gate Festivals, which were, admittedly, models of exactly how the arts should operate – festive, friendly, audacious, a little mad and all taking place on demolition sites, in the streets, and in a magnificently institutional church hall.’ Despite this opinion, the formation of 'The Notting Hill Neighbourhood Service'(one of the first centres to offer drugs and legal advice in London),the Notting Hill Carnival,the International Times and the UFO Club all emerged from the brief life of the LFS.

The 1966 Notting Hill Fayre and Pageant, or the London Free School Fair, was a weeklong series of events, following the traditional English carnival format, as more accurately portrayed in the Bedknobs and Broomsticks knees-up than by most Carnival historians. The pageant on Sunday September 18 featured a man dressed as Elizabeth I and children as Charles Dickens characters (pictured on Tavistock Road), ‘musicals’, and a Portobello parade consisting of the London Irish girl pipers, a West Indian New Orleans-style marching band, Ginger Johnson’s Afro-Cuban band, and Russell Henderson’s Trinidadian steelband from the Coleherne pub in Earl’s Court, followed by a fire engine.

Eventually, Jenner's London Free School began publishing a community newsletter, and needed to raise funds to support it. The vicar of the nearby All Saints' Church (in Powis Square--not Powis Gardens, as advertised) allowed community groups to use the church's meeting hall for events, so it was here the London Free School hosted a concert 'happening' called the Sound and Light Workshop. The first such event was on September 30, 1966, and featured a performance by The Pink Floyd. The mimeographed handbills also advertised the light projection slides and 'liquid movies'.

The first Sound and Light Workshop was a success, and it subsequently became a regular Friday-night event, even as the London Free School faded away. The Marquee Club's "Spontaneous Underground" shows in early 1966 may have been the Floyd's first exposure to something approaching steady work, but it was at the All Saints Hall that the band really began to develop a serious following. The group had played there nearly a dozen times by the end of the year.

The All Saints Church Hall concert, was a show performed by the Pink Floyd in September 1966 and it was one of their earliest major concerts. The performance took place as a charity gig in aid of the London Free School and newspaper - International Times. Much of the setlist consisted of material that was never released on either a single or an album. Many of the songs are either bluesy instrumentals, or the Syd Barrett inspired space rock jams such as Interstellar Overdrive. Some of these tracks would later appear on the bands debut album, The Piper at the Gates of Dawn. These concerts would become a mainstay of the bands early gigs, eventually resulting in them becoming the house band.

Setlist:

Pink (unknown)

Give Me A Break (Man) (Bo Diddley)

Stoned Alone (Barrett) (Later became Candy and a Currant Bun)

I Can Tell (Samuel Smith)

The Gnome (Barrett)

Interstellar Overdrive (Barrett, Waters, Wright, Mason)

Lucy Leave (Barrett)

Take Up Thy Stethoscope And Walk (Waters)

Flapdoodle Dealing (unknown)

Snowing (unknown)

Matilda Mother (Barrett)

Pow R. Toc H. (Barrett, Waters, Wright, Mason)

Astronomy Domine (Barrett)

Just as the London Free School first started sponsoring the Sound and Light Workshops in order to fund its community newsletter, UFO was first started to help fund the International Times, which was losing money rapidly. It was the idea of Joe Boyd, a representative of Elektra Records and yet another prominent underground figure, to move the Light and Sound Workshop from All Saints' Hall to a larger downtown space to accommodate the crowds. Boyd and John Hopkins rented a dance hall on Tottenham Court Road called the Blarney for two successive Fridays. "If it works, it works; if it doesn't, its just two gigs," Hopkins told Nicholas Schaffner years later.

As Pink Floyd released their debut album ‘The Piper at the Gates of Dawn’, featuring their All Saints hall set, the Notting Hill People’s Association made the first attempt to forcibly open the gates of the Powis Square gardens; followed up by a direct-action picnic in the Colville Gardens square. During the summer of love, the second Rhaune Laslett ‘Notting Hill Festival’ was incorporated into the Notting Hill Summer Project community workshop. This was a more serious version of the London Free School, organised by the People’s Association in All Saints hall – which became the People’s Centre. The NHPA also produced the longest running local newsletter, the People’s News. The summer of love project mostly consisted of research for George Clark’s housing survey of the Colville and Golborne slum areas, which student volunteers paid to carry out.

Pink Floyd Scarecrow - Rare Swiss 45 rpm!

2011-03-04T06:54:00.000-08:00

Check out this rare Swiss Pink Floyd Scarecrow / See Emily Play 45 rpm. This was some sort of Special Edition. Notice that this disc sports the Columbia imprint and not EMI. Enjoy!

Pink Floyd Piper at the Gates of Dawn Music Mag Advert

2011-03-01T19:33:00.000-08:00

Check out this music magazine advert for Pink Floyd Piper at the Gates of Dawn!

Let us travel back to a time long, long ago. A time before "Dark Side of The Moon" or "The Wall" were even dreamt about. A time when Floyd was not yet known by most people. A time when Syd Barrett was the guiding light to the band. A time before the stadium shows and the screaming fans and the money. 1967's "The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn" is the one that started it all for Pink Floyd, back in the early days when bassist Roger Waters, keyboardist Richard Wright & drummer Nick Mason were led by the genius, but doomed singer/guitarist Syd Barrett. Psychedelic rock doesn't get much more trippier than "Piper," a totally far-out collection of avant-garde space rock, songs about gnomes and scarecrows, off-the-wall production and sound effects, and superb performances by a tight British art-rock band that were destined to become rock legends.

Pink Floyd's debut THE PIPER AT THE GATES OF DAWN really does seem to capture the Zeitgeist of its 1967 release date. As Pink Floyd recorded the album only after a fairly long apprenticeship in London's UFO Club, the album includes complex, sometimes jam-like tracks such as "Astronomy Domine", "Take Up Thy Stethoscope and Walk" and "Interstellar Overdrive", the last one of the true synth rock efforts. On the other hand, PIPER features more straightforward pop tunes, whose psychedelic nature comes from Syd Barrett's bizarre lyrics which find delight in housecats ("Lucifer Sam"), gnomes, and bicycles. This mix of awe of the infinite and a childlike naivete will be familiar to anyone with completely spaced out acquaintances.

Although he made one last "cameo" appearance with the Floyd on their second album, "A Saucerful Of Secrets" with that album's closing number, "Jugband Blues," the lion's share of Syd Barrett's legacy with the band is all contained right here on "Piper," barring a few early singles. Writing all but one song, and, with a charismatic singing voice and incredible guitar-playing skills, Barrett was truly a musical genius, and his equally-talented bandmates match him song for song.

Every track on the album is a highlight in it's own right, but certainly worth mentioning are such tracks as the opening space rock of "Astronomy Domine," the before-there-was-alternative alternative rock of "Lucifer Sam," the far-out instrumentals "Pow R Toc H" and "Interstellar Overdrive," the frenetic rock of "Take Up Thy Stethoscope And Walk" (written & sung by Waters, in his debut composition for the band), the charming tale of "The Gnome," and the classic, half children's song/half freak-out finale, "Bike," which starts out cheerily enough before giving way to some deliciously wacko noises and sound effects.Sadly, and tragically, shortly after the release of "Piper," Syd Barrett's experimentations with psychedelic drugs ultimately destroyed him, and he was finally ousted from the band.

Roger Waters more-or-less took over as the group's leader, and Barrett's vacated slot was filled by guitarist David Gilmour. Barrett, despite his drug-addicted state, would record a pair of solo albums before dropping out of the music business altogether. Not well enough to look after himself, he quietly lived in the care of family members until his death in 2006. Pink Floyd, meanwhile, would go on to major superstardom and sell millions of albums, with such classics as "Dark Side Of The Moon," "Wish You Were Here," "Animals" and "The Wall." But "The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn" was the band's very first chapter, and one that would not have been possible without the great Syd Barrett. "Piper" is outstanding psychedelic rock, and a Pink Floyd classic. And thank you, Syd, wherever you are.

Astonomy Domine - N.A.S.A. type radio chatter and effects at the start. Arty lyrics and very English singing. Crisp sound quality, e.g. drums. Unlike Beatles stuff I've heard (pre remasters), there really isn't a issue with the 'faux' stereo...the stereo quality is good to my ears.

Lucifer Sam - bassy, moody organ. Bit menacing. About Syd's cat, presumably. Sort of jaunty track with catty noises on the guitar.

Matilda Mother - features the organ and I don't mind its melody and that of the vocals. Arty/fantasy lyrics...bit obscure. Has some harmonies and some silly sounding high notes one time, but generally the song is pleasant in general at times. At the end, the vocals are percussive.

Pow R. Toc H. - has some experimental percussive vocal noises....kind of like scat. You hear a scream on this song which sounds similar to what Pink Floyd would do later on their classic album "The wall". This is the track which has the faulty mono sounding passage featuring the piano. A misjudgment, in my view. Anyway, the piano sounds jazzy. Features the organ. I don't mind the guitar notes. Has some unintentional distortion...don't think you hear it on the mono version of the album.

Take up thy Stethoscope and Walk - tinny drums open up the track. A jammy type track...listening to the mono version of this song, the jam seemed quite Doorsy...but maybe that should be vice versa. Bassy, with American sounding vocals, perhaps.

Interstellar Overdrive - a 9:40 minute long instrumental. Starts off with a conventional rock sound by the album's standards, then goes jammy...you could view that part as being self-indulgent. At times you hear annoying 'chicken' noises being played on the guitar for a while. Might be glitchy for a bit, a bit before three minutes in, perhaps. Psychedelia. There are some annoying 'widgy widgy' sounds near the end of the track (I mean the sound bouncing from one speaker to the next...trying to sound 'cool' or something). You don't get that schtick on the mono version of the album though.

The Gnome - childish lyrics, whimsical and absurd. Nice strumming and later you hear a xylophone type instrument, I think. Comes across as the kind of song Ringo Starr would have sung with The Beatles.

Chapter 24 - slower track, obscure lyrics. Pretty keyboard playing...bag-pipey at times? There's a little distortion on the left hand side of the speakers.

The Scarecrow - interesting drumming on this track...starts off as a percussive piece with keyboard. The keyboard style reminds me of MGMT's debut album...similarly simple keyboard melodies. More childish type lyrics (you can view these lyrics as being of the sort an adult would read to a very young child). Outro has some symphonic instruments...viola or cello perhaps.

Bike - carnivalesque music with childish lyrics. Pipe-organ features, perhaps. Harpsichord type instrument too. Piano. The chorus seems unrelated to the verses as the verses seem unrelated to each other. As a result, the chorus stands out more. Whereas "Interstellar overdrive" had chicken noises, this song has geese-like noises. The outro is a soundscape.

Fantastic new photo of Syd from March 2011 Record Collector

2011-02-24T08:57:00.001-08:00

Right, I wasn't going to post any photos from this new Barrett book but seeing as there's now a preview feature in the latest 'Record Collector' magazine I couldn't help but post this one here. It's out there now and if I don't post it then someone else will, just a few days down the line no doubt. An AMAZING photo of Syd taken in the garden of 183 Hills Road, Cambridge in the spring of 1964. He's posing with one of his works of art. Shame it's not in colour though! And this particular art work is now lost, presumably destroyed by Syd himself. There's a few other photos in this article that are brand new to me but I'm not gong to post them or EVEN scan them in. Get the magazine and see for yourself. And if Mr Beecher would prefer it if I removed this photo from this blog, by all means let me know and I shall do it. It's a great advert for your book though isn't it, the people that count are going to see this, and it could tempt them into paying out for a copy. Imagine that though, this image has been laying in drawer or photo album somewhere unseen by the great unwashed (me AND you!) for the last 47 years! Kudos to the authors for digging it up.

Photo taken by John Gordon.

Pink Floyd Hippy Happy Fair Poster 1967! RARE!

2011-02-16T12:33:00.000-08:00

Check out this, rare-as-hen's-teeth, Pink Floyd Hippy Happy poster from 1967. This was immortalized as the "Oude Ahoy Tape". My friend, Dave Lawrence, owns this poster. Here is what he says about it:

"Ok...well there are only 4 of these in the world...this one was on display in a Dutch Museum, though it's now in my living room. Hendrix, Floyd (with Syd Barrett), and the Bee Gees...1967 Rotterdam. I've turned down $10,000 for it.?

Pink Floyd
1967-11-13
Hippy Happy Fair
Oude Ahoy, Rotterdam, Netherlands

1)Reaction in G - Another take on this instrumental freakout. It's not really the same as the other version. While the band mix is better here, the take from the other concert is more frantic and energetic. I like that one better.

2)POW R TOC H - Another instrumental improv also found in a studio version on "The Piper at the Gates of Dawn". This one just continues the drug fueled craziness started by the previous song.

3)Scream Thy Last Scream" - Another live take of this unrealeased track. Unfortunately, this one also suffers from low vocals. Very similar to the previous version. While the music is solid, a sense of "listening disappointment" still lingers due to the lack of vocals.

4)Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun - Atmosphere galore!!! Waters vocals are audible and clear - the clearest on the entire disc. Great to hear these later "Syd era" Pink Floyd tracks performed live.

5)Interstellar Overdrive - A fitting and logical end to this crazy show. A long instrumental jam to bring the house down. Wow, the irony of these two rarities featuring the "live" Syd is that we hardly get to hear him sing a note!!! Oh well, let the music do the talking...

To read more about this show please CLICK HERE.

PINK FLOYD STAR PAYS TREATMENT FEES OF HACKER IN US TRIAL FIGHT

2011-02-15T06:38:00.000-08:00

ROCK legend David Gilmour is paying the psychiatric care bills of computer hacker Gary McKinnon who is fighting extradition to the US.

Treatment paid for by a north London primary care trust stopped last month because of NHS cutbacks.

But the Pink Floyd guitarist, who supports mental health campaigns, has stepped in to pay for the sessions with Asperger’s syndrome expert Professor Jeremy Turk.

Mr McKinnon, 45, is about to enter his ninth year of fighting US attempts to jail him for up to 60 years.

He admits hacking into Pentagon and Nasa computers in 2001 and 2002 for information on UFOs.

But the US government says he posed a serious risk to national defence and want him to stand trial.

His mother, Janis, said: “When I heard about the funding for Gary’s psychiatrist suddenly being refused I was incredibly worried.

“What will happen to other people with psychiatric problems if their funding is cut off?

“David and his wife Polly and Polly’s brother Joe are really good people. They never publicise the good things they do behind the scenes. They just do it and we’re so grateful for that.”

While the legal battle continues, Janis has disclosed confidential medical information which suggests Gary showed signs of mental disorder as a teenager.

A history of mental illness in the family will be used to argue that he should not go on trial in America.

Mr McKinnon’s great-grandmother, Christina Macleod, was committed to a mental hospital in Scotland, where she remained for more than 50 years up until her death aged 95. His grandmother, Margaret Totten, who died in 1999, suffered from depression and was treated for schizophrenia. Patients with Asperger’s or autism have been wrongly diagnosed as having schizophrenia.

Mrs McKinnon said: “This proves that mental illness in Gary’s family goes back generations and that Gary had existing mental health difficulties.”

Professor Turk and another expert, Professor Declan Murphy, have both said that suicide would be an inevitability were Gary to be extradited.

Banners for 'Barrett' book.

2011-02-14T08:02:00.000-08:00

2 interesting images here for the new book that's about to come out. Kiloh didn't seem too keen on getting one yet, I had some spare cash though just before Christmas and have already paid for mine. So as soon as I get my copy I shall be reviewing it here. I was a bit wary earlier when images were released of some of the pages being printed. The number of already seen images was a bit too much for my liking, but these 2 new shots here have renewed my enthusiasm. I now can't wait to get my copy. I mean, who cares if some of the images have been printed before? By all accounts, the image quality will blow away anything we've seen before.



Anyone place this photo of Syd used here? Or is it one of the new photos they've uncovered? I think it's a new one.


This is definitely a new photo, obviously taken in a photo booth. Both these photos look like they are of GREAT quality, like they could have been taken yesterday. Can't wait to see what the book's like.

I will keep you updated with any developments via this page and look out for my review of 'Barrett' when it finally gets released.

I'm not RICH so I will only be reviewing the 'PAUPERS' edition, my pocket won't stretch to the 'MORE MONEY THAN SENSE' edition. Though if someone from the publishers wants to send me a review copy then I'll be more than happy to have a REALLY quick flick through it and write a few words on 'ere about it!

;p (though the book will, unfortunately, be unreturnable!!)

Pink Floyd San Francisco 1967 - KPFA Benefit Show, Fillmore Auditorium

2011-02-11T19:32:00.000-08:00

Check out this original/first print, Pink Floyd San Francisco 1967, poster that was used to promote a benefit for KPFA radio in San Francisco. This was advertised as a Halloween Costume Ball, and took place October 30, 1967 at the historic Fillmore Auditorium, featuring Pink Floyd, Sopwith Camel, Collectors & The Incredible Fish. This poster is in its uncut form and measures 20 1/4" x 28 1/2".

Please read more about the famous KPFA radio station by clicking the handbill image, for the same gig, below this.

New 'Top Of The Pops' photos

2011-02-10T01:49:00.001-08:00

Syd Barrett Asperger Syndrome?

2011-02-08T05:51:00.000-08:00

Syd Barrett Asperger syndrome?

The Interesting Case of Syd Barrett - by Lili Marlene

For a number of years I have had fun maintaining and adding to my list of famous people who are, or were, or perhaps were, or perhaps are, on the autistic spectrum. What an fascinating bunch of people! It is a list full of genius, brilliance, eccentricity and original vision. For a long time I've been aware that the enigmatic Syd Barrett of Pink Floyd fame has been identified by some as an autist, but till recently I hadn't realized how widespread this speculation has been. I was intrigued when I recently read his sister's description of Barrett's synaesthesia. I was excited when I found a different description of Barrett's synaesthesia in another publication, from a different source. I knew this could be an effect of drugs, but I also know that there is quite a lot of overlap between my list of famous autists and my other list of famous synaesthetes.
To be honest, I hadn't been in a hurry to include Barrett in my list of famous autists, because his story is so often characterized as a sudden and tragic decline of a charming and extroverted young man into madness and a reclusive lifestyle, and autism just isn't like this. Autism and Asperger syndrome are not types of mental illness, they are more correctly categorized as disabilities that can have positive features, or valuable forms of human diversity. As far as I know, autistic spectrum conditions do not cause any sudden decline in sanity or functioning. These conditions are detectable from early childhood, probably having their origins before birth, and are highly genetically determined. The Syd Barrett story appeared to be a story about bad things that aren't autism. But, I was also aware that intelligent, talented young people who have AS can start out in life looking as though they have the world at their feet, then in their later years end up living as recluses who take a very dim view of human nature.

I am aware that some other synaesthetes might be irritated to discover that Syd Barrett has been identified as a synesthete, for a number of reasons. Firstly, there are anecdotes (not many) in which synaesthesia has been misdiagnosed as psychosis or schizophrenia. This possibility is a thing that concerns many synaesthetes, and this is one reason why many synaesthetes will not mention or discuss their synaesthesia. One can imagine that a type of synesthesia such as coloured hearing or coloured music could be misunderstood as visual hallucination. So you can understand that some synaesthetes might be irritated to read that a famous person with the nickname "crazy diamond" experienced synaesthesia. Another reason why some synaesthetes might not be pleased to see Barrett identified as a synaesthete is that many of us are fed up with the joking about LSD and drugs that we often receive when we tell others about our sensory experiences. Synaesthetes are sometimes accused of being closet drug users by very rude and ignorant people. I have been unable to clarify whether any of Barrett's reported synaesthesia was experienced during periods in his life when he was known to have been not using LSD. His synaesthesia could have been nothing more notable than a drug side-effect, which would mean he was not necessarily a natural synaesthete born with an unusual brain. But considering Barrett's early creative talent, his many eccentricities and problems, I believe his brain must have been something exceptional.

Another reason why I wasn't jumping to include Barrett in my lists was my fear that if I started researching an outline of his life, I would find the subject so complex and mysterious that I would become hopelessly bogged down, ploughing through books over a span of weeks or months. That is exactly what has happened.

Syd Barrett's real name was Roger Barrett, and he used his real name for much of his life, which started in 1946 and ended in 2006. He was an English songwriter, singer, guitarist and visual artist, best known as a founding member and songwriter of the psychedelic rock band Pink Floyd. Barrett's membership of the band finished after repeated failure to perform during concerts. He had been the main songwriter. Barrett withdrew from public life, but released two solo albums in 1970, full of strange and unforgettable tunes with nonsense lyrics. Pink Floyd went on to become massively popular and commercially successful, their style evolving towards progressive rock, a popular musical genre that would enable millions of dim young men with limited prospects to experience the feeling of intellectual exhilaration without the necessity to read, learn or do anything much. Syd/Roger Barrett lived an apparently simple and solitary life, receiving royalty payments, until he died in 2006, leaving an estate worth over 1.5 million pounds to his siblings. His access to spending money had been controlled by his family (Willis 2002 p. 143). There has been much speculation about why Barrett ceased to be a member of Pink Floyd, withdrew from the public eye, shunned his own fans, left behind the nickname that he had never himself used or liked, and disconnected his home's door bell.

The most established explanation, that he developed schizophrenia as the result of the heavy use of LSD, is the least likely explanation, for many different reasons. Firstly, it appears that there is little or no scientific evidence that LSD causes schizophrenia (or any other serious mental illness). Medical researchers have found a link between cannabis use and schizophrenia, mediated by genetics, and some people have identified dope smoking as the cause of, or trigger for, Barrett's problems, but this cannot be proven. There is also evidence that long-term use of cannabis can cause cognitive deficits, which no one needs. But we needn't bother ourselves with speculation about what might have caused this supposed case of schizophrenia in the absence of any evidence that Barrett had schizophrenia at all. I have not come across any evidence that Barrett suffered from any of the characteristic features of schizophrenia such as delusions or auditory hallucinations ("hearing voices"). In all of the books and articles that have been written about Barrett and Pink Floyd, where is there any description of any irrational belief system, schizophrenic "word salad" or the wearing of any tin foil hat? Pink Floyd members reportedly claimed that Barrett was unusual before he started using drugs heavily (Pareles 2006), undermining the theory that Barrett was a regular guy driven insane by drugs. In addition to an absence of evidence of schizophrenia, there is positive evidence that Barrett did not have schizophrenia. One is obliged to take seriously Barrett's sister's claim that Barrett was examined by psychiatrists and found to be not insane (Titchmarsh 2007). According to the Willis biography Barrett was never sectioned and was never given a diagnosis nor medication by the psychiatric profession, except for the drug "Largactyl" (Largactil?) following two extreme fits of anger, a situation that would not be inconsistent with an autistic condition. Largactil/Chlorpromazine is a drug that has a number of psychiatric and medical indications, including the short-term management of aggressive or severe anxiety episodes, treatment for amphetamine overdose, schizophrenia, hiccups and tetanus. It was once incorrectly believed to be an antidote to LSD.

Barrett had issues but he wasn't schizophrenic or insane. Pink Floyd member Roger Waters is a prominent exponent of the theory of Barrett as a schizophrenic, and this idea has been an inspiration for some Pink Floyd songs. I personally find it disturbing that one can still find many references to Barrett's mythological schizophrenia in books and articles in print and on the internet, and also in filmed interviews. I am sure that if I were to describe the late New Zealander novelist Janet Frame as a schizophrenic author I would promptly have Frame's fans and family's disapproval coming down on my head like a ton of bricks, but all and sundry feel free to apply to the late Mr Barrett a psychiatric label which qualified psychiatrists apparently decided was not correct.

Schizophrenia isn't the only type of mental illness that has been suggested as a diagnosis for Barrett. Bipolar has apparently been suggested as an explanation for Barrett's withdrawal, but I have not found any document outlining this theory. One friend of Barrett's has been quoted as saying "It always felt to me as if he'd fallen into a depression more than anything." (Blake 2007 p. 142). Former band-mate David Gilmour put forward a theory that a combination of epilepsy induced by strobe stage lighting and drugs altered Barrett's mental health (Geiger 2006). A similar fanciful theory involving mescaline and strobe lighting has been put forward (Miles 2006 p. 107-108). Some have argued that Barrett simply had a breakdown due to stress. Biographer Tim Willis has described Barrett's period of withdrawal as ".. an extended nervous breakdown exacerbated by his drug intake .." (Willis 2002). Willis drove home the point that Barrett had been under great pressure from 1965-1972 by including a detailed schedule of Barrett's concert and studio work during this period, as an appendix to the biography. Barrett developed some chronic medical illnesses later in life and died prematurely of cancer at the age of 60. I thought the speculations about the cause of Barrett's breakdown and withdrawal on page 139 of the Watkinson and Anderson biography Crazy diamond were insightful. They wrote about Barrett's belief in total freedom, the loss of his father in his early teens, the easy access to drugs and girls, and his lack of discipline. The teens and early twenties are a period of life when young people need to master important skills, continue to exercise self-control and find a sustainable role within society. Failure to achieve these things is a personal disaster.

I am surprised that I have not come across any argument for ADHD as an explanation for Barrett's problems and childhood oddities, considering his lifelong history of "hyperactive" behaviour, minor conduct problems as a child, his creative gifts contrasting with mediocre academic achievement and his drug-taking behaviour that could be interpreted as irresponsible or impulsive.

One could also speculate that Barrett could possibly have been an intellectually gifted underachiever. I have not been able to find any information about any IQ or scholastic testing or scores. His mother has been criticised for giving him the idea that he was some type of genius. Many would argue that this label was appropriate, considering his creative legacy. The literature about the educational needs of gifted children tells us that gifted kids who are not properly identified, not appropriately educated, or who have hidden learning problems, are at risk of developing self-defeating patterns of behaviour or mental illness, and can become deliberate trouble-makers.

All sources agree that Barrett was a heavy user of illicit drugs when he was young. Later in life he was a cigarette smoker, a chain smoker according to the Watkinson and Anderson biography. He used LSD in the 1960s, but how much is a matter for debate. Heroin is a possibility. Biographer Tim Willis has described Barrett as ".. a fanatical dope-smoker - day and night, year in, year out .." (Willis 2002). Barrett also used the sedative hypnotic drug Mandrax, which was popular as a recreational drug in the late 1960s to early 1970s because it could be used to bring about a state of waking trance, and it was also thought to have aphrodisiac effects. It is easy to imagine how a combination of a pressured work life and illicit drug use could lead to burnout, breakdown or a complete lack of functioning. We are left with the question of why Barrett chose to be a heavy drug user. If a mental health issue was a part of the Barrett story, it could have been a motivation for, rather than the effect of, illicit drug use. Autistic people are particularly vulnerable to anxiety-related disorders, stress, depression and "nervous breakdowns". This could explain why Barrett might have been unable to cope with the same work pressures that his band-mates apparently were able to cope with.

For a long time there has been speculation that Barrett was autistic (Gallo 2006). Willis described Barrett's mind as "... extraordinary ... bordering on the autistic or Aspergic." (Willis 2006). Barrett had talent in the areas of visual art and music, two in a group of talents that are characteristic of the autistic-type mind, and these talents were evident early in life (Barrett learned piano at the age of 8). Barrett could be described as creatively gifted. People who have Asperger syndrome (AS) typically develop a strong, sustained interest in a narrow, unusual subject or interest, and the primary or only motivation is enjoyment or curiosity. Barrett's sister Rosemary has described his interest in Byzantine art "...it was an enormous interest of his and he said it was going to be a book but it was really just a collection of dates and facts that interested him." (Titchmarsh 2007). This project was pursued "purely for his own enjoyment" (Willis 2002 p. 144). It is also worth noting that his painting from his school years to late in his life was done to please himself (Chapman 2010 p.8).

Autism is an inherited condition, and Barrett had many personality traits in common with his father, and some could be interpreted as autistic traits. His pathologist father was also a painter in his spare time and also had a great love of music. Like his son, Dr Barrett enjoyed learning about a subject in great depth, gaining an expert's knowledge of fungi and cot death syndrome (Miles 2006). Fitting the stereotype of a father of an autistic child, he had a scientific/technical career and spent little time alone with his kids (Miles 2006), but according to Barrett's sister, Barrett and his father "... had a sort of unique closeness." (Manning & Dodd 2006, p. 10). In Watkinson's biography of Barrett, an "... exceptionally warm personality" (Watkinson & Anderson 1993 p.13) is cited as a characteristic that father and son had in common, which does go against the stereotype of the cold autist. One would expect family members who are both on the spectrum might have a special empathy, so it was probably a terrible loss for Barrett when his father died of cancer when Roger was only 16. Perhaps it is notable that both father and son died prematurely from cancer.

Two (probably related) characteristics of Syd/Roger Barrett's strike me as particularly compelling evidence of autism; his apparently decades-long habit of bouncing, and his toe-walking during adulthood. Barrett bounced on the balls of his feet during his high school years, a habit that persisted into adulthood (Miles 2006) and Willis has described finding Barrett bouncing on the balls of his feet when he answered his door, at some time during the last years of his life (Willis 2002). Long-term girlfriend Libby Gausden persuaded Barrett to stop bouncing for a while (Willis 2002 p. 45), but that did not last, and neither did the relationship. Numerous mentions of Barrett's bouncing and odd gait can be found in books about Pink Floyd and Barrett. The first-hand description of Barrett's strange walking (in a public place) on page 154 of the Watkinson and Anderson biography by makes it clear to the reader that Barrett was a fundamentally unusual man. Autistic people often have the habit of rocking or jumping about, not just once in a while, but a habit that can last years or even a lifetime. Even the most intelligent and accomplished autists can have such habits - Bill Gates is almost as famous for his leaping as he is famous for his extreme wealth. There is some evidence that Barrett’s unusual habit of bouncing on the balls of his feet while walking might have had advantages over the normal way that people walk and run. A study reported in New Scientist in January 2010 has found that running on the balls of the feet instead of the heels has much less physical impact on the feet, and two-thirds of endurance runners who habitually run barefoot run on the balls of their feet. Barrett was probably barefoot more often than is usual while growing up, because shoes do not accommodate toe-walking.

Toe walking is common during early childhood, but if a child walks on their toes past the age of three years, a medical evaluation is recommended. Toe walking can be a sign of a number of different conditions and illnesses, including autism. In Mark Blake's book about Pink Floyd a person who had seen Barrett in his pre and post decline periods was quoted as saying ".. he was still walking on his tip toes, in the way that he did." (Blake 2007 p. 223). A description of Barrett standing on tip toes, from another associate of Barrett's, can be found on page 30. Toe walking could have been one reason why Barrett had the habit of wearing shoes without socks or laces, sometimes wearing no shoes at all. Toe walking might have damaged his footwear - he was known for wearing elastic bands to hold his boots on after the zippers broke. These habits dated back to his school days. Another odd habit of Barrett's that could be interpreted as a sign of autism was wearing minimal clothing during all seasons, as reported by neighbours (Willis 2002 p. 12). He was apparently not troubled by cold temperatures. Willis has described Barrett answering his front door wearing only underwear. Asperger syndrome (AS) expert Dr Tony Attwood has described people with AS who wear clothing that is not typical for the season as appearing to have "... an idiosyncratic internal thermostat." (Attwood 2007).

During his teenage years Barrett constructed (beautifully) some tetrahedrons from balsa wood, which he hung from the ceiling of his room. This precise and geometrical teenage craft creativity is interestingly similar to one childhood hobby of Prof. Richard Borcherds, winner of a Fields Medal for mathematics, who was identified by autism expert Prof. Baron-Cohen as a person who had AS but was not dysfunctional enough to meet the official diagnostic criteria for AS (Baron-Cohen 2003). In his school years Borcherds had constructed hundreds of unique polyhedra which he hung from ceilings throughout his parents' house (Baron-Cohen 2003 p. 161-162). A tetrahedron is a type of polyhedron. Professor Baron-Cohen would probably classify this hobby of polyhedron construction as an example of systemizing behaviour. Baron-Cohen has argued that autistic people are hyper-systemizers. This hobby is precise and mathematical, and there is an element of experimentation, because one explores the relationship between two-dimensional shapes and three-dimensional shapes. Decades later in 1996 Barrett's nephew revealed in an interview that Barrett was exploring geometric and repetitive patterns similar to tiles or weaving in his painting (Willis 2002 p. 144) (interview also available online at Dolly Rocker), a continuation of an artistic theme explored in his youth.

Barrett's polyhedra and geometric painting were not the only examples of systemizing behaviour that Barrett displayed. His experimentation and innovation with musical sound effects was also a form of systemizing. Barrett got novel sounds out of his guitar using ball bearings and a cigarette lighter. His music often featured sounds played backwards. He recorded the sound of a motorbike with the intention of using it in music, and I recall reading about Barrett experimenting with the sound of a clock ticking under water. Barrett was reportedly a pioneer in using a gadget called the Binson Echorette to produce echo effects with his guitar (Watkinson & Anderson 2006 p. 50). One might think that songwriting is a purely creative activity for which there can be no system or set rules, but Barrett's ingenious songwriting system ("structure") is described in Willis's biography. Barrett displayed a more conventional systemizing talent at the age of 15 by building his own amplifier. Systemizers love gadgets, and Barrett was no exception. The biography by Watkinson and Anderson details Barrett's extravagant fascinations with collecting guitars and state-of-the-art television sets during the 1970s. Chapmans’s book Syd Barrett: a very irregular head gives a hint that Barrett might have had the long attention-span that is characteristic of autism – when he visited great art galleries with his girlfriend “he would sit for hours looking at one painting” rather than hang out with interesting people in the cafeteria (Chapman 2010 p. 44). While a lack of verbal ability is not a part of Barrett’s popular image, some accounts hint that he had some problems with verbal expression. Barrett’s nephew Ian Barrett described his uncle taking a long time to describe things in a very precise way (Chapman 2010 p. 366), a trait which apparently runs in the family. Barrett’s sister Rosemary theorized in the same book that because Barrett lived such a solitary life during his later years with no one to speak to, he got out of the habit of speaking and lost verbal ability (Chapman 2010 p. 377).

Reading books about Barrett, one could easily get the impression that his youth was just one big party, but Mark Blake's book about Pink Floyd gives descriptions from two different sources of Barrett's habit of disappearing from or avoiding social occasions which he was expected to attend, without any explanation. He would sometimes bore his girlfriend by taking her for drives to look at landscapes rather than going to parties as planned. Another friend has described how Barrett could "... suddenly withdraw from everything" despite having a great sense of humour (Blake 2007 p. 30). This type of behaviour is consistent with Asperger syndrome. According to some sources quoted by Blake there was also a distance between Barrett and his band-mates, one source saying he thought Barrett was an outsider within Pink Floyd (Blake 2007 p. 78). This is supported by quotes from the biography by Watkinson and Anderson "There was no togetherness because they were always backing musicians to Syd and not a group." (p. 89). In light of this revelation, one does not need to believe in the myth that Barrett was insane to find an explanation for why the other members of Pink Floyd might have wanted to exclude him from their musical group. In Blake's book one can find an anecdote about Barrett refusing, without explanation, to board a bus with other students for an art school excursion (p.25). Asperger syndrome could also explain this behaviour. The noise, smell and crowding of buses and public transport can be a real challenge for autistic people who have sensory hypersensitivity. Further support for the argument that Barrett had difficulty dealing with gatherings of people can be found in the Willis biography and in the interview with Barrett's nephew which can be viewed at the web site Dolly Rocker. It is asserted that Barrett had avoided houseguests by staying in a basement during the 1970s and in the 1990s was still "unable to cope with large gatherings". Rob Chapman’s 2010 book about Barrett gives a complex account of Barrett in social life. One source claiming Barrett was independent socially, getting around but not settling with any particular group. Another source gives an account of Barrett as very choosey about his friends and untrusting, but not without friends. Another source described Barrett as kind, generous and sensitive but also in a world of his own.

Some features of Barrett's behaviour relevant to communication have been cited as evidence of mental illness. These include being verbally uncommunicative, a stare that frightened people and a lack of facial expression; "Trying to talk to him was like trying to talk to a brick wall because his face was so expressionless." (Willis 2002 p. 77). It has also been observed that Barrett's style of communication was of making statements rather than normal conversation, and was strange and fragmented (Willis 2002). A lack of eye contact in noted on page 163 of the Watkinson and Anderson biography. All of these characteristics can be found in people who are autistic. If a person's body language changes, becoming less expressive than before, this could be a sign of mental illness. It could also be the result of an autistic person deciding to stop "acting normal".

There is another characteristic of Barrett's that could be found from his childhood to adulthood that I believe is typical of an autistic personality. Barrett had a great attachment to his home. He has been described as a recluse in his later years, but homebody tendencies were evident as early as his school years, when he would disappear from cross-country running to create paintings at home, and his home's back garden was also his preferred venue for painting during his art school years. There is an anecdote about Barrett walking to Cambridge (his home town) from London, and one friend of Barrett's believed he was out of his comfort zone whenever he was outside of Cambridge. One's home is (or at least should be) a place that offers security, quiet, privacy and protection from unwanted interruptions and intrusions, and these are things that many autistic people have a special need for. Homes and home towns are also places where we can reconnect with memories that reinforce our sense of personal identity, and this can be a comforting thing in a hostile and chaotic world. Some of the most ugly anecdotes about Barrett's behaviour, times when he was clearly very troubled or violent, happened when he was using drugs and also sharing accommodation with a number of other people.

Although media reports almost always describe Barrett as a case of mental illness, his sister claimed he was never mentally ill, but never fitted the norm either. According to Rosemary he spent some time in an institution (but was given no treatment), and was assessed a number of times by psychiatrists over the years and was found to be unusual but not insane (Titchmarsh 2007). Being labelled as mad by ordinary people but pronounced sane by qualified psychiatrists is an experience reported by some adults who have Asperger syndrome. Rosemary quoted in Chapman’s 2010 book about Barrett claimed that “personality disorder” was a label that was given to Barrett after his stay in an institution (Chapman 2010 p. 361). This is the type of label that was given to some autistic adults before Asperger syndrome was recognized.

A lot of evidence can be found to support the autism explanation, but there are some elements of Barrett's life story that could be seen as incompatible with this explanation. I have found anecdotes in which Barrett compared his own social status with that of John Lennon, whose career was more established. This seems very contrary to the lack of concern for social status that is thought to be typical of autists. One could instead interpret Barrett's comparisons as evidence of role model copying, which is a rather desperate strategy used by some autists to deal with the social side of life. As a child Barrett has been described as an extroverted, gregarious joker. He did well in the Boy Scouts, rising to the level of Patrol Leader. Young Roger/Syd excelled in public speaking, poetry reading and played the lead in school plays (Miles 2006). He avoided potential trouble with teachers with smiles and jokes (Miles 2006). This level of ability in social manipulation and personal presentation does not fit the established image of the socially disabled autist. But in contrast, Barrett has also been described as having "... a child-like innocence." (Manning & Dodd 2006 p. 10). Despite his apparent social skills, Barrett was not the perfect child. Despite obvious intelligence his academic achievement in junior school was mediocre, and he was regarded as rebellious student at school and also as a college art student. By all accounts Barrett had a very bad temper. In childhood he was known to break windows and throw rocks at cars when things did not go the way he wanted (Miles 2006). According to an account in Willis' biography, Syd/Roger did not throw rocks alone, so this behaviour could be a reflection of a lack of adult supervision. It is interesting to note that a neighbour of Barrett's during his reclusive years complained that Barrett had a habit of smashing (his own) windows (Sore 2006), so this appears to have been another one of Barrett's almost life-long strange habits. Windows aren't the only parts of homes that Barrett has attacked. In the 1970s he smashed the door of his flat off its hinges, and put his head through a ceiling after a bad review of his last concert. Barrett's life-long capacity for intense anger could be consistent with a condition on the autistic spectrum or possibly epilepsy of the temporal lobes. There is a most striking photograph of Barrett in Blake's book about Pink Floyd. It shows Barrett being "doorstepped" in 2006, wearing minimal clothing, and the look in his dark eyes would have made me step backwards a metre or two. There are many photographs of Barrett from his Pink Floyd years showing eyes that have the most striking expression, perhaps terror, over-stimulation or shell-shock. A Rolling Stone reporter described Barrett's "eyes reflecting a permanent state of shock." (Watkinson & Anderson 2006).

During his teens and early twenties Barrett was involved with a number of girlfriends and affairs (Willis 2002). In addition to these relationships, there was no shortage of groupies hanging around after he became famous. Barrett was very popular with the ladies from his mid-teens till his withdrawal from public life, but it could be a mistake take this as evidence that he had the "social skills" of a normal non-autistic person before his decline. Barrett's good looks, fame and creative intelligence were most likely important elements of his charisma. Surprisingly, one woman who had enjoyed Barrett's company claimed in an interview that Barrett "... wasn't the sort of guy to flirt." (Blake 2007 p. 122). Barrett was a very attentive boyfriend in one of his earlier relationships, but he appeared to place little value on later relationships. He has a deplorable record of smashing up buildings and violence towards girlfriends. There is a theory that autism is an extremely masculinised type of brain. If Barrett was autistic and this theory true, this would mean Barrett would have had very little in common psychologically with the average female, an even greater gulf between him and most women that that between average men and women. This might be the explanation for why Barrett's romantic relationships apparently came to nothing. According to one author, after Barrett broke up with a girl that he had been engaged to, in 1970, there were no more known intimate relationships. Biographers Watkinson and Anderson wrote that one fan of Barrett's who collected Barrett memorabilia was of the opinion that Barrett had at one time had a girlfriend in a relationship that was kept a secret from his family and the media. When speculating about the motivations behind Barrett's choices of lifestyle and behaviour I try to keep in mind the fact that Barrett's finances and contact with the world in general were controlled by his family to a degree that is not clear to me.

Barrett was too adventurous in his use of drugs, and he also showed a taste for adventure in creating his own personal style. He wore black eyeliner during his rock star years and had his hair permed, and wore psychedelic style fashions in fine style. He was the most visually appealing, photogenic and interestingly dressed member of Pink Floyd. I think Barrett's seductive stares at the camera resembled the poses of female fashion models. It appears that Barrett cared little for our culture's disapproval of men making a display of their personal appearance. There are reports of Barrett being spotted cross-dressing. This has been interpreted by some as evidence of mental illness, but I don't think there's such a large difference between wearing drag and wearing the type of gear that Barrett wore as a band member in photo shoots. Barrett's cross-dressing makes one wonder about the theme of Pink Floyd's first single Arnold Layne. This song, written by Barrett, is about a transvestite who stole women's clothing from washing lines. It is based on real-life incidents of theft of underwear, which apparently belonged to female student lodgers staying at the homes of Barrett's and Roger Waters' families. One of the people interviewed in the documentary The Pink Floyd and Syd Barrett Story claimed to know the identity of this underwear thief. Who would do such a thing?

Barrett's fashion-consciousness in his rock star years goes against the stereotype of the geeky, fashion-blind autistic person, and this could be interpreted as evidence that Barrett was not autistic. One could give a counter-argument that Barrett was violating gender norms and distinguishing himself from his peers with his fashion. Autistic people are sometimes conspicuous because they do not adopt fashions typical of members of their gender in their peer group. This can happen because autists often care little about fitting in.

Barrett's sister and biographer Tim Willis have described Barrett as a synaesthete or possible synaesthete "... he would say that a sound was a colour to him." (Titchmarsh 2007). A report that Barrett described (to Rado Klose, an early Pink Floyd member) a C chord as yellow is given in the biography by Willis (page 21). Much later in Barrett's career, during the recording of his first solo album, one of Barrett's comments about the music provides further evidence of synaesthesia; "Perhaps we could make the middle darker and maybe the end a bit more middle-afternoonish [because] at the moment, it's too windy and icy" (Willis 2002 p. 106). Willis wrote that Barrett "drew" songs (Willis 2002 p.21), representations that could have been based on synaesthesia experiences. Barry Miles' book about Pink Floyd gives slightly fuller descriptions of Barrett's visual representations of his songs, in coloured paintings (page 69) and drawings that resembled Venn diagrams (page 83). It would be fascinating to see these creations, if they still exist today. Some types of synaesthesia can be caused by high doses of LSD, so one could dismiss Barrett's synaesthesia as merely the side-effects of psychedelic drugs. My guess is that the way that Barrett apparently used his synaesthesia to represent and describe his music shows that his synaesthesia was a more complex, stable and natural type of synaesthesia. One would need to find evidence that Barrett experienced synaesthesia early in life, before he started taking drugs, before we could categorize him as a natural synaesthete.

As an art school student Barrett had a very well developed sense of colour (Chapman 2010 p.50). One study had found that synaesthetes have an enhanced memory for colour (Yaro and Ward 2007). In his 2010 book Chapman asserted that the imagery in the song Astronomy Dominie by Barrett “conveys a strong sense of synaesthesia” (Chapman 2010 p.156).

Barrett's synaesthesia was not just an isolated personal oddity. Synaesthesia-like experiences were a part of the psychedelic scene which Barrett and Pink Floyd were a part of at the time. People were inventing various devices and systems of stage lighting for the types of venues that Pink Floyd played in, some of them designed to move in time with music. One 1967 concert by Pink Floyd was given the title "Music in Colour". Researchers have reportedly found a possible genetic link between synaesthesia, autism and epilepsy (Robson 2009). It is possible that Barrett had some combination of these conditions. As far as I know, no link has ever been found between synaesthesia and schizophrenia, so evidence of synaesthesia contributes nothing to the case that Barrett was a schizophrenic.

I find it interesting that quite a few of the writers who have been identified as influences on Barrett's song-writing were major figures in children's literature and were themselves unusual people. Lewis Carroll was one of the best known writers in the genre of literary nonsense. He had migraines and epilepsy (possibly temporal lobe epilepsy), an inherited stutter, was a mathematician and never married. Carroll was identified as having had Asperger syndrome in the book The genesis of artistic creativity: Asperger’s syndrome and the arts. Edward Lear was another major writer of literary nonsense. He was also a gifted painter and an epileptic who suffered from depressive episodes. Lear never married. Pink Floyd's first album was named after a chapter of the classic children's book The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame, and this book has been cited as an important influence on Barrett's work. Grahame was an intelligent and eccentric loner who married late in life to another eccentric. Syd Barrett wrote a song Golden Hair based on a poem by James Joyce. Joyce was one of the famous people discussed in the book Unstoppable brilliance: Irish geniuses and Asperger's syndrome.

The world of childhood is an innocent and beautiful world that has a great attraction for many people who have Asperger syndrome. Even though he was not a father, in many ways Barrett was well-connected to the world of childhood - through his strong attachment to Cambridge where he grew up, his personality has been described as childlike, his artistic inspiration from children's literature, and his love of children in contrast with a very reclusive lifestyle. Barrett's sister Rosemary has described Barrett's rapport with children in 2006 in a Sunday Times interview with Tim Willis. The legendary mathematician Paul Erdos and writer/mathematician Lewis Carroll are two famous geniuses who have both been identified as autistic by Prof. Michael Fitzgerald (Fitzgerald 2007, Fitzgerald 2005), who were both single and possibly asexual, and who both demonstrated a love of children and an enjoyment of the company children.

One last detail of Barrett's life that I believe indicates autism is Barrett's evident lack of interest in popular team sport events. All men love to watch the footy, don't they? Autistic people are often the exception to this rule. Autists don't need the crowding and the camaraderie involved with being a sport player or spectator. I believe slow attention-shifting means autistic people are likely to have trouble following the fast-paced action of team sport. Watkinson and Anderson describe in their biography observing Barrett making a visit to a DIY/hardware shop by foot, walking through the deserted streets during FA Cup Final day with an unnatural spring in his step.

I believe Barrett was somewhere on the autistic spectrum because there is such a large quantity of evidence for this conclusion, even though some aspects of his life could be interpreted as evidence against this conclusion. Similarities can be found between Barrett's experiences in Pink Floyd and the career of Australian rock star Craig Nicholls of The Vines, who was given a formal diagnosis of Asperger syndrome in 2004. History repeats. I am not convinced that drugs and autism were the only factors that caused the end of Barrett's musical career. I agree with Willis and many Barrett fans who believe that Barrett chose to leave the music business following years of good and bad experiences, to return to his painting. We can be sure that Barrett experienced coloured music synaesthesia, and very likely other types of synaesthesia. I have been able to find stacks of evidence for Barrett's autism and synaesthesia scattered through many books and articles about Barrett and Pink Floyd, even though most of the authors of these works did not explicitly argue that Barrett had these conditions. In contrast, I have been unable to find any evidence to support the idea that Barrett had schizophrenia while reading these same books and articles, even though most of the authors of these works were of the opinion that Barrett had been mentally ill. Barrett certainly did act in crazy and non-functional ways during one period in his life - this is what happens when people take mind-bending drugs.

The famous painter Vincent van Gogh is another famous person who I believe had a number of features in common with Barrett. Both men were painters who displayed an original creativity. Both have been identified as possible cases of autism. Both experienced synaesthesia. Both have been given the label of "schizophrenic". Both had no luck with romantic relationships. Both had a capacity for unusual levels of anger. Some believe van Gogh's angry outbursts were caused by temporal lobe epilepsy. Both have been the subject of many different theories about the exact nature of their mental conditions.

Barrett's story has often been presented as a cautionary tale to warn against the abuse of drugs. Could his story have been a happier one if different choices had been made? We now know that heavy use of cannabis can damage the brain, and in some people can trigger mental illness, so things might have been different if Barrett had stayed clear of this drug. But it is possible that being an autist in a world that does not accept nor understand autistic people was Barrett's biggest problem, and there would have been no effective help available to Barrett in his teens or twenties, if he had sought it? He was facing the biggest challenges in his life during a time when the psychiatric profession's responses to autism included institutionalisation, misdiagnosis as schizophrenia (with a number of possibly seriously harmful consequences), baseless mother-blaming theories, useless and expensive psychotherapy, and LSD was even used by some psychiatrists as an experimental therapy for autistic children. Barrett could hardly be blamed for taking acid and dropping out, considering the crazy times he lived in. The famous psychiatrist that Pink Floyd members tried to get Barrett to see in a consultation, R. D. Laing, turned out to be a sufferer of depression and alcoholism, whose work is no longer an influence on mainstream psychiatry.

Roger/Syd Barrett played a number of different roles in his life - a wild and creative beautiful boy, the enigmatic wanderer who was the subject of rumours and local legends, and a wonderfully scary-looking chain-smoking millionaire recluse. He proved that one doesn't need to die young, or die at all, to attain legendary status. Now that he is gone, many questions about his life will remain forever unanswered. Don't you love a mystery?

(http://incorrectpleasures.blogspot.com/2009/11/interesting-case-of-syd-barrett-for.html)

Laughing Madcaps Syd Barrett Group Coins New Word: Sydiot

2011-02-01T20:55:00.001-08:00

The world-famous, Laughing Madcaps, Syd Barrett group has invented a new word: SYDIOT. Sydiots are those unfortunates whose very lives have been affected by their obsession with the Madcap.

These are the folks that try to match their Idol’s (imagined) LSD indulgence, play Barrett backwards to hear the hidden message, make a track out of the chipmunks voice, on Scream Thy Last Scream, slowed waaaay down, go on perfectly good Pink Floyd newsgroups and only talk about Syd, get on a perfectly good Syd Barrett newsgroup and act like a bird-brained loony, sign up to help distribute HYGIY? Volumes and then don’t do shit about it… more…

The Laughing Madcaps’ List Moderator, Kiloh Smith, claims authorship of the word:
“I started the Laughing Madcaps Yahoogroup back in 1999 because I was a fan of the artist formerly known as Syd Barrett.” Kiloh goes on to say, “The group grew very large, very quickly and soon I noticed that I was amongst some pretty strange people. The most afflicted I began to refer to as Sydiots; people who have left the realm of earthly concerns behind, such as rational thought and actions, because of their obsession with Syd.” Mr. Smith continues, “Most of the Sydiots cannot hit both cheeks of their ass at the same time with both hands; that’s how affected they are. They cannot follow directions. They cannot proceed in a rational manner. Unfortunately, these are the folks that signed up to help distribute Syd’s music in our famous ‘CD Trees’ back in the day. I thought: “’These Syd fans are idiots’” and the word was coined.”

The Sydiots have provided laughs, screams, howls of consternation and more to the members and Moderators of the Laughing Madcaps group. Some were even given names: Billy French the Molester, the Apostle Luke, Grimble Grumble and more. Grimble Grumble went on to Moderate at the loser Vegetable Friends group. The Apostle Luke is out in space somewhere. Billy the Molester is in parts unknown.

Another thing that Sydiots do is create and distribute counterfeit Syd Barrett tracks also known as: hoax tracks. Normal fans don’t know why they do this. Another brand of Sydiot listens to those same hoax tracks.

Kiloh Smith says: “These Sydiots also think of me as some sort of Bim Skala Bim Sydiot Leader. Like… I can help them *somehow*. They continually contact me off list or they think that I am some sort of God/Devil. I am but a man; I put my pants on one leg at a time.” Mr. Smith concludes, “Anyway, I coined this word. I just wish that they would leave me alone.”

New Syd Barret-Era Floyd 'in the studio' Photo and Article Translation

2011-01-28T01:53:00.000-08:00

Thanks to Marcus Bulterman for posting the link to THIS blog here because, contained within it, is a brand new (to me & most probably but not 100% definitely you lot too ) photo of Pink Floyd in a studio in 1967. It's from a Dutch magazine article dated 21st April 1967 and features an interview conducted by a Mr Cees Mentink. I presume that it is he who is pictured talking to Mr. Roger Waters in the bottom left of the article. I'm also presuming both pics were taken at the same location, Roger's delightful neck ruffle is visible in both, but for the interview Roger must have felt a tad chilly as he's put his black coat on. I scanned through the interview with my eyes that are currently working and it looks like Cees only spoke to Roger. Shame that!

And for those of you who aren't interested in translated Roger waffle, here's just the pic of the band.

Notice on the bottom left there's a mysterious blond barnetted & be-spectacled gentleman whose identity is unknown to me, anyone any idea?

** Added 1/2/2011. Translation by Mr.ScarletEagle. Jan 2011.

The Beatles have ensured that EMI, the biggest record company in the world has lost its connection with the beat-top. This may sound strange but it is true. Dozens of people have worked year after year for The Beatles. For them it was just a full time job to keep that Beatle machine running. Nobody realized that there were other developments going on besides The Beatles. Everyone forgot to look into the future. EMI suddenly noticed that the Beatles record sales declined and that they had nothing to replace that, but by the time they realized it, it was already too late. The struggle for the money was already in full swing. The giant group Decca starts a special label for progressive independent productions Deram. Larry Page brings his label out by Fontana, Page One, and EMI has nothing. The problem get's discussed at the top of EMI and even the president of EMI, Mr Joseph Lockwood (the anti-pirate) get personally involved with it. He searched on his own and finds Pink Floyd. They get a five-year contract with interesting financial guarantees. There will be a color film and, as soon as possible, an album. Regarding the production of records,

"We are good at that" says spokesman of the band Roger Waters. "We can use the studio whenever we want, we may produce our own records and we may choose our own style."

Reporter: "Is not it a bit strange to just forget about a recording engineer and a producer?"

Waters: "Why not? We can do what they can, we have an excellent technician and we talk with him constantly. That combination will give us a good record, or do you find 'Arnold Layne' not a good record?"

Reporter: "Do you guys know that you are lucky to get this opportunity from EMI?"

Waters: "No, because we have not thought about it that yet, the last two years we have been playing, getting a routine, getting used to each others performances, looking to what the audience likes and trying to make some songs. It's a coincidence that EMI currently was interested in us. So it runs perfect."

Reporter: "But you have more freedom than any other band."

Waters: "It has to be like that, otherwise we wouldn't have signed that contract anyway."

Reporter: "When recording a new album, are you going with more concrete plans in to the studio?"

Waters: "No, that's impossible for us, once a song is ready, the intention is off for us. We work with an idea that is in our head of course, and when we are in the studio we go to find a more definite shape of it, if you work with such an idea it will create some tension that is required when making records."

Reporter: "But that is an expensive way of working, how long does it takes to create one song?"

Waters: "Altogether about 12 hours, but that's nothing compared to The Beatles."

Reporter: " Do EMI have Beatles-like expectations of the band?"

Waters: " I didn't think about that, it would be a compliment but I think we cannot make that for real."

Reporter: "Are you using special instruments at the recording session?"

Waters: "We will give some more color to a particular song with a spinet or maybe a sitar, but for now we are comfortable with the guitar, By the time we are proficient on instruments like that, like The Beatles are now, we will look further on it."

Reporter: "What do you think about being in the charts with Ken Dodd, Tom Jones, etc…?"

Waters: "Nowadays there are not so many records made for teenagers, that is mainly, I think, because the records are made too complicated. Of course you can create something very difficult and interesting, but music should be a pleasant thing to listen to and I miss that in many records today. The people who buy records don't listen at it with Andrew Oldham ears."

Reporter: "Is the single 'Arnold Layne' not played too much by the pirate radio stations, so that people gets less interested in buying it?"

Waters: "Perhaps, but London is not playing it at all, they find it a dirty record."

Reporter: "Why aren't you at Top of The Pops yet?"

Waters "Yes it's a strange thing, we made that big jump on number 24, it's good they didn't ask us. When our record is at the top 20, we no longer need that push anymore, they give other artists this push when they are ranked thirty. Arnold Layne is doing it very well at the moment, it's not necessary anymore for me now."

Reporter: "And the USA?"

Waters: "That will not happen for the moment, to go over there, you got to have something to offer, we will look at it again when the first album is ready."

Reporter: "What are you going to do today?"

Waters: "For us, a very special experiment, we have recorded the vocals at first on tape and now we build the sounds around it, see what we get."

Syd Barrett Tribute - Shine On You Crazy Diamond

2011-01-17T15:21:00.000-08:00

Syd Barrett Blues

2011-01-17T15:16:00.000-08:00

Here's a song called Syd Barrett Blues. It's written in the vein of Bob Dylan Blues.

Kiloh Smith Interview - Spanish Syd Barrett Blog

2011-01-01T14:54:00.000-08:00

Recently, I was interviewed for the Spanish Syd Barrett Blog. I thought that it would be cool to have the Ennnnnnnnglish version on my blog. You can read that below and please click the picture to the left or here: Kiloh Smith Spanish Syd Barrett Blog Interview to read the interview in Spanish.

When did you start listening to Syd Barrett?

My first Pink Floyd album was Animals; I bought that when it came out. From there, I quickly treaded the backward path with Wish You Were Here, Dark Side of the Moon, Meddle, Ummagumma until I found ol’ Syd.

Listening to Piper at the Gates of Dawn was a revelation to me. The sound was much more guitar-driven and I could immediately discern that, this guy “Syd Barrett”, was the Genesis of the Pink Floyd Sound.

Shortly after, I bought the Madcap Laughs / Barrett two LP set. This had a profound influence upon me, doing all kinds of shit. I became aware of raised eyebrows from my peers; similar to when I began listening to Captain Beefheart. But I didn’t care.

Why did you start the Laughing Madcaps Group?

Well… I started that group because the Syd Barrett group that I was in threw me out and I needed a place to hang my hat. In 1998 – 1999, I was in the Jugband News Yahoogroup. They ended up throwing me out and so I took all my toys and went and started the Laughing Madcaps Yahoogroup. In this endeavor I had a partner named Lucifer Sam. After a bit, he couldn’t take me and so took all of his blocks and went and started the lame Vegetable Friends Yahoogroup. I don’t play so well with others sometimes.

How did the Laughing Madcaps Group get so big?

That’s easy, we deliver the best Syd Barrett Experience on the Internet. If you think about it the Yahoogroups Interface is older technology. What makes the Laughing Madcaps Yahoogroup the best is the people. We’re a bunch of crazies, that love Syd Barrett, and love having a blast on the group. The people make the Laughing Madcaps Group the best. Join the group here:

http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/madcapslaughing

Tell us about Have You Got It Yet? Please

Well… I took all of my Syd Barrett bits and pieces and made about two and a half cassette tapes for me to listen to uninterrupted. I still have those cassettes. I wonder what they’re worth?

Annnnnnnnnyway, it dawned upon me that it would be cool to make CD’s of these cassettes. Then, I had this whole group of thousands of Syd Barrett fans, so why not troll among them for the best quality stuff?

Then, this guy stepped up with a professional recording studio in Connecticut and he helped with getting all of the bits and pieces sent to him. But he turned out to be a fucking loser and a nutcase and the Project had to be removed from his hands. At that point, we had like thirty discs of stuff.

Then my buddy, Steve, stepped up and this cat named Swan Lee. Together, they went through all of those discs of material and found the best bits. Then this guy, Pinnacle Pete, stepped up and this cat named Chris. They sort of took over this Project and did it up right.

With HYGIY? We wanted to leave the listener wanting less not more. That’s why we were so comprehensive with even volumes of OPPS mixes and hoax tracks. The hoax tracks disc was where we too all the counterfeit “Syd Barrett” tracks and put them under one roof. This (hopefully) prevented losers like Billy French from continuing to drag Syd’s name down with hoax tracks.

Today, I’m sort of the Face on the Box of Have You Got It Yet? I have nothing to do with the actual compiling of the material but I am the guy who is most associated with this Project. Sometimes I think that the others want to get rid of me but they can’t; they can’t shuck me. I’m stuck to it.

By the way, I was the Trunk for the first 10 (or 15) volumes of HYGIY? I was the guy that put the Tree Trading Networks together. What a bunch of work that was. Doing that is how the word “FUCKTARD” was popularized. So, I’ve had my Season in Hell regarding HYGIY? I did my bit.

What did we accomplish with HYGIY? First, we made a LOT of Syd Barrett fans happy. Second, we virtually shut down the cottage industry of Syd Barrett bootlegs. It’s all on HYGIY? For free; "We are the Borg. Prepare for assimilation. You will be assimilated. Resistance is futile." Third, we (hopefully) let EMI know that there is an interest in this material. Fourth, we helped keep a bunch of geeky Syd Barrett fans busy for awhile. Hopefully, they will not waste anymore time skulking around Star Trek Conventions.

What’s next?

What else do I need to do? I am INFAMOUS all over the world. Ummmmmm… What I would like to do is move the group over to Facebook. Facebook has a cool Groups Interface. Yahoogroups is kind of the old guard. This is a SLOW process. Syd Barrett fans are slow to accept new things; unless it’s new Syd Barrett material. To help out, how about publicizing the url of the Laughing Madcaps Facebook Group? Look:

http://www.facebook.com/#!/group.php?gid=101944269844707

Any advice for Syd Barrett fans?

Don’t do drugs and prepare for assimilation.