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Careful with that Ax Syd:
By Wayne A. Klein
Before his fragmented breakdown Roger Keith “Syd” Barrett
was the guiding light and behind Pink Floyd. His contribution
to progressive rock can’t be underestimated. While Barrett
only recorded two albums as a member of Floyd his impact on
other musicians (including his replacement in the band David
Gilmour and as inspiration for many of writer/bassist Roger
Waters’ best songs) stretched far beyond his limited musical
legacy. Barrett died July 7, 2006 due to complications from
diabetes but many believed that whatever was the essence of
the Syd they knew died a long time nearly 30 years ago. ***
Barrett like many musicians from the UK at the time was
an aspiring art student. Barrett met many of his musical and
artistic collegues at Cambridge’s College of Art and Technology.
His musical inspiration was surprising and included blues
and jazz albums. He picked up the banjo (like John Lennon)
before turning to guitar. Syd joined future Floyd members
bassist Roger Waters, drummer Nick Mason and keyboardist Richard
Wright all of whom had played together in a band they called
Sigma 6 and became front man almost by default when guitarist
Bob Close left. The band’s long jams were distinguished from
others at the time by Barrett’s use of guitar feedback and
their elaborately structured instrumental sections. ***
Taking the band’s name from two bluesmen he admired Pink
Anderson and Floyd Council Barrett’s music had little in common
with his inspiration. His fragmented, whimsical songs from
“See Emily Play” with its cascading organ intro, tinkling
piano played by Richard Wright and catchy chorus to his last
Floyd contribution “Jug Band Blues” were kaleidoscopes of
sound incorporating everything from his stylized guitar p
laying and amazingly catchy relics of acid rock. ***
Pink Floyd were signed to EMI and Barrett’s song “See
Emily Play” became a chart hit. It’s a catchy slice of psychedelic
rock pared down to less than 3 minutes representing everything
that in one form or another that would end up on the band’s
first album. Meanwhile the band had another hit with “Arnold
Layne” a strange surrealistic song about a man who steals
women’s underwear. ***
Increasing his use of LSD Barrett became increasingly
fragmented and the use of drugs brought out a condition that
probably had always existed below the surface—schizophrenia.
As Barrett’s drug use escalated he became divorced from reality.
The decline became most noticeable on the band’s first U.S.
tour and eventually the rest of Floyd hired Gilmour to play
with them as Barrett would sometimes appear dazed on stage
strumming the same guitar chord for the entire evening. ***
As Barrett lost touch with reality Roger Waters engineered
replacing him with the steady and imaginative Gilmour. Waters’
guilt over his treatment of Barrett and the loss of his friend
(and rival) led to Waters’ composing much of the lyrics to
“Dark Side of the Moon”, “Wish You Were Here” and, most explicitly,
“The Wall”. ***
Even in his diminished mental state Barrett continued
to write rich, unusual songs like “Terrapin” and “Octopus”
and the haunting “Opel” recording his first solo album with
members of The Soft Machine and initially produced by Malcolm
Jones before his friends David Gilmour and Roger Waters stepped
in to insure that Barrett’s album was completed. Gilmour and
Richard Wright stepped in to produce Barrett’s second solo
albu m. Some of the material here sounds the most like Floyd
for a simple reason—Gilmour and Wright would frequently finish
the accompaniment on songs that Barrett would suddenly just
stop playing. Aside from a 1974 attempt to complete another
album (during which Syd bit the hand of the person who presented
him with the lyric sheet because it was printed in red ink
and he thought it was a bill), Barrett disappeared from the
music world wandering in now and again to collect his latest
royalty check but spending the bulk of his time living with
his mother in Cambridge. ***
Curiously Barrett showed up during the playback of “Shine
On You Crazy Diamond” expecting the band to suddenly put him
back in as its front man. He listened to the track (according
to the late Floyd biographer Nicholas Schaffner) and disappeared
just as mysteriously as he had appeared. Barrett’s tenure
with his band was short but influential. His impactful, wistful
and frequently surreal songs helped create the template from
which the more familiar Waters led Floyd would construct their
sound with Gilmour’s guitar as the bricks and mortar that
held it all together. ***
Without Barrett we wouldn’t have the fractured humor and
bizarre songs of Robyn Hitchcock or his band The Soft Boys,
Martin Newell, Guided by Voices or The Teardrop Explodes.
Barrett became a victim of an excessive time and a victim
of his own brain chemistry. To paraphrase “Bike” he may not
have fit into our world which is why he left. Now all I can
think of is the line from the film “It’s a Wonderful Life”
as I hear the parade of bike bells ringing at the beginning
of “Bike”. Another angel’s got his wings but this surreal
angel will leave a smile on God’s face just as he left a smile
on the faces of music fans everywhere. I just wish that the
turmoil and confusion within Syd hi mself could have been
solved as easily as listening to one of his own songs.
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