Pink Floyd founder Syd Barrett dies

MP3.com ^ | July 11, 2006 | Jim Welte

[gawatchman]

Syd Barrett, a founding member of Pink Floyd who wrote the bulk of the legendary UK rock band's early material, died Friday. He was 60.

The exact cause of death is unknown, although Barrett was known to suffer from diabetes and had battled various forms of mental illness for years, with many fans speculating that his years of heavy psychedelic drug use had sent him over the edge. Barrett had lived a reclusive life since the 1970s, living at his parents' home in Cambridge.

Word of Barrett's death spread today, and the band--David Gilmour, Nick Mason, Roger Waters, and Richard Wright--released a statement: "The band [members] are naturally very upset and sad to learn of Syd Barrett's death. Syd was the guiding light of the early band line-up and leaves a legacy which continues to inspire."

Barrett's brother Alan also issued a statement today, saying: "He died peacefully at home. There will be a private family funeral in the next few days."

Barrett was the ultimate mystery in a band whose collective mystique was bolstered over the years by decades of infighting, mostly between Waters and Gilmour, who joined the band in 1968, shortly before Barrett left, as a second guitarist.

Artists like David Bowie and Pete Townshend cited Barrett as an influence. In a posting on his Web site today, Bowie wrote: "I can't tell you how sad I feel. Syd was a major inspiration for me. The few times I saw him perform in London at UFO and the Marquee clubs during the sixties will forever be etched in my mind. He was so charismatic and such a startlingly original songwriter. His impact on my thinking was enormous. A major regret is that I never got to know him. A diamond indeed."

[gawatchman]

This happened over a week ago, but is news to me, and I felt it is worth posting. RIP Syd.

[beyond the sea]

Great and brilliant guy......... he took more LSD than me. What a guy.

RIP

[SpaceBar]

Arnold Layne had a strange.... hobby

[beyond the sea]

Syd......... "wish you were here".

[xcamel]

news a bit stale, eh?

[al baby]

One of my first albums that I stole from my sister

[Borges]

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/search?m=all;o=time;s=barrett

[divine_moment_of_facts]

you might be interested in this link http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/search?m=any;o=score;s=syd%20barrett

[Ben Mugged]

Syd is "Learning to Fly". Clear sailing and fair winds Sid.

[dfwgator]

Even though Pink Floyd reached their greatest successes without Syd, you have to ask the question if without Syd in those early days if PF would have been in a position to be able to have their later success. Of course Syd's life provided fodder for many of Floyd's greatest songs, but more importantly, Syd was just so out there in the first place, and that is what got Floyd noticed.

[gawatchman]

Yes, I did not see where it had already been posted.

[beyond the sea]

excellent--- 1973........ a very good year.

[SteveMcKing]

I really respected his private life after the band. It shows that we're all special "somebodies"- even the most obscure and forgotten "nobodies".

Similarly, I don't think his anonymity was particularly sad, rather it was beautiful. People act like the man died just because he wasn't some Hollywood phony who did Rolling Stone interviews. He had a life, a nice quiet life for himself.

[al baby]

I was 13 years old

[beyond the sea]

Yes sir!

[DBrow]

Barrett had material on "The Piper at the Gates of Dawn", but I don't think he had anything on any of the other albums- from Saucerful of Secrets on. Which is too bad, PATGOD was pretty good.

PF did refer to him and dedicated many songs to him, but I don't recall that he had actual input.

I have "The Madcap Laughs" (1975) and found the music to be catatonicly dull and flat.

OTOH, Barrett was a big fan of kid's literature- "The Piper at the Gates of Dawn" is Chapter 7 of The Wind in the Willows, sort of like Alice in Wonderland and E E Milne's influence on Jefferson Airplane.

[beyond the sea]

I was 26 and had graduated from college, taken some time in the Army Security Agency....... and had come home then to do "a little experimenting" the next couple of years.

Good days.

;-)

[Hoosier-Daddy]

He's "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun"

[divine_moment_of_facts]

Happy to help my fellow conservative Floyd fans out there ;)

[Hoosier-Daddy]

Saucerful of Secrets was a great album, IMHO.