Syd Barrett dies aged 60

The Guardian, U.K. ^ | 7/11/06 | ByDesign

[Florida_Freeper]

Remember when you were young. You shun like the sun.

Now there's a look in your eye. Like black holes in the sky.

Shine on You crazy Diamond!

[Jhensy]

So long Syd!

[dfwgator]

When Waters took off, his solo albums showed that he's one of those musicians who needs someone to reign him in, a partner or producer.

Same with Lennon and McCartney. You have to have the other person to filter out your crap, as Macca and Lennon's solo efforts clearly showed.

[FatherFig1o155]

I saw the same tour. At Roosevelt Stadium in Bayonne.

PF played the whole album start to finish, with Meddle as the encore.

I went with a girl who was very cute and I thought, very straight. She kept up with me pretty well, tho...

Behind me was a guy way high on something. As the band played "Speak to me," the guy started complaining that, "If this was a Zeppelin concert, man, people would be screaming 'Turn it up, man!' Zeppelin fans wouldn't stand for it, man!"

Then "Breathe" came in at full volume, front and back, so your hair would be physically moving back and forth. And this was an outdoor venue.

Anyway, I never heard anything like it. And neither, apparently, did the dude behind me. When PF finished "Breathe," all the guy could say was, "Oh, wow, man."

One of the best concerts I ever went to.

[Darkwolf377]

Well, obviously it IS Pink FLoyd; in fact, it's the greatest (as in most expansive) eexpression of what they wanted Floyd to BE. I don't think it's their best, but it's what Gilmour and especially Waters wanted it to be, and as someone who prefers Wish You were Here, Meddle and Dark Side... I have to say they can't just repeat themselves, they had to go into other areas, and I think this is the logical extension of the other albums.

[Thombo2]

"The members of Pink Floyd made sure he was very well taken care of.Living alone painting,writing..."That's my understanding as well.I believe he also made at least one album-"The Madcap Laughs Back."

[Mikey_1962]

June 5th 1975

During the "Wish You Were Here" recording sessions, Syd Barrett just happens to wander into Abbey Road studio while Pink Floyd are mixing "Shine On You Crazy Diamond," a song written about Barrett.

At first, none of Syd's former bandmates recognizes the fat, bald lunatic who is compulsively brushing his teeth.

[dennisw]

great photos!!!

[angkor]

"I have to say they can't just repeat themselves, they had to go into other areas"

Well, perhaps. I think I've listened to it once, and that was enough.

[HAL9000]

Have you heard Pink Floyds music from the Syd days?!?! horrible horrible incoherent abstract crap....

That's true - "See Emily Play" comes to mind - but without him, there would have been no Pink Floyd. RIP Syd.

[HAL9000]

Then "Breathe" came in at full volume, front and back, so your hair would be physically moving back and forth. And this was an outdoor venue.

That reminds me of a band I saw - Black Flag and Henry Rollins at their next to last performance before they split. I set my soda can on the bar, and the vibrations from the loud music were moving the can down the countertop, like an electric football game. I went outside the building and the exterior walls were creaking like the place was about to implode.

[Element187]

That's true - "See Emily Play" comes to mind - but without him, there would have been no Pink Floyd. RIP Syd.

Yea, I'm not saying good riddance or anything, but just bringing up a point, Pink Floyd wasn't very good back in those days. and yea See Emily Play was the main song I was referring to... although a few others are quite awful as well from that era...

[Darkwolf377]

I agree that Water's navel-gazing is too much for me. Some think this THE Pink Floyd album, but I strongly disagree.

[sully777]

Backmasked message on The Wall's Empty Spaces:

"Congratulations! You have just discovered the secret message. Please send your answer to Old Pink, care of the Funny Farm, Charlesfort."

Forward taped:
Roger...Caroline's on the phone

[pissant]

I'd ask for a translation, but I dare not.

[Churchillspirit]

All those drugs. Surprised he lived so long.

[angkor]

"music from the Syd days?!?! horrible horrible incoherent abstract crap...."

Hmmm, I don't really know why we were listening to it. I know I liked it at the time. Post-Syd stuff, Meddle and Atom Heart Mother.

But we were also laughing at Firesign Theatre.

The Beatles were listening to Karlheinz Stockhausen (Number Nine).

[sully777]

The backmasked message I quoted earlier occurs in Pink Floyd's album The Wall concerning Syd Barrett. Most commentaries seem to put the backmasked messageat the end of Goodbye Blue Sky and prior to Empty Spaces

However, if I remember the sequence correctly, the backmasking comes at the end of Mother and before Goodbye Blue Sky.

I don't have a copy of The Wall anymore so if anyone out there can help me, just nod if you can hear me...

Hope that clears up the misunderstanding. I thought you were a PF fan on other Floyd threads when I pinged you. Kinda pinging by memory--sorry.

[sully777]

I was surprised to learn that members of TOTO (they were highly sought after session musicians before and after forming TOTO) played extensively on The Wall. Apparently, the story goes that Roger Waters was annoyed with Gilmour and company's inability to get "the mood" of Water's masterpieces, so he brings in Jeff Pecaro and Steve Luthaka (Pecaro is credited while Luthaka is uncredited). If you play early TOTO (circa 1979 Hold The Line and I'll Suplly The Love) you'll hear elements of Another Brick In The Wall and Run Like Hell. Pecaro's contribution to precise synchopated drumming is loud and clear on the Wall.

[stylecouncilor]

I thought he died years ago.