Syd barrett

Giant leech you are too funny

 

PF: See Emily Play
Solo: Golden Hair

Overall it's Emily by a mile though

 

Bike & Octopus.

 

I can't really pick one or a few songs from solo Syd Barrett or Pink Floyd since I like all his music. I like the second album the best as a whole. Probably since it was my introduction to his music. Madcap Laughs always seems to get the most praise from fans and critics though. The second album along with the Cleopatra best of has most of the best material that I like to hear. A few cuts are missing but between these two releases I get the most that I want to hear. If I need more I'll listen to the Crazy Diamond box. I'm mostly a fan of the proper albums and Opel. The bonus tracks from the box are of secondary interest to me in most cases.

Since the Crazy Diamond box is OOP and hard to find at a decent price, I would wholeheartedly recommend the OOP 1992 Cleopatra (Octopus) best of to get your feet wet if you are new to his music. It can be had for a cheap price. The sound is good as well with no noise reduction or compression.

"Rats" is one of his solo songs that I like a lot and "Baby Lemonade" is another fave as well. I could go on.

 

Jugband Blues with Floyd

Effervescent Elephant solo

 

Ahh haste makes waste(d posts). While I love apples and oranges, this thread reminded me to pull out the rsd see Emily play 45 for a spin. The entire song is brilliant but once they kick into the "float on a river forever and ever Emily Emily" and stop for that half second before crashing back in is heavenly.

It's like how someone said the most important part of I heard her call my name by the velvets was the second between Lou singing "my mind split open" and his guitar wailing to life. It's the breathing that makes the music. Anyway see Emily play is a winner.

 

Syd......it is really hard to explain the impact this man had/has on my heart. On a side note, I am enamored by the sweet sentiment that David Gilmour has made sure to go above and beyond to make right all these years with Syd, AND is doing the same for Richard Wright.... I digress, and back to topic, Syd has THE voice. I can not explain it, his Englishness is what the definition of cool is to my ears. His story and legend may have influence to the true meanings of his music and songs, but that makes it all the more interesting to me. Without Syd = No dark side, wish you were here, or wall, and perhaps some Division Bell. I think by now, you get the fact that I think Syd rules, he is a catalyst for so much. My top Syd tracks are, Terripen, Late Night, Dominoes, Baby Lemonade, Candy in a currant bun, The Gnome, heck all of side Two of Piper, and Arnold Lane. It is interesting to me that Dark Side was my introduction to Pink Floyd, and yet I knew nothing of Syd for 15 years later, yet, Syd and his music and story have/had just as much of an impact as the feeling of hearing Dark Side for the first time of my life, ( with my mom and dad, on the couch, late at night,mind blown at what I was hearing and a child at that.) If you are lucky enough to have never experienced loss in your life you wouldn't understand Syd. However, once you do, you might think Syd was'nt all that mad after all. Have you got it yet?........

 

Thank you so very much for this information

 

Has anyone heard the story that when pink Floyd (sans Barrett of course) were in the studio recording Wish you were HEre and Syd walks in and says,"sounds a bit commercial doesn't it?" Most of the record is about Syd, "shine on you crazy Diamond, Wish you were Here, etc. David Gilmore had a lot of input in it and he always took care of and looked after Syd.

 

Astronomy Domine/Two Of A Kind

 

it's sadder/more complicated than that - there's been various slightly different accounts over the years result of members of the band/other people who were in the studio at the time remembering thing differently and/or different writers exaggerating to make Syd seem more - or less "crazy" depending on agenda.

Basically: he didn't just walk in, he was in the studio for a while and they didn't recognise him, then one of them realised (I guess in shock) "that's Syd" He's meant to have said he thought it sound old (or 'a bit old').

There's a photo of him taken at the time that's been published - I think it was in Nick Mason's book, it's online but might only be in private facebook groups. It's pretty bleak & he obviously wasn't in a good place at the time.

There's a fan theory that somebody invited him to the sessions as a joke without any of Pink Floyd's knowledge, which explains the versions that have him turning up expecting to be asked to play...

 

Yeah he did. He's meant to have tried to make contact/arrange to visit him (maybe more than once) in the 90s/00s but Barrett's sister blocked it, but even after that he kept keeping Syd's songs out there by covering them in concert, including them on live albums/compilations (both solo & PF) and helping with a Syd best of - to the point of allowing a track Gilmour had kept personally archived for decades to be released, so Syd would have money from royalties.

 

Solo...Octopus
PF....Matilda Mother

 

Can't single out one. 'Birdy Hop' was one of the
"belatedly-released" tracks that impressed me.

 

Vegetable Man.

Why Pink Floyd don't release it is beyond me. That said, we've had SMiLE and The Basement Tapes, this is bound to happen too.

 

Lanky pt.1 and Gigolo Aunt from the Peel Session are also quite good.

 

See Emily Play is his greatest moment

I was listening to Gomper tonight and thinking 1. It was kind of boring and 2. I can hear the influence of Piper. Then a few tracks later was Lucifer Sam - the contrast between original and copy could not have been starker

 

I must look into this further. Thank you so much for the sad info

 

The photo's been posted here but like I said it's bleak/disturbing, & the book's Inside Out: A Personal History of Pink Floyd by Nick Mason - http://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threa...of-pop-rock-acts.406903/page-10#post-11700733

& to answer the original question, it's really hard to choose but I'd say Dark Globe (parts are like a knife in the heart) or Octopus for solo, See Emily Play or Arnold Layne or Bike or Astronomy Domine(Look Of The Week tv version) or Jugband Blues ... for Pink Floyd.

 

With Floyd "See Emily Play
Solo "Dark Globe" or "Swan Lee/Silas Lang"

 

Just an aside, I wonder if Syd/RKB was even aware of this.

 

With Floyd, Matilda Mother.

Solo, Clowns and Jugglers (Octopus) from Opel.

 

I wonder who took that photo, and whether they may have taken any others that day. It always seemed disjointed and "out of context" to me -- just him alone, and I've never been to Abbey Road but it's such a close shot that it doesn't necessarily look like a recording studio (in general) to me, it could be anywhere.

 

Isn't that brilliant. David Gilmore isn't only a phenomenal guitar player but he has a heart of gold. He also felt incredibly guilty because he replace d Syd in the band

 

I didn't know that about the song he was saving. What a great man