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Syd Barrett |
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performed by
Jesus El Pifco: Guitar & vocals Idyll Upino: Vocals & guitar Mel Fontaine: Bass guitar Jonny the Ear: Cello Rod Magnum: Vocals, keyboards, & percussion * Curly: Drums ** Will Power: Drums (Note: "I'm Not Here" was not recorded by The Very Idea!)
For more about The Very Idea!, including other mp3s available for downloading, click here. |
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Rod Magnum remembers Syd Barrett: I've been a Syd Barrett fan since I was a teen-ager. In high school, I was captivated by my friend Lawrence's copy of The Pink Floyd's first album, The Piper at the Gates of Dawn, which consisted mostly of Syd Barrett originals (even in the truncated Amercian version that omitted some of the best songs). I'd also read a pretty favorable review of Piper in Cheetah magazine, a short-lived but actually quite excellent publication -- sort of a slick precursor to Rolling Stone. The record lodged in my memory, but then I heard nothing more about the band for the next couple of years not that unusual in those days, especially for a relatively obscure British group. I was reintroduced to Pink Floyd when I bought their double record Ummagumma in 1969, after hearing -- believe it or not! -- a radio ad promoting it. I loved the album and became a total Pink Floyd freak, but I was at least dimly aware that the band personnel had changed since the first LP. Then in the fall of 1970, during my first (and last, at least for a few years) semester of college at the U of M, I was rummaging around in a Dinkytown record store that had the best selection of import records in town at the time. I happened to find The Madcap Laughs, Syd's first solo album, which had been released in the U.K. at the beginning of the year. I remembered who Syd Barrett was, and I was intrigued by the grainy, mysterious Hypgnosis-designed cover, so I bought the album. When I first listened to it, though, I was really disappointed! In contrast to the crystalline psychedelia of Piper, the solo LP seemed distinctly shambolic. But something about the record kept me listening, and once I was able to accept The Madcap Laughs for what it was instead of what I wanted it to be, I began to really enjoy it! It was unlike any other album I'd ever heard. During the summer of 1971, I was in Los Angeles for a few weeks and by this time, I was a full-fledged Syd Barrett fan. While in LA, I found a copy of Barrett, Syd's second solo album, issued in the U.K. toward the end of 1970. Barrett was more polished than The Madcap Laughs, and consequently less idiosyncratic, but it had moments of sheer brilliance and was always at least intriguing. I began to listen to all of Syd's work over and over. I was hooked! Neither of Syd's solo albums were issued in the U.S. until, after the huge success of Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon, both albums were released in tandem as a double LP in 1974. By then, although no one knew it, Syd had stopped making music forever. Over the years, a number of bootlegs -- some with truly amazing music -- have surfaced, and a few significant compilations have been issued, but that's just been archaeology, basically. Sadly, for all artistic intents and purposes, Syd Barrett ceased to exist in the early 1970s. I first became a Syd Barrett fan because of his wonderful songs. Then I became fascinated by the idea of Syd as "the mad poet." But as the years wore on and no more songs were forthcoming, I came to realize that the story of Syd Barrett is really a human tragedy. I just hope that the person who was Roger Keith "Syd" Barrett eventually found some kind of happiness in his life. Rest in peace, Syd. |
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