146-529: 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 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
292-499: A psychedelic cover designed by Storm Thorgerson and Aubrey Powell of Hipgnosis . The first of several Pink Floyd album covers designed by Hipgnosis, it was the second time that EMI permitted one of their groups to contract designers for an album jacket. The release reached number nine, spending 11 weeks on the UK chart. Record Mirror gave the album an overall favourable review, but urged listeners to "forget it as background music to
438-483: 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
584-579: A Day", Smith stepped in as his replacement. Wright recalled Smith's attitude about the sessions, "Norman gave up on the second album ... he was forever saying things like, 'You can't do twenty minutes of this ridiculous noise ' ". As neither Waters nor Mason could read music, to illustrate the structure of " A Saucerful of Secrets ", they invented their own system of notation. Gilmour later described their method as looking "like an architectural diagram". Released in June 1968, A Saucerful of Secrets featured
730-411: A brief solo career in 1969 with the single " Octopus ", followed by albums The Madcap Laughs (1970) and Barrett (1970), recorded with 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
876-399: A circle, the doors facing away from the centre. Waters used his own vehicle to arrive at the venue and stayed in different hotels from the rest of the band. Wright returned as a paid musician, making him the only band member to profit from the tour, which lost about $ 600,000 (US$ 2,010,835 in 2023 dollars ). The Wall was adapted into a film, Pink Floyd – The Wall. The film was conceived as
1022-602: A club in Birmingham . The second LP contained a single experimental contribution from each band member. Ummagumma was released in November 1969 and received positive reviews. It reached number five, spending 21 weeks on the UK chart. In October 1970, Pink Floyd released Atom Heart Mother . An early version premièred in England in mid January, but disagreements over the mix prompted the hiring of Ron Geesin to work out
1168-475: A combination of live concert footage and animated scenes; however, the concert footage proved impractical to film. Alan Parker agreed to direct and took a different approach. The animated sequences remained, but scenes were acted by actors with no dialogue. Waters was screentested but quickly discarded, and they asked Bob Geldof to accept the role of Pink. Geldof was initially dismissive, condemning The Wall 's storyline as "bollocks". Eventually won over by
1314-520: 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
1460-621: A fellow architecture student, joined later that year, and the group became a sextet, Sigma 6. Waters played lead guitar, Mason drums, and Wright rhythm guitar, later moving to keyboards. The band performed at private functions and rehearsed in a tearoom in the basement of the Regent Street Polytechnic. They performed songs by the Searchers and material written by their manager and songwriter, fellow student Ken Chapman. In September 1963, Waters and Mason moved into
1606-514: 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
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#17327828422971752-664: 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
1898-652: 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
2044-473: A fitting summary of the rise and fall of their former bandmate. Waters commented: "Because I wanted to get as close as possible to what I felt ... [that] indefinable, inevitable melancholy about the disappearance of Syd." While Pink Floyd were working on the album, Barrett made an impromptu visit to the studio. Thorgerson recalled that he "sat round and talked for a bit, but he wasn't really there". He had changed significantly in appearance, so much so that
2190-619: A flat at 39 Stanhope Gardens, Highgate in London, owned by Mike Leonard, a part-time tutor at the nearby Hornsey College of Art and the Regent Street Polytechnic. Mason moved out after the 1964 academic year, and guitarist Bob Klose moved in during September 1964, prompting Waters's switch to bass. Sigma 6 went through several names, including the Meggadeaths, the Abdabs and the Screaming Abdabs, Leonard's Lodgers, and
2336-561: A general malaise and with a sense of apathy, both of which interfered with his drumming. Despite the lack of creative direction, Waters began to visualise a new concept after several weeks. During 1974, Pink Floyd had sketched out three original compositions and had performed them at a series of concerts in Europe. These compositions became the starting point for a new album whose opening four-note guitar phrase, composed purely by chance by Gilmour, reminded Waters of Barrett. The songs provided
2482-478: 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
2628-522: A home recording studio at his house in Islington in a converted tool shed at the back of his garden. In January 1971, upon their return from touring Atom Heart Mother , Pink Floyd began working on new material. Lacking a central theme, they attempted several unproductive experiments; engineer John Leckie described the sessions as often beginning in the afternoon and ending early the next morning, "during which time nothing would get [accomplished]. There
2774-441: A legacy which continues to inspire." Gilmour said: "Do find time to play some of Syd's songs and to remember him as the madcap genius who made us all smile with his wonderfully eccentric songs about bikes, gnomes, and scarecrows. His career was painfully short, yet he touched more people than he could ever know." Pink Floyd Pink Floyd are an English rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of
2920-445: A megalomaniac, a development inspired partly by the decline of Syd Barrett. At the end of the album, the increasingly fascist audience would watch as Pink tore down the wall, once again becoming a regular and caring person. During the recording of The Wall , the band became dissatisfied with Wright's lack of contribution and fired him. Gilmour said that Wright was dismissed as he "hadn't contributed anything of any value whatsoever to
3066-404: 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
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#17327828422973212-596: 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
3358-487: A painter, Barrett was musically active for fewer than ten years. With Pink Floyd, he recorded 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
3504-583: A party". John Peel described a live performance of the title track as "like a religious experience", while NME described the song as "long and boring ... [with] little to warrant its monotonous direction". On the day after the album's UK release, Pink Floyd performed at the first ever free concert in Hyde Park . In July 1968, they made a second visit to the US. Accompanied by the Soft Machine and
3650-691: 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
3796-430: A recording studio and storage space. In 1976, they recorded their tenth album, Animals , in their newly finished 24-track studio. The album concept originated with Waters, loosely based on George Orwell 's political fable Animal Farm . The lyrics describe different classes of society as dogs, pigs, and sheep. Hipgnosis received credit for the packaging; however, Waters designed the final concept, choosing an image of
3942-557: A reported advance of $ 1,000,000 (US$ 6,178,138 in 2023 dollars). In Europe, they continued to be represented by Harvest Records. After a tour of the UK performing Dark Side , Pink Floyd returned to the studio in January 1975 and began work on their ninth studio album, Wish You Were Here . Parsons declined an offer to continue working with them, becoming successful in his own right with the Alan Parsons Project , and so
4088-426: A tour of England; however, Barrett's depression worsened as the tour continued. In December 1967, reaching a crisis point with Barrett, Pink Floyd added guitarist David Gilmour as the fifth member. Gilmour already knew Barrett, having studied with him at Cambridge Tech in the early 1960s. The two had performed at lunchtimes together with guitars and harmonicas, and later hitch-hiked and busked their way around
4234-535: 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
4380-610: A variety of topics, from the murder of John Lennon to his relationship with Waters. He later stated that he used the album to distance himself from Pink Floyd. Soon afterwards, Waters began touring his first solo album, The Pros and Cons of Hitch Hiking (1984). Wright formed Zee with Dave Harris and recorded Identity , which went almost unnoticed upon its release. Mason released his second solo album, Profiles , in August 1985. Gilmour, Mason, Waters and O'Rourke met for dinner in 1984 to discuss their future. Mason and Gilmour left
4526-467: A £5,000 advance (equivalent to £114,600 in 2023 ). EMI released the band's first single, " Arnold Layne ", with the B-side " Candy and a Currant Bun ", on 10 March 1967 on its Columbia label. Both tracks were recorded on 29 January 1967. "Arnold Layne"'s references to cross-dressing led to a ban by several radio stations; however, creative manipulation by the retailers who supplied sales figures to
Syd Barrett - Misplaced Pages Continue
4672-612: Is derived from the given names of two blues musicians whose Piedmont blues records Barrett had in his collection, Pink Anderson and Floyd Council . By 1966, the group's repertoire consisted mainly of rhythm and blues songs, and they had begun to receive paid bookings, including a performance at the Marquee Club in December 1966, where Peter Jenner , a lecturer at the London School of Economics , noticed them. Jenner
4818-569: Is the sole author of the lyrics. Released in March 1973, the LP became an instant chart success in the UK and throughout Western Europe, earning an enthusiastic response from critics. Each member of Pink Floyd except Wright boycotted the press release of The Dark Side of the Moon because a quadraphonic mix had not yet been completed, and they felt presenting the album through a poor-quality stereo PA system
4964-506: 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
5110-418: 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
5256-608: The London Polytechnic at Regent Street in September 1962 to study architecture, and Syd Barrett , two years younger than the rest of the band, who had moved to London in 1964 to study at the Camberwell College of Arts . Waters and Barrett were childhood friends; Waters had often visited Barrett and watched him play guitar at Barrett's mother's house. Mason said about Barrett: "In a period when everyone
5402-585: The Tower Records label. Pink Floyd continued to draw large crowds at the UFO Club; however, Barrett's mental breakdown was by then causing serious concern. The group initially hoped that his erratic behaviour would be a passing phase, but some were less optimistic, including Jenner and his assistant, June Child , who commented: "I found [Barrett] in the dressing room and he was so ... gone. Roger Waters and I got him on his feet, [and] we got him out to
5548-982: The UK Albums Chart . Their hit singles include "Arnold Layne" (1967), "See Emily Play" (1967), " Money " (1973), " Another Brick in the Wall, Part 2 " (1979), " Not Now John " (1983), " On the Turning Away " (1987) and " High Hopes " (1994). Pink Floyd were inducted into the US Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996 and the UK Music Hall of Fame in 2005. In 2008, they were awarded the Polar Music Prize in Sweden for their contribution to modern music. The founding members of Pink Floyd were Roger Waters , Nick Mason , and Richard Wright , who enrolled at
5694-424: 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
5840-462: 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 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
5986-680: 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
Syd Barrett - Misplaced Pages Continue
6132-631: The BBC's Top of the Pops , a popular programme that controversially required artists to mime their singing and playing. Though Pink Floyd returned for two more performances, by the third, Barrett had begun to unravel, and around this time the band first noticed significant changes in his behaviour. By early 1967, he was regularly using LSD , and Mason described him as "completely distanced from everything going on". Morrison and EMI producer Norman Smith negotiated Pink Floyd's first recording contract. As part of
6278-653: The Controls for the Heart of the Sun ", " Let There Be More Light ", and " Corporal Clegg ". Wright composed " See-Saw " and " Remember a Day ". Norman Smith encouraged them to self-produce their music, and they recorded demos of new material at their houses. With Smith's instruction at Abbey Road, they learned how to use the recording studio to realise their artistic vision. However, Smith remained unconvinced by their music, and when Mason struggled to perform his drum part on "Remember
6424-485: The Gates of Dawn not designed by Hipgnosis. Gerald Scarfe produced a series of animations for the Wall tour. He also commissioned the construction of large inflatable puppets representing characters from the storyline, including the "Mother", the "Ex-wife" and the "Schoolmaster". Pink Floyd used the puppets during their performances. Relationships within the band reached an all-time low; their four Winnebagos parked in
6570-495: 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
6716-493: The Moon and Wish You Were Here . Meddle was released in October 1971, and reached number three, spending 82 weeks on the UK chart. It marks a transition between the Barrett-led group of the late 1960s and the emerging Pink Floyd; Jean-Charles Costa of Rolling Stone wrote that "not only confirms lead guitarist David Gilmour's emergence as a real shaping force with the group, it states forcefully and accurately that
6862-471: The Moon featured as part of Pink Floyd's US tour. The album is one of the most commercially successful rock albums of all time. A US number-one, it remained on the Billboard Top LPs & Tape chart for more than fourteen years during the 1970s and 1980s, selling more than 45 million copies worldwide. In Britain, it reached number two, spending 364 weeks on the UK chart. The Dark Side of
7008-441: The Moon is the world's third best-selling album, and the twenty-first best-selling album of all time in the US. The success of the album brought enormous wealth to the members of Pink Floyd. Waters and Wright bought large country houses while Mason became a collector of expensive cars. Disenchanted with their US record company, Capitol Records , Pink Floyd and O'Rourke negotiated a new contract with Columbia Records , who gave them
7154-603: 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
7300-626: 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 was
7446-533: 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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#17327828422977592-664: The Spectrum Five, before settling on the Tea Set. In September 1963, as Metcalfe and Noble left to form their own band, the guitarist Syd Barrett joined Klose and Waters at Stanhope Gardens. Klose introduced the band to the singer Chris Dennis, a technician with the Royal Air Force (RAF). In December 1964, they secured their first recording time, at a studio in West Hampstead, through one of Wright's friends, who let them use some downtime free. Wright, who
7738-413: The UK and number six in the US. Waters wrote all the lyrics, as well as all the music. Rolling Stone gave the album five stars, with Kurt Loder calling it "a superlative achievement ... art rock's crowning masterpiece". He viewed The Final Cut as "essentially a Roger Waters solo album". Gilmour recorded his second solo album, About Face , in 1984, and used it to express his feelings about
7884-521: The UK and number three in the US. NME described it as "one of the most extreme, relentless, harrowing and downright iconoclastic hunks of music", and Melody Maker 's Karl Dallas called it "[an] uncomfortable taste of reality in a medium that has become in recent years, increasingly soporific". Pink Floyd performed much of Animals during their " In the Flesh " tour. It was their first experience playing large stadiums, whose size caused unease in
8030-576: The UK chart. It premièred at the Bath Festival on 27 June 1970. Pink Floyd toured extensively across America and Europe in 1970. In 1971, Pink Floyd took second place in a reader's poll, in Melody Maker , and for the first time were making a profit. Mason and Wright became fathers and bought homes in London while Gilmour, still single, moved to a 19th-century farm in Essex. Waters installed
8176-425: The UK, Japan, North America, and Europe. Producer Chris Thomas assisted Parsons. Hipgnosis designed the packaging, which included George Hardie 's iconic refracting prism design on the cover. Thorgerson's cover features a beam of white light, representing unity, passing through a prism, which represents society. The refracted beam of coloured light symbolises unity diffracted, leaving an absence of unity. Waters
8322-473: The Wall (Part II) ", which topped the charts in the US and the UK. The Wall was released on 30 November 1979 and topped the Billboard chart in the US for 15 weeks, reaching number three in the UK. It is tied for sixth most certified album by RIAA , with 23 million certified units sold in the US. The cover, with a stark brick wall and band name, was the first Pink Floyd album cover since The Piper at
8468-565: The Who , it marked Pink Floyd's first major tour. That December, they released " Point Me at the Sky "; no more successful than the two singles they had released since "See Emily Play", it was their last single until " Money " in 1973. Ummagumma represented a departure from Pink Floyd's previous work. Released as a double LP on EMI's Harvest label, the first two sides contained live performances recorded at Manchester College of Commerce and Mothers ,
8614-484: The ageing Battersea Power Station , over which they superimposed an image of a pig. The division of royalties was a source of conflict between band members, who earned royalties on a per-song basis. Although Gilmour was largely responsible for " Dogs ", which took up almost the entire first side of the album, he received less than Waters, who contributed the much shorter two-part " Pigs on the Wing ". Wright commented: "It
8760-523: The album. With marital problems of his own, he remained distant. Pink Floyd did not use Thorgerson for the cover design, and Waters designed the cover himself. Gilmour did not have any material ready and asked Waters to delay the recording until he could write some songs, but Waters refused. Gilmour later said "I'm certainly guilty at times of being lazy ... but he wasn't right about wanting to put some duff tracks on The Final Cut ." Released in March 1983, The Final Cut went straight to number one in
8906-511: The albums A Momentary Lapse of Reason (1987) and The Division Bell (1994), both backed by major tours. In 2005, all but Barrett reunited for a performance at the global awareness event Live 8 . Barrett died in 2006 and Wright in 2008. The last Pink Floyd studio album, The Endless River (2014), was based on unreleased material from the Division Bell recording sessions. In 2022, Gilmour and Mason reformed Pink Floyd to release
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#17327828422979052-419: The album—he did very, very little". According to Mason, Wright would sit in on the sessions "without doing anything, just 'being a producer ' ". Waters said the band agreed that Wright would either have to "have a long battle" or agree to "leave quietly" after the album was finished; Wright accepted the ultimatum and left. The Wall was supported by Pink Floyd's first single since "Money", " Another Brick in
9198-537: The answer was "Nah, let's not bother", signalling the end of Barrett's tenure with Pink Floyd. Waters later said, "He was our friend, but most of the time we now wanted to strangle him." In early March 1968, Pink Floyd met with business partners Jenner and King to discuss the band's future; Barrett agreed to leave. Jenner and King believed Barrett was the creative genius of the band, and decided to represent him and end their relationship with Pink Floyd. Morrison sold his business to NEMS Enterprises , and O'Rourke became
9344-927: The appointment, Barrett refused to come out of the car. A stay in Formentera with Sam Hutt , a doctor well established in the underground music scene, led to no visible improvement. The band followed a few concert dates in Europe during September with their first tour of the US in October. As the US tour went on, Barrett's condition grew steadily worse. During appearances on the Dick Clark and Pat Boone shows in November, Barrett confounded his hosts by giving terse answers to questions (or not responding at all) and staring into space. He refused to move his lips when it came time to mime "See Emily Play" on Boone's show. After these embarrassing episodes, King ended their US visit and immediately sent them home to London. Soon after their return, they supported Jimi Hendrix during
9490-583: The band and prevent the use of the Pink Floyd name, declaring Pink Floyd "a spent force creatively". When Waters's lawyers discovered that the partnership had never been formally confirmed, Waters returned to the High Court in an attempt to obtain a veto over further use of the band's name. Gilmour responded with a press release affirming that Pink Floyd would continue to exist. The sides reached an out-of-court agreement, finalised on Gilmour's houseboat,
9636-460: The band did not initially recognise him. Waters was reportedly deeply upset by the experience. Most of Wish You Were Here premiered on 5 July 1975, at an open-air music festival at Knebworth . Released in September, it reached number one in both the UK and the US. In 1975, Pink Floyd bought a three-storey group of church halls at 35 Britannia Row in Islington and began converting them into
9782-597: The band drop the "Sound" from their name. Under Jenner and King's guidance, Pink Floyd became part of London's underground music scene, playing at venues including All Saints Hall and the Marquee. While performing at the Countdown Club, the band had experimented with long instrumental excursions, and they began to expand them with rudimentary but effective light shows, projected by coloured slides and domestic lights. Jenner and King's social connections helped gain
9928-530: 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
10074-419: The band members each holding a one-sixth share. By late 1966, their set included fewer R&B standards and more Barrett originals, many of which would be included on their first album. While they had significantly increased the frequency of their performances, the band were still not widely accepted. Following a performance at a Catholic youth club, the owner refused to pay them, claiming that their performance
10220-604: The band prominent coverage in the Financial Times and an article in the Sunday Times which stated: "At the launching of the new magazine IT the other night a pop group called the Pink Floyd played throbbing music while a series of bizarre coloured shapes flashed on a huge screen behind them ... apparently very psychedelic." In 1966, the band strengthened their business relationship with Blackhill Enterprises, becoming equal partners with Jenner and King and
10366-431: The band realised that "songs could be extended with lengthy solos", wrote Mason. After pressure from his parents and advice from his college tutors, Klose quit in mid-1965 and Barrett took over lead guitar. The group rebranded as the Pink Floyd Sound in late 1965. Barrett created the name on the spur of the moment when he discovered that another band, also called the Tea Set, were to perform at one of their gigs. The name
10512-421: The band turned to Brian Humphries. Initially, they found it difficult to compose new material; the success of The Dark Side of the Moon had left Pink Floyd physically and emotionally drained. Wright later described these early sessions as "falling within a difficult period" and Waters found them "tortuous". Gilmour was more interested in improving the band's existing material. Mason's failing marriage left him in
10658-921: The band's personal manager. Blackhill announced Barrett's departure on 6 April 1968. After Barrett's departure, the burden of lyrical composition and creative direction fell mostly on Waters. Initially, Gilmour mimed to Barrett's voice on the group's European TV appearances; however, while playing on the university circuit, they avoided Barrett songs in favour of Waters and Wright material such as " It Would Be So Nice " and " Careful with That Axe, Eugene ". Mason said later that Gilmour added greater structure to Pink Floyd's music and that "we became far less difficult to enjoy, I think". In 1968, Pink Floyd returned to Abbey Road Studios to complete their second album, A Saucerful of Secrets , which they had begun in 1967 under Barrett's leadership. The album included Barrett's final contribution to their discography, " Jugband Blues ". Waters developed his own songwriting, contributing " Set
10804-498: The band, and asked them to release him from his contractual obligations. Gilmour believed that Waters left to hasten the demise of Pink Floyd. Waters later stated that, by not making new albums, Pink Floyd would be in breach of contract—which would suggest that royalty payments would be suspended—and that the other band members had forced him from the group by threatening to sue him. He went to the High Court in an effort to dissolve
10950-491: The band. Waters began arriving at each venue alone, departing immediately after the performance. On one occasion, Wright flew back to England, threatening to quit. At the Montreal Olympic Stadium , a group of noisy and enthusiastic fans in the front row of the audience irritated Waters so much that he spat at one of them. The end of the tour marked a low point for Gilmour, who felt that the band achieved
11096-429: 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 the early band lineup and leaves
11242-492: 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
11388-415: 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
11534-511: 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
11680-415: The deal, the band agreed to record their first album at EMI Studios in London. Mason recalled that the sessions were trouble-free. Smith disagreed, stating that Barrett was unresponsive to his suggestions and constructive criticism. EMI-Columbia released The Piper at the Gates of Dawn in August 1967. The album reached number six, spending 14 weeks on the UK charts. One month later, it was released under
11826-473: 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
11972-555: 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
12118-708: 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
12264-559: The film company, prompting them to release the soundtrack album as Obscured by Clouds , rather than La Vallée . The film was retitled La Vallée (Obscured by Clouds) on its release. The songs on Obscured by Clouds were all short and economical, with a strong country music influence. The album also featured the EMS VCS 3 synthesiser, which Wright had purchased from the BBC Radiophonic Workshop . " Burning Bridges "
12410-516: The film. The album was mixed from 4–6 April at Morgan Studios in London. During the first recording session in February 1972, the French television station ORTF filmed a short segment of the band recording the album, including interviews with Waters and Gilmour. Waters said that early UK pressings of the album contained "excessive sibilance". After recording had finished, the band fell out with
12556-579: The first British psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experiments, philosophical lyrics, and elaborate live shows . They became a leading band of the progressive rock genre, cited by some as the greatest progressive rock band of all time. Pink Floyd were founded in 1965 by Syd Barrett (guitar, lead vocals), Nick Mason (drums), Roger Waters (bass guitar, vocals) and Richard Wright (keyboards, vocals). With Barrett as their main songwriter, they released two hit singles, " Arnold Layne " and " See Emily Play ", and
12702-494: 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
12848-486: The former. Bob Ezrin co-produced and wrote a forty-page script for the new album. Ezrin based the story on the central figure of Pink—a gestalt character inspired by Waters's childhood experiences, the most notable of which was the death of his father in World War II . This first metaphorical brick led to more problems; Pink would become drug-addled and depressed by the music industry, eventually transforming into
12994-470: 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
13140-413: The group is well into the growth track again". NME called it "an exceptionally good album", singling out " Echoes " as the "Zenith which the Floyd have been striving for". However, Melody Maker's Michael Watts found it underwhelming, calling the album "a soundtrack to a non-existent movie", and shrugging off Pink Floyd as "so much sound and fury, signifying nothing". Pink Floyd had already recorded
13286-440: The group planned that Gilmour would "cover for [Barrett's] eccentricities". When this proved unworkable, it was decided that Barrett would just write material. In an expression of his frustration, Barrett, who was expected to write additional hit singles to follow up "Arnold Layne" and "See Emily Play", instead introduced " Have You Got It Yet? " to the band, intentionally changing the structure on each performance so as to make
13432-515: 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
13578-542: 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
13724-507: The invasion of the Falklands as jingoistic and unnecessary, and dedicated the album to his late father. Immediately arguments arose between Waters and Gilmour, who felt that the album should include all new material, rather than recycle songs passed over for The Wall . Waters felt that Gilmour had contributed little to the band's lyrical repertoire. Michael Kamen , a contributor to the orchestral arrangements of The Wall , mediated between
13870-489: 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
14016-467: 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
14162-455: The music business meant that the single reached number 20 in the UK. EMI-Columbia released Pink Floyd's second single, " See Emily Play ", on 16 June 1967. It fared slightly better than "Arnold Layne", peaking at number 6 in the UK. The band performed on the BBC's Look of the Week , where Waters and Barrett, erudite and engaging, faced tough questioning from Hans Keller . They appeared on
14308-401: 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)
14454-457: 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,
14600-545: 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
14746-461: 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
14892-479: The others could do", wrote biographer Nicholas Schaffner . In 1967, Pink Floyd began to attract the attention of the music industry. While in negotiations with record companies, IT co-founder and UFO club manager Joe Boyd and Pink Floyd's booking agent, Bryan Morrison , arranged and funded a recording session at Sound Techniques in Kensington . On 15 February 1967, Pink Floyd signed with EMI, receiving
15038-431: 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
15184-694: The prospect of participation in a significant film and receiving a large payment for his work, Geldof agreed. Screened at the Cannes Film Festival in May 1982, Pink Floyd – The Wall premièred in the UK in July 1982. In 1982, Waters suggested a project with the working title Spare Bricks , originally conceived as the soundtrack album for Pink Floyd – The Wall. With the onset of the Falklands War , Waters changed direction and began writing new material. He saw Margaret Thatcher 's response to
15330-573: 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
15476-538: 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
15622-404: 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 was out of
15768-471: 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
15914-452: The restaurant thinking that Pink Floyd could continue after Waters had finished The Pros and Cons of Hitch Hiking , noting that they had had several hiatuses before; however, Waters left believing that Mason and Gilmour had accepted that Pink Floyd were finished. Mason said that Waters later saw the meeting as "duplicity rather than diplomacy", and wrote in his memoir: "Clearly, our communication skills were still troublingly nonexistent. We left
16060-550: The restaurant with diametrically opposed views of what had been decided." Following the release of The Pros and Cons of Hitch Hiking , Waters publicly insisted that Pink Floyd would not reunite. He contacted O'Rourke to discuss settling future royalty payments. O'Rourke felt obliged to inform Mason and Gilmour, which angered Waters, who wanted to dismiss him as the band's manager. He terminated his management contract with O'Rourke and employed Peter Rudge to manage his affairs. Waters wrote to EMI and Columbia announcing he had left
16206-591: 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
16352-523: 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
16498-610: The song " Hey, Hey, Rise Up! " in protest of the Russian invasion of Ukraine . By 2013, Pink Floyd had sold more than 250 million records worldwide, making them one of the best-selling music artists of all time . The Dark Side of the Moon and The Wall were inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame , and are among the best-selling albums of all time . Four Pink Floyd albums topped the US Billboard 200 and five topped
16644-463: The song impossible to follow and learn. In a January 1968 photoshoot of Pink Floyd, the photographs show Barrett looking detached from the others, staring into the distance. Working with Barrett eventually proved too difficult, and matters came to a conclusion in January while en route to a performance in Southampton when a band member asked if they should collect Barrett. According to Gilmour,
16790-405: The sound problems. Geesin worked to improve the score, but with little creative input from the band, production was troublesome. Geesin eventually completed the project with the aid of John Alldis , who was the director of the choir hired to perform on the record. Smith earned an executive producer credit, and the album marked his final official contribution to the band's discography. Gilmour said it
16936-406: The soundtracks to the films The Committee (1968) and More (1969) and part of Zabriskie Point (1970). On the back of More ' s success, the director Barbet Schroeder asked them to record the soundtrack of his next major project, La Vallée . The band took two breaks to Strawberry Studios , Château d'Hérouville , France, either side of a Japanese tour, to write and record music for
17082-424: The south of France. In 1965, while a member of Joker's Wild , Gilmour had watched the Tea Set. Morrison's assistant, Steve O'Rourke , set Gilmour up in a room at O'Rourke's house with a salary of £30 per week (equivalent to £700 in 2023 ). In January 1968, Blackhill Enterprises announced Gilmour as the band's newest member, intending to continue with Barrett as a nonperforming songwriter. According to Jenner,
17228-453: 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
17374-455: The stage ... The band started to play and Syd just stood there. He had his guitar around his neck and his arms just hanging down". Forced to cancel Pink Floyd's appearance at the prestigious National Jazz and Blues Festival , as well as several other shows, King informed the music press that Barrett was suffering from nervous exhaustion. Waters arranged a meeting with psychiatrist R. D. Laing , and though Waters personally drove Barrett to
17520-433: The success they had sought, with nothing left for them to accomplish. In July 1978, amid a financial crisis caused by negligent investments, Waters presented two ideas for Pink Floyd's next album. The first was a 90-minute demo with the working title Bricks in the Wall; the other later became Waters's first solo album, The Pros and Cons of Hitch Hiking . Although both Mason and Gilmour were initially cautious, they chose
17666-783: The successful debut album The Piper at the Gates of Dawn (all 1967). David Gilmour (guitar, vocals) joined in 1967; Barrett left in 1968 due to deteriorating mental health. While all four members contributed compositions, Waters became the primary lyricist and thematic leader, devising the concepts behind Pink Floyd's most successful albums, The Dark Side of the Moon (1973), Wish You Were Here (1975), Animals (1977) and The Wall (1979). The musical film based on The Wall , Pink Floyd – The Wall (1982), won two BAFTA Awards . Pink Floyd also composed several film scores . Following personal tensions, Wright left Pink Floyd in 1981, followed by Waters in 1985. Gilmour and Mason continued as Pink Floyd, rejoined later by Wright. They produced
17812-445: 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
17958-496: 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
18104-571: 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
18250-539: The two, performing the role traditionally occupied by the then-absent Wright. The tension within the band grew. Waters and Gilmour worked independently; however, Gilmour began to feel the strain, sometimes barely maintaining his composure. After a final confrontation, Gilmour's name disappeared from the credit list, reflecting what Waters felt was his lack of songwriting contributions. Though Mason's musical contributions were minimal, he stayed busy recording sound effects for an experimental Holophonic system to be used on
18396-507: Was "A neat way of saying that he didn't ... do anything". Waters was critical of Atom Heart Mother , claiming that he would prefer if it were "thrown into the dustbin and never listened to by anyone ever again". Gilmour once described it as "a load of rubbish", stating: "I think we were scraping the barrel a bit at that period." Pink Floyd's first number-one album, Atom Heart Mother was hugely successful in Britain, spending 18 weeks on
18542-551: 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
18688-478: 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
18834-434: Was also suffering. Animals was the first Pink Floyd album with no writing credit for Wright, who said: "This was when Roger really started to believe that he was the sole writer for the band ... that it was only because of him that [we] were still going ... when he started to develop his ego trips, the person he would have his conflicts with would be me." Released in January 1977, Animals reached number two in
18980-452: Was being cool in a very adolescent, self-conscious way, Syd was unfashionably outgoing; my enduring memory of our first encounter is the fact that he bothered to come up and introduce himself to me." Waters and Mason met while studying architecture at the London Polytechnic at Regent Street . They first played music together in a group formed by fellow students Keith Noble and Clive Metcalfe, with Noble's sister Sheilagh. Richard Wright ,
19126-531: 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
19272-456: 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
19418-434: 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
19564-437: 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
19710-410: Was impressed by the sonic effects Barrett and Wright created and, with his business partner and friend Andrew King , became their manager. The pair had little experience in the music industry and used King's inheritance to set up Blackhill Enterprises , purchasing about £1,000 (equivalent to £23,500 in 2023 ) worth of new instruments and equipment for the band. Around this time, Jenner suggested
19856-500: Was insufficient. Melody Maker 's Roy Hollingworth described side one as "utterly confused ... [and] difficult to follow", but praised side two, writing: "The songs, the sounds ... [and] the rhythms were solid ... [the] saxophone hit the air, the band rocked and rolled". Rolling Stone 's Loyd Grossman described it as "a fine album with a textural and conceptual richness that not only invites, but demands involvement." Throughout March 1973, The Dark Side of
20002-402: Was no record company contact whatsoever, except when their label manager would show up now and again with a couple of bottles of wine and a couple of joints". The band spent long periods working on basic sounds, or a guitar riff. They also spent several days at Air Studios, attempting to create music using a variety of household objects, a project which would be revisited between The Dark Side of
20148-534: Was not music. When their management filed suit in a small claims court against the owner of the youth organisation, a local magistrate upheld the owner's decision. The band was much better received at the UFO Club in London, where they began to build a fan base. Barrett's performances were enthusiastic, "leaping around ... madness ... improvisation ... [inspired] to get past his limitations and into areas that were ... very interesting. Which none of
20294-412: Was one of two songwriting collaborations between Wright and Waters. " Childhood's End " was the last song Pink Floyd released to have lyrics written by Gilmour until the release of A Momentary Lapse of Reason in 1987. " Free Four " was the first Pink Floyd song since "See Emily Play" to attract significant airplay in the US, and the second to refer to the death of Waters' father during World War II. "Stay"
20440-515: Was partly my fault because I didn't push my material ... but Dave did have something to offer, and only managed to get a couple of things on there." Mason recalled: "Roger was in full flow with the ideas, but he was really keeping Dave down, and frustrating him deliberately." Gilmour, distracted by the birth of his first child, contributed little else toward the album. Similarly, neither Mason nor Wright contributed much toward Animals ; Wright had marital problems, and his relationship with Waters
20586-659: 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
20732-548: Was taking a break from his studies, did not participate. When the RAF assigned Dennis a post in Bahrain in early 1965, Barrett became the band's frontman. Later that year, they became the resident band at the Countdown Club near Kensington High Street in London, where from late night until early morning they played three sets of 90 minutes each. During this period, spurred by the need to extend their sets to minimise song repetition,
20878-468: 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
21024-557: 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
21170-536: 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
21316-476: Was written and sung by Wright, with lyrics by Waters. The closing instrumental on the album ends with a recording of the Mapuga tribe chanting, as seen in the film. Pink Floyd recorded The Dark Side of the Moon between May 1972 and January 1973 with EMI staff engineer Alan Parsons at Abbey Road. The title is an allusion to lunacy rather than astronomy. The band had composed and refined the material while touring
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