Syd Barrett

Syd Barrett’s floorboards to display in English pub

Posted August 22, 2024 by Floydian Slip

Syd Barrett's floorboards

The iconic purple and orange floorboards featured on the cover of Pink Floyd founder Syd Barrett‘s 1970 album “The Madcap Laughs” are coming to a St. Leonards, Hastings pub.

The boards were sold at auction in July. The seller had purchased the London flat where Barrett had painted them more than 50 years earlier ahead of a photo shoot by Storm Thorgerson of Hipgnosis and photographer Mick Rock.

Estimated to go for £10,000 (US $12,662), the winning bid was £28,500 (US $36,101). It was submitted by what Sussex World describes as “a consortium of Syd fans who pooled their own resources.”

Now the owners are loaning them to The Piper pub in East Sussex — named for Floyd’s debut album “The Piper at the Gates of Dawn” — where they’ll be put on display.

A spokesperson for the pub quoted by Sussex World says, “A few bits appear to be missing, presumably damaged, but with the boards we do have, one idea is to lay some of them on top of our current stage, so artists will be able to perform on them.

“We are currently exploring how feasible this is as we still want to ensure they are protected in some way. Failing that, we will keep them together and place them somewhere else within the venue. We won’t be doing anything until we have assessed what is best for them.”

The boards are in somewhat dodgy condition. Some were apparently sawn in half to allow transportation after being removed from the London flat.

The location is fitting: Barrett’s last gig with Pink Floyd took place at nearby Hastings Pier in January 1968.

Win: Syd Barrett back catalog

Posted July 26, 2023 by Floydian Slip

Third Man Records Syd Barrett package

This 3-LP set includes heavy-weight colored vinyl reissues of each of Barrett’s solo albums: “The Madcap Laughs” and “Barrett” from 1970; and his “Opel” collection of alternate takes from 1988.

The package also features a 7-inch single containing David Gilmour‘s covers of Barrett’s “Dark Globe” and “Dominoes.”

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Syd Barrett documentary to be released May 15

Posted May 10, 2023 by Floydian Slip

Have You Got It Yet? poster

Mercury Studios will release “Have You Got It Yet? The Story of Syd Barrett and Pink Floyd” in U.K. theaters May 15. It will open in the U.S. and Canada in late-June.

The feature length documentary is directed by Roddy Bogawa and the late Pink Floyd sleeve designer Storm Thorgerson. The two collaborated on Bogawa’s “Taken By Storm” (2011) about Thorgerson and the Hipgnosis design team.

Narrated by actor Jason Isaacs, the film also features surviving band members Nick Mason, Roger Waters and David Gilmour; original band managers Peter Jenner and Andrew King; as well as The Who’s Pete Townshend and Blur’s Graham Coxon.

Producer Orian Williams says, “The music of Pink Floyd bears witness to Syd Barrett’s exceptional talent and inner turmoil. Their unconventional approach and ground-breaking sound expanded the horizons of music. Friends, family, bandmates and admirers shed light on all aspects of Syd’s enigmatic life in our film.”

The film takes it title from a lost Floyd track: Legend has it Barrett tried to teach his bandmates a new song he’d written, while intentionally changing the tune each time he played it for them, asking “Have you got it yet?”

Here’s the trailer:

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Vegetable Man lyric sheet to be auctioned

Posted October 27, 2022 by Floydian Slip

Bonhams will auction Syd Barrett‘s handwritten lyrics to “Vegetable Man” next month.

The song was recorded by Pink Floyd in mid-October 1967 to be included on the band’s second album “A Saucerful of Secrets” (1968). The track was instead shelved for nearly 50 years, when it was finally released as part of the boxset “The Early Years: 1965–1972” (2016).

According to Bonhams, the lyric sheet “was acquired by Pink Floyd’s first manager at the time the song was written and has been in his possession since.”

It consists of each verse and the chorus written across 32 lines over two pages of lined paper in blue ballpoint pen with handwritten musical chords. It’s being sold with a letter concerning its provenance.

Bonhams indicates this will be the first time a complete set of lyrics handwritten by Barrett will be offered at auction. It estimates the item will sell for £30,000 to £40,000, approximately $35,000 to $46,000 in U.S. currency.

The auction takes place Nov. 16 at 1 p.m. GMT in London. Learn more at the Bonhams website.

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Photographer Mick Rock dead at 72

Posted November 19, 2021 by Floydian Slip

Syd Barrett photographer Mick Rock, the man who “The Man Who Shot the ’70s,” has died. He was 72.

A London native, Rock’s portfolio includes photos of David Bowie, Lou Reed, Queen, Joan Jett, Talking Heads, Sex Pistols, Blondie and many others.

Rock shot the cover photo for Pink Floyd co-founder Barrett’s “The Madcap Laughs” (1970). In 2001 he published the book “Psychedelic Renegades,” a 950-copy limited edition devoted to Barrett, who autographed 320 deluxe leather-bound copies.

(Photo: Nathalie Rock, 2010)

Posted in Passings, Personnel, Syd Barrett | 2 comments

Syd Barrett guitar sells for £20k

Posted October 29, 2021 by Floydian Slip

A guitar once owned by Pink Floyd co-founder Syd Barrett sold at auction yesterday for £19,920 ($27,456 US).

The 12-string Yamaha manufactured in 1969, sold by Barrett’s nephew, Mark Barrett, was expected to fetch £5,000 to £10,000.

The winning bid was placed online from France.

Proceeds of the auction benefited two charities: Mind and the Arthur Rank Hospice.

A garden table made by Syd sold to the same bidder for £2,365. And a pair of lights from his basement studio went for £258.

A Cambridgeshire High School for Boys photo from 1959 — featuring Syd, Roger Waters and Storm Thorgerson — along with a ’61 program for “She Stoops to Conquer ” featuring Syd as Tom Twist, sold for £744.

Syd Barrett items to be auctioned

Posted October 16, 2021 by Floydian Slip

Cheffins in Cambridge will auction a number of items connected to late Pink Floyd co-founder Syd Barrett.

The highlight of the Oct. 28 auction might be Barrett’s Yamaha FG-230. The 12-string acoustic guitar is being sold by Barrett’s nephew, Mark Barrett, 57, who was given the piece by his father, Syd’s brother, Alan Barrett.

According to Mark, his father gained possession of the piece when the family sold its Hills Road house in Cambridge in 1974. He says Syd “never collected the guitar” and Alan “continued to store it over three subsequent house moves, eventually offering it to me.” Mark took possession of the guitar shortly before Alan passed away in November 2020.

The guitar is dated Oct. 21, 1969, and has a serial number of 1090448. It’s expected to bring £5,000 to £10,000 ($5,800-$11,600 US).

Syd referred to the instrument in a 1971 interview with Rolling Stone. “I worked this out yesterday,” Syd told writer Mick Rock while playing a new take on “Love You” from his “Barrett” (1970) album. “I think it’s much better. It’s my new 12-string guitar. I’m just getting used to it. I polished it yesterday.”

The guitar will be auctioned with a copy of that Dec. 23, 1971, issue of Rolling Stone.

Proceeds of the auction lot will be split between the charities MIND and the Arthur Rank Hospice Charity.

Cheffins also has a number of other lots featuring Barrett-related items such as artwork he painted near the end of this life in 2006 and furniture.

Also of interest to Floyd fans, two business cards from David Gilmour’s early band Jokers Wild will also go on the block.

Cheffins’s Art & Design Sale begins at 10:00 a.m. local time on Oct. 28. Learn more at Cheffins.

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Remembering Syd Barrett

Posted July 7, 2021 by Floydian Slip

Remembering Syd Barrett
Jan. 6, 1946-July 7, 2006

Posted in Personnel, Syd Barrett | 2 comments

New Syd Barrett tribute CD

Posted January 8, 2021 by Floydian Slip

On Wednesday Jan. 6, Gonzo Multimedia released “Love You: A Tribute to Syd Barrett,” a 2-CD collection of re-makes of songs originally recorded by Pink Floyd co-founder Syd Barrett.

The disc comes on the 50th anniversary of Barrett’s two post-Floyd solo albums — “The Madcap Laughs” and “Barrett” — and on what would have been his 75th birthday. (Barrett died July 7, 2006.)

The collection includes a cover of “Two of a Kind” by Dave Harris and Zeus B Held. Harris, formerly of Fashion, teamed with Floyd’s Rick Wright in 1984 to released the LP “Identity” under the name Zee.

Artwork for “Love You: A Tribute to Syd Barrett” is by Barrett’s nephew Ian Barrett; and Matteo Regattin, author of graphic novel “Syd Barrett Jugband Blues: A Graphic Trip on the Tracks of Syd Barrett.”

The collection is available to buy online from Gonzo Multimedia.

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