PINK FLOYD FOUNDING MEMBER SYD BARRETT DIES

[leftyladyfrommo]

Ah. From complications of diabetes. Being run on the BBC now.

It's hard. People that I grew up with are starting to die.

Too sad. I really liked Pink Floyd



edit for my horrible spelling. I have a spelling deficit.

[sabbat hunter]

1. he was ill for a long time

Syd Barrett, an original member of Pink Floyd has died at the age of 60. A recluse mostly since 1968, he died friday in his sleep after a long battle with mental illness, diabetes, stomach ulcers.


RIP you crazy diamond.

[leftyladyfrommo]

2. God Bless Him.

Maybe in heaven he will have perfect health again.

[theguvnorgc]

3. Careful with that Axe....

Shine on....

[Gregorian]

10. Thanks for posting that.

I was hoping he... I don't know. I'm saddened either way. But at least he died a somewhat natural death.
A genius leaves.

[Kolesar]

29. mental illness--how very sad

I hope y'all reading this reflect upon compassion for the troubled.

[leveymg]

4. "Shine on, you crazy diamond"

Syd went mad by 1968, and was thrown out of the band. Syd left a long time ago, but the Floyd is still with us. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syd_Barret

[sabbat hunter]

13. he actually

left on his own. the other band mates would work with him on his solo efforts, but his illness made it hard. when he showed up years later they didnt even recognize him.

[leveymg]

16. Tragic and very sad

He made a huge contribution.

[sofa king]

23. The story I heard was...

...That he actually showed up at the studio in 1975 while Pink Floyd was recording "Shine on You Crazy Diamond." Most of the band members didn't recognize him because he had shaved off all his hair, including his eyebrows. This led to the rumors that he had showed up "old, fat and bald." That meeting seems to have made an impression on Pink Floyd because in their film The Wall they had Bob Geldof shave off his eyebrows (and most of his other hair).

According to Wikipedia, Barret brought a toothbrush with him to that meeting and tried to brush his teeth by holding the brush still and jumping up and down. That's the sort of loopy stuff that Syd had always been known for--it's just that by 1975 everyone thought Syd was insane, and the joke wasn't funny anymore.

[GodlessBiker]

5. Floyd Rocks! Didn't they just come out with a new retrospective album?

[obreaslan]

6. "Remember when you were young, You shone like the sun...."

Shine on you crazy diamond!
Now there's a look in your eyes, like black holes in the sky.
Shine on you crazy diamond.
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!
You reached for the secret too soon, you cried for the moon.
Shine on you crazy diamond.
Threatened by shadows at night, and exposed in the light.
Shine on you crazy diamond.
Well you wore out your welcome with random precision,
rode on the steel breeze.
Come on you raver, you seer of visions,
come on you painter, you piper, you prisoner, and shine!

[leftyladyfrommo]

7. Wow!

[Johonny]

8. I wonder

If they'll finally get around to releasing his last few songs he did with Floyd? It always saddens me that a band with all it's members alive can spend their time bitching about each other instead of recording music.

[Old Vet]

9. Truly Sad News..........

Man,Those were the days.

[Human Torch]

11. "You're the kind of girl that fits in with my world...

...I'll give you anything, everything if you want things..."

That's how I'll remember Syd.

:toast:

http://www.pink-floyd.org/barrett/sydlyrics.html#piper

[Bolo Boffin]

24. Me, too.

"I know a room of musical tunes.
Some rhyme, some ching. Most of them are clockwork.
Let's go into the other room and make them work."

[gogo69]

28. I've got a bike, you can ride it if you like....

it's got a basket, a bell that rings and things that make it look good;

I'd give it to you if I could, but I borrowed it.

:-)

[Patsy Stone]

12. One of these days...

I'm going to bash you into little pieces.

RIP, you crazy diamond.

[Swamp Rat]

14. I knew there was a reason why I was listening to Pink Floyd for breakfast.

I'm in tune with you Syd. :hi:

[leveymg]

15. Thank you, Swamp Rat. That's a keeper.

:hippie:

[joeunderdog]

17. Some of the new generation anti-psychotic meds give you diabetes.

Of course they don't tell you that, but they do. Don't know what they gave him for his illness, but I'm betting he was taking one of them.

[Theres-a]

18. Sad

Rest in peace.

[Blue_In_AK]

19. I'm so sorry to hear this.

Rest in peace, Syd.

[lonestarnot]

20. bummer...

real bummer.

[Jack Rabbit]

21. .

All that you touch
All that you see
All that you taste
All you feel.
All that you love
All that you hate
All you distrust
All you save.
All that you give
All that you deal
All that you buy,
beg, borrow or steal.
All you create
All you destroy
All that you do
All that you say.
All that you eat
And everyone you meet
All that you slight
And everyone you fight.
All that is now
All that is gone
All that's to come
and everything under the sun is in tune
but the sun is eclipsed by the moon.

--Roger Waters

[phatkatt]

22. Finally free from The Machine ...

Shine on, Syd!

What a sad waste of a great talent!

[byronius]

25. Uhh -- I'm one of those 'Syd' guys.

I think Piper At The Gates Of Dawn and Saucerful Of Secrets are the Top of Pink. Then comes the Roger, and everything he does. I like David, but Roger's got the Thing.

But Syd. Crazy, sad, warped, morose, visionary Syd. I count him as the greatest lyricist ever, any band, any era.

Like I said. I'm a Syd guy. But I'm less sad about his death than I am glad he wrote what he did, what he could. It was a life. On my balance scale, he did something utterly rare and precious. Wouldn't want to be him. Love him, though.


'He wore a scarlet tunic
A blue green hood
it looked quite good
he had a big adventure
amidst the grass
fresh air at last'


Goodbye, Syd.

[Adenoid_Hynkel]

34. without him, there's be no Robyn Hitchcock

or the flaming lips, for that matter

[mtnester]

26. Ever notice...

Shine on You crazy Diamond



and another lyric tribute to Syd:
So, so you think you can tell Heaven from Hell,
blue skies from pain.
Can you tell a green field from a cold steel rail? A smile from a veil?
Do you think you can tell?

And did they get you trade your heroes for ghosts?
Hot ashes for trees? Hot air for a cool breeze?
Cold comfort for change? And did you exchange
a walk on part in the war for a lead role in a cage?

How I wish, how I wish you were here.
We're just two lost souls swimming in a fish bowl,
year after year,
running over the same old ground. What have we found?
The same old fears,
wish you were here.

[Initech]

27. That sucks, I am a huge Pink Floyd fan.

RIP Syd!

I'll be putting on Barrett, The Madcap Laughs, and Piper At The Gates Of Dawn for the rest of the day.

[Rabrrrrrr]

30. Kicking all three of these together

[gully]

31. "The Wish You Were Here sessions" Courtesy of Wikipedia

"Syd Barrett had one noted reunion with 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 — coincidentally, a song about him. At that time, Syd 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 recognise 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. Members of the band also reported on their featured VH1 episode of Behind The Music that Barrett held a toothbrush and attempted to brush his teeth by holding the brush still and jumping up and down. 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 after succumbing to the pressures of life and fame.

In an interview for VH1, Rick Wright spoke about the session, saying: "One thing that really stands out in my mind, that I'll never forget; I was going in to the the Shine On sessions. I went in the studio and I saw this guy sitting at the back of the studio, he was only as far away as you are from me. And I didn't recognise him. I said, 'Who's that guy behind you?' 'That's Syd'. And I just cracked up, I couldn't believe it... he had shaven all his hair off... I mean, his eyebrows, everything... he was jumping up and down brushing his teeth, it was awful. And, uh, I was in, I mean Roger was in tears, I think I was; we were both in tears. It was very shocking... seven years of no contact and then to walk in while we're actually doing that particular track. I don't know – coincidence, karma, fate, who knows? But it was very, very, very powerful." In another interview, Nick Mason has said: "When I think about it, I can still see his eyes, but... it was everything else that was different." In yet another interview, Roger Waters has said: "I had no idea who he was for a very long time."

HIS INFLUENCE ON MUSIC

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. In fact, 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. Syd was one of Townshend's many influences, along with John Lee Hooker, Bo Diddley and even Joe Walsh. Syd as guitarist was remarkable for his free-form style in playing chords (and not the echo, the tapes or the effects); his rhythmic guitar, as well as his minimalist and dissonant solos, can be seen as the main influence on punk, post-punk and grunge guitarists, and still is the main influence on indie bands as of today. No other guitarist of his generation could claim this.

-

Other artists/bands that have claimed influence and/or covered Barrett's work include Étienne Daho, This Mortal Coil, Marc Bolan, The Jesus and Mary Chain, Robert Smith (of The Cure), Johnny Marr (formerly of The Smiths), Kevin Shields (of My Bloody Valentine), Primal Scream, Voivod (band), The Libertines, Dirty Pretty Things, The Beta Band, Lone Pigeon, Julian Cope, Robyn Hitchcock, The Flaming Lips, REM, Mercury Rev, East Bay Ray (of the Dead Kennedys), Camper Van Beethoven, Voivod, The Three O'Clock, Pearl Jam, Love and Rockets, Elevator To Hell, The Melvins, Transatlantic, Phish, Dream Theater, Graham Coxon (formerly of Blur), John Frusciante (of the Red Hot Chili Peppers), Eppo, Skobot Bzzzz, and the Vinyl Skyway.

RIP Mr. Barrett:

http://blogmedias.mblogger.cn:81/images/student.mblogger.cn/gdaitiao/15554/o_Syd%20Barrett.jpg

[ArnoldLayne]

32. Godspeed to you Roger "Syd" Barrett you will be truely missed by me. You

and Keith Emerson were my idols when I was a teenager in the mid 70"s.:( :(

[Cetacea]

33. Goodbye, old friend

You will be sorely missed. No more suffering for you. May you attain the best the Universe has to offer...