 Syd Barrett is worldwide known as the founder of the famous band Pink Floyd and even though he was a main influence to his old band mates, Barrett inspired a whole lot more musicians in different styles of music through the years. Among his fans is David Bowie, who recorded Syd’s ‘See Emily play’ for his ‘Pin ups’ album (1973) and recently made his appearence at a gig of Pink Floyd’s David Gilmour, singing that other sixties hit written by Syd, ‘Arnold Layne’ in London. July 7, 2006 Syd Barrett died, after living as a recluse more than half of his life.
Roger Keith Barrett was born in Cambridge, january 6, 1946, being a cheerful child and always entertaining his friends; with his drawings, games and, from his early teens with a guitar. A happy childhood, even though disturbed by his fathers death when he was only thirteen. He was the kind of boy who attracted friends.
He was always painting, from the moment he was just a little child and he had a very own style of humor, which a lot people never really understood; his friends and family did, but it seemed the growing amount of audience, since he started playing music, failed and took all he said or had written far too serious and with the years it turned out to be a frustration that his natural sense of humour has often been misunderstood. A frustration it was, but it never lead to a depression. He more or less accepted that he was never understood and the problem was he felt more isolated with people around him. According to Barrett’s sister, Rosemary Breen, Syd has just happy with his chosen loneliness, painting and writing.
Many stories are written about Syd Barrett and in most of it the case is about how the use of drugs caused a breakdown and because of his strange behaviour he had to leave the band he started. Like Pink Floyd’s Roger Waters said: “Without Syd there had been no Pink Floyd, but with him the band just couldn’t continue to exist”. Like most artist did in the late sixtees, Syd also used to experiment with several drugs and among them was LSD, but in fact none of his use caused any sort of breakdown, but it sure could have been a catalyst to the mental state he was in, caused by the confusion which being a promising star could bring along. It made him look for some kind of oblivion, what made him take Mandrax, a powerful sleeping medicine.
Syd has always been a dreamer, but from creating a world of his own with songs and paintings to share with others, he started just to escape from the cruel world he found himself being part of. Maybe he decided to close the curtains, but didn’t manage to tell anyone the show was over. He couldn’t find a way to close the theatre, so he kind of closed himself.
Syd Barrett, 1971 (Picture by Mick Rock)
Syd started as a bass player in the band Geoff Mott & the Mottoes, when he was about sixteen and also started to write poems. When he moved to London to study at the art acedemy, he shared an appartment with Roger Waters, who he had known from his childhood in Cambridge. Roger Waters started to play in several bands with his study mates Nick Mason and Richard Wright. They asked Syd to join them in 1965 in the band which was called The Archictectural Abdabs (while the other members were studying architecture in London). After guitarist Bob Klose (more into jazz) left, Syd took over the leading role and renamed the band after two of his blues favourites: Pink Anderson and Floyd Council. Pink Floyd made their debut in 1967 with the single ‘Arnold Layne’ and from there on it’s all well known pop history.
In the fall of 1967 Syd Barrett disappeared for a few days and many stories are told that he was stucked in a bad LSD trip, but in fact nobody knows. Fact is, that when he came back, there was a different Syd; not the open minded and charming boy, but a silent and closed man who seemed to suffer from all the band’s efforts. Soon David Gilmour, also singing and playing the guitar (in the band Jokers Wild) and also grown up in Cambridge, was asked to help Pink Floyd out, while Syd sometimes didn’t even show up at a gig or just stood on stage, staring at the audience. In april 1968 the band decided to go on without their singer and main songwriter.
Syd was asked to continue writing, because back then the managers and label had more confidence in the solo carreer of Barrett than they had in the band continuing without their frontman.
Syd released two solo albums, both in 1970, and even though both albums weren’t a big commercial success, a lot artist found these albums far more interesting than the album and singles Syd has released with Pink Floyd and through the years Barrett songs were played or recorded by This mortal coil, Placebo, REM, David Bowie, Brian Eno, Marc Almond, Nigel Planer (Neil in the TV series The young ones), The Damned, The Shockabilly, The Dolphins and Peter Sellers. For several bands Syd Barrett were a main influence; directly or with the artistic echo he left Pink Floyd; the album ‘Wish you were here’ is mainly about Syd and ‘The Wall’ mainly inspired by him. Roger Waters, the main writer of the album and screenplay for the movie The Wall, confirmed that a lot of what’s going on is based on Syd, who has always been an inspirator for the composer Waters, who managed to inspire bands as Nine inch nails and Diary of Dreams.
With David Gilmour and drummer Jerry Shirley, Barrett did some sessions for John Peel and in 1972 he did some concerts with his new band Stars, which include drummer Twink and bass player Jack Monk, but on each event Barrett took off stage after just a few songs played. Jerry Shirley remembers his last gig with Barrett and looking at him he concluded “You just don’t want to be here, do you?”.
Summer 1972 Syd Barrett left the hotel in London where he had been living for some years, and walked back home, to Cambridge.
Pink Floyd, 1968
(from left: Nick Mason, Syd Barrett, David Gilmour, Roger Waters, Richard Wright)
Often is said that Syd Barrett could create a world of it’s own, captured in a song with lyrics as a kind of strange fairy-tale. Like there is a story of Lucifer Sam, a Siam cat or Arnold Layne with his strange hobby, or the cheerful and romantic, but less strange ‘Bike’, the story of the ‘Octopus’, ‘Dominoes’ (with that strange sounds, which is a guitar playing backwards; Syd just asked to play the base track backwards and played his solo, to be listened to the other way round, is perfect in one take), ‘Long gone’, which perhaps is about his fiancée Gayla, like maybe ‘Terrapin’ is about too. A lot on his albums sounds like a demo, but the songs are finished, ready to inspire, for sure. And still, Barrett seems to inspire artists in different styles of music.
Each story written about Syd Barrett includes more questions than answers and also the news of his death on july 7, 2006 did. Were it complications, caused by his diabetes or was it cancer?
Fact is that Syd didn’t want a crowd anymore; not the spotlight of a famous popstar, but also he never wanted to expose his paintings. Just the quiet life and only contact with his brother and sister after his mother died in 1991.
His family buried Roger Keith Barrett to rest in peace. Syd had already been buried in the dust and guitars, he once declared, in room 902 at Chelsea Cloisters in London, somewhere in 1972.
Let’s remember Syd Barrett as the child with the bright light in his eyes, listening to the wind in the willows, happier than the scarecrow, making plans while waiting for the piper at the gates of dawn.
Syd Barrett, 1946 - 2006
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