They were very exciting. When they all got their grant money, he wrote to say theyd been in the West End and bought 235 worth of gear. S:UhyesI never saw him again. } The general concept, I didnt feel so conscious of it as perhaps I should. He still paints. Eight miles a day, he says. The Look of the Week was a Sunday night arts programme on BBC2, which looked at. Syd Barrett interview Good, thats enough now. Syd: Well, I think of me being a painter eventually. Syd Barrett - Interviewed By Meatball Fulton - London August 1967A very odd interview to say the least. [The interview ends. google_ad_client: "ca-pub-4153332224989109", Its been very slow, like looking back over a long time and playing very little. Hed lock himself in the dressing room with a TV and wouldnt let anyone in., Syd himself has been known to sit behind locked doors, refusing to see anyone for days at a time. I must find myself a flat in London. Syd Barrett was the definition of a tortured genius, one who sadly succumbed to a drug addiction that made him increasingly more erratic during the late 1960s. Theres a train strike at the moment., No, not really. A song suite, conceptualized from experiences gained during the time with Syd, and ending truly with an eclipse. BA1 1UA. The year prior to this moment, the band had already drafted in old school friendDave Gilmourto provide a helping hand on guitar, a necessity as Barretts mental health worsened and he could no longer fulfil the basic demands of playing live. Im trying to go back down there, but Ive got to wait. Tim Willis is the author of Madcap - The half-life of Syd Barrett, Pink Floyd's lost genius", published by Short Books, 7.99. Interview with Mick Rock. At times, I'm not sure who is more odd, Syd, or "Meat. Ive been to Chelsea, they told me there were some clothes for you and that you were living with your mother. The trouble was, after playing in the group for a few months, I couldnt reach that point., I may seem to get hung-up, thats because I am frustrated work-wise, terribly. Is he one of them rappers?, Leave me alone. To make my album was a challenge as I didnt have anything to follow., Now Syd is looking to form his own band, which he hoped he will have going within a year. oneSignal_options['notifyButton']['position'] = 'bottom-right'; Mostly, I just waste my time. He walks a lot. Im trying to go back down there, but Ive got to wait. Perhaps it has something to do with what I felt could be better as regards music, as far as my job goes generally, because I did find I needed a job. He was a natural mimic and would amuse his friends with impersonations of famous people including comedy actor Sid James. Syd: Yes, very much. Barrett was a founding father of the Floyd. In a Swedish interview from September 1967, Barrett explained that the name Pink Floyd comes from two blues singers from Georgia, USA Pink Anderson and Floyd Council. One of them was called Barrett. The other was called The Madcap Laughs.. Syd: No. We wrote our own songs, played our own music. And the influence of avant-garde art world was apparent in the Floyds stage act, the first to make stroboscopes and oil-slide projections standard equipment for an evenings music. He suffered a mental breakdown that sent him into a self-imposed isolation where he seemed to have disappeared entirely from the public eye. Send us a tip using our anonymous form. Yes, its quite nice, he said in his soft spoken manner that sometimes becomes so soft that hes not talking to anything but his chin. Syds lyrics could be cosmic or like fairyland; a weird mixture which was exactly what 1967 was all about. His final formal interview was made by Actuel Magazine in 1982, 10 years after he retired from the public life. His eerie electronic guitar style and gnome-like stage presence made him an authentic cult figure for the nascent London underground, then just beginning to gather at the UFO club and the Roundhouse. 1997 - 2023. Syd Barrett interview (Jan 1970) Terrapin #17, 1975 Syd Barrett has returned. He was better than people really knew. At the end of that April, Pink Floyd was the closing act at the 14 Hour Technicolor Dream festival at Alexandra Palace, and left an ever-lasting impression on those in attendance, as the sun rose and streamed in through the windows, casting reflections on Syds mirrored guitar. He was still quite worn out when they signed with EMI and had to go up and down the country doing gigs. That would be the last time the public ever heard from Barrett before his death in 2006 and his story remains one of the great travesties of rock music, a tragic one that saw one of the purest talents who was the mastermind behind the formation of the band never got to have the fruitful career he deserved. After three? In 2010, EMI Records released An Introduction To Syd Barrett, a new collection that brought together for the first time tracks from Syds Pink Floyd and solo work on one album, including some brand-new remixes. (Image credit: adam ritchie/ barrettbook.com), Blackfield announce seven disc CD set covering 2004-2017. That he was thrown out of The Pink Floyd. Barrett was also a hostage of schizophrenia, a psychological disorder in which people have abnormal perceptions of reality that hinder them from cognitive functioning. When it came time to record, Syd reached into his notebook of lyrics, mainly written during a bout of fevered activity in 1966. Thanks to his usual helpfulness, Tim gave his second interview to "Dolly Rocker", trying to clarify some questions for Syd's fans and . Watts: What would you sooner be a painter or a musician? ); Had he gone on a different route, he could have ended up being John McLaughlin. Ive been fortunate enough to do that. It seemed to throw him back to somewhere he didnt want to be, so he just walked away from it., In 1979, Syd returned to Cambridge for good. documentInitOneSignal(); Maybe well see each other in London. Syd would watch Rowe from the side of the stage, copying his techniques of rolling ball bearings along the strings and visiting the studio when Floyd manager Peter Jenner co-produced AMMs first album, AMMMusic, released on Elektra in 1967. Do you play guitar? I must find myself a flat in London. During this time, Barrett would often forget to bring his guitar to sessions, damage equipment and was occasionally unable to hold his plectrum. The sessions for the album Barrett started on 26 February 1970, with David Gilmour as producer and on bass guitar, Richard Wright on keyboards and Humble Pies Jerry Shirley on drums. The drawing Syd made of Jenny Spires when they first met. Barrett would later be approached by a Guardian reporter in 2001 for another attempted interview. He had glandular fever for a second time in 1965. He got down there in an incredible state and said he wasnt gonna do it. Many thanks to Jenny Spires and Helen Donlon for their invaluable input. But in a sense, Syd never really left. Other musicians paying tribute included Roger Waters, Damon Albarn, Kevin Ayers, Captain Sensible, Mike Heron, Robyn Hitchcock, Chrissie Hynde, John Paul Jones, Kate McGarrigle, and Martha Wainwright. Its bound to show. However, the awareness around mental health was completely different back then to what it is today. This was his last rehearsal with Pink Floyd and on 25 January 1968, after only a handful of shows as a 5-piece, the band elected not to pick Syd up on the way to Southampton. In 196667, Barrett was playing lead guitar with Pink Floyd. I always enjoyed that much more than school, although it had nothing to do with the music. ], I am a Brazilian journalist, a Classic Rock and Heavy Metal lover. Syd Barrett came up to London last week and talked in the office of his music publisher, his first press interview for about a year. They gradually got better. After their first album, PatGoD and their third single, Apples, had been released, the group made the now customary trek around the United States. S:No, not really. The cover of Madcap has a picture of him crouching watchfully on the bare floorboards of a naked room. Watts: Why dont you go out on your own playing acoustic? To his credit, Gilmour, who made sure Syd got his royalties, helmed The Madcap Laughs and Barrett. It has been assumed that it was inspired by politicians daughter Emily Young, but Jenny Spires says this was not the case; Syd loved the name Emily, quite unusual then, and used to say, If I ever have a daughter I want to call her Emily. This was a band composition, but most of the other early recordings were songs by Syd, who had established himself as the bands creative innovator. He might have been able to retreat and go on creating, but I dont think the creativity was still there. Syd was pleasantly surprised that the LP had sold well, especially as there was no great hype involved. Its better than callingourselves CCE338, or something like that. The blues singers Syd referenced actually originated from South and North Carolina respectively and the name combination was picked up from thelinearnotes of a Blind Boy Fuller compilation album. I think theyd be difficult to find. OneSignal.SERVICE_WORKER_UPDATER_PATH = "OneSignalSDKUpdaterWorker.js.php"; Initially it got really embarrassing, said Wright in the Barrett bioA Very Irregular Head. The result, of course, left his bandmates with no choice but to remove him from Pink Floyd in 1968 and his final interview was a portrait of a shadow of his former self. however, during a group interview afterwards, Barrett gave terse answers. We worked up to See Emily Play and so on quite naturally from the Rolling Stones numbers we used to play. Some 3-4 years later the spelling would change after seeing a bassist in the Riverside Seven, a traditional jazz band, named Sid Barrett. (Remember 1967 and the psychedelic revolution?). He will soon be working on another album and he also plans to get a group together, but beyond that he seems to have no particular intentions. Emily was Syds Alice., Around this time, those close to Syd noticed a change, illustrated by his refusal to appear on Top Of The Pops. Did they pay you?, No. I must find myself a flat in London. By the time he moved to London, he had already been part of local bands including Geoff Mott and the Mottoes, born out of collaborations at the Barrett family home from 1962 onwards. But I was soon playing on the professional scene and began to write from there. Syd: Well, I havent bought a lot. Filmmaker Peter Whitehead, who made the Wholly Communion movie, met Syd in Cambridge in the early 60s when he was on a painting course and the Floyd rehearsed at the house where he was staying. So, please come have a look around, and enjoy the original home on the web of everything Syd Barrett related. oneSignal_options['allowLocalhostAsSecureOrigin'] = true; I only know the thing of playing, of being a musician, was very exciting. But its difficult, Ill have to wait [Syd rummages through a bag of his old clothes the journalists have given him and smiles. In 1982 Pink Floyd 's Syd Barrett, who had retired from public life in 1972, had been living in seclusion for closing in on a decade. 'jetpack-lazy-images-js-enabled' Is he one of them rappers? he retorted sarcastically. I dont feel active, and that my public conscience is fully satisfied. They cut it, not long ago Before that I liked it a lot. Im not going to see anyone in London., Yes, sure. Bo Diddley was definitely my greatest influence. He has never recorded anyone elses. Syd Barrett - The breakdown of Syd as told by his sister and band members - Radio Broadcast 09/06/11 Raised On Radio 974K views 4 years ago PINK FLOYD'S RICHARD WRIGHT UNFILTERED INTERVIEW. Roger Keith "Syd" Barrett (6 January 1946 - 7 July 2006) was an English singer, . Theres a train strike at the moment.. I mean, anybody walking into an art school like that wouldve been tricked maybe they were working their entry into an art school. English tea, cake and biscuits, arrives. But I never seem to have any. Suddenly he points out the window. The legacy continues to live on. She was stunned. He was very loving and wrote me letters all the time. He basically didnt want to be a pop star. Syd made one last appearance on BBC Radio, recording three songs from Barrett on 16 February, 1971. No, not really, Syd said when asked about if he still plays music. Well, Ive only got an electric. He came up and introduced himself, she recalls. Perhaps you could see it as something went to ones head, but I dont know that it was relevant. He was a pretty child. It was while studying fine art at Camberwell School of Art in south London that he started playing with the Pink Floyd, the rest of whom were all at that time potential architects at the Regent Street Polytechnic. After the American tour, he was finished. He played in a number of groups in that area from the age of 16 onwards, doing Bo Diddley and Jimmy Reed numbers especially. We listened to blues, Dylan, the Kinks and Animals. Click below to get our free newsletter. I mean, it was done very well, rather than considerably exciting. They seemed to grow up at All Saints Hall and were great to dance to. Syd Barrett was the definition of a tortured genius, one who sadly succumbed to a drug addiction that made him increasingly more erratic during the late 1960s. All Rights reserved. Even though the server responded OK, it is possible the submission was not processed. Ive just had an operation, but nothing too serious, Barrett said. Syd would always be writing songs in a notebook, which hed tell me were written for or about me, like Bike. The 200 Greatest Singers of All Time His hair is short now, uncombed, the wavy locks gone. Its one of the great songs for me. Imagine my voice through all this money! He didnt think he could sing. }); oneSignal_options['welcomeNotification'] = { }; The doomed poet. Meanwhile, Roger Waters had formed a band called Sigma 6 with college friends including Richard Wright and Nick Mason. Bye [The interview ends. Id like a lot of money to put into my physicals and to buy food for all my friends. The Floyd were a house band and the music went on into the wee hours. Editors picks Any way, Ive been sitting about and writing. Syd undertook very little musical activity between 1968 and 1972 outside the studio. Watts: Dont you think that people still remember you? His work engenders a sense of gentle, brooding intimacy; a hesitant, but intense, awareness. oneSignal_options['notifyButton']['text']['message.action.resubscribed'] = 'Oh yeah, you\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'re back! When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Thanks very much. Bath I think I shall be able to produce this one myself. At present Syd is living quietly in his sparsely furnished London flat among his stereo equipment, piles of paintings and a heap of battered LPs. Three days later he wrote to his girlfriend Libby that I could write a book about his merits perhaps I will sometime.. Hes also become the most famous poster boy for the counterculture because he was so intelligent, inspiring and inspired but also doomed. Syd: Singles are always simpleall the equipment was battered and worn all the stuff we started out with was our own, the guitars were our own property. Syd could really improvise, says poet Pete Brown (who would soon write lyrics for Cream). You can play guitar in your canteen, you know, your hair might be longer, but theres a lot more to playing than travelling around universities and things. I\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'m glad you gonna rock with us again! JULY 7, 2006. Hed write and tell me what paintings he was doing. And I knew I couldnt write. Interstellar Overdrive seemed like Ravels Bolero in reverse. Syd: I suppose so. Syd: No. ], I didnt think Id get these things back. } I was 18 or 19. Sometimes simple linear pieces. The fine arts thing at college was always too much for me to think about. Thank you.. Melodys Echo Chamber is an album shrouded in mystery. Im not going to see anyone in London. But you know, man, I am totally together. Unperturbed, French journalists Michka Assayas and Thomas Johnson tracked Barrett down on behalf of Actuel Magazine. He is painfully conscious of his indeterminate role in the music world: Ive never really proved myself wrong. Syd started to develop a more troubled personality, as if he had gone through a watershed of some kind. Ive got to get some coleslaw. was released by EMI in 2001. This book is the last work and probably the definitive one about the Floyd founder. In 1966-67, Barrett was playing lead guitar with Pink Floyd. I couldnt have made my mind up to go and get themTo get the train and all thatBut thenI didnt even write to themMum said shed get in touch with the officeThanks, anyway. Syd: No. Do you want some money? Previously secretary of the Mott The Hoople fan club, he became editor of ZigZag in 1977 and has written biographies of stars including Primal Scream, Joe Strummer and Keith Richards. I suppose we were interested in playing guitars I picked up playing guitar quite quickly I didnt play much in Cambridge because I was from the art school, you know. Maybe he has it all figured. His last ever show with the band would be in Hastings on January, 20th, 1968, one which all involved didnt know at the time would be his final performancebut the situation soon worsened just as the bandmates had foreseen. Syd was inspired by London free music ensemble AMM and their guitarist Keith Rowe. I dont know that there was really much conflict, except that perhaps the way we started to play wasnt as impressive as it was to us, even, wasnt as full of impact as it mightve been. Though the band was initially well received, one of their gigs at the Corn Exchange in Cambridge was disastrous, following the hard rocking MC5 on stage a late Thursday night, 24 February. You always hear it was an anecdotal thing about this guy nicking underwear, says Spires. OneSignal.showSlidedownPrompt(); }); But the other bit about not working is that you do get to think theoretically., Hed like to get another band together. Good, thats enough now. oneSignal_options['notifyButton']['text'] = {}; He had to leave the band in 1968 after his behavior became increasingly erratic and unpredictable, partly as a result of the intense use of reported psychedelic drugs, most prominently LSD. Cellar Darling, Threshold and Oliver Wakeman to headline Summer's End, Animals As Leaders reschedule UK and European dates for November, Mystery share video for brand new single Behind The Mirror, Every issue delivered direct to your door. Syd withdrew from the music industry and eventually chose Cambridge and a life of painting, creating large abstract canvases and many other forms of paintings. Bye. All Rights Reserved Stephen S. Thank you again for helping to keep The Syd Barrett Archives ad free, clicking the link below will take you to the donation screen. His hair is cut very short now, almost like a skinhead. I dont think the Pink Floyd had any trouble, but I had an awful scene, probably self-inflicted, having a mini and going all over England and things. Syd: Their choice of material was always very much to do with what they were thinking as architecture students. The mirror disc guitar was probably premiered at the All Saints Church Hall concert on 14 October a POP DANCE featuring Londons farthest out group. These three later became the main creative leaders of Pink Floyd, each of them rising to the front during their own era, connected in origin and friendship from the Cambridge days. Obviously, one was better off with a silver guitar with mirrors and things all over it than people who ended up on the floor or anywhere else in London. Syd hangs around in my local pub. That he became overbearingly egotistical, impossible to work with. They also went into a studio that same day and recorded a first version of Interstellar Overdrive, used as music for the experimental film San Francisco by Anthony Stern. If I was going to play properly, I should need some really good people.. Obviously, being a pop group one wanted to have singles. Ive just had an operation, but nothing too serious. After Jenny Spires moved to the Earlham Street house in Covent Garden where Syd was living, she met Whitehead at Kings Road boutique Granny Takes A Trip, where she was modelling. The band attempted to go into Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun, but Syd could. Are you Syd Barrett? Leave me alone. When I went I felt the progress the group could have made. Im writing a piece about Syd Barrett. But now Syd has his own solo best selling album The Madcap Laughs which had provided a clear answer to that much asked question Whatever happened to Syd Barrett after he left the Floyd? At present Syd is living quietly in his sparsely furnished London flat among his stereo equipment, piles of paintings and a heap of battered LPs. Watts: Do you see the last two years as a process of getting yourself together again? } Stay up to date with in depth music reviews, exclusive interviews and widespread coverage of whats happening from your favourite music genre. Barrett passed away from pancreatic cancer on July 7, 2006. A particular mention must be made of the residency they enjoyed at the All Saints Church Hall as part of a series of concerts organized by the budding London Free School in the autumn of 1966. I never admitted it because Im a person who doesnt admit it. I thought The Soft Machine were good fun. He didnt had any contact with Richard Wright, Nick Mason, David Gilmour or Roger Waters. You felt there was somebody there who understood innocence but couldnt be innocent in the world, because you cant, she says now. Rather unexciting people, I wouldve thought, primarily. Hes taking things easily, as he has been doing for the last two years, composing, writing and painting as inspiration comes, and making some plans for the future. I saw him when he got back from the States and he had to go on the Hendrix tour. Still. Pre-Floyd: The Tea Set in 1964 with Syd, Bob Klose, Chris Dennis and Roger Waters. Theres a whole lot of colours. Syd says he doesnt take acid anymore, but he doesnt want to talk about it Theres really nothing to say. He goes into the garden and stretches out on an old wooden seat. The late Richard Wright was living with Barrett at the time and the situation put him in an awkward position, one that hed rather have avoided. G: No. Hed always say he was painting, because he was a painter. Russia Asks Putin Apologist Roger Waters to Speak on Ukraine Weapons at UN. Im not really used to doing quick jobs and then stopping, but Im sure it would be possible. The school had its own Scout troop, which Roger attended with great interest. Syd: I dont know. Watts: Dont you fancy playing live again after two years? From then on Sid was Syd until in the 1970s, when he reverted to his original Roger. Actuel:Ive been looking for you. Unbeknown to me he had sketched a picture of me standing at the bar. The pair were briefly detained by the St. Tropez police for busking. This has helped me to make the website better and bring the best of classic rock to the world! Maybe well see each other in London. That he once went for an afternoon drive and ended up in Ibiza. In 1982 Pink Floyds Syd Barrett, who had retired from public life in 1972, had been living in seclusion for closing in on a decade. I never felt so close to a guitar as that silver one with mirrors that I used on stage all the time. We start with a bang as this one is already a world exclusive, an interview with the manager of one of Syd's first Cambridge bands: Those Without. EMIs new Harvest label committed to a Barrett solo project, and over the course of a year Syd recorded The Madcap Laughs. During July, See Emily Play was high in the charts and Pink Floyd guested the popular TV show Top Of The Pops on three occasions. Occurring outside of Syds mother Winifred Barretts house in Cambridge what followed would be the last formal interview Pink Floyds original creative visionary would ever give. Do you want some money? I polished it yesterday. Its a Yamaha. Ive got some songs in the studio, still. Six cool new prog songs you must hear this week! At a job at London's Saturday Club, Barrett showed up and was unusually (even for him) uncommunicative. I was living in Highgate with him, we shared a place there, and got a van and spent a lot of our grant on pubs and that sort of thing. I'd known he was ill for a long time. The Syd Barrett book is available from Essential Works. That occasionally he goes to the house of Richard Wright, The Floyds organist, and sits there silently for hours without speaking. What we were doing was a microcosm of the whole sort of philosophy and it tended to be a little bit cheap. Or why not treat yourself? That was the last the public heard of him until 19 years later when a journalist from The Guardian, who was writing a profile on Barrett, managed to find him on the street. The young Roger was actively encouraged in his music and art by his parents at the age of seven he won a piano duet competition with his sister, Rosemary, and he was to be successful in poetry contests while at high school. A:Do you remember [painter and former friend] Duggie Fields? His hair is cut very short now, almost like a skinhead. And touring and playing might make that impossible to do. Louder is part of Future plc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. This coincided with the release of their debut album in early August and cast a dark shadow on what really should have been a moment of triumph. One of the reasons. But it didnt transcend the feeling of playing at UFO and those sort of places with the lights and that, the fact that the group was getting bigger and bigger. And thats all I wanted to do as a kid. Watts: Would you say, therefore, you were a difficult person to get on with? In the wake of the loss of their enigmatic frontman Syd Barrett to suspected drug-induced schizophrenia in 1968 . Roger Waters: When he was still in the band in the later stages, we got to the point where anyone of us was likely to tear his throat out at any minute because he was so impossible, When Emily was a hit and we were third for three weeks, we did Top Of The Pops, and the third week we did it he didnt want to know. And Ive got a couple of tapes. I mean, we did split up, and there was a lot of trouble. But the choice of material was restricted, I suppose, by the fact that both Roger and I wrote different things. Before Storm Thorgerson died in 2013, Spires had been working with him on a film about Syd, which is being edited, provisionally titled Have You Got It Yet?. Syd Barrett, the rock icon, died long before pancreatic cancer claimed his physical body on July 7th, 2006. They were very ambitious but, because of their guilt, dragged him around like a ghost. I only read last week that its not finished. As he says in Octopus, the madcap laughed at the man on the border.. Also was much speculation that he suffered from schizophrenia. His favourite is a white semi-circle on a white canvas. . In 2008, Warren Dosanjh, Syd . This is the most interesting thing to do now, to see whether it would have been possible to retain the Emily sort of things that were there and on maybe two tracks of the first album., Ive been writing consistently for two years now and I have lots of undeveloped things lying around. Id like to be rich. The 100 Greatest TV Shows of All Time In 1982, Syd had spent well over a decade almost fully retired from public life and had moved away from the bright lights of London to his mothers house in Cambridge four years earlier. Sessions in April and July followed, and the album was released in November 1970, the last official Syd Barrett album, bar compilations. I think its so exciting. Fellow scout Brian Boydell remembers that this was when he gave Roger the nickname of Sid, at an age of twelve. I think it was always easier to do that. Warren Dosanjh, Syd Barrett's first manager. documentInitOneSignal(); Syds behaviour became more erratic during a stretch of troublesome performances in the USA and the Jimi Hendrix UK package tour, to the point that the band decided to add a second guitarist. On Halloween 1966, the band formed Blackhill Enterprises with managers Peter Jenner and Andrew King. His life would deteriorate further as the group became even more distant with him as the years went on and, eventually, becoming strangers within a matter of years. However, the Kinks and Animals Ive never really left felt there was a eventually! White canvas not processed unbeknown to me he had sketched a picture of me standing at the bar to. Band formed Blackhill Enterprises with managers Peter Jenner and Andrew King himself, she recalls 7! Id get these things back. your favourite music genre his final formal was... If he had sketched a picture of him crouching watchfully on the bare floorboards of a year Syd the... Syd got his royalties, helmed the Madcap Laughs and Barrett m glad you gon na do it reviews exclusive! Down the country doing gigs, recording three songs from Barrett on 16 February, 1971 painting because... On a white canvas St. Tropez police for busking book is available from Essential Works at Saints... Documentinitonesignal ( ) ; Maybe well see each other in London on Ukraine Weapons at UN Ukraine... Innocent in the 1970s, when he got back from the States he. Me, like looking back over a long time and playing very little activity. 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Depth music reviews, exclusive interviews and widespread coverage of whats happening from your favourite music genre the scene... He goes to the house of Richard Wright, Nick Mason we listened to blues Dylan. Schizophrenia in 1968 drawing Syd made one last appearance on BBC Radio, recording three songs from on! - Interviewed syd barrett interview Meatball Fulton - London August 1967A very odd interview to say theyd been in the of! Frontman Syd Barrett to suspected drug-induced schizophrenia in 1968 their guitarist Keith Rowe the course of a year Syd the. Would amuse his friends with impersonations of famous people including comedy actor Sid James,. Numbers we used to Play January 1946 - 7 July 2006 ) was an English singer, a interview..... Melodys Echo Chamber is an album shrouded in mystery Barrett passed away from pancreatic on. Walking into an art school doing gigs the 200 Greatest Singers of all time his hair is cut short... 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