The day Pink Floyd said goodbye to Syd Barrett forever
Tormented Spirit Syd Barrett already hovered over the ninth studio album Pink Floyd even before he unexpectedly showed up during a session in the studio June 5, 1975… Both the emotional title track and the shimmering psychedelic epic "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" were inspired Barrett, the former frontman of the group, where the main writer Roger Waters reflected on the themes of isolation and inner escape from oneself. So, when a long-absent musician—portly, distant-eyed, with a shaved head and eyebrows—accidentally arrived during a mixing session for "Diamond", the group experienced a mixture of shock and severe depression... June 5th 1975 Pink Floyd will see their old bandmate and former leader of their psychedelic gang for the last time Syd Barrett. The innovative musician unexpectedly peeked into one of the band's sessions, and, in truth, looked like a shadow of himself. After that, Barrett left the studio forever, helplessly sinking into obscurity ...
Barrett made minimal contributions to A Saucerful of Secrets 1968 years, but his distorted mysticism eventually disappeared: he released two studio albums - The Madcap Laughs and Barrett, both co-produced Gilmour, Waters and Richard Wright. However, Sid rarely worked after this point, eventually slipping out of the spotlight.
His fate seemed to change in 1974 year, in which he made several formative—though ultimately fruitless—recordings on Abbey Road. And now, less than a year later, he reappeared in that studio - unlike himself and mentally clouded, he looked like a sad shell of a psychedelic seer, whose distorted vision led the group to early glory.
What was before? Life of Pink Floyd without Syd Barrett
Legend has it that Barrett arrived at the studio at the same time the band was working on the track. "Shine On You Crazy Diamond", which was written about their morally deceased founder ... For the most part, by this point Barrett retired from the music industry for good, choosing instead to live in a London hotel. Breaking off contact with his former bandmates, his arrival at the recording studio shocked them...
Roger Waters, who wrote a track about his old friend, was one of the band members who were forced to fire Barrett in 1968 year, as his addictions continued to spiral out of control, along with his failing mental health... Barrett's love of illegal substances greatly weakened his creative vision and left him with no idea how to move forward in the world of rock music...
It was an extremely difficult moment for all the members of Floyd: the musicians felt huge guilt for his departure and, trying to cope with this, helped him create his two solo albums, The Madcap Laughs and Barrett. The late Richard Wright, reflecting on the struggles he faced while working on Barrett's solo material, once said:
“Working on Syd's albums was interesting, but extremely difficult. Dave (Gilmour) and Roger were working on The Madcap Laughs, and then Dave and I were working on the Barrett album... But by that point, Gilmour was just trying to help Sid in any way he could, instead of worrying about how to get the best guitar sound. He just went into the studio and tried to get him to sing ... "
Last meeting within the walls of Abbey Road
Barrett arriving at the studio Abbey Road on that warm June evening, was a completely different person than the one Floyd had last seen a few years ago. The musician was not like himself, and although he was physically present in the studio, mentally he was not ... Pink Floyd were initially puzzled by his arrival, assuming that he is a member of the team. It took them a while before Gilmour eventually identified the stranger as his former bandmate... They say waters immediately cried when he saw what he had become Barrett. Then Sid left without saying a word to anyone - disappearing in the same strange way as he appeared ...
“I felt really bad… Syd was in a terrible state… Of course he was very important to Floyd – the band would never have formed without him, because he wrote all the material. Without him, there would be no Pink Floyd, but on the other hand, with him the group could not continue to exist ... "
At Waters, however, there was one last chance encounter with his infamous bandmate a few years later... Here's what he had to say:
“The last time I saw Syd was a couple of years after he appeared at the Wish You Were Here sessions: I ran into him at Harrods, a British department store where he went to buy sweets, but we didn’t talk – he kind of ran away from me… »
Finally…
During Barrett's tenure with the band Pink Floyd created some kind of magic, the cause of which he was ... However, as admitted waters in 1975 year, they would not be where they were without him, or even with him if he continued to be a member after 1968. However, Syd Barrett was a truly incredible songwriter! And composition "See Emily Play" proves it once again...
