July 11, 2006
Rest In Peace: Syd Barrett
Syd Barrett, one of the founding members of Pink Floyd, passed away on July 7, 2006 near London. The cause of death was not given, but it was known that Syd was battling with diabetes, so that could certainly have entered into it.
For those of you that don't know much about Syd, I would definitely recommend checking out the Wikipedia entry on him here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syd_Barrett. It is well written and has a wealth of great information about this musical mad scientist.
While Syd was only active in music for a few years, he definitely made his stamp on the world, bringing his unique flavor to the psychadelic scene in London in the 60s, and influencing more musicians than we may ever know about.
Another one of my favorite musicians, David Bowie, has always praised Barrett for what he did for music, and lists Syd as a major influence on his career, as do Pete Townsend, and many, many others.
Syd formed Pink Floyd (named after blues singers Pink Anderson and Floyd Council) along with original members Roger Waters, Nick Mason and Richard Wright in 1965. As Pink Floyd, they put out two albums, "The Piper at the Gates of Dawn", which reached #6 in the UK, and "A Saucerful of Secrets" which reached #9 in the UK. Syd became on-again-off-again with his performances due to his LSD use and mental instability that came from using it. When it got to the point where they could not count on him to even show up, they looked to David Gilmour (a friend of Syd's) to fill in. In January, 1968, they left him behind when heading to a gig, and that was the end of Syd being a member of Pink Floyd.
He put out several solo albums after that, but mainly, he became a recluse, shying away from the public light.
While Pink Floyd missed him as a member, they went on to commercial success, but they never forgot their old pal. In fact, their album "Wish You Were Here" (one of my personal favorites) is dedicated to and talks about Syd throughout the entire album. The song "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" was written specifically about him and the feelings the band had/have for him.
I found a couple of stories about his death, so peruse them if you'd like, but for now, raise a saucerfull of secrets and toast Syd Barrett.
Rest in peace, good man...finally.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/5169344.stm
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13814051/
Goodnight,
-m-