Syd is dead

You beat me to it, what a sad loss.......

Very sad. Sad loss of the mad genius. Pink Floyd would not be who they are without his initial musical direction.

That is really sad. I never saw the Floyd live in his era but his legacy stands not only in his direct contribution but also in the inspiration he gave to the rest. "Wish You Were here" is still one of their finest achievements.

quote:

Originally posted by Chris Kelly:
That is really sad. I never saw the Floyd live in his era but his legacy stands not only in his direct contribution but also in the inspiration he gave to the rest. "Wish You Were here" is still one of their finest achievements.

Yep and apparently Syd inspired them to write "Shine on you crazy diamond".

Andrew

Indded Andrew. I was thinking og the album not the eponymous song!

That's sad news indeed. The world gets just that little bit greyer when one such a one-of-a-kind leaves it. I suppose, given his reclusive disposition, the myths debates and discussions will carry on much as if he was still with us. Which is a good thing. There's one discussion that will be off the table but I don't think that was ever going to happen.

Cheers

thats very sad indeed, bloody crying shame.
just got in from a shit day at work and this news hasent made it any better!!
SHINE ON SYD.
scotty

im not being funny or saying its not true BUT ive spent the past hour surfing the web and theres nothing on there about syd!!
even hes own website.
scotty

It's on the news page of BT Yahoo browser and BBC news website.
No conspiracy (yet).

Bye Sid.

News reports on Syd Barret's passing:

http://www.cnn.com/2006/SHOWBIZ/Music/07/11/britain.floyd/index.html

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/5169344.stm

ok guys, thanks
i was hoping it was a publicity stunt or something.
scotty

just noticed somethig guys!!
the official release date for the uk dvd of the pulse was friday 7th july - the day syd died!!
spooky or what ?
scotty

What a shame.

quote:

Originally posted by scottyhammer:
just noticed somethig guys!!
the official release date for the uk dvd of the pulse was friday 7th july - the day syd died!!
spooky or what ?
scotty

Almost as weird as the fact he walked into the recording studio as they were putting Shine On down to tape. They hadn't seen or heard from him in ages.

A true genius of his time, he will be missed. His legacy will shine for years.

I suppose Syd Barrett was to British psychedelia what Peter Green was to British blues. His influence was/is so vast it would be impossible to quantify. His life was obviously mixed up and I hope he finds peace in a better place.
One of this country's greatest modern folkheroes.

I think Syd became more famous after he fell ill and disappeared than he had been before. Legendary is much overused word but I think it fits him. At least he had royalty cheques to keep him going after he retired hurt.

It was very touching to hear David Gilmour play Arnold Layne at the RAH last month. I must play "Piper at the gates of dawn" later.

Playing "Piper" now. First time in ages. It's easy to forget just how influential Syd was on the early Floyd. And how very English it sounds. RIP Syd.

Very sad news indeed - for me Piper At The Gates of Dawn together with the first three singles will always be the best things that The Pink Floyd ever did - later they were good, but never as good as they were with Syd.

I only saw Syd Barrett and The Pink Floyd Sound live once: at the Chelmsford Corn Exchange on 23 September 1967, I can't remember it very well but I'm sure they played Reaction in G and Interstellar Overdrive.

What is there to say - Syd wrote See Emily Play which to mind is the greatest pop single ever written.

I have most of Syd's output on vinyl and the Crazy Diamond box set (well worth buying if you haven't already got it) and The Radio One Sessions on CD. I notice that Fish Out Of Water is still available on Amazon, which contains the first single, Lucy Leave and I'm a King Bee by The Pink Floyd Sound when Bob Klose. It is well worth getting if your a collector - as indeed is Magnesium Proverbs which contains Scream Thy Last Scream and Vegetable Man plus other stuff.



Perhaps the most fitting tribute is one of Syd's own songs - Dark Globe

I was half the way down, treading the sand
please, please, lift a hand
I'm only a person whose armbands beat
on his hands, hang tall
won't you miss me?
Wouldn't you miss me at all?

The poppy birds way
swing twigs coffee brands around
brandish her wand with a feathery tongue
my head kissed the ground
I was half the way down, treading the sand
please, please, please lift the hand
I'm only a person with Eskimo chain
I tattooed my brain all the way...
Won't you miss me?
Wouldn't you miss me at all?

This is a very sad day - we have lost Roger Keith Barrett one of the greatest song writers ever and certainly the most important character in the music of the 60s.

Rotf

Wikipedia says that the guy that wrote The Effervescing Elephant died on july 7th at home in Cambridgeshire.

quote:

Originally posted by AlexanderVH:
Wikipedia says that the guy that wrote The Effervescing Elephant died on july 7th at home in Cambridgeshire.

An Effervescing Elephant
with tiny eyes and great big trunk
once whispered to the tiny ear
the ear of one inferior
that by next June he'd die, oh yeah!
because the tiger would roam.
The little one said: "Oh my goodness I must stay at home!
and every time I hear a growl
I'll know the tiger's on the prowl
and I'll be really safe, you know
the elephant he told me so."
Everyone was nervy, oh yeah!
and the message was spread
to zebra, mongoose, and the dirty hippopotamus
who wallowed in the mud and chewed
his spicy hippo-plankton food
and tended to ignore the word
preferring to survey a herd
of stupid water bison, oh yeah!
And all the jungle took fright,
and ran around for all the day and the night
but all in vain, because, you see,
the tiger came and said: "Who me?!
You know, I wouldn't hurt not one of you.
I'd much prefer something to chew
and you're all too scant." oh yeah!
He ate the Elephant

The last track on Barrett though I think Syd wrote it many years before when he was at school in Cambridge.

quote:

Originally posted by AlexanderVH:
Wikipedia says that the guy that wrote The Effervescing Elephant died on july 7th at home in Cambridgeshire.

According to BBC Look East tonight he was into LSD and had behavioural problems and went into "retirement" in the early 70s in Cambridge,

Chris N

Wow, another little piece of my adolescence slips away.

I should watch my quoting, sorry. The reference to the elephant was mine and not listed on wikipedia. The Syd Barrett page is locked because of vandalism, but discussion is over here which mentions the Guardian .

quote:

Originally posted by Analogue:

quote:

Originally posted by AlexanderVH:
Wikipedia says that the guy that wrote The Effervescing Elephant died on july 7th at home in Cambridgeshire.

According to BBC Look East tonight he was into LSD and had behavioural problems and went into "retirement" in the early 70s in Cambridge,

Chris N

Syd took far too many drugs - he last went in to a studio in 1974, but he couldn't record anything coherent. The last coherent thing he did was a session for John Peel in '71.

Legend has it that in '74 he lived in a flat in Chelsea, spoke to nobody and one day left the flat and walked back to Cambridge, where he stayed until his death.

Dave Gilmour was able to help Syd record his two solo albums - the performance is patchy but the quality of the songs is remarkable.

There are some tapes of Syd playing with The Pink Floyd during August 1967 and they are supposed to be excellent, but nobody seems to want to release them. Perhaps, it will happen now.