EARLY YEARS
Roger Keith Barrett was born on the 6th of January 1946 in Cambridge. Being the fourth of five children he liked writing and drawing. He occasionaly played piano and later he bought a ukelele, a banjo and acoustic guitar. When he was 15 year old he bought his first electric guitar with an amplifier. He was a Scout with the 7th Cambridge troop and went on to be a patrol leader. He started using his nickname Syd named after an old Cambridge Jazz bassist. Sid "the Beat" Barrett; Barrett changed the spelling to differentiate himself. Some people claimed he started using the name Syd since he came to a field day at Abington Scout site wearing a flat cap instead of his scout beret.

Syd as a child with his sister Rosemary

Roger (Syd) went to the Morley Memorial Junior School where he was taught by the mother of future band mate Roger Waters. In 1957 he attended Cambridgeshire High School for Boys with Roger Waters. His father died of cancer in 1961. All the children of the Barrett family left home while his mother started renting out rooms to lodgers. His mother encouraged him to start his own band: Geoff Mott and the Mottoes. But in 1962 the band broke up when Geoff Mott left to join the Boston Crabs. Syd went to the Cambridgeshire College of Arts and Technology at the end of 1962 where he met future Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour. Syd became influenced by the Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Jimmy Reed and Bo Diddley. He started writing songs. Some people recalled he already wrote "Effervescing Elephant" those days which was later recorded for his solo album "Barret". Sometimes he played acoustic gigs with David Gilmour who he called Fred. He played in several band in the mid 60's: Those Without and Hollerin' Blues for example.

PINK FLOYD
The band Pink Floyd went through many changes in name before the name Pink Floyd was finally there like: Abdabs, Screaming Abdabs, Sigma 6 and Meggadeaths. In 1965 Barrett joined them as the Tea Set (AKA T-Set). After performing with a band with the same name they decided to change the name to The Pink Floyd Sound. In 1965 Barrett had his first LSD trip in the garden of his friend Dave Gale with Ian Moore and the future Pink Floyd cover artist Storm Thorgerson. During one trip he ended up naked in a bathtub. As a result of the continued drug use Barrett decided to join the Sant Mat (A Sikh sect). Thorgerson went to a hotel in London to meet the guru of the sect to join the sect. But Barrett was too young to join yet. During this time he also wrote "Bike" which would appear on the debut album of Pink Floyd. The most ideas for songs for Pink Floyd at that time came from Barrett. He was the musical genius of psychedelia music in general and of Pink Floyd. Finally in 1967 the first album "The Piper at the Gates of Dawn" (1967) was released. Of the eleven songs Barrett wrote 8 and co-wrote another 2. His name was now permanently changed to Syd also to prevent confusion with 2 Rogers in the band.

Pink Floyd with Syd on the outer right

At the end of 1967 and beginning of 1968 Syd Barrett became hard to work with because of his heavy drug usage. Mainly psychedelic drugs like LSD. He used to be friendly and extroverted but now he was depressed and withdrawn. He began experiencing hallucinations, disorganised speech, memory lapses, intense mood swings and periods of catatonia (a complex neuropsyhiatric behavioral syndrome). Barrett did not recognise friends, and he often did not know where he was. At a moment he was not able to play guitar anymore. Around christmas 1967 David Gilmour took over the guitar play and vocals of Syd while Syd wandered around at stage and occasionally joining the performance. On January 1968 the band voted and decided not to pick Syd up for a performance. The plan was that Syd would become a non-touring member like The Beach Boys had done with Brian Wilson. Also since Syd wrote most of the material of the band. For the second album "A Saucerful Of Secrets" (1968) they used a song Syd already wrote for their first album titled "Jugband Blues" and Syd played guitar on the songs: "Remember a Day" and "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun". At that time the members of the band did not tell Syd he was no longer part of the band.

According to Richard Wright who lived with Barret at that time he went out to buy some cigarettes and returned hours later to find Syd in the same position sometimes with his cigaretted burned down completely between his fingers. Barrett would ask "Have you got the cigarettes?". On 6 April 1968, Pink Floyd announced that Barrett was no longer a member of Pink Floyd.

Album cover photo shoot for the Madcap Laughs

SOLO YEARS
First he was out of the public eye for a year. Then he started recording his first solo album "The Madcap Laughs". Recording was not very easy with Syd. Recording sessions took place in May but in June/July the recording sessions were more hopefull delivering more album tracks. Shortly after the July sessions Barrett broke up with his girlfriend Lindsay Corner and went on a drive around Britain ending up in psychiatric care in Cambridge. In 1969 he was recovered enough to live in a flat in South Kensington very near David Gilmour who could look into Syd's kitchen. New recording sessions started in April 1969 with the help of some friends: Humble Pie drummer Jerry Shirley, Willie Wilson (Drummer of Gilmour's old band Jokers Wild) and David Gilmour playing bass. It was hard to communicate with Syd. They were following him not playing with him. That's why they always were a note behind. At that time Syd also played guitar on Kevin Ayer's first solo album "Joy Of A Toy". This is the case for the song "Singing a Song in the Morning" which didn't appear on the album until 2003 when it was released as a bonus track.

Promo for Syd's only released single

Barrett told his flatmate that he was going for an afternoon drive but followed Pink Floyd to Ibiza. There is also a story that he skipped check-ins and customs at the airport, ran onto the runway and attempted to flag down a jet. Recording sessions with Gilmour and Waters only produced three new tracks which are not really completed. On the released versions a number of them have false starts and commentaries from Barrett. The problem was that Gilmour and Waters had little time since they were also working on their next Pink Floyd album "Ummagumma" and it was hard to work with Syd. They only did it because they were friends. On January 1970 the album "The Madcap Laughs" was released. They felt that the album really shows how Syd really was.

Syd in 1969

The second album "Barret" released in November 1970 was recorded more sporadically between February and July 1970. It featured featured Gilmour on bass guitar again, Richard Wright on keyboards and again Humble Pie drummer Jerry Shirley. He would never play the same tune twice in most cases. Recordings took place while Pink Floyd had just begun to work on "Atom Heart Mother". On various occasions, Barrett went to "spy" on the band as they recorded their new album. Syd has done some radio and TV performances but never did live gigs. He only did one live gig at the Olympia Exhibition Hall as part of a Music and Fashion Festival on the 6th of June 1970. They performed 4 songs: "Terrapin", "Gigolo Aunt", "Effervescing Elephant" and "Octopus". Barrett unexpectedly but politely put down his guitar and walked off the stage during the last track. He would take a break from the music business for one year after which he appeared on stage with ex-Pink Fairies member Twink on drums and Jack Monck on bass as The Last Minute Put Together Boogie Band. They formed a very short lived band called Stars. They peformed as support acts for MC5 and Nektar. Then it went quiet for a while.

LATER YEARS
In August 1974 he returned to the studio to record some songs for a proposed third solo album. The sessions lasted only for three days. Barrett visited the members of Pink Floyd in 1975 during the recording sessions for their ninth album: "Wish You Were Here". The album would be about Syd and Pink Floyd wishing Syd could return into the band. That never happened. Barret was 29, overweight and had shaved off all of his hair including his eyebrows. His former bandmates did not initially recognise him. Barrett spent part of the session brushing his teeth.

The 2 Rogers in the studio 1975: Waters left and Barrett at the right

A few years later, Waters saw Barrett in the department store Harrods; Barrett ran away, dropping his bags, which Waters said were filled with candy. Syd spent the rest of his live in Cambridge with his family. His physical health declined, as he had stomach ulcers and type 2 diabetes. Barrett died at home in Cambridge on 7 July 2006 aged 60 from pancreatic cancer.

ALBUMS

Original album cover

Pink Floyd - Piper At The Gates Of Dawn (1967)
Astronomy Dominé / Lucifer Sam / Matilda Mother / Flaming / Pow R. Toc H. / Take Up Thy Stethoscope and Walk / Interstellar Overdrive / The Gnome / Chapter 24 / The Scarecrow / Bike

Original album cover

The Madcap Laughs (1970)
Terrapin (take 1) / No Good Trying (t3) / Love You (t4) / No Man's Land (t5) / Dark Globe (t1) / Here I Go (t5) / Octopus (t11) / Golden Hair (t11) / Long Gone (t1) / She Took A Long Cold Look (t5) / Feel (t1) / If It's In You (t5) / Late Night (t2)

Original album cover

Barret (1970)
Baby Lemonade (take 1) / Love Song (t1) / Dominoes (t3) / It Is Obvious (t1) / Rats (demo) / Maisie (t2) / Gigolo Aunt (t15) / Waving My Arms in the Air / I Never Lied to You (t1) / Wined and Dined (t10) / Wolfpack (t2) / Effervescing Elephant (t9)

Original single cover

SINGLE
Octopus / Golden Hair (1969)

AUDIO/VIDEO

Pink Floyd - Chapter 24

Pink Floyd - Scarecrow
Octopus

Late Night

Gigolo Aunt

Baby Lemonade