Tag: Syd Barrett

Annotated Short List for Album Battle 1967.

I’m gunna do an album battle. 700 words max.

  • The Beatles – Revolver. This one pretty much has to be in.
  • The Nice – The Thoughts of Emerlast Davjack. I need to hear this one a couple more times before I decide whether or not to include it.
  • John Coltrane – Interstellar Space. fabulous free jazz. Do I like this better than A Love Supreme?
  • Cream – Disraeli Gears. Perhaps the epitomy of heavy psych.
  • The Moody Blues – Days of Future Passed. Gorgeous record.
  • Pink Floyd – Piper at the Gates of Dawn. See Revolver.
  • Frank Zappa – Absolutely Free. Don’t have this one, though I’m sure I could rustle up a copy if I really wanted to.
  • Bob Dylan – John Wesley Harding. This one is a near-certainty. Very influential to my songwriting.
  • The Beach Boys – Smiley Smile. This album is one of the weirdest, yet most beautiful recordings ever made.
  • The Byrds – Younger than Yesterday. Chris Hillman’s last album with the band.
  • The Byrds – Sweetheart of the Rodeo. Gram Parsons. The one that usually gets written about.

I will narrow this list down to 4. That’s my next post.

Barrett by Syd Barrett

A reminder of what might have been

Syd Barrett was the original leading light of Pink Floyd, but succumbed to debilitating psychological issues that began around the time of the release of the band’s first album. He left the band under a cloud after a short struggle to continue contributing, and after two erratic solo albums, left the music business entirely. Barrett, his second solo album, was the end of the road for Syd as a recording artist.

It’s sssssooooo wwwwweeeeiiiirrrrrddddddddd, but it’s also surprisingly good considering the problems involved in making it, and different from anything else you might care to name in rock music.

The first thing I think of with Syd’s solo stuff is wild tempo shifts and a casual attitude towards pitch, but there’s less out-of-control-ness than you might think on Barrett. I mean, it’s loose, at times almost chaotic, but I think Syd was a lot more on top of things for this record than his rep might suggest.

“Gigolo Aunt,” for instance is prime late-sixties pop rock, as is “Baby Lemonade.” The shuffling beats, the psychedelic brightness, the unique phrasing and viewpoint — all are trademark, and testament to Barrett’s distinctive creativity.

The band is Syd on vocals and guitar, Richard Wright on keys, Jeff Shirley from Humble Pie on drums, and David Gilmour on bass and backing vocals. Gilmour and Wright are the producers. At Gilmour’s insistance, Syd plays all the guitars.

Ultimately, it’s both its own thing – loose and immediate, quirky and streamlined – and a reminder of what might have been.