Floyd Fans

[john_w]

Well, the music store I was planning to get "Piper" from has apparently closed its doors (at least in that location). Somehow, that seems fitting as the death of both Syd and "Bricks and Mortar" music are both signs of the impending end of another erra.

But, I'm glad the above link mentioned "Shine On You Crazy Diamond". I guess I'll stick with that one tonight:

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!

...

Nobody knows where you are, how near or how far
Pile on many more layers, and I'll be joining you there.
And we'll bask in the shadow of yesterday's triumph, and sail on the steel breeze.
Come on you boy child, you winner and loser, come on you miner for truth and delusion and shine!

- Roger Waters​

 

[TrexT]

Syd you'll be missed on earth but welcomed aloft.
I'm was gonna buy some of his solo work just last week. Off to the record store.

 

[gonzothegreat]

Here's a nice TV piece from the UK's Channel 4
http://www.channel4.com/news/special-reports/special-reports-storypage.jsp?id=2754

It includes a short video of "Scarecrow" with the band running around in a field. Dial-up users beware.

Up until recently I'd never been able to connect with Syd's music. Then on Gilmour's tour he played Arnold Layne and Waters has been playing a Syd tune iirc.

You have to respect a guy who decided to say "No thanks." to the lunacy of the music world (see "Have a Cigar") and live out his life tending to his garden and painting in a small house in Cambridge.

It said that he died Friday due to complications of diabetes. Lots of good info on the BBC site.

 

[jblmar]

Saw it this morning when I got to work.

Ron

 

[jaymanaa]

"Set the controls for the center of the sun"

RIP Syd

 

[cicero2]

last night i listened to the television personalities' "i know where syd barrett lives" and got syd barrett's The Madcap Laughs. then, this morning, when i turned the puter on found the news. strange . . .

 

[Bogframe]

Shine on, you crazy diamond! :sigh: :tears: :ntwrthy:

 

[gonzothegreat]

Hey cicero2 - I can relate to your story...

I've been a Floyd fan for 20+ years although I'd never connected with Syd's work until about 2 weeks ago thanks to some concert recordings of Gilmour's & Water's current tours where both did a Syd tune. Gilmour did Arnold Layne and Waters did another I can't recall. I've even been singing Arnold Layne while doing housechores.

Last Friday I went to a concert (Steely Dan at Milwaukee's Summerfest) and got violently ill. Thought it was food poisoning. The paramedics kept testing my blood sugar since it tested low on the first attempt (although it was normal later so they chalked it up to equipment error). The paramedics kept asking me if I had diabetes or blood sugar issues - nope. They shipped me off to the ER and I spent the night in the hospital. Woke up the next morning feeling almost normal (well, normal *for me*)

Today I found out Syd died of complications from diabetes. On Friday. <cue Twilight Zone music>

 

[colinhester]

But, I'm glad the above link mentioned "Shine On You Crazy Diamond". I guess I'll stick with that one tonight

It's going on as soon as I get the kids to sleep. Shine on, Syd.....Colin

 

[Kerb]

Damn, that sucks. My daughter was a huge fan, and is devastated.

 

[TrexT]

Relics is also a nice CD of Syds work, its a compilation though. I'll have to play it tonight.

 

[crooner]

Last night, I don't know why, it suddenly came to me the question: I wonder how Syd Barrett is doing...
I was reading an old review of Floyd's "Animals" in Audio Magazine. The reviewer had mentioned Barrett and his "chemical overdose". Today I learn about his passing. Spooky isn't it?

BTW, one of my closest childhood friends is a hardcore Pink Floyd fan and I remember he was always talking about the genius of Barrett and his influence on modern rock music.

 

[meggy]

Floyd shaped a lot of my initial musical discovery/appreciation.
Thank you Syd.
Here's a link to his favorite children's book/chapter that Piper at the Gates of Dawn was named for. Kind of interesting.

http://etext.virginia.edu/toc/modeng/public/GraWind.html

 

[onepixel]

Peace

 

[steveb]

You will be missed Syd

 

[240 Volts]

Heard the sad news on the car radio going to work this morning - the BBC played "See Emily Play" and "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" as a tribute.

I know it's from after Syd had left the band, but let's hope he's gone to "The Great Gig in the Sky" :

"And I am not frightened of dying,
Any time will do, I don't mind.
Why should I be frightened of dying?
There's no reason for it, you've gotta go sometime."

Roger "Syd" Barrett - RIP

 

[wank]

The timing was really odd. My dad and I just had a disagreement about PF - him saying Gilmour came before Waters in the band, me telling him 100% absolutely wrong, as Gilmour came on while Syd got slowly more mentally absent.
But the genius comment is right on. Syd Floyd and Waters Floyd and Gilmour Floyd are all very different organisms, and the genius of the first two came from the peculiar type of insanity suffered by the driving forces. While the discussion was about a revelation I had listening to "The Final Cut", my dad actually said "Yeah, but after that [Syd's departure] it was all about Roger Waters and his bed wetting problems." (Truer words rarely said). Before that, it was all about Syd's childish genius and clear desire to avoid the reality he was given.

One of my favorite coffee table books, called simply "Pink Floyd." (a visual documentary by Miles), talks about the transition. Waters freely admits about "Arnold Layne" and "See Emily Play" that it was all about Syd's writing -

"...it wouldn't matter who played bass or did this or that, it's irrelevant. They're very strong songs and you just do it. It's nothing to do with music, playing that stuff, it has to do with writing songs, and that was Syd who wrote those songs. I don't think we were doing anything then...")

But that

"his live performances were useless because he was working out so many things none of us understood. He would de-tune his guitar and strum the loose strings. We used to come off stage bleeding because we hit things in frustration."

So they called in Dave over Christmas 1968, and were working into a 5 piece, or more likely a 4-piece with "a sort of Brian Wilson figure, if you like." So while teaching Dave the songs, Syd comes in with a new one called "Have you Got it Yet?"

It was a real act of mad genius...I stood there for about an hour while he was singing "Have you got it yet?" trying to explain that he was changing it all the time so I couldn't follow it. He's sing "Have you got it yet?" and I'd sing "No, no." Terrific!"

I have a video CD called "Have you got it yet?" from Dutch TV where the "new" band lipsynchs a bunch of stuff recorded with Syd.

Then Syd went real nutty and all. He "left" halfway through "Saucerful", but had three tracks on it, including "Remember a day" and the title track (pure genius). But apparently, he sat for days in the EMI lobby hoping to be asked to play.

He recorded "The Madcap Laughs", and described it as

my particular idea of a record. It's very together. There's a lot of speaking on it, but there's not a very recognisable mood. It's mainly acoustic guitar and there are no instruments at all.

That's Syd.


Really, I think their next three albums (outside of "More") are their best. It's where Waters is trying to be Syd in writing, but the band is so much more suited to each other.

Sorry for the longwind.

 

[john_w]

Two observations while listening to "Shine On..." and the "Shine..." On reprise at the end of Wish You were Here last night:

1. I've always thought that David Gilmour expresses pain and frustration thru his instrument like nobody else. Now after reading details on how David slowly took over the reigns for a friend whos life was literally coming apart at the seems right before his eyes, I can see where it's coming from.

2. The "Shine On..." reprise turns into something that sounds like an eerie funeral march for just a measure or two. It's like they were saying goodbye to the Syd they once knew, all the way back in '75.

 

[john_w]

...My dad and I just had a disagreement about PF - him saying Gilmour came before Waters in the band, me telling him 100% absolutely wrong, as Gilmour came on while Syd got slowly more mentally absent.

abcnews.com made the exact same mistake in their latest article on the subject, saying it was originally Gilmour and Barret as front men, not Waters and Barret. And there was no way to write in and set 'em straight. At least their slide show had it right.

 

[mhardy6647]

Finally got a chance last night to sit down and listen to "Shine On..." and "Wish You Were Here" last night from my son's CD copy of Echoes.