Syd Barrett 1946-2006

You were caught on the crossfire
Of childhood and stardom,
Blown on the steel breeze.
Come on you target for faraway laughter,
Come on you stranger, you legend, you martyr, and shine!

Shine on You Crazy Diamond by Pink Floyd.

When I first joined the Floydian club, I had never heard of Syd Barrett. My uncle got me hooked on Pink Floyd, mainly through Another Brick in the Wall pt 2. Then I bought their other album Wish You Were, which just blew me away, cos tt song Shine on You Crazy Diamond definitely has the best build up to a song and David Gilmour's guitar on that is just incendiary . The words also kinda appealed to me and it always got me wondering who Roger Waters was talking about. Some reading up led to me learning about Syd Barrett, the man who started Pink Floyd, David Gilmour's predecessor.

In a nutshell, Roger Keith Barrett was born in Cambridge in January 1946. His father was a pathologist who passionately dabbled in botany and painting. He picked up the guitar at 11. He also took after his father artwise, which led a to scholarship to Cambridge Art College. Some of his artworks can be seen in some Floyd albums (See Emily Play). It was at Cambridge that he met his other Floyd future band mates, Roger Waters, Nick Mason, Richard Wright and the man that would replace him as Pink Floyd leadman, his good friend, David Gilmour.
Their first album together, Piper at The Gates of Dawn was pretty mind blowing. Btw the title for that album came from a chapter of Syd's favourite book, Wind in the Willows. It was an interesting play on kindergarden songs with eccentric twists. It was mainly the way he wove the words magically with typical English finesse. He was also one of the few British artists to sing with an unaltered British accent. If you listen to any of his songs, you knew right away Syd was an Englishman.
The band came together in 1966, but it was all short lived, as Syd was a complicated man. Some thought he was a schizo. There were times when during perfomances he would just black out standing there not uttering a word in front of his audiences as the rest of the band tried to cover up this mishap by playing as hard as they could, or he would just alter the lyrics and tune without first telling the band. He would also be absent for recording sessions and would play mind games with his band mates. LSD played a major part in this psychosis and pressure of the band's success with Piper was taking it's toll on Syd.
Syd's departure from Floyd came in 1968, announced by Roger Waters who also mentioned that Syd's good pal, David Gilmour would be replacing him. Syd quietly left and went on to record 2 solo albums, The Madcap Laughs and Barrett. These 2 albums just projected the inner turmoil within the man. At last he put down his guitar, and lived out his life as a painter in his mother's house in Cambridge till the day he died. Though he may have died this year, July 7th (complications from diabetes), he was pretty much dead to the rest of the world since 71. However his influence on pyschedelic rock was enormous with people like Micheal Stipe (REM), Beck, Elton John, John Frusciante (Red Hot Chilli Peppers) citing Syd as a major influence. We cannot forget his influence on post-Syd Pink Floyd songs as well, the main ones being Shine on, Comfortbaly Numb, Hey You, and Time.
All in all, Syd was a genius, a tortured one, but still a genius who created psychedelic music. His influences can be seen everywhere and anyone who has ever listened to him just get more and more curious as to what made the man tick. His music is a goldmine and such talent is sadly extinct in this day and age.
Wherever you are Syd, rest in peace and Shine on You Crazy Diamond