Syd Barrett has died.
Like most people my age, I came at Pink Floyd through the successful commercial albums of the 1970s. I vividly remember listening on WPLJ to the concert broadcast of the band at the Nassau Coliseum in what must have been 1980. Back then, WPLJ was New York's rock station of choice - back when classic rock was just "rock."
But I still remember the day I brought home, at long last, the vinyl of Piper at the Gates of Dawn. This was actually a tough record to track down back then, as I recall and the chase made it seem even more mythic. I tried all the usual (now long-gone) spots - Disc-o-Mat, Sam Goody's, Crazy Eddie's, but they looked at me like I was nuts when I asked about this record. I'm pretty sure the guy at Disc-o-Mat didn't actually believe there were any Floyd records before Meddle. I had to have this record made by this mad genius just before he dipped into the void.
Of course, when I finally got it on my Pioneer turntable, it was like listening to a different band. But what a fucking band! I listened to that record endlessly over the course of that winter. I didn't play guitar yet, so I had no idea how any of the sounds were made or what was going on. It was just pure sonic pleasure.
Syd's tragedy and his slip into the void was really just another crazy rock tale to me until a few years ago, when I was watching a special on Floyd on VH1 with my ex-girlfriend. She didn't know the history of the band, but she was nearly in tears when she watched Roger Waters tell about how he lost his friend. It must have been horrible for Roger to sit there and watch Syd go down with so little he could do about it. It was easy to miss that part amidst the amusing anecdotes about Syd's eccentricities.
So, here's hoping Syd found some peace at last.
BTW, I refuse to put on "Shine on You Crazy Diamond" today. The appropriate music is Piper itself.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
It may sound trite, but I think Syd is finally at peace, which is a good thing. If you've ever listened to 'The Madcap Laughs', I'd say you might agree that mental illness is no joke, it's fucking scary shit.
Yeah, it's easy to be amused by the stories of Syd going down to the store and ordering the same shirt in five different sizes while insisting that they will all fit him, but it's really tragic. Agreed on the peace thing.
Maybe we should have covered Piper instead of The Wall?
I just got the word a few minutes ago. Watching anyone you care about struggle with physical/mental health, or drug addiction is fucking brutal. In all the things I have read about PF, I've always admired the fact that the guys have sort of kept up with Syd throughout the years and did the best they could to be a friend to him. I guess that's all you can do in the end.
It's funny you mention your ex's reaction to Syd's story. When I was spinning "The Wall" for my dad on our trip to FL a couple of months ago, I filled him in on the PF back story and related the Syd thing to him. I mentioned the Wish You Were Here/Shine On tunes which he'd heard before. He was very much intrigued by it all.
I need to listen to more of that early stuff. It's a little out there for my narrow listening scope, but I'm willing to give it a try.
Post a Comment