July 11, 2006
Syd Barrett, Co-Founder of Pink Floyd, Dies at 60

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 11:42 a.m. ET

LONDON (AP) -- Syd Barrett, the troubled talent who co-founded Pink Floyd but spent his last years in reclusive anonymity, has died, a spokeswoman for the band said Tuesday. He was 60.

The spokeswoman -- who declined to give her name until the band made an official announcement -- confirmed media reports that he had died. She said Barrett died several days ago, but she did not disclose the cause of death. Barrett had suffered from diabetes for many years.

Barrett co-founded Pink Floyd in 1965 with Roger Waters, Nick Mason and Rick Wright, and wrote many of the band's early songs. The group's jazz-infused rock and drug-laced, multimedia ''happenings'' made them darlings of the London psychedelic scene. The 1967 album ''The Piper at the Gates of Dawn'' -- largely written by Barrett, who also played guitar -- was a commercial and critical hit.

But Barrett suffered from mental instability, exacerbated by his use of LSD. His behavior grew increasingly erratic, and he left the group in 1968 -- five years before the release of Pink Floyd's most popular album, ''Dark Side of the Moon.'' He was replaced by David Gilmour.

Barrett released two solo albums -- ''The Madcap Laughs'' and ''Barrett'' -- but soon withdrew from the music business altogether.

He spent much of the rest of his life living quietly in his hometown of Cambridge, England, and reverting to his real name, Roger Barrett.

He was a familiar figure, often seen cycling or walking to the corner store, but rarely spoke to the fans and journalists who sought him out over the years.

Despite his brief career, Barrett's fragile, wistful songs influenced many musicians, from David Bowie -- who covered the Barrett track ''See Emily Play'' -- to the other members of Pink Floyd, who recorded the album ''Wish You Were Here'' as a tribute to their troubled bandmate.

It contained the song ''Shine On You Crazy Diamond'' -- ''Remember when you were young, you shone like the sun.'' The band also dwelt on themes of mental illness on the albums ''Dark Side of the Moon'' and ''The Wall.''

The band spokeswoman said a small, private funeral would be held.

[This message was edited by Dave Zirbel on 11 July 2006 at 09:25 AM.]

He is a 19 year second generation Floyd fan and guitar player. And he actually has more knowledge about Syd than I ever had. He really liked his playing on those early albums.

We were speculating on how Syd survived all these years, he didn't do much after Floyd-I think there may have been a couple of obscure solo albums in the 70's.

My son was under the impression that after they hit the big cash register with albums like "Dark Side of the Moon" and "The Wall" that they were sending money to Syd to keep food on his table and a roof over his head.

[This message was edited by Dave Zirbel on 11 July 2006 at 02:00 PM.]

Despite the "trippy" image, apparently at least some members of the band were like a lot of young English rockers in the 60's - fans of American blues. This is from the Yahoo News article on the origin of the name:

"Barrett is thought to have named Pink Floyd after two little-known bluesmen, Pink Anderson and Floyd Council, whose recordings were part of his record collection."

------------------
Mark

[This message was edited by Mark Eaton on 11 July 2006 at 12:23 PM.]

------------------
Marrs D-10, Webb 6-14E, Peavey NV112, Hilton volume.

[This message was edited by Michael Haselman on 11 July 2006 at 02:37 PM.]