Pink Floyd's Syd Barret dead!

[nonconformist]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/5169344.stm

Syd Barrett, one of the original members of legendary rock group Pink Floyd, has died at the age of 60, the band's spokeswoman has confirmed.

He was born Roger Barrett in Cambridge and met future bandmates Roger Waters and David Gilmour at school there.

The guitarist was invited to join Pink Floyd by Waters in 1965 but left three years later after only one album with his mental state affected by drugs.

"He died very peacefully a couple of days ago," said the spokeswoman.

"There will be a private family funeral."

He had suffered from diabetes in recent years and had not been recording music.

A sad day for music

 

[Bozo Erectus]

Shine on you crazy diamond

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 in 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 percision
Rode on the steel breeze
Come on you raver
You seer of visions
Come on you painter
You piper
You prisoner
And shine
Nobody knows where you are
How near or how far
Shine on you crazy diamond
Pile on many more years
And I'll be joining you there
Shine on you crazy diamond
And we'll bask in the shadow
Of yesterday's triumph
Sail on the steel breeze
Come on you boy child
You winner and loser
Come on you miner for truth and delusion
And shine

 

[Kan' Sharuminar]

Shine on you crazy diamond

Seconded

 

[Rambuchan]

If ever there was a musical Icarus, Syd Barrett was him. This genius simply flew too close to the sun (ie. took too much acid and sorry not to go with any 'dark side of the moon' phrases). But the pieces of music he squeezed out were breath taking.

I clearly remember a clip from a great doco about Pink Floyd. Gilmour was saying how they were all struggling to get a certain guitar solo recorded and he simply couldn't play what was required. Then, magically, Syd rang from out of the blue and asked what they were up to. When told, Syd cruised into the studio and delivered the needed solo, in one take. What was amazing about it though is that Syd played the accompanying track backwards, while he recorded his flawless solo to it!!! (I just wish I could remember which track it was on).

I don't live far from where he stayed for much of the past few decades, Fulbourn Mental Hospital. I even have friends who work there now. I always think of Syd when I drive past there.

Shine on!

 

[nonconformist]

If ever there was a musical Icarus, Syd Barrett was him. This genius simply flew too close to the sun (ie. took too much acid and sorry not to go with any 'dark side of the moon' phrases). But the pieces of music he squeezed out were breath taking.

I clearly remember a clip from a great doco about Pink Floyd. Gilmour was saying how they were all struggling to get a certain guitar solo recorded and he simply couldn't play what was required. Then, magically, Syd rang from out of the blue and asked what they were up to. When told, Syd cruised into the studio and delivered the needed solo, in one take. What was amazing about it though is that Syd played the accompanying track backwards, while he recorded his flawless solo to it!!! (I just wish I could remember which track it was on).

I don't live far from where he stayed for much of the past few decades, Fulbourn Mental Hospital. I even have friends who work there now. I always think of Syd when I drive past there.

Shine on!

If I ever died, I'd want you to write my orbituary.

 

[Turner]

He will be missed.

 

[ChrTh]

How I Wish You Were Here.

 

[Rambuchan]

If I ever died, I'd want you to write my orbituary.

Shouldn't we discuss the fee now, before it's too late?

 

[nonconformist]

Shouldn't we discuss the fee now, before it's too late?

You'll get your 72 virgins in time, my friend.

 

[Chukchi Husky]

I read somewhere that Syd's poor mental health was caused by a form or severe Asperger's syndrome, and then the LSD made it worse.

 

[homeyg]

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[bathsheba666]

On your Bike...

 

[Rambuchan]

I read somewhere that Syd's poor mental health was caused by a form or severe Asperger's syndrome, and then the LSD made it worse.

Yeah, that's pretty much it. Although Wikipedia actually has something accurate on the subject I see, which offers a bit more:

There has been much speculation concerning the psychological well-being of Syd Barrett. Many believe he suffered from schizophrenia, though he didn't totally fit the typical profile for that condition. Additionally, some have suggested that Barrett had traits associated with Asperger's Syndrome, a condition most often placed on the autism spectrum.

Barrett's use of recreational drugs, especially LSD, during the 1960s is well-documented. Some believe that Barrett's drug use helped trigger (or at the very least inflame) his mental illness. In an article published in 2006, Gilmour was quoted as saying: "In my opinion, [his breakdown] would have happened anyway. It was a deep-rooted thing. But I'll say the psychedelic experience might well have acted as a catalyst. Still, I just don't think he could deal with the vision of success and all the things that went with it".

There is also the possibility that the sudden death of his father (a respected pathologist) when he was 11 caused him considerable anguish and left emotional scars that probably sowed some of the seeds of his later malaise. The subject matter of a lot of his songs, the nursery rhymes and fairy tale fantasies, were reminiscent for him of a "happier" period of his childhood before his father's passing.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syd_Barrett#Mental_illness

You'll get your 72 virgins in time, my friend.

OK, but I wants my virgin replacement clause in the contract or no deal. I've heard of these kind of stitch ups through my medium. (PS. You're the one dying, not me. I'm just writing the obituary.)

 

[LLXerxes]

What a shame. I should start listening to Pink Floyd more to remember all the things he did for music.

 

[De Lorimier]

R.I.P. Syd.

Thanks for the music.

@Ram: Barret wasn't living in Fulbourn Mental Hospital, but at his mother's house in Cambridge.

 

[Rambuchan]

@Ram: Barret wasn't living in Fulbourn Mental Hospital, but at his mother's house in Cambridge.

Yeah, I've never really been clear about when he stayed at that hospital and for how long. It's just an easy memory hook on a great man for me, cos I pass those roadsigns and that hospital a lot more than his mum's house! Anway, I'm glad he didn't die there. That would have been terrible.

 

[sysyphus]

A terrible waste of talent, meaning Syd's early exit from the music industry (self imposed mind you).

I have his solo albums, very interesting works better than his work with Floyd. I actually think that Floyd and Syd were both better off without one another, not that Piper at the Gates of Dawn wasn't a great album, just one of those rare cases where the sum fo the parts was greater than the whole.

 

[sysyphus]

Yeah, I've never really been clear about when he stayed at that hospital and for how long. It's just an easy memory hook on a great man for me, cos I pass those roadsigns and that hospital a lot more than his mum's house! Anway, I'm glad he didn't die there. That would have been terrible.

He'd been out of the hospital for a very long time, or better put, he wasn't in it for very long. I think he was even out before Floyd recorded Dark Side of the Moon.

 

[Chukchi Husky]

He was out when Wish You Were Here was recorded, because he visited Pink Floyd during recording.

 

[eyrei]

RIP, Syd.