Syd Barrett

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WildcatOne
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Syd Barrett

Postby WildcatOne » Tue Jul 11, 2006 11:31 am

Founder of Pink Floyd and writer, vocalist and lead guitarist on their first album, "Piper At The Gates Of Dawn" (recorded at EMI/Abbey Road immediately following the Sgt Pepper sessions in 1967), a breakthrough album in sonic experimentation; also the pioneer of light and sound synchronization. Syd was a musical and artistic genius whose cracked songs opened endless vistas of creativity and stream-of-consciousness music which followed his groundbreaking style. I knew this was coming, probably later than I expected it to. Our world is changed from having Syd Barrett in it. A tortured soul set free. RIP. WC1
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060711/ap_ ... it_barrett
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Mtn.man
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Postby Mtn.man » Tue Jul 11, 2006 11:37 am

got all their LP's,,, great stuff..
like you said maybe later than expected...

RIP
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bandit
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Postby bandit » Tue Jul 11, 2006 11:21 pm

I just read this on AOL news. End of an era...

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WildcatOne
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Postby WildcatOne » Wed Jul 12, 2006 11:46 am

The sad part of it for me is that Syd Barrett invented a new dimension in rock music that his band, Pink Floyd took to universal megastardom and he was unable to take that ride with them. He had already left the music business and went home to live in anonymity for the rest of his life by the time "Dark Side Of The Moon" came out. His passing is just a footnote to something he created and his band mythologized in his absence and they made it way past the top of the heap with themes that related directly to his demise. The guys in the band all loved, respected and cared about him, but what can you do. He had pretty much turned into a vegetable by the time they were just hitting it big. Star-crossed as their situation was, they moved on and succeeded, but Syd, although immortal with the band and its fans for his creations, died in obscurity without much notice. He was actually in the same league as Ray Davies, Brian Wilson, Pete Townsend, David Byrne and Bowie (both came along later, but were influenced by him), Morrison and Arthur Lee when his mental condition brought him down. He just missed the big payoff. Maybe in the next life, Syd. WC1
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Danny White
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Postby Danny White » Tue Jul 18, 2006 3:08 pm

In Texas the closet situation we have to Syd is Roky Erickson. Like Pink Floyd played "Shine On You Crazy Diamond".

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racersforcoffee
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Postby racersforcoffee » Tue Jul 18, 2006 9:14 pm

...Syd and Roky were the working genius archetypes of the sort Bill Graham would seek out to fill in an R&B-based ballroom show. The "garage rock" w/ no boundaries they epitomized was the equivalent of what FX was to our sport...innovation without boundaries. I was briefly close to such as a 10 yr. old choir boy who was drafted to sing 32 bars of something Latin with the house band (Chrome Syrcus) at Seattle's Eagles Aud., circa '69. Never will such free form greatness so innocently capture our hearts...the music these gents created transcended the drug issues that hounded them. What wonderful music!
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WildcatOne
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Postby WildcatOne » Wed Jul 19, 2006 10:53 am

Yes. Yes indeed, gents. I have extensive data on Roky Erickson and the 13th Floor Elevators, from the beginning up to now. I saw them play live 5 times between 1966 and the end of 1967, and I went to a few shows that Roky did with the Explosives in the late 70s and early 80s. He is the greatest rock 'n roll singer I ever saw. His career has been intermittently brilliant, shambolic, crazed and horrifying. His influence goes infinitely farther than his fame and non-fortune ever did. I was telling Morebetter99 a while back that when Robert Plant went to South by Southwest in Austin last year (a music industry convention/festival focused on regional bands), that if he ran into Roky Erickson there, he'd do the right thing if he'd kneel down and kiss Roky's feet. I've seen Roky at the peak of his powers and he was the most magnificent, transcendent performer of cutting-edge revolutionary music there was at the time. I also saw him when he was doing a solo spot inside of an Explosives show, and he wailed his songs about B-movie sci-fi monsters, two-headed dogs, zombies, robots, vampires and Satanic symbolism. His voice and subject matter had changed, but he still had the dynamic that no other singer posessed. The last time I saw him live, he was sick and it looked like his central nervous system had short-circuited...it was disturbing to watch...I hear he's doing well these days. He got his medication right, his teeth got fixed, his brother took over his custodial rights from his mother, who was letting him waste away, and he's back on his feet, moving forward with friends the Butthole Surfers helping to get his writing and recording royalties worked out. When the Citykings recorded "Four Lifetimes" at SugarHill studios in Houston, the International Artists logo was still on the wall there, and Studio A is exactly as it was when the Elevators recorded "Psychedelic Sounds" and "Easter Everywhere" there. We did one song in Studio A, and I was haunted by the ghosts of those sessions...the CKs didn't know what I was talking about...I could go on for days about this, but you guys not only spoke the truth about Syd, Roky and it brought to mind a few more, but it opened Pandora's Box over here in Wildcat Country. Thanks. You're right on the money. WC1
Roky Erickson, 1966:
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