A music magazine is a magazine dedicated to music and music culture . Such magazines typically include music news, interviews , photo shoots , essays , record reviews, concert reviews and occasionally have a covermount with recorded music.
87-448: Melody Maker was a British weekly music magazine , one of the world's earliest music weeklies; according to its publisher, IPC Media , the earliest. It was founded in 1926, largely as a magazine for dance band musicians, by Leicester-born composer, publisher Lawrence Wright ; the first editor was Edgar Jackson. In January 2001, it was merged into "long-standing rival" (and IPC Media sister publication) New Musical Express . Originally
174-490: A ukulele aged 10, a banjo at 11 and a Höfner acoustic guitar at 14. A year after he purchased his first acoustic guitar, he bought his first electric guitar and built his own amplifier . He was a Scout with the 7th Cambridge troop and went on to be a patrol leader. Barrett reportedly used the nickname Syd from the age of 14, derived from the name of an old Cambridge jazz bassist, Sid "the Beat" Barrett; Barrett changed
261-521: A document that ended his association with Pink Floyd, and any financial interest in future recordings. He attended an informal jazz and poetry performance by Pete Brown and former Cream bassist Jack Bruce in October 1973. Brown arrived at the show late, and saw that Bruce was already onstage, along with "a guitarist I vaguely recognised", playing the Horace Silver tune " Doodlin' ". Later in
348-515: A few guest spots in Cambridge with ex- Pink Fairies member Twink on drums and Jack Monck on bass using the name The Last Minute Put Together Boogie Band (backing visiting blues musician Eddie "Guitar" Burns and also featuring Henry Cow guitarist Fred Frith ), the trio formed a short-lived band called Stars . Though they were initially well received at gigs in the Dandelion coffee bar and
435-667: A few weeks in 1982, but soon returned to Cambridge permanently. Barrett walked the 50 miles (80 km) from London to Cambridge. Until his death, he received royalties from his work with Pink Floyd; Gilmour said, "I made sure the money got to him." In 1996, Barrett was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Pink Floyd. He did not attend the ceremony. According to the biographer and journalist Tim Willis, Barrett, who had reverted to using his birth name Roger, continued to live in his late mother's semi-detached home, and returned to painting, creating large abstract canvases. He
522-653: A final public acknowledgement of his musical past in 2002, his first since the 1970s, when he autographed 320 copies of Psychedelic Renegades, a book by the photographer Mick Rock which contained a number of photos of Barrett. Rock had conducted Barrett's final interview in 1971 before his retirement from the music industry, and Barrett visited Rock in London several times for tea and conversation in 1978. They had not spoken in more than 20 years when Rock approached Barrett to autograph his book, and Barrett uncharacteristically agreed. Having reverted to his birth name, he autographed
609-639: A focus on pop music rather than rock and aimed at a younger market include the now-defunct Smash Hits and the BBC 's Top of the Pops , which outlived the television show on which it was based. The longest running music magazine in the UK is BMG , founded in 1903 by Clifford Essex . BMG , which stands for banjo, mandolin, and guitar, is the oldest fretted-instrument-focused publication and actively promotes acoustic instruments of all kinds. Major music magazines in
696-480: A group interview afterwards, Barrett gave terse answers. During their appearance on the Perry Como show, Wright had to mime all the vocals on "Matilda Mother" because of Barrett's condition. Barrett would often forget to bring his guitar to sessions, damage equipment and was occasionally unable to hold the plectrum . Before a performance in late 1967, Barrett reportedly crushed Mandrax tranquilliser tablets and
783-506: A group of journalists, including Simon Reynolds and David Stubbs , who had run a music fanzine called Monitor from the University of Oxford , and Chris Roberts , from Sounds , who established MM as more individualistic and intellectual. This was especially true after the hip-hop wars at NME , a schism between enthusiasts of progressive black music such as Public Enemy and Mantronix and fans of traditional white rock ended in
870-552: A longstanding rival in Melody Maker , an even older publication that had existed since 1926; however, by 2001, falling circulation and the rise of internet music sites caused the Melody Maker to be absorbed into its old rival and cease publishing. Several other British magazines such as Select and Sounds also folded between 1990 and 2000. Current UK music magazines include Kerrang! and Mojo . Magazines with
957-601: A note behind." A few tracks on the album feature overdubs by members of Soft Machine . During this time, Barrett also played guitar on the sessions for the Soft Machine founder Kevin Ayers ' debut LP Joy of a Toy , although his performance on "Religious Experience", later titled " Singing a Song in the Morning ", was not released until the album was reissued in 2003. At one point, Barrett told his flatmate that he
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#17327727443551044-694: A place at the art department of the Cambridgeshire College of Arts and Technology , where he met the future Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour . In late 1962 and early 1963, the Beatles made an impact on Barrett, and he began to play Beatles songs at parties and at picnics. In 1963, he became a Rolling Stones fan and, with then-girlfriend Libby Gausden, saw them perform at a village hall in Cambridgeshire. He would cite Jimmy Reed as an influence; however, he remarked that Bo Diddley
1131-406: A time when they were praised by the rest of the press. In 1993, they gave a French rock band called Darlin' a negative review calling their music "a daft punky thrash". Darlin' eventually became the electronic music duo Daft Punk . Australian journalist Andrew Mueller joined MM in 1990 and became Reviews Editor between 1991 and 1993, eventually declining to become Features Editor and leaving
1218-595: A tube of Brylcreem into his hair, which melted down his face under the heat of the stage lighting, making him look like "a guttered candle". Mason disputed the Mandrax portion of this story, saying that "Syd would never waste good mandies". During Pink Floyd's UK tour with Jimi Hendrix in November, the guitarist David O'List of the Nice , who were fifth on the bill, substituted for Barrett on several occasions when he
1305-509: A victory for the latter and the departure of writers such as Mark Sinker and Biba Kopf (as Chris Bohn was now calling himself), and the rise of Andrew Collins and Stuart Maconie , who pushed NME in a more populist direction. While MM continued to devote most space to rock and indie music (notably Everett True 's coverage of the emerging grunge scene in Seattle ), it covered house , hip hop , post-rock , rave and trip hop . Two of
1392-564: Is Melodic . Melodic has its focus mainly on hard rock , melodic metal and alternative music. Among classical music magazines, Diapason is the most read in France. An example of a nostalgia magazine is Keep Rockin' , a 1950s and 1960s nostalgia magazine. The premier issue came out in January 2009. The magazine features a mixture of current events surrounding that time period (e.g. concerts, car shows) and stories with original photos from
1479-563: The Barrett album. After this session, he took a hiatus from his music career that lasted more than a year, although in an extensive interview with Mick Rock and Rolling Stone in December, he discussed himself at length, showed off his new 12-string guitar, talked about touring with Jimi Hendrix and stated that he was frustrated in terms of his musical work because of his inability to find anyone good to play with. In February 1972, after
1566-419: The Barrett sessions: Doing Syd's record was interesting, but extremely difficult. Dave [Gilmour] and Roger did the first one ( The Madcap Laughs ) and Dave and myself did the second one. But by then it was just trying to help Syd any way we could, rather than worrying about getting the best guitar sound. You could forget about that! It was just going into the studio and trying to get him to sing. Despite
1653-562: The Melody Maker ( MM ) concentrated on jazz , and had Max Jones , one of the leading British proselytizers for that music, on its staff for many years. It was slow to cover rock and roll and lost ground to the New Musical Express ( NME ), which had begun in 1952. MM launched its own weekly singles chart (a top 20) on 7 April 1956, and an LPs charts in November 1958, two years after the Record Mirror had published
1740-653: The United States include Rolling Stone (founded in 1967), DownBeat (founded in 1934), and Spin (founded in 1985). Clash magazine was voted Music Magazine of the Year in 2004 and is the second largest UK online presence. Clash was also awarded Magazine of the Year at the PPA Scotland Awards. Alternative Press has more of an " underground " coverage including pop punk , post-hardcore and metalcore . A major digital magazine from Sweden
1827-425: The "Barrett-ness". One track ("Rats") was originally recorded with Barrett on his own. That would later be overdubbed by musicians, despite the changing tempos. Shirley said of Barrett's playing: "He would never play the same tune twice. Sometimes Syd couldn't play anything that made sense; other times what he'd play was absolute magic." At times Barrett, who experienced synaesthesia , would say: "Perhaps we could make
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#17327727443551914-415: The 1950s and 1960s, as well as some reader-written articles about experiences growing up during that period. Several music magazines include a free album of music (usually a compilation of tracks by various artists), known in the publishing industry as a covermount . The practice began in the 1980s with UK magazine Smash Hits giving away flexi discs , and graduated to mixtapes and compact discs in
2001-448: The 1990s, with modern magazines such as NME and Mojo frequently including cover compilations. The tracks are cleared for release by the relevant record companies , and are usually released for promotional purposes. Syd Barrett Roger Keith " Syd " Barrett (6 January 1946 – 7 July 2006) was an English singer, guitarist and songwriter who co-founded the rock band Pink Floyd in 1965. Until his departure in 1968, he
2088-873: The Abdabs, the Screaming Abdabs, Sigma 6 and the Meggadeaths. In 1965, when Barrett joined them they were known as the Tea Set (sometimes spelled T-Set). When they played with another band of the same name, Barrett came up with the name the Pink Floyd Sound (also known as the Pink Floyd Blues Band, later the Pink Floyd). In 1965, Barrett had his first LSD trip in the garden of his friend Dave Gale, with Ian Moore and
2175-948: The Beatles to be honoured by the British state. This duly happened on 12 June that year, when all four members of the group (Harrison, Lennon, McCartney, and Starr) were appointed as members of the Order of the British Empire . By the late 1960s, MM had recovered, targeting an older market than the teen-oriented NME . MM had larger and more specialised advertising; soon-to-be well-known groups would advertise for musicians. It ran pages devoted to "minority" interests like folk and jazz, as well as detailed reviews of musical instruments. A 1968 Melody Maker poll named John Peel best radio DJ, attention which John Walters said may have helped Peel keep his job despite concerns at BBC Radio 1 about his style and record selection. Starting from
2262-502: The Hollerin' Blues the next year. In 1964, Barrett and Gausden saw Bob Dylan perform. After this performance, Barrett was inspired to write " Bob Dylan Blues ". Barrett, now thinking about his future, decided to apply for Camberwell College of Arts in London. He enrolled in the college in mid-1964 to study painting. Starting in 1964, the band that would become Pink Floyd evolved through various line-up and name changes including
2349-563: The NME, entered a serious decline. In 1999, MM relaunched as a glossy magazine, but the magazine closed the following year, merging into IPC Media 's other music magazine, NME , which took on some of its journalists and music reviewers. Music magazine Music magazines were very prolific in the United Kingdom , with the NME leading sales since its first issue in 1952. NME had
2436-610: The Olympia Exhibition Hall as part of a Music and Fashion Festival . The trio performed four songs, "Terrapin", "Gigolo Aunt", "Effervescing Elephant" and "Octopus". Poor mixing left the vocals barely audible until part-way through the last number. At the end of the fourth song, Barrett unexpectedly but politely put down his guitar and walked off the stage. The performance has been bootlegged. Barrett made one last appearance on BBC Radio , recording three songs at their studios on 16 February 1971. All three came from
2523-538: The Osmonds , the Jackson 5 , and David Cassidy . The music weekly also gave early and sympathetic coverage to glam rock . Richard Williams wrote the first pieces about Roxy Music , while Roy Hollingworth wrote the first article celebrating New York Dolls in proto-punk terms while serving as the Melody Maker ' s New York correspondent. Andrew Means started writing for Melody Maker in 1970. During his time, he
2610-628: The Rings , and The I-Ching . In 1966, Pink Floyd became a popular group in the London underground psychedelic music scene. By the end of the year, Pink Floyd had gained a reliable management team in Andrew King and Peter Jenner . In October, they booked a session at Thompson Private Recording Studio, in Hemel Hempstead , for Pink Floyd to record demos. King said of the demos: "That
2697-590: The Sound Techniques studio, Gilmour stopped by on his return visit from Europe to say hello to Barrett. According to Gilmour, he "just looked straight through me, barely acknowledged me that I was there". Record producer Joe Boyd encountered Barrett and the rest of the Floyd at the UFO Club in mid-1967, which he described in his memoir: "I had exchanged pleasantries with the first three when Syd emerged from
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2784-491: The aid of members of Pink Floyd. In 1972, Barrett left the music industry, retired from public life and guarded his privacy until his death. He continued painting and dedicated himself to gardening. Pink Floyd recorded several tributes and homages to him, including the 1975 song suite " Shine On You Crazy Diamond " and parts of the 1979 rock opera The Wall . In 1988, EMI released an album of unreleased tracks and outtakes, Opel , with Barrett's approval. In 1996, Barrett
2871-536: The band in which he played, Geoff Mott and the Mottoes, a band which Barrett formed, to perform in their front room. Waters and Barrett were childhood friends, and Waters often visited such gigs. At one point, Waters organised a gig, a CND benefit at Friends Meeting House on 11 March 1962, but shortly afterwards Geoff Mott joined the Boston Crabs, and the Mottoes broke up. In September 1962, Barrett took
2958-401: The book "Barrett". Barrett died at home in Cambridge on 7 July 2006 aged 60, from pancreatic cancer . His death was reported a week later on 12 July. He was cremated at a funeral held at Cambridge Crematorium on 18 July 2006; no Pink Floyd members attended. In a statement, Wright said: "The band are very naturally upset and sad to hear of Syd Barrett's death. Syd was the guiding light of
3045-495: The bulk of the band's material, the plan was to retain him as a non-touring member, as the Beach Boys had done with Brian Wilson , but this proved impractical. According to Waters, Barrett came to what was to be their last practice session with a new song he had dubbed " Have You Got It Yet? ". The song seemed simple when he first presented it, but it soon became impossible to learn. The band eventually realised that Barrett
3132-475: The changes began gradually, according to several friends —including the Pink Floyd keyboardist Richard Wright — he went missing for a long weekend and returned "a completely different person". One of the striking features of his change was the development of a blank, dead-eyed stare. Barrett did not recognise friends, and he often did not know where he was. While Pink Floyd were recording "See Emily Play" at
3219-411: The cover. Several journalists, such as Chris Bohn and Vivien Goldman, moved to NME , while Jon Savage joined the new magazine The Face . Coleman left in 1981, the paper's design was updated, but sales and prestige were at a low ebb through the early 1980s, with NME dominant. By 1983, the magazine had become more populist and pop-orientated, exemplified by its modish "MM" masthead, regular covers for
3306-513: The crush. His sparkling eyes had always been his most attractive feature but that night they were vacant, as if someone had reached inside his head and turned off a switch. During their set he hardly sang, standing motionless for long passages, arms by his sides, staring into space." On a tour of Los Angeles, Barrett is said to have exclaimed, "Gee, it sure is nice to be in Las Vegas!" Many reports described him on stage, strumming one chord through
3393-475: The difficulties of working with him." By the sessions of June and July, most of the tracks were in better shape; however, shortly after the July sessions, Barrett broke up with his girlfriend Lindsay Corner and went on a drive around Britain, ending up in psychiatric care in Cambridge. During New Year 1969, Barrett—somewhat recovered—had taken up tenancy in a flat on Egerton Gardens , South Kensington , London, with
3480-504: The eleven songs Barrett wrote eight and co-wrote another two. The album reached number six on the British album charts. Through late 1967 and early 1968, Barrett became increasingly erratic, partly as a consequence of his heavy use of psychedelic drugs such as LSD . Once described as joyful, friendly, and extroverted, he became increasingly depressed, withdrawn, and began experiencing hallucinations, disorganised speech, memory lapses, intense mood swings and periods of catatonia . Although
3567-712: The entire concert, or not playing at all. At a show in Santa Monica, Barrett slowly detuned his guitar. Interviewed on the Pat Boone in Hollywood television programme during the tour, Barrett replied with a "blank and totally mute stare". According to Mason, "Syd wasn't into moving his lips that day." Barrett exhibited similar behaviour during the band's first appearance on Dick Clark 's television show American Bandstand . Surviving footage of this appearance shows Barrett miming his parts competently; however, during
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3654-443: The first UK Albums Chart . From 1964, the paper led its rival publications in terms of approaching music and musicians as a subject for serious study rather than merely entertainment. Staff reporters such as Chris Welch and Ray Coleman applied a perspective previously reserved for jazz artists to the rise of American-influenced local rock and pop groups, anticipating the advent of music criticism . On 6 March 1965, MM called for
3741-535: The first four singles, their debut album The Piper at the Gates of Dawn (1967), portions of their second album A Saucerful of Secrets (1968), and several songs that were not released until years later. In April 1968, Barrett was ousted from the band amid speculation of mental illness and his use of psychedelic drugs . He began a brief solo career in 1969 with the single " Octopus ", followed by albums The Madcap Laughs (1970) and Barrett (1970), recorded with
3828-473: The future Pink Floyd cover artist Storm Thorgerson . During one trip, Barrett and another friend, Paul Charrier, ended up naked in the bath, reciting: "No rules, no rules". As a result of the continued drug use, the band became absorbed in Sant Mat , a Sikh sect. Thorgerson (then living on Earlham Street ) and Barrett went to a London hotel to meet the sect's guru . Thorgerson joined the sect, but Barrett
3915-520: The guitarist Bob Klose departed, the band's direction changed. However, the change was not instantaneous, with more improvising on the guitars and keyboards. The drummer, Nick Mason , said most of the band's ideas came from Barrett. Around this time, Barrett wrote most of the songs for Pink Floyd's first album, The Piper at the Gates of Dawn (1967), and songs that later appeared on his solo albums. His reading reputedly included Grimm 's Fairy Tales , Tolkien 's The Hobbit and The Lord of
4002-701: The instrumental "In the Beechwoods" remained unreleased until 2016. Another instrumental, mislabelled " Sunshine " by bootleggers, remains unreleased. Barrett played guitar on the Saucerful of Secrets tracks " Remember a Day " and " Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun ". Feeling guilty, the members of Pink Floyd did not tell Barrett that he was no longer in the band. According to Wright, who lived with Barrett at
4089-403: The likes of Duran Duran and its choice of Eurythmics ' Touch as the best album of the year. Things were to change, however. In February 1984, Allan Jones , a staff writer on the paper since 1974, was appointed editor: defying instructions to put Kajagoogoo on the cover, he led the magazine with an article on up-and-coming band The Smiths . In 1986, MM was invigorated by the arrival of
4176-486: The magazine in 1993. He then went on to join NME under his former boss Steve Sutherland, who had left MM in 1992. The magazine retained its large classified ads section, and remained the first call for musicians wanting to form a band. Suede formed through ads placed in the paper. MM also continued to publish reviews of musical equipment and readers' demo tapes , though these often had little in common stylistically with
4263-489: The members of Pink Floyd in 1975 during the recording sessions for their ninth album, Wish You Were Here . He attended the Abbey Road session unannounced, and watched the band working on the final mix of " Shine On You Crazy Diamond "—a song about him. Barrett, then 29, was overweight and had shaved off all of his hair (including his eyebrows), and his former bandmates did not initially recognise him. Barrett spent part of
4350-476: The mid-1960s, critics such as Welch, Richard Williams , Michael Watts and Steve Lake were among the first British journalists to write seriously about popular music, shedding an intellectual light on such artists as Steely Dan , Cat Stevens , Led Zeppelin , Pink Floyd and Henry Cow . By the early 1970s, Melody Maker was considered "the musos' journal" and associated with progressive rock. However, Melody Maker also reported on teenybopper pop stars such as
4437-470: The middle darker and maybe the end a bit middle afternoonish. At the moment it's too windy and icy." In a 1970 interview reprinted in 1975, Barrett mentions listening to Taj Mahal and Captain Beefheart . These sessions were happening while Pink Floyd had just begun to work on Atom Heart Mother . On various occasions, Barrett went to "spy" on the band as they recorded their album. Wright said of
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#17327727443554524-418: The new editor and attempted to take Melody Maker in a new direction, influenced by what Paul Morley and Ian Penman were doing at NME . He recruited Jon Savage (formerly of Sounds ), Chris Bohn and Mary Harron to provide intellectual coverage of post-punk bands like Gang of Four , Pere Ubu , and Joy Division and of new wave in general. Vivien Goldman , previously at NME and Sounds , gave
4611-402: The numerous recording dates for his solo albums, Barrett undertook very little musical activity between 1968 and 1972 outside the studio. On 24 February 1970, he appeared on John Peel 's BBC radio programme Top Gear playing five songs—only one of which had been previously released. Three would be re-recorded for the Barrett album, while the song "Two of a Kind" (written by Richard Wright)
4698-459: The occasional visit from his sister Rosemary. In August 1974, Jenner persuaded Barrett to return to Abbey Road Studios in hope of recording another album. According to John Leckie , who engineered these sessions, even at this point Syd still "looked like he did when he was younger ... long haired". The sessions lasted three days and consisted of blues rhythm tracks with tentative and disjointed guitar overdubs. Barrett recorded eleven tracks,
4785-547: The only one of which to be titled was "If You Go, Don't Be Slow". Once again, Barrett withdrew from the music industry, but this time for good. He sold the rights to his solo albums back to the record label and moved into a London hotel. During this period, several attempts to employ him as a record producer (including one by Jamie Reid on behalf of the Sex Pistols , and another by The Damned , who wanted him to produce their second album ) were fruitless. Barrett visited
4872-463: The other members of Pink Floyd had no direct contact with him. According to The Observer , he visited his sister's house in November 2001 to watch the BBC Omnibus documentary made about him , said it was "a bit noisy", enjoyed seeing Mike Leonard again (calling him his "teacher"), and enjoyed hearing " See Emily Play ". However, in 2024 his sister denied this event took place. Barrett made
4959-509: The paper improved coverage of reggae and soul music , restoring the superior coverage of those genres that the paper had in the early 1970s. Internal tension developed, principally between Williams and Coleman, by this time editor-in-chief, who wanted the paper to stick to the more "conservative rock" music it had continued to support during the punk era. Coleman had been insistent that the paper should "look like The Daily Telegraph " (renowned for its old-fashioned design), but Williams wanted
5046-545: The paper to look more contemporary. He commissioned an updated design, but this was rejected by Coleman. In 1980, after a strike which had taken the paper (along with NME ) out of publication for a period, Williams left MM . Coleman promoted Michael Oldfield from the design staff to day-to-day editor, and, for a while, took it back where it had been, with news of a line-up change in Jethro Tull replacing features about Andy Warhol , Gang of Four and Factory Records on
5133-518: The paper's writers, Push and Ben Turner, went on to launch IPC Media's monthly dance music magazine Muzik . Even in the mid-1990s, when Britpop brought a new generation of readers to the music press, it remained less populist than its rivals, with younger writers such as Simon Price and Taylor Parkes continuing the 1980s tradition of iconoclasm and opinionated criticism. The paper printed harsh criticism of Ocean Colour Scene and Kula Shaker , and allowed dissenting views on Oasis and Blur at
5220-439: The postmodernist artist Duggie Fields . Barrett's flat was so close to Gilmour's that Gilmour could look right into Barrett's kitchen. Deciding to return to music, Barrett contacted EMI and was passed to Malcolm Jones, the head of EMI's new prog rock label, Harvest . After Norman Smith and Jenner declined to produce Barrett's record, Jones produced it. Barrett wanted to recover the recordings made with Jenner; several of
5307-540: The recording sessions. After two of the Gilmour/Waters-produced sessions, they remade one track from the Soft Machine overdubs and recorded three tracks. These sessions came to a minor halt when Gilmour and Waters were mixing Pink Floyd's newly recorded album, Ummagumma . However, through the end of July, they managed to record three more tracks. The problem with the recording was that the songs were recorded as Barrett played them "live" in studio. On
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#17327727443555394-399: The recording studio, in the reception area, waiting to be invited in. He also came to a few performances and glared at Gilmour. On 6 April 1968, Pink Floyd announced that Barrett was no longer a member, the same day their contract with Blackhill Enterprises was terminated. Considering him the band's musical leader, Blackhill Enterprises retained Barrett. After leaving Pink Floyd, Barrett
5481-473: The released versions a number of them have false starts and commentaries from Barrett. Despite the track being closer to complete and better produced, Gilmour and Waters left the Jones-produced track "Opel" off Madcap . Gilmour later said of the sessions for The Madcap Laughs : [The sessions] were pretty tortuous and very rushed. We had very little time, particularly with The Madcap Laughs . Syd
5568-581: The rest of the paper, ensuring sales to jobbing musicians who would otherwise have little interest in the music press. In early 1997, Allan Jones left to edit Uncut . He was replaced by Mark Sutherland, formerly of NME and Smash Hits , who thus "fulfilled [his] boyhood dream" and stayed on to edit the magazine for three years. Many long-standing writers left, often moving to Uncut , with Simon Price departing allegedly because he objected to an edict that coverage of Oasis should be positive. Its sales, which had already been substantially lower than those of
5655-598: The session brushing his teeth. Waters asked him what he thought of the song to which Barrett responded "sounds a bit old". He is reported to have briefly attended the reception for Gilmour's wedding to Ginger that immediately followed the recording sessions, but Gilmour said he had no recollection of this. A few years later, Waters saw Barrett in the department store Harrods ; Barrett ran away, dropping his bags, which Waters said were filled with candy. In 1978, when Barrett's money ran out, he moved back to Cambridge to live with his mother. He returned to live in London for
5742-525: The show, Brown read out a poem, which he dedicated to Syd, because, "he's here in Cambridge, and he's one of the best songwriters in the country" when, to his surprise, the guitar player from earlier in the show stood up and said, "No, I'm not". By the end of 1973, Barrett had returned to live in London, staying at various hotels and, in December of that year, settling in at Chelsea Cloisters. He had little contact with others, apart from his regular visits to his management's offices to collect his royalties, and
5829-542: The singer's dormant career. During the interview Bowie said, "I'm gay, and always have been, even when I was David Jones." "OH YOU PRETTY THING" ran the headline, and swiftly became part of pop mythology. Bowie later attributed his success to this interview, stating that, "Yeah, it was Melody Maker that made me. It was that piece by Mick Watts." During his tenure at the paper, Watts also toured with and interviewed artists including Syd Barrett , Waylon Jennings , Pink Floyd , Bob Dylan , and Bruce Springsteen . Caroline Coon
5916-456: The spelling to differentiate himself. By another account, when Barrett was 13, his schoolmates nicknamed him Syd after he came to a field day at Abington Scout site wearing a flat cap instead of his scout beret, because "Syd" was a "working-class" name. He used both names interchangeably for several years. His sister Rosemary said: "He was never Syd at home. He would never have allowed it." At one point at Morley Memorial Junior School, Barrett
6003-446: The time, he told Barrett he was going out to buy cigarettes when leaving to play a show. He would return hours later to find Barrett in the same position, sometimes with a cigarette burned completely down between his fingers. Emerging from catatonia and unaware that a long period had elapsed, Barrett would ask, "Have you got the cigarettes?" The incident was referenced in the 1982 film Pink Floyd – The Wall . Barrett spent time outside
6090-556: The town's Market Square, one of their gigs at the Corn Exchange in Cambridge with MC5 proved to be disastrous. A few days after this final show, Twink recalled that Barrett stopped him on the street, showed him a scathing review of the gig they had played, and quit on the spot, despite having played at least one subsequent gig at the same venue supporting Nektar . Free from his EMI contract on 9 May 1972, Barrett signed
6177-572: The tracks were improved upon. The sessions with Jones started in April 1969 at EMI Studios. After the first, Barrett brought in friends to help: the Humble Pie drummer Jerry Shirley , and Willie Wilson, the drummer of Gilmour's old band Jokers Wild . For the sessions, Gilmour played bass. Jones said that communicating with Barrett was difficult: "It was a case of following him, not playing with him. They were seeing and then playing so they were always
6264-428: Was Pink Floyd's frontman and primary songwriter, known for his whimsical style of psychedelia , English-accented singing, and stream-of-consciousness writing style. As a guitarist, he was influential for his free-form playing and for employing effects such as dissonance , distortion , echo and feedback . Trained as a painter, Barrett was musically active for fewer than ten years. With Pink Floyd, he recorded
6351-555: Was a one-off performance. Regarding "Two of a Kind", David Gilmour stated that Wright wrote the song but an increasingly confused Barrett insisted it was his own composition (and wanted to include it on The Madcap Laughs ). Barrett was accompanied on this session by Gilmour and Shirley who played bass and percussion, respectively. These five songs were originally released on Syd Barrett: The Peel Session . Gilmour and Shirley also backed Barrett for his one and only live concert during this period. The gig took place on 6 June 1970 at
6438-480: Was also an avid gardener. His main point of contact with the outside world was his sister, Rosemary, who lived nearby. He was reclusive, and his physical health declined, as he had stomach ulcers and type 2 diabetes . Although Barrett had not appeared or spoken in public since the mid-1970s, reporters and fans travelled to Cambridge seeking him, despite public appeals from his family to stop. Apparently, Barrett did not like being reminded about his musical career and
6525-537: Was changing the arrangement as they played, and that Barrett was playing a joke on them. According to Gilmour, "Some parts of his brain were perfectly intact—his sense of humour being one of them." Waters called it "a real act of mad genius". Of the songs Barrett wrote for Pink Floyd after The Piper at the Gates of Dawn , only " Jugband Blues " was included on their second album, A Saucerful of Secrets (1968) . "Apples and Oranges" became an unsuccessful single, while " Scream Thy Last Scream ", " Vegetable Man " and
6612-461: Was deemed too young. Thorgerson saw this as a deeply important event in Barrett's life, as he was upset by the rejection. While living near his friends, Barrett wrote more songs, including " Bike ". While Pink Floyd began by playing cover versions of American R&B songs, by 1966 they had carved out their own style of improvised rock and roll, which drew as much from improvised jazz . After
6699-434: Was going for an afternoon drive, but followed Pink Floyd to Ibiza ; according to legend, he skipped check-ins and customs, ran onto the runway and attempted to flag down a jet. One of his friends, J. Ryan Eaves, the bass player for the short-lived but influential Manchester band York's Ensemble, spotted him on a beach wearing dirty clothes and with a carrier bag full of money. During the trip, Barrett asked Gilmour for help in
6786-408: Was headhunted by Melody Maker editor Ray Coleman in the mid-1970s and promptly made it her mission to get women musicians taken seriously. Between 1974 and 1976, she interviewed Maggie Bell , Joan Armatrading , Lynsey de Paul , and Twiggy . She then went on to make it her mission to promote punk rock. In 1978, Richard Williams returned – after a stint working at Island Records – to the paper as
6873-443: Was his greatest influence. At this point, Barrett started writing songs. One friend recalled hearing "Effervescing Elephant", which he later recorded for his solo album Barrett . Also around this time, Barrett and Gilmour occasionally played acoustic gigs together. Barrett referred to Gilmour as "Fred" in letters to girlfriends and relatives. Barrett had played bass guitar with Those Without in mid-1963 and bass and guitar with
6960-600: Was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Pink Floyd. He died of pancreatic cancer in 2006. Roger Keith Barrett was born on 6 January 1946 in Cambridge to a middle-class family living at 60 Glisson Road. He was the fourth of five children. His father, Arthur Max Barrett , was a prominent pathologist and was said to be related to Elizabeth Garrett Anderson through Max's maternal grandmother Ellen Garrett. In 1951, his family moved to 183 Hills Road, Cambridge . Barrett played piano occasionally but usually preferred writing and drawing. He bought
7047-636: Was out of the public eye for a year. In 1969, at the behest of EMI and Harvest Records , he embarked on a brief solo career, releasing two solo albums, The Madcap Laughs and Barrett (both 1970), and a single, " Octopus ". Some songs, " Terrapin ", "Maisie" and " Bob Dylan Blues ", reflected Barrett's early interest in the blues. After Barrett left Pink Floyd, Jenner quit as their manager. He led Barrett into EMI Studios to record tracks in May that were released on Barrett's first solo album, The Madcap Laughs . However, Jenner said: "I had seriously underestimated
7134-430: Was prolific and had the responsibility of covering folk music. He was with the paper until 1973. He later wrote for The Arizona Republic . He was also a freelancer and wrote for Sing Out! , Billboard , Jazziz , Rhythm and Songlines etc. In later years he was a fiction writer. In January 1972, Michael "Mick" Watts, a prominent writer for the paper, wrote a profile of David Bowie that almost singlehandedly ignited
7221-666: Was really like. But perhaps we were trying to punish him." Waters was more positive: "Syd is a genius." Barrett said: "It's quite nice but I'd be very surprised if it did anything if I were to drop dead. I don't think it would stand as my last statement." The second album, Barrett , was recorded more sporadically, the sessions taking place between February and July 1970. The album was produced by Gilmour, and featured Gilmour on bass guitar, Richard Wright on keyboard and Humble Pie drummer Jerry Shirley . The first two songs attempted were for Barrett to play and/or sing to an existing backing track. However, Gilmour thought they were losing
7308-478: Was taught by the mother of his future Pink Floyd bandmate Roger Waters . Later, in 1957, he attended Cambridgeshire High School for Boys with Waters. His father died of cancer on 11 December 1961, less than a month before Barrett's 16th birthday. On this date, Barrett left the entry in his diary blank. By this time, his siblings had left home and his mother rented out rooms to lodgers. Eager to help her son recover from his grief, Barrett's mother encouraged
7395-501: Was the first time I realised they were going to write all their own material, Syd just turned into a songwriter, it seemed like overnight." In 1967, Pink Floyd signed a record deal with EMI . They recorded their first album, The Piper at the Gates of Dawn , intermittently between February and July 1967 in Studio 3 at Abbey Road Studios (then called EMI Recording Studios), and produced by the former Beatles engineer Norman Smith . Of
7482-562: Was unable to perform or failed to appear. Around Christmas 1967, Pink Floyd asked Gilmour to join as a second guitarist to cover for Barrett. For a handful of shows, Gilmour played and sang while Barrett wandered around on stage, occasionally joining the performance. The other band members grew tired of Barrett's behaviour. On 26 January 1968, when Waters was driving on the way to a show at Southampton University , they elected not to pick him up. One person said, "Shall we pick Syd up?" and another said, "Let's not bother." As Barrett had written
7569-537: Was very difficult, we got that very frustrated feeling: Look, it's your fucking career, mate. Why don't you get your finger out and do something? The guy was in trouble, and was a close friend for many years before then, so it really was the least one could do. Upon the album's release in January 1970, Jones was shocked by the substandard musicianship on the songs produced by Gilmour and Waters: "I felt angry. It's like dirty linen in public and very unnecessary and unkind." Gilmour said: "Perhaps we were trying to show what Syd
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