Sober Townshend Not Impressed By Barrett

[Svetonio]

Sober Townshend Not Impressed By Barrett



Pete Townshend insists late Pink Floyd frontman SYD BARRETT "wasn't very good" when heard without the influence of hallucinogenics. Barrett was the driving force behind Pink Floyd's debut 1967 album THE PIPER AT THE GATES OF DAWN but left the band in 1968 after suffering an LSD-induced breakdown. He died in July (06) from complications associated with diabetes. And Townshend was left disappointed when his acid trip wore off before he saw Pink Floyd perform in London in the mid-1960s. He says, "I had one of my very few acid trips and I walked all the way from Portobello Road to the Roundhouse - four miles - and by the time I got there the trip had worn off. "It was strange watching Syd Barrett stone-cold sober and realising, actually, that he wasn't very good. But it would have been brilliant if you were on acid."
Read more at http://www.contactmusic.com/pete-tow...lZTYRZEU4eW.99

[flowerking]

Interesting coming from Townshend who wasn't all that impressive himself. I get that both of them were good song writers, but neither was brimming over with actual musical talent.

[Svetonio]

Interesting coming from Townshend who wasn't all that impressive himself. I get that both of them were good song writers, but neither was brimming over with actual musical talent.

Pete Townshend is an underrated guitarist.

[Svetonio]

[Svetonio]

[Svetonio]

[moecurlythanu]

What incredibly impressive videos! Really drives home the point!

Got any more?

[musicislife]

If the agenda here is to show that this in any way proves that the Doors were better than psych Floyd "by a nautical mile", or that the majority of Doors music isn't anything other than dated and cheesy organ-isms, I'd suggest you try a more sensible way to Q.E.D.

[N_Singh]

What incredibly impressive videos! Really drives home the point!

Got any more?

Indeed. Static pentatonic cliches and doing overdriven windmills and splits while playing cowboy chords are the best !

[DoubleDrummer]

Indeed. Static pentatonic cliches and doing overdriven windmills and splits while playing cowboy chords are the best !

LOL..................indeed.
With the exception of a dozen or so songs that are very well written and performed, the Who put out a lot of mediocre material.

[the winter tree]

It must not have been very good acid if it wore off after only a 4 mile walk.

[rcarlberg]

But it's true, Syd was a better songwriter than a guitarist... or singer.

[Casey]

I wish there was more of this interview. Damn the print medium!

[zravkapt]

This guy is better than both Garrett and Townsin:

[gpeccary]

I think Barrett was horribly underrated as a guitarist, the guy was brilliant as both guitarist and writer. Townshend is a brilliant writer and guitarist as well. His writing chops are second to none in my book. He sounds like he's just pissed because he had to walk four fucking miles, as if that wasn't bad enough, only to get to the show and find he had shitty acid as well!

[Scott Bails]

This guy is better than both Garrett and Townsin:

You're right. You've gotta hand it to him.


Oh....wait....

[JJ88]

I don't rate Townshend as a lead player either...but when you can write songs like that, who cares.

[100423]

Considering what we got from a sober Townshend was The Endless Wire I don't put much stock in his opinion.

[Jubal]

Perhaps if Syd had been sober, he might have been a bit more impressive. I for one have never been a fan of Barrett. Compared to the rest of Pink Floyd, he was the weakest link as a player. He may have helped them get started with his songwriting, but his songwriting doesn't even compare to Roger's later work.

As per the comment about Townshend, I would suggest Who's Next, Quadrophenia, and Tommy as three of the most brilliant albums in Rock history.

[mogrooves]

A songwriter first & foremost, Townshend's "misfortune" was to have come up at the time of Beck/Clapton/Hendrix et al, the era of virtuosity, but he was fundamentally a rhythm player charged with filling up the sonic space and maintaining the time in a band with a "lead" drummer who rarely played "in the pocket;" playing leads was an extravagance.

I think Barrett was horribly underrated as a guitarist, the guy was brilliant as both guitarist and writer.

+1. Syd was a pioneer of noise and "extended" guitar techniques as well as a visionary writer. An important figure in the music.

[Wounded Land]

Well, I think that the first Pink Floyd album certainly holds up; then again, so does most of the Who's albums. With that being said, I have no doubt that the Who in their prime were a far better live experience than Barrett-era Floyd. Live at Leeds pretty much proves that point, I think.

[Jefferson James]

I don't rate Townshend as a lead player either...but when you can write songs like that, who cares.

Wright on!

[Echoes]

Well, Townsend and the Townsend/Barrett haters just have it wrong. Barrett was an explorer of textural guitar and the guy invented glissando guitar. (See Daevid Allen, Steve Hillage, David Gilmour, Robert Rich etc.) You didn't need acid to appreciate him. His guitar playing was acid. (And per an earlier poster, that must have been weak acid to wear off after four miles.) Pete Townsend was a master of the rhythm guitar solo as well as more conventional leads. Just listen to "I Can See for Miles." He did more with less, but he could just do more as well. I've never heard his guitar prowess questioned anywhere but here. Rolling Stone did have him at #10 of the 100 Greatest Guitarists. And from Andy Summers : "He more or less invented the power chord." A few could make that claim, but Townsend is definitely among them.

[mozo-pg]

It must not have been very good acid if it wore off after only a 4 mile walk.

No kidding! Even some hydroponic pot would last longer than four miles.

[moecurlythanu]

A songwriter first & foremost, Townshend's "misfortune" was to have come up at the time of Beck/Clapton/Hendrix et al, the era of virtuosity, but he was fundamentally a rhythm player charged with filling up the sonic space and maintaining the time in a band with a "lead" drummer who rarely played "in the pocket;" playing leads was an extravagance.



+1. Syd was a pioneer of noise and "extended" guitar techniques as well as a visionary writer. An important figure in the music.

Once again, mogrooves nails it.