1 00:00:33,560 --> 00:00:35,471 Syd Barrett is a rock legend. 2 00:00:35,920 --> 00:00:38,639 Founding member of Pink Floyd, 3 00:00:39,080 --> 00:00:41,833 He brought to the group his charisma, the sound psychedelic of the beginnings 4 00:00:42,279 --> 00:00:44,588 and songs wonderfully eccentric. 5 00:00:45,039 --> 00:00:48,475 His drug addiction took him to have to leave the group. 6 00:00:48,919 --> 00:00:52,628 Since then he has been a figure of cult. Although he lives retired, 7 00:00:53,598 --> 00:00:55,554 His legacy lives on. 8 00:00:55,998 --> 00:00:59,707 His loss inspired Pink Floyd his most disturbing songs. 9 00:01:31,316 --> 00:01:33,590 when I sing 10 00:01:34,035 --> 00:01:36,345 "Shine On" 11 00:01:36,796 --> 00:01:40,674 I see Syd all the time, because the song is about him. 12 00:01:44,675 --> 00:01:48,384 It's a very good topic, 13 00:01:48,835 --> 00:01:54,273 and talks about how I lived its deterioration. 14 00:01:56,514 --> 00:01:59,745 It also describes my great wish, 15 00:02:00,194 --> 00:02:05,222 that I had then and still have, my need 16 00:02:07,633 --> 00:02:11,626 to praise his talent and his humanity 17 00:02:12,073 --> 00:02:15,031 and to express love what I feel for him. 18 00:02:33,152 --> 00:02:36,109 Someone asked me: "Do you know him?" 19 00:02:37,231 --> 00:02:39,142 I said no. 20 00:02:39,591 --> 00:02:41,263 Then they said, "It's Syd." 21 00:02:41,711 --> 00:02:45,181 And I had a good time until I understood it, 22 00:02:45,631 --> 00:02:48,144 because it was transformed. 23 00:03:01,230 --> 00:03:03,902 We still miss him a lot. 24 00:03:04,349 --> 00:03:07,227 I still remember it 25 00:03:07,669 --> 00:03:10,229 as he was before he went crazy. 26 00:03:10,669 --> 00:03:13,661 I haven't seen him again since he was 24 years old, 27 00:03:14,109 --> 00:03:18,818 that's why I have a very fond memory Endearing how Syd was then. 28 00:03:36,147 --> 00:03:38,820 At the Cambridge from the early sixties, 29 00:03:39,267 --> 00:03:41,781 Syd Barrett, then a teenager, He already left his footprints. 30 00:03:43,027 --> 00:03:49,102 was a person that shone in that little world. 31 00:03:49,546 --> 00:03:54,142 Many people envied him for that, me included. 32 00:03:55,185 --> 00:03:58,144 He was attractive, 33 00:04:00,306 --> 00:04:02,102 witty, funny, 34 00:04:03,225 --> 00:04:07,423 in the way he talks, walks... This sounds like a love song, 35 00:04:07,865 --> 00:04:10,937 and everyone loved him. 36 00:04:11,385 --> 00:04:13,614 Of course I wanted it. 37 00:04:14,064 --> 00:04:16,056 It was very easy to love him. 38 00:04:17,225 --> 00:04:22,139 It was different. He never tied his laces, he was wearing tight jeans. 39 00:04:22,584 --> 00:04:24,813 We called him "Syd the Beat." He was a beatnik. 40 00:04:25,264 --> 00:04:30,462 It was very special. I wrote, He acted in plays, he painted. 41 00:04:31,503 --> 00:04:34,973 I wrote letters to everyone, to me even every day. 42 00:04:35,423 --> 00:04:37,459 He was an incredible boy. 43 00:04:38,503 --> 00:04:43,701 I met Syd in an art class on a Saturday morning in Cambridge. 44 00:04:44,143 --> 00:04:46,975 I was then nine or ten years old 45 00:04:47,422 --> 00:04:52,290 and he, eight or nine. we became friends already as teenagers. 46 00:04:53,461 --> 00:04:57,171 We were talking about smoking drugs, but no we did it. That's how it was then. 47 00:04:59,261 --> 00:05:02,970 Roger was a "wicket-keeper" in cricket and I was first slip. 48 00:05:03,421 --> 00:05:07,334 Roger and Syd were old friends, and in that way the three 49 00:05:07,781 --> 00:05:10,374 we became friends 50 00:05:10,820 --> 00:05:13,494 and we visited each other. 51 00:05:15,180 --> 00:05:19,458 When I was going to see Syd after the school, I used to find him painting. 52 00:05:19,900 --> 00:05:22,414 Then we played and talked. 53 00:05:22,860 --> 00:05:24,578 Then Syd did... 54 00:05:25,020 --> 00:05:28,329 Everyone did this... 55 00:05:30,139 --> 00:05:31,618 hours and hours. 56 00:05:32,059 --> 00:05:33,697 And I did... 57 00:05:36,219 --> 00:05:39,574 And then we'd play some Bo Diddley or things like that. 58 00:05:46,938 --> 00:05:50,533 He was a great rhythm guitarist. Maybe it still is. 59 00:05:50,978 --> 00:05:53,173 He had a great sense of rhythm. 60 00:05:53,618 --> 00:05:59,135 Furthermore, he did things that before would have been unthinkable. 61 00:06:09,937 --> 00:06:13,212 We were convinced that when we went to London 62 00:06:13,656 --> 00:06:18,684 He would also come. London was It was Mecca, a mandatory goal. 63 00:06:19,136 --> 00:06:22,367 And we wanted to found a group. 64 00:06:23,415 --> 00:06:24,734 When he arrived, 65 00:06:25,175 --> 00:06:29,407 I was already playing with some friends and he joined us. 66 00:06:29,855 --> 00:06:35,850 Nick and Rick were regular members and there were a few from the Polytechnic. 67 00:06:36,294 --> 00:06:39,491 One of them, Mike Leonard, he was a tutor there. 68 00:06:44,494 --> 00:06:48,965 I refused to be an owner, but I ended up buying a house. 69 00:06:49,414 --> 00:06:54,806 I offered to rent them the plant from below and moved: 70 00:06:55,253 --> 00:06:57,813 Nick, Roger, 71 00:06:58,253 --> 00:07:01,609 a guy named Bob Klose and Syd. 72 00:07:04,892 --> 00:07:07,248 I was not a rock musician. 73 00:07:07,693 --> 00:07:13,324 I was with them by chance, I was the landlord and I had fun playing. 74 00:07:14,371 --> 00:07:16,932 I liked Syd, she was very... 75 00:07:17,372 --> 00:07:19,441 Each one had his own personality. 76 00:07:19,891 --> 00:07:23,440 Nick was very reserved, 77 00:07:23,891 --> 00:07:28,726 Roger was a little serious and stubborn but Syd was always very outgoing, 78 00:07:29,171 --> 00:07:32,207 effervescent, happy. 79 00:07:32,650 --> 00:07:37,326 He had a lot of enthusiasm and energy. He didn't write a song... 80 00:07:38,730 --> 00:07:42,404 called "Effervescent Elephant"? I should have done it. 81 00:07:45,290 --> 00:07:49,248 During a weekend in Cambridge a friend of Syd filmed one of his 82 00:07:49,689 --> 00:07:52,567 first experiences with the drug. 83 00:08:06,968 --> 00:08:10,562 That I know, They only tried LSD. 84 00:08:11,007 --> 00:08:13,761 Syd was more relaxed. 85 00:08:14,208 --> 00:08:18,280 I knew a chemist who made all kinds of mixes. 86 00:08:18,727 --> 00:08:20,479 Unfortunately. 87 00:08:20,927 --> 00:08:23,316 Sometimes they invited me to eat on Sundays. 88 00:08:23,767 --> 00:08:26,759 I was a little afraid because Syd used to cook, 89 00:08:27,207 --> 00:08:31,280 and sometimes it touched me eat half a cabbage. 90 00:08:32,327 --> 00:08:34,123 It was a beautiful time. 91 00:08:37,486 --> 00:08:41,115 Syd named the group "Pink Floyd" in honor of two blues musicians 92 00:08:41,566 --> 00:08:43,921 unknown, Pink Anderson and Floyd Council. 93 00:08:44,365 --> 00:08:45,923 Bob Klose played the first guitar 94 00:08:46,365 --> 00:08:51,314 but left the group after record Syd's song "Lucy Leave". 95 00:08:53,965 --> 00:08:56,683 The music of the beginnings reminiscent of the Rolling Stones. 96 00:08:57,124 --> 00:09:00,674 Syd or Roger's voice is recognized, 97 00:09:01,125 --> 00:09:04,560 but it still wasn't the sound of Pink Floyd. For that I had to go. 98 00:09:05,004 --> 00:09:07,278 It was an important step. 99 00:09:07,723 --> 00:09:11,000 His new microphone technique is the fruit of 5 years of research 100 00:09:11,444 --> 00:09:15,675 of an architect, Mike Leonard, who we see with your new light projector. 101 00:09:16,123 --> 00:09:20,435 He wanted us to improvise to accompany your experiments with light. 102 00:09:20,883 --> 00:09:23,636 It had projectors and that kind of stuff 103 00:09:24,082 --> 00:09:28,873 and made rolls of shiny cellophane, illuminated them, folded them 104 00:09:29,323 --> 00:09:32,519 and contemplated the effect, while we played. 105 00:09:36,321 --> 00:09:39,598 A group is in charge of the music that creates innovative sounds, 106 00:09:40,042 --> 00:09:41,997 "Pink Floyd." 107 00:09:46,241 --> 00:09:50,029 I loved that noise. From the end of the street, 108 00:09:50,481 --> 00:09:53,517 half a mile from Archway Road, there was a deafening noise 109 00:09:53,960 --> 00:09:58,909 on the roofs. They were already known. 110 00:10:11,959 --> 00:10:15,508 In 1966 it was emerging in London a new "underground" current, 111 00:10:15,959 --> 00:10:19,668 and Pink Floyd began to perform at small events and in clubs. 112 00:10:20,119 --> 00:10:22,916 They soon looked for a manager. 113 00:10:24,519 --> 00:10:28,397 I noticed them... 114 00:10:28,838 --> 00:10:34,151 once they gave a concert incredible at the Marquee. 115 00:10:35,118 --> 00:10:39,395 It was something like arrive, participate and leave. 116 00:10:39,837 --> 00:10:41,316 Syd was their leader. 117 00:10:41,757 --> 00:10:43,987 What does leader mean? 118 00:10:44,437 --> 00:10:48,669 He who sings or plays the first guitar. Syd did both. 119 00:10:49,116 --> 00:10:53,633 It was soon learned that Syd was the one He wrote most of the songs. 120 00:10:57,596 --> 00:11:00,315 Then they played at the UFO Club, 121 00:11:00,755 --> 00:11:02,428 and we went there on Saturdays. 122 00:11:02,876 --> 00:11:05,993 What impressed me the most... 123 00:11:07,035 --> 00:11:10,994 They were those hypnotic rhythms, those endless bass lines... 124 00:11:11,915 --> 00:11:15,146 Those things. And suddenly Syd was there 125 00:11:15,595 --> 00:11:18,586 with a Zippo lighter on a Fender guitar. 126 00:11:19,034 --> 00:11:23,346 The cigarette hanging from his mouth, hair over face, sweating, 127 00:11:23,794 --> 00:11:26,308 going up and down by the handle of the guitar, 128 00:11:26,754 --> 00:11:30,986 with that incredible and strident tone. 129 00:11:53,432 --> 00:11:56,708 The UFO Club belonged to Joe Boyd, an American music producer, 130 00:11:57,151 --> 00:11:59,302 friend of the new Pink Floyd managers, 131 00:11:59,752 --> 00:12:01,583 who was looking for new talents. 132 00:12:02,032 --> 00:12:03,783 It was summer 133 00:12:04,231 --> 00:12:05,300 of 1966. 134 00:12:06,751 --> 00:12:09,140 Peter and Andrew said: 135 00:12:10,191 --> 00:12:14,149 "There is a group you should listen to. Here's the tape." 136 00:12:14,590 --> 00:12:16,467 I thought they were fantastic. 137 00:12:19,151 --> 00:12:21,186 Joe Boyd produced "Arnold Layne." 138 00:12:21,630 --> 00:12:27,067 EMI signed a contract with the band and put the single on sale. 139 00:12:39,069 --> 00:12:43,027 "Arnold Layne" is on the line of English pop from the mid-60s. 140 00:12:43,468 --> 00:12:48,826 An American would not write about boys smelling panties in the yard. 141 00:12:49,788 --> 00:12:52,177 I remember that story. 142 00:12:52,628 --> 00:12:57,497 Some guy from Cambridge did it, I stole someone's underwear. 143 00:12:57,948 --> 00:13:02,657 I don't remember it being in the press. I guess he found out from another source. 144 00:13:03,107 --> 00:13:04,062 Yes. 145 00:13:20,906 --> 00:13:23,419 Associations of ideas They had always been rare, 146 00:13:23,865 --> 00:13:27,859 but over time They became even stranger. 147 00:13:28,305 --> 00:13:31,502 But if one looks at some songs from the first album, 148 00:13:32,545 --> 00:13:34,183 "Bike" for example: 149 00:13:34,625 --> 00:13:38,379 "I have a bike with a basket and a bell, it's very pretty. 150 00:13:38,825 --> 00:13:42,419 I would give it to you if I could, but I have lent it." 151 00:13:42,944 --> 00:13:48,098 The text at the beginning is adapted to the rhythm with great harmony, 152 00:13:48,544 --> 00:13:53,299 but then: "...I have lent it", it goes the other way. 153 00:13:54,344 --> 00:13:58,256 It's something very English, that round character, 154 00:13:58,703 --> 00:14:03,538 but at the same time unpredictable. I think it was unforeseeable 155 00:14:03,983 --> 00:14:08,737 combined with that simplicity what made it so special. 156 00:14:17,542 --> 00:14:21,330 "Bike" is a very good song. 157 00:14:21,782 --> 00:14:23,977 "I have a bike" 158 00:14:24,422 --> 00:14:28,130 It sounds like: "I'm eight years old and I have a bike!" 159 00:14:28,581 --> 00:14:31,141 And the sound is very well produced. 160 00:14:41,700 --> 00:14:44,692 It was like painting with sound. 161 00:14:45,140 --> 00:14:50,089 I try to remember the words, especially Gerald the mouse. 162 00:14:50,540 --> 00:14:52,849 And then came the... 163 00:15:09,019 --> 00:15:11,088 "You are the girl that suits me." 164 00:15:11,538 --> 00:15:16,213 You can only know her if she comes to see you. 165 00:15:16,657 --> 00:15:18,933 That's more or less what it says. 166 00:15:21,018 --> 00:15:22,894 At least that's how I understand it. 167 00:15:35,136 --> 00:15:37,526 That crazy goose... 168 00:15:39,456 --> 00:15:42,766 It always left me confused. 169 00:15:43,216 --> 00:15:46,970 Then I thought: If someone gets 170 00:15:47,416 --> 00:15:51,647 confuse me like that, It has to be very good. 171 00:15:52,095 --> 00:15:54,370 Why so high? 172 00:15:54,815 --> 00:15:56,487 Why do you have Why should the music be so loud? 173 00:15:56,935 --> 00:15:59,165 It's too high. Unbearable. 174 00:15:59,615 --> 00:16:01,570 It doesn't have to be high. 175 00:16:02,014 --> 00:16:04,130 Some parts are very low. 176 00:16:04,574 --> 00:16:06,929 I like to listen to soft music. 177 00:16:07,374 --> 00:16:10,730 But we play in big rooms, volume is needed there. 178 00:16:11,174 --> 00:16:15,964 The funny thing is that we had two musical careers at the same time. 179 00:16:16,414 --> 00:16:19,849 When we played "Interstellar Overdrive" out of London, 180 00:16:20,293 --> 00:16:22,807 People found it horrifying. 181 00:16:41,211 --> 00:16:46,444 32 years ago I don't take any acid. 182 00:16:47,491 --> 00:16:50,403 I don't know if they were very strong or we were not used to it. 183 00:16:51,331 --> 00:16:56,405 It was almost a religious ceremony. We took it very seriously. 184 00:16:56,851 --> 00:17:00,399 It was about opening his eyes. to people, to change the world 185 00:17:00,850 --> 00:17:03,808 and to stop the Vietnam War, 186 00:17:04,250 --> 00:17:08,562 because everyone was going to discover your true inner "something". 187 00:17:14,090 --> 00:17:19,402 Syd was experimenting with drugs, just like everyone. 188 00:17:21,529 --> 00:17:24,168 Syd began to experiment 189 00:17:24,609 --> 00:17:30,161 and was able to express himself more freely and write wonderful songs. 190 00:17:35,848 --> 00:17:39,523 In May 1967 frequent use of LSD 191 00:17:39,968 --> 00:17:42,323 paid tribute to Syd Barrett. 192 00:17:49,127 --> 00:17:51,516 When Pink Floyd released "See Emily Play", 193 00:17:51,967 --> 00:17:56,756 the most successful single to date, Syd's poor condition was evident. 194 00:17:57,206 --> 00:18:00,676 David Gilmour had not seen it for several months. 195 00:18:01,446 --> 00:18:04,040 Syd was a different person. 196 00:18:04,486 --> 00:18:08,923 He didn't recognize me right away, he looked at me without seeing me 197 00:18:09,526 --> 00:18:12,801 and had, like Roger said very accurately, 198 00:18:13,245 --> 00:18:15,475 black holes instead of eyes. 199 00:18:16,965 --> 00:18:19,320 we were recording something for Radio One 200 00:18:19,765 --> 00:18:23,552 and Syd didn't come. I think it was a Friday. 201 00:18:24,004 --> 00:18:27,680 When they found it, I think a Sunday or a Monday, 202 00:18:28,125 --> 00:18:31,878 they told us that something had happened to Syd. 203 00:18:32,924 --> 00:18:35,437 It's true, he was no longer the same. 204 00:18:35,883 --> 00:18:38,034 He had drunk too much. I was gone. 205 00:18:38,484 --> 00:18:42,112 It had the same appearance, but it was somewhere else. 206 00:19:22,440 --> 00:19:26,877 In October 1967 Syd Barrett recorded the song "Jug Band Blues" 207 00:19:27,320 --> 00:19:29,788 shortly before leaving for San Francisco, 208 00:19:30,240 --> 00:19:33,949 from where pink floyd would begin his tour of America. 209 00:19:42,239 --> 00:19:47,267 Soon, the mental state of Syd put the tour in jeopardy. 210 00:19:51,879 --> 00:19:56,827 We performed on the "Pat Boone Show" and Pat Boone came to greet us. 211 00:19:58,358 --> 00:20:02,112 During rehearsals, every time... 212 00:20:02,558 --> 00:20:06,630 we had to move our lips for "See Emily Play," I think. 213 00:20:07,077 --> 00:20:11,036 While we were rehearsing it, He moved his lips. 214 00:20:12,317 --> 00:20:14,831 Then they said, "Let's record it." 215 00:20:15,277 --> 00:20:19,747 When they said: "Action!" He stood there doing nothing. 216 00:20:21,957 --> 00:20:26,347 "Cut, cut! Okay, guys, "again!" And Syd: "Yes, yes!" 217 00:20:26,796 --> 00:20:32,075 He did it again and again. In the end we We apologized and I did my part. 218 00:20:38,395 --> 00:20:43,230 I remember that once in the Fillmore West room 219 00:20:43,675 --> 00:20:46,472 Syd went on stage, stayed 220 00:20:46,914 --> 00:20:50,748 staring into space, out of tune all the strings of your guitar, 221 00:20:51,194 --> 00:20:53,310 and then he played 222 00:20:53,754 --> 00:20:56,745 something that is horrible and we think: 223 00:20:57,193 --> 00:20:59,389 What do we do? 224 00:20:59,834 --> 00:21:03,712 But the public seemed to like it, They loved it. 225 00:21:10,313 --> 00:21:14,590 What do I do, laugh or kill him? 226 00:21:17,033 --> 00:21:21,389 Personally, I don't remember have felt 227 00:21:21,832 --> 00:21:24,062 too much compassion for him. 228 00:21:32,071 --> 00:21:35,905 Syd's behavior was so Unforeseeable that the tour was shortened. 229 00:21:36,351 --> 00:21:40,469 The group didn't know what to do with him. 230 00:21:54,269 --> 00:22:00,185 The idea of losing that continuous source of songs 231 00:22:01,229 --> 00:22:05,347 It seemed disastrous to us, since He wrote most of the songs. 232 00:22:06,389 --> 00:22:10,222 We thought he would just write the themes and we would act, 233 00:22:10,668 --> 00:22:12,898 but it was not feasible. 234 00:22:13,348 --> 00:22:16,977 At that time Syd had the idea 235 00:22:17,428 --> 00:22:19,339 that the best would be 236 00:22:19,788 --> 00:22:23,906 Hire two female saxophonists. 237 00:22:24,348 --> 00:22:27,464 A very strange idea. 238 00:22:41,706 --> 00:22:46,416 Syd's new attempt, "Vegetable Man", it was maybe too crude 239 00:22:46,866 --> 00:22:49,380 for EMI, since the single never came out. 240 00:22:55,745 --> 00:22:58,703 He wrote "Vegetable Man" in our living room. 241 00:22:59,145 --> 00:23:03,024 I was sitting there because I needed a song for recording 242 00:23:03,465 --> 00:23:05,899 and he described himself, 243 00:23:06,345 --> 00:23:08,812 where was it and what he was doing. 244 00:23:14,824 --> 00:23:19,101 "Jug Band Blues" is a little earlier and a little more poetic. 245 00:23:19,543 --> 00:23:22,536 "Vegetable Man" and "Scream My Last Scream" came later, 246 00:23:22,984 --> 00:23:28,421 they looked more and more like wounds open, increasingly naked. 247 00:23:34,303 --> 00:23:38,534 "That's all I have and what you see is what I am." 248 00:23:46,421 --> 00:23:50,813 Despite Syd's problems, the group continued its tour of Great Britain 249 00:23:51,262 --> 00:23:55,618 with Jimi Hendrix and The Move in charge of the rock and roll part. 250 00:24:10,300 --> 00:24:14,418 I think we made things worse instead of fixing them. 251 00:24:14,859 --> 00:24:21,207 But there were many people well-intentioned person who tried 252 00:24:21,659 --> 00:24:24,457 to convince him to do therapy. 253 00:24:24,899 --> 00:24:29,654 We managed to get him to the door, but it didn't go beyond there. 254 00:24:30,099 --> 00:24:34,694 Someone said that they had described him Syd's symptoms 255 00:24:35,138 --> 00:24:40,258 and that he answered: "They are sure "That's Syd's problem?" 256 00:24:40,698 --> 00:24:44,053 Maybe it was... 257 00:24:45,098 --> 00:24:47,658 a good observation. 258 00:24:52,897 --> 00:24:58,130 Syd's condition was so worrying who asked David Gilmour for help. 259 00:24:59,177 --> 00:25:02,612 They called me and they made me a specific offer, 260 00:25:03,056 --> 00:25:05,173 and so it began 261 00:25:05,616 --> 00:25:08,653 a very difficult time and... 262 00:25:09,696 --> 00:25:11,606 very strange 263 00:25:12,055 --> 00:25:17,254 Syd and I went to rehearsals together. 264 00:25:17,695 --> 00:25:21,404 The five of us were going to give concerts 265 00:25:21,855 --> 00:25:27,054 and I played... 266 00:25:27,495 --> 00:25:31,487 I learned Syd's part and sang his songs. 267 00:25:31,934 --> 00:25:38,931 He was there, he sang a little, It played a little... Very strange. 268 00:25:39,374 --> 00:25:44,050 You can say that our style It was ignoring the problems. 269 00:25:45,254 --> 00:25:50,373 In the end we get to the point 270 00:25:50,813 --> 00:25:52,963 that we weren't going to pick up Syd. 271 00:25:53,413 --> 00:25:56,371 a good day The four of us left alone. 272 00:26:13,891 --> 00:26:16,530 After leaving the group in January 1968, 273 00:26:16,971 --> 00:26:20,759 Syd spends the rest of the year in a very precarious state. 274 00:26:21,211 --> 00:26:24,442 Write from time to time, share apartments with friends and in the end 275 00:26:24,891 --> 00:26:29,885 rent an apartment with the painter Duggie Fields at Earls Court. 276 00:26:45,849 --> 00:26:48,522 This was the room from Syd when we moved. 277 00:26:48,969 --> 00:26:54,759 I moved at Christmas 1968 or at the beginning of January 1969. 278 00:26:55,808 --> 00:27:00,962 The apartment was unfurnished, empty, The floor was made of wooden boards. 279 00:27:01,408 --> 00:27:06,162 There was an electric radiator there embedded in the wall. 280 00:27:06,608 --> 00:27:08,564 Embedded in concrete. 281 00:27:09,728 --> 00:27:13,879 There was no furniture. Syd had a mattress on the floor, 282 00:27:14,327 --> 00:27:19,355 a lot of paintings from his time in Fine Arts, 283 00:27:20,407 --> 00:27:24,445 maybe a music system, a guitar, not much more. 284 00:27:25,446 --> 00:27:29,155 I think he painted the floor too quickly. 285 00:27:29,606 --> 00:27:32,723 I didn't prepare the ground before, I don't think he even swept it. 286 00:27:33,165 --> 00:27:37,284 There was a lot of dust that was mixed with the paint. 287 00:27:37,726 --> 00:27:39,443 And I hadn't thought 288 00:27:39,885 --> 00:27:42,922 on how to get out of there, since I painted around the bed. 289 00:27:43,365 --> 00:27:47,040 in the end I couldn't leave the room, 290 00:27:47,485 --> 00:27:49,521 because everything was painted. 291 00:27:50,564 --> 00:27:55,195 There has always been drugs of all kinds, 292 00:27:55,645 --> 00:28:01,162 but I think the biggest problem Syd's problem was her lack of motivation. 293 00:28:01,603 --> 00:28:06,837 Since I left the group I was disoriented, without a fixed goal 294 00:28:07,283 --> 00:28:09,114 and he never found her again. 295 00:28:20,682 --> 00:28:24,641 Jerry Shirley of "Humblie Pie" He played drums on the first album 296 00:28:25,082 --> 00:28:27,038 Syd solo, "The Madcap Laughs." 297 00:28:28,962 --> 00:28:30,599 I never believed 298 00:28:31,041 --> 00:28:35,160 that was so crazy as many said. 299 00:28:35,601 --> 00:28:41,198 In some situations I witnessed how 300 00:28:41,641 --> 00:28:45,111 He took advantage of her madness, 301 00:28:45,561 --> 00:28:47,915 That is to say, he faked it. 302 00:29:06,239 --> 00:29:11,313 I think that during the recordings from "The Madcap Laughs", 303 00:29:11,759 --> 00:29:14,148 He was on Mandrax pills. 304 00:29:21,278 --> 00:29:25,032 They called them "Randy Mandys" or "Horny Mandys." 305 00:29:26,078 --> 00:29:29,991 They were not good at sex, but people wanted to 306 00:29:30,638 --> 00:29:32,593 of making love. 307 00:29:33,037 --> 00:29:38,350 I think one day I took too many Mandrax 308 00:29:38,797 --> 00:29:45,235 because we found him drooling. He had taken four at a time. 309 00:30:00,356 --> 00:30:05,793 David Gilmour eventually became in charge of the production of the album. 310 00:30:11,475 --> 00:30:14,989 Record The album turned out to be a nightmare. 311 00:30:16,075 --> 00:30:18,429 It was very difficult 312 00:30:18,874 --> 00:30:22,992 do it in a short time that EMI granted us. 313 00:30:23,633 --> 00:30:28,583 There are some very nice songs which are really interesting. 314 00:30:29,953 --> 00:30:34,868 I didn't seem to have to search the melody nor the lyrics. 315 00:30:35,313 --> 00:30:39,591 They were there, They came as if by themselves. 316 00:30:46,112 --> 00:30:50,628 We recorded the song "Dominoes". I think I played the drums. 317 00:30:51,072 --> 00:30:55,782 Despite several attempts, The guitar didn't convince us. 318 00:30:56,232 --> 00:30:58,745 After a lot of trying, 319 00:30:59,191 --> 00:31:03,184 He proposed that we do run the treadmill backwards. 320 00:31:03,631 --> 00:31:07,909 You could hear noises like... 321 00:31:10,110 --> 00:31:12,420 And I don't know how... 322 00:31:14,111 --> 00:31:17,147 He knew what it was about. It's very difficult 323 00:31:17,590 --> 00:31:21,025 distinguish something on a treadmill running backwards. 324 00:31:22,270 --> 00:31:25,898 he made a recording with the tape going backwards, 325 00:31:26,349 --> 00:31:32,060 and we turned it around, we left it run, and you only hear something if 326 00:31:32,509 --> 00:31:36,821 you turn it around again: the music right and the guitar backwards. 327 00:31:38,868 --> 00:31:41,861 It worked perfectly 328 00:31:42,309 --> 00:31:46,301 and that's how it remained on the album. We didn't even have to repeat it. 329 00:31:46,748 --> 00:31:50,423 It was incredible and it still is. 330 00:32:07,346 --> 00:32:12,420 The crazy ones They have many moments of lucidity. 331 00:32:12,866 --> 00:32:17,734 They probably see things much more clear as many of us. 332 00:32:18,185 --> 00:32:22,145 Sometimes I saw Syd... 333 00:32:23,185 --> 00:32:28,305 laugh alone looking into space, and really... 334 00:32:28,745 --> 00:32:31,054 He literally looked through you. 335 00:32:31,505 --> 00:32:34,541 but at the same time I really saw things in you. 336 00:32:34,984 --> 00:32:37,624 Syd wasn't a fool at all. 337 00:32:38,665 --> 00:32:40,416 Too much... 338 00:32:42,464 --> 00:32:44,136 This reminds me of your album 339 00:32:44,584 --> 00:32:46,973 with the flies on the cover. 340 00:32:47,424 --> 00:32:50,938 He painted them himself. 341 00:32:51,383 --> 00:32:55,615 I should have called the album: "Syd is not a fool at all." 342 00:32:56,063 --> 00:33:00,693 In 1970 Syd recorded his second and last solo album. 343 00:33:01,143 --> 00:33:03,576 She called him simply "Barrett." 344 00:33:04,022 --> 00:33:08,379 Only "Barrett" seemed authentic to me. 345 00:33:08,822 --> 00:33:12,781 That mother's son Cambridge middle class 346 00:33:13,222 --> 00:33:15,782 it sounded for me 347 00:33:16,222 --> 00:33:20,339 like a mother's son middle class Winchester. 348 00:33:20,781 --> 00:33:24,615 The official opinion is that Syd did with Pink Floyd a brilliant album 349 00:33:25,061 --> 00:33:27,734 and it stayed at that. 350 00:33:28,181 --> 00:33:30,819 And then came the debate: "What would have happened if...?" 351 00:33:31,260 --> 00:33:35,493 Of course, if I hadn't taken LSD and would have recovered would have been 352 00:33:35,941 --> 00:33:38,249 such as Emerson, Lake and Palmer. 353 00:33:38,820 --> 00:33:42,289 Fame came suddenly. 354 00:33:42,739 --> 00:33:46,619 Suddenly they were the center of attention. 355 00:33:47,060 --> 00:33:50,017 And he had to play the clown. 356 00:33:50,459 --> 00:33:53,735 And play the same thing over and over again. 357 00:33:54,179 --> 00:33:59,093 I think that was not compatible with his sense of creativity. 358 00:33:59,538 --> 00:34:03,088 But everything came suddenly... 359 00:34:06,338 --> 00:34:08,932 And it was probably too much for him. 360 00:34:09,978 --> 00:34:15,575 I think... that contributed a lot 361 00:34:16,017 --> 00:34:19,532 to what happened to him. 362 00:34:22,017 --> 00:34:25,976 It's okay to play this song when it starts to rain. 363 00:35:04,574 --> 00:35:06,962 I spent a lot of time lying in bed. 364 00:35:07,413 --> 00:35:09,928 I used to be in the next room. 365 00:35:11,574 --> 00:35:17,569 I painted and it seemed to me that the wall that separated us disappeared. 366 00:35:18,013 --> 00:35:22,609 I knew he was in bed, thinking. 367 00:35:23,053 --> 00:35:27,409 I interpret it like this: he thought that while I was lying down, 368 00:35:27,853 --> 00:35:31,481 all the possibilities They were open to him. 369 00:35:31,932 --> 00:35:34,810 If he decided on something, He was limiting his possibilities. 370 00:35:35,251 --> 00:35:40,087 But that stayed there as long as it could, so that his future was unlimited. 371 00:35:40,532 --> 00:35:43,648 Of course that was a very limited present 372 00:35:44,091 --> 00:35:46,127 and also very depressing. 373 00:36:23,808 --> 00:36:26,481 I love this song. 374 00:36:26,928 --> 00:36:31,683 It's unbeatable. They were very simple things. 375 00:36:33,207 --> 00:36:35,722 He knew what things should not be touched. 376 00:36:36,168 --> 00:36:39,637 He was not ashamed of simplicity if necessary, 377 00:36:40,087 --> 00:36:45,366 express it in words loaded with symbolism. 378 00:36:47,887 --> 00:36:51,003 I hate the word "symbolism" but they were very dense words, 379 00:36:51,446 --> 00:36:56,122 as if you were filming your mind with a camera. 380 00:36:56,566 --> 00:37:01,320 You don't say: "I'm not going to eat this sandwich". That doesn't make sense. 381 00:37:05,086 --> 00:37:10,318 Sometimes you have to delete certain things for being too fatuous, 382 00:37:10,765 --> 00:37:15,555 but they were very natural letters, mental truth so to speak. 383 00:37:20,564 --> 00:37:25,001 In June 1970 Syd performed at the Olympia. 384 00:37:26,684 --> 00:37:30,962 There was a lot of expectation. They were eager to see him. 385 00:37:31,404 --> 00:37:33,201 Syd Barrett, live! 386 00:37:33,644 --> 00:37:35,793 To the third song, 387 00:37:36,243 --> 00:37:40,475 Syd stopped suddenly and left. But not in style: 388 00:37:40,923 --> 00:37:44,632 "I'm a rock star, I'm out of here off the stage and throw the guitar!" 389 00:37:45,083 --> 00:37:46,515 There was no drama. 390 00:37:46,962 --> 00:37:49,032 No vanity. 391 00:37:49,482 --> 00:37:52,440 He just stopped playing. 392 00:37:53,522 --> 00:37:57,309 Like someone who is listening a tape and presses the "stop" button. 393 00:37:57,761 --> 00:37:59,718 We keep playing... 394 00:38:02,801 --> 00:38:04,598 Dave and I... 395 00:38:05,041 --> 00:38:08,875 Syd took down her guitar, 396 00:38:09,321 --> 00:38:13,200 I put her on the ground and He calmly left the stage. 397 00:38:13,921 --> 00:38:17,037 I remember that it took us 398 00:38:17,480 --> 00:38:19,278 totally unprepared. 399 00:38:19,721 --> 00:38:23,429 "What now?" we thought. we finish the song with a slow ending 400 00:38:24,480 --> 00:38:28,393 and somewhat embarrassing and we also left the stage. 401 00:38:38,039 --> 00:38:43,715 That year Syd left Earls Court and He returned to Cambridge with his mother. 402 00:38:44,158 --> 00:38:48,754 His friend, photographer Mick Rock, I visited him there in 1971 403 00:38:49,198 --> 00:38:51,632 and took a few photographs. 404 00:38:58,118 --> 00:39:02,986 In the basement one sat as in a womb. 405 00:39:03,917 --> 00:39:07,546 Photos from his childhood They hung on the walls. 406 00:39:07,997 --> 00:39:12,148 He did not speak of "regression", 407 00:39:12,596 --> 00:39:14,552 but he said he had taken the way back. 408 00:39:14,997 --> 00:39:18,386 I was talking about it directly and reasonably. 409 00:39:18,836 --> 00:39:21,509 He was retracing his steps. 410 00:39:21,956 --> 00:39:27,747 I was undoubtedly looking for something inside. 411 00:39:28,195 --> 00:39:32,985 But he wasn't distraught. It just seemed... 412 00:39:34,035 --> 00:39:36,026 reflect on it. 413 00:39:36,475 --> 00:39:39,625 He made a few albums... 414 00:39:40,674 --> 00:39:43,667 They didn't turn out bad at all. 415 00:39:44,115 --> 00:39:48,392 He never spoke badly of Pink Floyd. 416 00:39:48,834 --> 00:39:50,585 He accepted everything as it was. 417 00:40:00,433 --> 00:40:04,551 With some Cambridge musicians, Barrett founded the band "The Stars." 418 00:40:04,993 --> 00:40:09,463 With her he gave his last concert at the Corn Exchange in Cambridge. 419 00:40:11,633 --> 00:40:14,510 I remember looking at Syd 420 00:40:14,952 --> 00:40:18,262 and I thought: 421 00:40:18,712 --> 00:40:20,782 "You don't want to be here, do you?" 422 00:40:21,232 --> 00:40:24,144 He acted mechanically, 423 00:40:24,591 --> 00:40:27,389 the microphone was there, he sang like that, 424 00:40:27,831 --> 00:40:30,789 and everyone realized that he was completely gone. 425 00:40:31,231 --> 00:40:34,382 We were witnessing 426 00:40:34,831 --> 00:40:37,742 how someone collapses on stage. 427 00:40:38,670 --> 00:40:42,504 There are good and bad concerts, some are terrible 428 00:40:43,550 --> 00:40:44,778 and this was the worst of all. 429 00:41:08,789 --> 00:41:12,622 Syd Barrett returned to London and lived in the luxurious "Chelsea Cloisters", 430 00:41:13,068 --> 00:41:16,298 isolated and without any contact with his friends from Pink Floyd, 431 00:41:16,747 --> 00:41:21,026 they had become one of the most successful groups in the world. 432 00:41:22,347 --> 00:41:25,942 Syd appears many times on "The Wall." 433 00:41:26,387 --> 00:41:30,221 The scene where the cigarette It is consumed between the fingers... 434 00:41:30,667 --> 00:41:34,625 I entered the room and I saw that. 435 00:41:42,906 --> 00:41:46,455 The protagonist of the film by Pink Floyd, "The Wall", 436 00:41:46,906 --> 00:41:49,181 played by Bob Geldof, It is based on Syd Barrett. 437 00:41:50,465 --> 00:41:54,617 Our friendship and his illness 438 00:41:55,665 --> 00:41:58,133 they are for me 439 00:41:58,585 --> 00:42:03,214 a great source 440 00:42:03,664 --> 00:42:08,784 of sadness. It's very sad, I'm still sad about it. 441 00:42:16,664 --> 00:42:21,783 It is incredible to what extent Syd's ghost would haunt us. 442 00:42:22,223 --> 00:42:24,862 It is clear that we returned to him, 443 00:42:25,383 --> 00:42:29,217 especially with "Wish you were here". 444 00:43:05,980 --> 00:43:08,096 It's our best album. 445 00:43:08,540 --> 00:43:12,169 I love the lyrics 446 00:43:12,620 --> 00:43:17,329 but also the music, how it flows and I believe... 447 00:43:19,019 --> 00:43:23,297 I listen to it for pleasure and I can't say that of many Pink Floyd albums. 448 00:43:24,339 --> 00:43:27,648 I knew that we no longer existed 449 00:43:28,098 --> 00:43:30,897 as a group of childhood friends. 450 00:43:31,339 --> 00:43:34,614 That was over forever. 451 00:43:35,058 --> 00:43:39,813 That loss hurts me so much how the loss hurts me 452 00:43:40,858 --> 00:43:43,610 of Syd as a friend and companion. 453 00:43:45,257 --> 00:43:50,206 I don't remember how it was. I think He was playing an A minor... 454 00:43:51,297 --> 00:43:53,367 Very old. 455 00:43:53,817 --> 00:43:58,766 And I placed my fingers wrong... Maybe it was a coincidence. 456 00:44:01,976 --> 00:44:05,286 But this sound came out 457 00:44:05,736 --> 00:44:08,204 so penetrating... 458 00:44:17,975 --> 00:44:21,809 There is something you will never forget. 459 00:44:22,255 --> 00:44:25,610 It happened during recording from "Shine On." 460 00:44:26,054 --> 00:44:29,649 I went to the studio and I saw a guy sitting behind, 461 00:44:30,094 --> 00:44:34,723 very close to me and I didn't recognize him. 462 00:44:36,934 --> 00:44:38,811 He asked: "Who is that?" 463 00:44:39,254 --> 00:44:44,247 "It's Syd." I couldn't believe it. 464 00:44:44,693 --> 00:44:47,161 I hadn't recognized him. 465 00:44:47,613 --> 00:44:51,685 Shaved, with a shaved head, and very obese. 466 00:44:52,732 --> 00:44:55,645 He had his head shaved. It weighed about... 467 00:44:56,093 --> 00:45:00,449 110 kilos. He also had his eyebrows shaved. 468 00:45:00,892 --> 00:45:05,841 I spent a long time without recognizing it and neither do the others. 469 00:45:07,132 --> 00:45:11,602 He jumped and brushed himself the teeth. It was horrible. 470 00:45:13,811 --> 00:45:18,362 Roger was in tears. Me too. It was very shocking. 471 00:45:18,811 --> 00:45:21,768 His eyes were still recognizable, 472 00:45:22,210 --> 00:45:26,169 but everything else was different. 473 00:45:27,650 --> 00:45:33,600 7 years without any contact and it appears while we rehearsed that song. 474 00:45:35,250 --> 00:45:40,881 Coincidence? Karma? Destination? The fact is that it was impressive. 475 00:46:49,805 --> 00:46:52,557 He doesn't want any contact 476 00:46:53,004 --> 00:46:57,953 with the people from before. He dislikes it, so I leave it alone. 477 00:47:00,324 --> 00:47:04,555 And I don't think I can do anything else. 478 00:47:06,443 --> 00:47:09,992 It wouldn't be right to bother him, It would bother me too. 479 00:47:10,443 --> 00:47:14,720 We were friends, we laughed together, we spent our youth together 480 00:47:15,162 --> 00:47:17,677 and we have a common history. 481 00:47:18,123 --> 00:47:20,761 And don't recognize you... 482 00:47:21,962 --> 00:47:27,241 If you had told young Syd: "Sign a contract with your life! 483 00:47:27,682 --> 00:47:29,638 You will do fantastic things, 484 00:47:30,081 --> 00:47:32,117 but only for a short time. 485 00:47:32,601 --> 00:47:34,557 Sign here." 486 00:47:35,001 --> 00:47:38,914 I think many would. To leave a mark. 487 00:47:42,480 --> 00:47:46,838 In 1978 Syd Barrett left Chelsea Cloisters for the last time 488 00:47:47,280 --> 00:47:49,396 and walked back to Cambridge. 489 00:47:49,840 --> 00:47:52,797 Since then he has lived there apart from the world.