Musical career

Pink Floyd years (1965–1968)

Solo years (1968–1972)

Later years (1972–2006)

In 1972, Barrett formed a short-lived band called Stars with ex-Pink Fairies member Twink on drums and Jack Monck on bass. Though the band was initially well received, one of their gigs at the Corn Exchange in Cambridge proved to be disastrous (Monck describes just how disastrous it was in a TV interview in 2001 for the BBC Omnibus series documentary 'Crazy Diamond'). After this final show, Twink recalled in the book "Madcap: The Half-Life of Syd Barrett", Barrett stopped him on the street, showed him a scathing review of the gig they had played, and quit on the spot.

Wish You Were Here sessions

Syd Barrett had one noted reunion with the members of Pink Floyd in 1975 during the recording sessions for Wish You Were Here. Barrett attended the Abbey Road session unannounced and watched the band record "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" — as it happened, a song about him. At that time, Barrett had gained a lot of weight and had shaved off all of his hair, including his eyebrows, and his ex-bandmates did not at first recognize him (one of the photographs in Nick Mason's book Inside Out: A Personal History of Pink Floyd appears to have been taken that day; it is captioned simply: Syd Barrett, 5th June 1975). Eventually, they realised who he was and Roger Waters was so distressed that he was reduced to tears. A reference to this reunion appears in the film Pink Floyd The Wall (1982), where the character 'Pink,' played by Bob Geldof, shaves off his eyebrows (and body hair) after succumbing to the pressures of life and fame.

Compilations

Beyond the music

Musical influence

Many artists have acknowledged Barrett's influence on their work. Paul McCartney and Pete Townshend were early fans; Jimmy Page, David Bowie, Brian Eno, and The Damned all expressed interest in working with him at some point during the 1970s. Indeed, Bowie recorded a cover of "See Emily Play" on his 1973 album Pin Ups. On a VH1 program, honoring rock bands and artists, Pete Townshend gave a speech honoring Syd Barrett, and telling a story where he told Eric Clapton that he had "to come see this guy play", who was Barrett. Townshend called Barrett legendary.

Mental illness

Trivia

• Barrett is portrayed briefly in the opening scene of Tom Stoppard's play Rock 'n' Roll (2006) and his life and music (including the disastrous Cambridge Corn Exchange concert and his later reclusive lifestyle) are a recurring motif in the work.

• Johnny Depp has recently shown an interest in a biographical film based on Barrett's life.^[12]

• Syd Barrett is the subject of the Television Personalities' song "I Know Where Syd Barrett Lives". The Television Personalities became the subject of controversy and derision when, as they had been selected as the opening act on David Gilmour's About Face tour in the early 1980s, the lead singer decided to read aloud Barrett's home address to the audience of thousands. Gilmour removed them from the tour immediately afterwards.

Discography

Singles with Pink Floyd

• 1967: "Arnold Layne" / "Candy and a Currant Bun" (#20 UK)
• 1967: "Flaming" / "The Gnome"
• 1967: "See Emily Play" / "The Scarecrow" (#6 UK, #134 U.S.)
• 1967: "Apples and Oranges" / "Paint Box" (Rick Wright)
• 1968: "Let There Be More Light" / "Remember a Day"

Albums with Pink Floyd

• The Piper at the Gates of Dawn (5 August 1967) #6 UK
• A Saucerful of Secrets (29 June 1968) #9 UK

Compilations with Pink Floyd (featuring his work)

• Relics (14 May 1971) #34 UK, #152 U.S.
• A Nice Pair (1974)
• Masters of Rock (1974, Europe) (AKA The Best of the Pink Floyd)
• Works (1983)
• Tonite Let's All Make Love in London (1990, See For Miles Records, Ltd)
• Shine On (1992 box set)
• Echoes: The Best of Pink Floyd (5 November 2001) #2 UK, #2 U.S.

Solo albums

• The Madcap Laughs - (3 January 1970) #40 UK
• Barrett - (14 November 1970)

Solo compilations

• Syd Barrett (November 1974) U.S. #163: The Madcap Laughs and Barrett packaged together
• Opel - (17 October 1988)
• Crazy Diamond (April 1993): Boxed set with all three studio albums with bonus tracks
• The Best of Syd Barrett: Wouldn't You Miss Me? (16 April 2001): Contains one previously unreleased track ("Bob Dylan Blues")
• Octopus: The Best of Syd Barrett (29 May 1992): Greatest hits album issued on the Cleopatra label.

Solo live recordings

• The Peel Session (1 July, 1991): Recorded for John Peel's BBC radio show "Top Gear" with David Gilmour and Jerry Shirley backing. Contains the otherwise unrecorded "Two of a Kind".
• The Radio One Sessions (March, 2004): The album contains the five songs of from The Peel Session and bootleg-quality recordings of three songs broadcast on the Bob Harris radio show in 1971. [4]

Solo singles

• "Octopus"/"Golden Hair" (15 November 1969)

Music samples

Notes