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About the Artist
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Discography: Album
Discography: EP
Discography: Single
Filmography (Film & Television)
Personnel
Photos
Videography
Polar Blair's Thoughts on the Artist


About the Artist:  Born Roger Keith Barrett on January 4, 1946.  Died July 7, 2006 (age 60).

    After an unpleasant dismissal from Pink Floyd, Syd Barrett attempted a solo career.  After two albums in 1970, he was done, and became one of rock's most elusive figures.  All of his solo recordings were recorded at Abbey Road Studios.  The recording of these albums, for the large part, was difficult.  Syd was NOT in top form and sometimes not in any form at all.  For both of these albums, only the best of the best takes were used, and some of those could have been left out.  Most of the "previously unreleased" tracks that emerged years later are very ignorable.

    For both The Madcap Laughs and Barrett, Syd did very little with anything involved in the production.  As a matter of fact, he rarely showed up in sober condition.  And, as a strange twist of fate, most of the producing was done by his ex-comrades from Pink Floyd.  David Gilmour, the man who replaced him in the band, did the most producing of anyone for Syd.  Roger Waters, the new leader for Pink Floyd, did a bit of producing as well.  Even Pink Floyd producer Pete Jenner had a hand in things.  Syd, himself, produced only two songs that were used on The Madcap Laughs, and that was it.  He was completely zoned out by Barrett. 

    Both albums flopped.  Probably the biggest reason was the fact that Syd, himself, did little to promote it.  He did only one live concert on June 6, 1970.  The place was the Olympia Exhibition Hall in London, England.  He was backed by David Gilmour (bass) and Jerry Shirley (drums).  Four songs were played for less than half an hour.  Due to poor mixing, Syd's vocals could not be heard until midway through the fourth song.  After the fourth song, Syd politely put down his guitar and walked off the stage.

    He made one last appearance at BBC Studios on February 16, 1971, recording three songs that he did on Barrett.  But after this, he disappeared from music for over a year.  He did, however, do an interview in Rolling Stone magazine that December.  Surprisingly, he talked about himself a great deal, his American tour with Jimi Hendrix, and stated that he was musically frustrated due to bandmates that weren't very good.

    In 1972, he formed a short-lived band called Stars with a guy named Twink on drums and Jack Monck on bass.  The band had an initially good reaction, but it all fell apart after a terrible gig at the Corn Exchange in Cambridge, England.  Allegedly, after Barrett had read a scathing review of the performance, he met Twink on the street, showed it to him, and quit on the spot.  End of Stars.

    In August of 1974, Pete Jenner convinced Barrett to come back to Abbey Road Studios to record tracks for a new album.  This lasted three days and although the idea of these tracks seemed promising (they were to be rhythm and blues songs), it just didn't work out.  The only titled track from these sessions is "If You Go, Don't Be Slow".  He withdrew from the music industry again, this time selling the rights to his two solo albums back to the label.

    Barrett lived in a London hotel for awhile.  There were several attempts by others to employ him as a record producer, but Syd didn't bite on any of them.  By 1978, the funds ran out and he went to live with his mother in Cambridge, in her basement no less.  Far from the swinging lifestyle he had in 1967.  In 1981, he attempted to live in London again, but after a few weeks it was back to mama's basement for good!  Barrett received royalties from all of his work with Pink Floyd and the live albums and other works that featured his songs.  When it came to THAT, Syd was VERY attentive.

    Since Barrett became a very hermit-like figure, it is not exactly known when he started using his given name of Roger again.  But he went by Roger and returned to abstract painting and was also said to be an avid gardener.  After his mother died, his only real other contact with the outside world was sister Rosemary.  Barrett tried hard to live a quiet, easy life and distance himself from his music past, but it proved difficult.  Fans and paparazzi went to Cambridge to seek him out, and the many photos published show his discontent.  Besides this, he had developed serious health issues with stomach ulcers and type 2 diabetes.

    Although it's said he HATED being reminded of his music endeavors, and none of the members in Pink Floyd had direct contact with him, he DID go to his sister's house in 2001 to watch the BBC Omnibus documentary made about him.  He didn't like a lot of it, but enjoyed hearing the song "See Emily Play" again.

    He died on July 7 of 2006 at his Cambridge home of pancreatic cancer, but it was commonly reported as complications of diabetes.  He was cremated, and it's believed his ashes were given to a family member or friend.  Although an obscure artist in music, his death was given considerable media attention, mostly due to the popularity of Pink Floyd.  Many magazines and newspapers honored him, and a tribute concert was held on May 10, 2007 at the Barbican Centre.  Yes, even his Pink Floyd bandmates performed.

MORE COMING!

Polar Blair's Thoughts on the Artist:  Despite the fact that he was an emotionally-troubled person, Syd Barrett's music was delightfully upbeat (although weird).  He was a pure product of the psychedelic 1960s.  It's just a shame that he couldn't keep it together enough to stay with Pink Floyd OR maintain his solo career.  After my father died in 2006, I listened to Syd's work a lot, with Pink Floyd and solo.  I don't know why.  For some reason, it cheered me up.  Then he died later in 2006 at the ridiculous young age of 60.  I took that kind of hard.  I know I didn't know him personally, but I would have liked to have told him how he helped me through a rather tough transitional period.  And, in the back of my mind, I hoped that maybe he would have contacted me personally about the feature I had on him in Polar Blair's Den back then (hey, stranger things have happened!).  At any rate, I love his music and I think it would be fun for people to hear in any era.  Young kids would REALLY love it, and it's quirky enough for adults to dig it, too.

    Before and after Opel (1988) there have been many bootlegs of Syd's solo work.  A lot of this is actually better than what you hear on Opel.  The bad thing is that the sound quality is not always good.  Opel and other official releases are leaps and bounds better in digital mastering.  Anytime something new with Syd pops up and it's an official release, I strongly urge you to buy that instead of the bootlegs.

Personnel:

Syd Barrett- vocals, guitar. 
David Gilmour- bass on album Barrett.
Jerry Shirley- drums on album Barrett.
Rick Wright- keyboard on album Barrett.

Syd Barrett-  PRODUCER.  The Madcap Laughs (1970) tracks "Octopus", "Golden Hair".  Opel (1988) track "Golden Hair".  Crazy Diamond (1993) track "Octopus (Takes 1 & 2)".

David Gilmour- PRODUCER.  The Madcap Laughs (1970) tracks "Dark Globe", "Octopus", "Golden Hair", "Long Gone", "She Took a Long Cold Look", "Feel", "If It's In You".  Barrett (1970) all tracks.  Crazy Diamond (1993) track "She Took a Long Cold Look at Me (Take 4)".

Pete Jenner- PRODUCER.  The Madcap Laughs (1970) track "Late Night".  Opel (1988) tracks "Clowns & Jugglers", "Swan Lee (Silas Lang)", "Lanky (Part One)", "Golden Hair (Instrumental)".  Crazy Diamond (1993) track "Golden Hair (Take 5)", "Clowns & Jugglers (Take 1)", "Late Night (Take 2)".

Malcolm Jones- PRODUCER.  The Madcap Laughs (1970) tracks "Terrapin", "No Good Trying", "Love You", "No Man's Land", "Here I Go", "Late Night".  Opel (1988) tracks "Opel", "Clowns & Jugglers", "Swan Lee (Silas Lang)".  Crazy Diamond (1993) tracks "It's No Good Trying (Take 5)", "Love You (Take 1)", "Love You (Take 3)".

Roger Waters- PRODUCER.  The Madcap Laughs (1970) tracks "Dark Globe", "Long Gone", "She Took a Long Cold Look", "Feel", "If It's In You".  Opel (1988) track "Wouldn't You Miss Me (Dark Globe)".  Crazy Diamond (1993) track "She Took a Long Cold Look at Me (Take 4)".

Discography: Album:

The Madcap Laughs (1970)-

Songs:
  1. "Terrapin"- Recorded April 11, 1969.  Take 1.
  2. "No Good Trying"- Recorded April 11, 1969.  Take 3.
  3. "Love You"- Recorded April 11, 1969.  Take 4.
  4. "No Man's Land"- Recorded April 17, 1969.  Take 5.
  5. "Dark Globe"- Recorded August 5, 1969.  Take 1.
  6. "Here I Go"- Recorded April 17, 1969.  Take 5.
  7. "Octopus"- Recorded June 12, 1969.  Take 11.
  8. "Golden Hair"- Recorded June 12, 1969.  Remake, Take 11.
  9. "Long Gone"- Recorded July 26, 1969.  Take 1.
  10. "She Took a Long Cold Look"- Recorded July 26, 1969.  Take 5.
  11. "Feel"- Recorded July 26, 1969.  Take 1.
  12. "If It's In You"- Recorded April 26, 1969.  Take 5.
  13. "Late Night"- Recorded May 28, 1968.  Take 2.

Barrett (1970)- 

Songs:
  1. "Baby Lemonade"-  Recorded February 26, 1970.  Take 1.
  2. "Love Song"-  Recorded July 14, 1970.  Take 1.
  3. "Dominoes"-  Recorded July 14, 1970.  Take 3.
  4. "It is Obvious"-  Recorded July 17, 1970.  Take 1.
  5. "Rats"-  Recorded July 5, 1970.  Take Demo.
  6. "Maisie"-  Recorded February 26, 1970.  Take 2.
  7. "Gigolo Aunt"-  Recorded February 27, 1970.  Take 15.
  8. "Waving my Arms in the Air"-  Recorded February 27, 1970.  Take 1.
  9. "I Never Lied to You"-  Recorded February 27, 1970.  Take 1.
  10. "Wined and Dined"-  Recorded July 14, 1970.  Take 10.
  11. "Wolfpack"-  Recorded April 3, 1970.  Take 2.
  12. "Effervescing Elephant"-  Recorded January 14, 1970.  Take 9.
Opel (1988)-  A third, "official" album was released in 1988 called Opel.  Opel is really a collection of previously-unreleased tracks.  The songs were recorded anywhere from 1968-1970.  It was released due to heavy demand from Syd's cult-like following.  Despite this, it failed to chart.  "Opel" is not as good of album as his first two.  The reason for this is that these are all outtakes, demos, and other such things that no one thought was good enough to release on either of the first two albums.  Despite a few really standout tracks, most of it is junk.  There are a lot of lesser-quality alternate versions of songs already done on the first two albums.  You can hear very plain that he is drugged out or otherwise not "with it" on most of these.  His vocals are nowhere near as polished.  Since he does a lot of singing, this is not an easy thing to overlook.  I don't think it was a very nice thing that the powers-that-be released the "Opel" album.  To me, it seems like they're just playing on the notoriety of Syd's mental problems to make a few extra bucks off of his diehard fans.  A few songs on it are really cool, but don't spend your bottom dollar on it.  The albums to get are "The Madcap Laughs" and "Barrett."  They're more positive portrayals of his solo work.

Songs:
  1. "Opel"-  Recorded April 11, 1969.  Take 9.
  2. "Clowns & Jugglers"-  Recorded July 20, 1968.  Take 2.
  3. "Rats"-  Recorded June 5, 1970.  Two-Track Demo.
  4. "Golden Hair"-  Recorded June 12, 1970.  Remake, Take 6.
  5. "Dolly Rocker"-  Recorded July 14, 1970.  Take 1.
  6. "Word Song"-  Recorded July 17, 1970.  Take 1.
  7. "Wined and Dined"-  Recorded June 5, 1970.  Two-Track Demo.
  8. "Swan Lee (Silas Lang)"-  Recorded May 28, 1968.  Take 5.
  9. "Birdie Hop"-  Recorded June 5, 1970.  Two-Track Demo.
  10. "Let's Split"-  Recorded July 14, 1970.  Take 1.
  11. "Lanky (Part One)"-  Recorded May 14, 1968.  Take 1.
  12. "Wouldn't You Miss Me (Dark Globe)"-  Recorded July 26, 1969.  Take 1.
  13. "Milky Way"-  Recorded June 7, 1970.  Take 5.
  14. "Golden Hair (Instrumental)"-  Recorded May 14, 1968.  Take 1, Instrumental Backing Track.
Crazy Diamond (1993)-  This is an official boxed set of all three of his official albums.  Each of the three discs has additional, previously-unreleased tracks.

Songs:

EXTRA TRACKS (The Madcap Laughs)
EXTRA TRACKS (Barrett)
 EXTRA TRACKS (Opel)
 Discography: EP:

Discography: Single:

Filmography (Film & Television):

Photos:

Videography: