British singer/songwriter guitarist Syd Barrett was an art-school student in London when he founded and named Pink Floyd [see entry] in 1964. He wrote "See Emily Play" and "Piper at the Gates of Dawn" for the group, and his acid-inspired lyrics were the quintessence of London's 1967 Summer of Love. Barrett was dismissed from the band in April 1968 because of his drug-induced personality problems; David Gilmour replaced him after covering for him when he began missing shows. Barrett released two intriguing but poor-selling solo albums in 1970. He appeared on John Peel's BBC radio show (released on album in 1987) and did a couple of gigs with a loose-knit band called Stars. He basically had been living in Cambridge as a recluse since 1972, and in recent years suffered from declining health. Pink Floyd dedicated a popular 1975 song, "Shine On, You Crazy Diamond," to its eccentric founder. Barrett's surreal songwriting and atmospheric sound has influenced such artists as Robyn Hitchcock and Julian Cope. Syd Barrett died at age sixty on July 7th, 2006 from complications due to diabetes.
Creative impact and technical innovation
Barrett wrote most of Pink Floyd's early material. He was also an innovative guitarist, using extended techniques and exploring the musical and sonic possibilities of dissonance, distortion, feedback, the echo machine, tapes and other effects; his experimentation was partly inspired by free improvisation guitarist Keith Rowe. One of Barrett's trademarks was playing his guitar through an old echo box while sliding a Zippo lighter up and down the fret-board to create the mysterious, otherworldly sounds that became associated with the group. Barrett was known to have used Binson delay units to achieve his trademark echo sounds. Daevid Allen, founding member of Soft Machine and Gong has cited Barrett's use of slide guitar with echo as a key inspiration for his own "glissando guitar" style.
Barrett's free-form sequences of sonic carpets pioneered a new way to play the rock guitar.He played several different guitars during his tenure with Pink Floyd, including an old Harmony hollowbody electric, a Harmony acoustic, a Fender acoustic, a single-coil Danelectro 59 DC, several different Fender Telecasters, and a white Fender Stratocaster used in late 1967. A silver Fender Esquire with mirrored discs glued to the body was the guitar he was most often associated with and the guitar he "felt most close to.
Wish You Were Here sessions
Barrett had one noted reunion with the members of Pink Floyd, which occurred in 1975 during the recording sessions for Wish You Were Here. He attended the Abbey Road session unannounced, and watched the band record "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" a song that happened to be about Barrett. By that time, the 29-year-old Barrett had become quite overweight, had shaved off all of his hair (including his eyebrows), and his ex-bandmates did not at first recognise him. Eventually, they realised who he was and Roger Waters was so distressed that he was brought to tears. Barrett's behaviour at the session was erratic, and he spent part of the session trying to brush his teeth by keeping the brush still and jumping up and down. Roger finally managed to ask him what he thought of the song, and he simply said "sounds a bit old" and walked out of the studio. This would be the last time any member of Pink Floyd would ever see him.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syd_Barrett
Discography
Singles with Pink Floyd
* "Arnold Layne"/"Candy and a Currant Bun" (1967) (#20 UK)
* "See Emily Play"/"The Scarecrow" (1967) (#6 UK, #134 U.S.)
* "Apples and Oranges"/"Paint Box" (1967) (Richard Wright)
* "Flaming"/"The Gnome"(1967)[US Only]
Albums with Pink Floyd
* The Piper at the Gates of Dawn (5 August 1967) #6 UK, #131 U.S.
* A Saucerful of Secrets (29 June 1968) #9 UK
* London 1966/1967 2005
Compilations with Pink Floyd (featuring his work)
* The Best of the Pink Floyd (1970)
* Relics (14 May 1971) #34 UK, #152 U.S.
* A Nice Pair (1974)
* Masters of Rock (1974, Europe)
* Works (1983)
* Shine On (1992)
* Echoes: The Best of Pink Floyd (5 November 2001) #2 UK, #2 U.S.
* Oh, by the Way (2007)
Solo albums
* The Madcap Laughs - (3 January 1970) #40 UK[56]
* Barrett – (14 November 1970)
Syd Barrett On Video
Syds Barrett's Documented Acid Trip (Video)
Pink Floyd Apples and Oranges Live Video (1966)
Pink Floyd With Syd Barrett - Interstellar Overdrive Part 1 Live Video (1967) (High quality)
Pink Floyd With Syd Barrett - Interstellar Overdrive Part 2 Live Video (1967) (High quality)
Pink Floyd With Syd Barrett - Live at the UFO club (march '67)
Rock On Music Lovers!!
-Stereo
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