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Thread: A Syd Barrett question

  1. #1
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    A Syd Barrett question

    Considering that Syd left Pink Floyd due to his increasingly erratic behaviour, it's maybe surprising that he recorded more songs following his leaving PF than he had done while he was the band's main songwriter.
    I am curious as to whether all the songs that appeared on his solo albums were written after leaving PF... or were any of them leftovers/prototypes from earlier days?
    I wonder which, if any, had been rejected for recording by the band?
    Is there any background knowledge about this?

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    I believe it's more like Pink Floyd leaving Syd than the contrary. Unfortunately I cannot say whether the batch of songs that ended up in his solo albums pre-dated his short solo career.

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    True - I phrased that opening line a bit carelessly.

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    Jazzbo manqué Mister Triscuits's Avatar
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    I don't think any of the songs that turned up on Barrett's solo albums ever appeared in Floyd's early live shows or unreleased sessions, so they were probably all written after he was elbowed out of the band. We do have studio outtakes and BBC sessions for a lot of Barrett's songs that show them as works in progress, and "Here I Go" from Madcap was reputedly written "in a few minutes."
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    I believe some like 'Effervescent Elephant' date back to pre-Pink Floyd days. There's the demo 'Bob Dylan Blues', which was also several years old by the time it was recorded.

    His first BBC session is worth a listen. It has early versions of three songs that would surface on the Barrett album. It also has the only version of 'Two Of A Kind'...this one is somewhat mysterious.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ra...Barrett_album)

    I am not aware of versions of his solo album songs done whilst he was still in Pink Floyd.

  6. #6
    'Two Of A Kind' is indeed a mystery, if I remember correctly then the shine on book claims it was written by Rick Wright but this makes no sense to me...

    P.S. another pre-PF song is Golden Hair

  7. #7
    Quote Originally Posted by JJ88 View Post
    I believe some like 'Effervescent Elephant' date back to pre-Pink Floyd days. There's the demo 'Bob Dylan Blues', which was also several years old by the time it was recorded.

    His first BBC session is worth a listen. It has early versions of three songs that would surface on the Barrett album. It also has the only version of 'Two Of A Kind'...this one is somewhat mysterious.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ra...Barrett_album)

    I am not aware of versions of his solo album songs done whilst he was still in Pink Floyd.
    On this page there is mention of "Millionaire" was originally titled She was a Millionaire and was originally recorded by Pink Floyd.
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barrett_(album)
    Clicking on the hyperlink it goes on to say..
    "She Was a Millionaire"

    "She Was a Millionaire" is a Barrett song, recorded at Abbey Road on 18 April 1967,as a possible B-side. Manager Peter Jenner said that the track was "the one that got away, the hit they were looking for." The opening lines are thought to be "She was a millionaire/She had some time to spare". The instrumental backing track was completed by Pink Floyd but the master tapes for the song most likely were erased. Elements from the song, however, would later become part of Barrett's solo song "Opel" recorded in 1969. Two takes were attempted at a backing track by Barrett during the sessions for the Barrett album in 1970,before Barrett added vocals.

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    There were a few outtakes of Pink Floyd with Barrett, obviously. 'Scream Thy Last Scream'/'Vegetable Man' (the most famous) were mixed for inclusion on Opel, way back in the late 80s. These mixes were left unreleased. They were then remixed in 2010, presumably for that An Introduction To best of. They didn't see the light of day until 2016's The Early Years.

    The instrumental 'In The Beechwoods' I knew little about until it turned up on the same set, nor those improvised jam things like 'John Latham'.

    There's something in a similar jam vein called 'Rhamadan' (this was initially download-only). That's Barrett and (believed to be) Tyrannosaurus Rex's Steve Peregrine-Took thrashing around.

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    Joe Boyd speaks of Syd Barrett recording a bunch of songs on to a tape. Joe Boyd misplaced the tape. Rumors scatter about over the years that some of the songs were re-recorded for Madcap and Barrett.
    I don't believe anyone has ever confirmed that .

    It was stated in a Pink Floyd documentary that it would be impossible to imagine what Syd Barrett would have sounded like if he had stayed with the Floyd.

    In other words...would he have fit in musically? Would he have written a style that was fitting to later Floyd albums.?

    In the early 70s I would record "Dominos" following "San Tropez" on Meddle and it sounded sounded like it naturally fit to me.

    Or I'd record Atom Heart Mother and place "Golden Hair" between "If" and "Summer 68'

    Or "Wolfpack" between "Fat Old Sun" and "Alan's Psychedelic Breakfast "

    It sounded fine to me. There are similarities between Barrett's writing and Floyd's writing in the early 70s. To me...some of the songs on Madcap and Barrett sound like the style on More, AHM, and Meddle

    Even "Free Four" from Obscured By Clouds . In a way it sounds like something Barrett would have written in 1970.

    Maybe because members of PF played on Barrett's solo albums? Or maybe that's not the case? Maybe the writing had similarities regarding the chords, melody, etc...idk?

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    Member rcarlberg's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by r2daft2 View Post
    Considering that Syd left Pink Floyd due to his increasingly erratic behaviour...
    I'm certainly no expert on Syd, but my understanding is (1) Syd was uncomfortable with the sudden success of PF and did not enjoy performing in public, and (2) he was taking an awful lot of acid. Therefore, once he stopped having to play his hits over and over, he could cut back on his self-medication, and his creativity emerged once again.

    But I could be all wrong.

    Besides, Dave helped him write a lot of the second album.

  12. #12
    I watched documentaries containing interviews with people who knew Syd Barrett and their word is not gospel.

    You simply cant buy into everything they say about him . For example...Norman Smith was old school in the music business and Syd Barrett was not.

    Syd Barrett was very turned off by his suggestions. That much I do gather.

    Syd Barrett was not a virtuoso type of guitarist. He experimented with sounds/white noise. Supposedly enjoyed the AMMM MUSIC album and may have emulated some of the sound effects for Bike and Interstellar Overdrive.

    The whimsical and Folk oriented songs on Piper were like insane children's stories. He worked on Piper and both instrumental Space Rock and Folk songs in an English children's literature style were included on the album. Years later several European bands were inspired to execute that idea in Prog Rock.

    He came up with an idea that inspired a lot of people and he was creative and unique for those times..

    John Lennon had written and recorded songs with the Beatles that had a childlike style years before Syd Barrett, but Syd Barrett constructed it so it would weave in and out of the album. I could be wrong..but it may have been the first time someone made an album with that element of completeness and its possibly the reason why people followed that concept extended the idea years later.

    Rick Wright stated that Syd Barrett enjoyed the stardom or attention a Pop star gets. My guess is that he did in the beginning. Then as time progressed he hated it.

    Rick Wright also stated that Syd Barrett was openly easy to talk with, charming, and interesting ...and after large dosages of Acid which his Leary friends put in his tea he wasn't. I agree.

    Rick Wright also stated that the lyrics and music Syd Barrett wrote for Pink Floyd was out there. Many writers put together stories that can be considered out there. Herman Hesse, Harlan Ellison, etc. Does that mean they were schizophrenic too? Well...of course not it's an art. The fact is perfectly sane people write insane stories.

    Roger Waters stated that Syd Barrett was schizophrenic and after he took too much Acid it caused his schizophrenia to surface. How would he know? Wright claimed that Barrett was just a normal guy that took Acid and he took too much and began displaying weird behavior.

    After a while I gave up on watching the documentaries and reading books. I believe in the possibility that Barrett was outgoing and pretty much normal socially and that the Acid affected his brain. Probably because I witnessed normal even tempered outgoing people lose their minds on Acid..and never come back. I think the Syd Barrett history is quite confusing. It's difficult to sort out the B.S. from the truth.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Enidi View Post

    Syd Barrett was not a virtuoso type of guitarist. He experimented with sounds/white noise. Supposedly enjoyed the AMMM MUSIC album and may have emulated some of the sound effects for Bike and Interstellar Overdrive.
    Before the album was released, he would have seen AMM in concert (who, I would imagine, would have been even more impressive to see in 1966, in terms of opening ones eyes to the possibilities of flagrant experimentation), who played on some of the same bills as he did. He was definitely inspired by more experimental things, which he adapted and used for his 'pop band'.
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  14. #14
    Quote Originally Posted by Steve F. View Post
    Before the album was released, he would have seen AMM in concert (who, I would imagine, would have been even more impressive to see in 1966, in terms of opening ones eyes to the possibilities of flagrant experimentation), who played on some of the same bills as he did. He was definitely inspired by more experimental things, which he adapted and used for his 'pop band'.
    Yes Steve F. that is true. That's interesting...thank you for that insight

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