Corporal Clegg - An Analysis

January 21, 2013, 10:05 am

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"Corporal Clegg" is a song engendering much speculation and questions. It is featured on their second album, A Saucerful of Secrets (1968) and was written by Roger Waters and features Nick Mason on lead vocals. The song also features a kazoo.



"Corporal Clegg"

Corporal Clegg had a wooden leg
He won it in the war, in 1944.
Corporal Clegg had a medal too
In orange, red, and blue
He found it in the zoo.
Dear, dear were they really sad for me?
Dear, dear will they really laugh at me?
Mrs. Clegg, you must be proud of him.
Mrs. Clegg, another drop of gin.
Corporal Clegg umbrella in the rain
He's never been the same
No one is to blame
Corporal Clegg received his medal in a dream
From Her Majesty the queen
His boots were very clean.
Mrs. Clegg, you must be proud of him
Mrs. Clegg, another drop of gin.

The song is about a soldier who lost his leg in World War II. It is the first mention of war in a Pink Floyd song, something that would become a common theme in Roger Waters' lyrics, Roger having lost his father thus in 1944. Waters told Mojo magazine that this song is autobiographical. He explained: "Corporal Clegg is about my father and his sacrifice in World War II. It's somewhat sarcastic—the idea of the wooden leg being something you won in the war, like a trophy." This can be seen as rather lighter in tone than the Floyd's later tackling of the subject, though, despite the irony (Clegg "won" his wooden leg in the war) and darkness behind the lyrics; indeed, among the cacophony of voices towards the end we hear an officer telling his one-legged man: "Clegg! Been meaning to speak to you. About that leg of yours! You're excused parade from now on!" and members of the band actually corpsing in the chorus.

As far as Corporal Clegg is concerned, it should be noted that Syd Barrettdoes not appear. I don't have it handy, but one of the Seventies music rags (Melody Maker, I think) forwarded a fan letter to Syd and published his reply. He mentioned specifically that he does not appear on "Corporal Clegg." The Belgian vid features an early mix of the song. I have listened to it again, playing it out loud and was struck that it was definitely Gilmour's most convincing Syd impression.

There were also some very interesting clippings from 1968 which seem to suggest that Pink Floyd's second album, "A Saucerful of Secrets", was originally going to be titled "Corporal Clegg". Another article suggests 'Corporal Clegg as the first single off the new album.



"Corporal Clegg" may be Waters trying to copy Syd musically, but that's not a Syd lyric. (In fact you could draw a line from there to "Free Four" to "Animals" to "Final Cut.") And some of the melodies of "Corporal Clegg" always sounded to me like the earliest seeds of some of the stuff on The Wall. "Waiting for the Worms"--that's what "Corporal Clegg" reminds me of--a jauntier version of "Worms".

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Mick Rock Interview - Construction Magazine

February 1, 2013, 7:47 am

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Mick Rock

The Mick Rock Interview by Richard Fulco
Construction Magazine - Thursday, April 26, 2012
From the series “Great Rock Photographers.”

Mick Rock is known as “The Man Who Shot the Seventies,” but the photographer didn’t stop working when David Bowie took off his Ziggy Stardust costume. In fact, Mr. Rock is so busy these days that he can “hardly keep up with his own brain.” In fact, Rock’s Legend Series at CATM (500 West 22nd street, NYC, www.catmchelsea.com) has been extended through April 29th.

In our “Great Rock Photographer” series, the legendary Mick Rock chats about David Bowie, Lou Reed, Syd Barrett, whacked-out poets, LSD, his health scare, yoga, New York, cats and, oh yeah, photography.

Riffraf: In your photographs of Syd Barrett, you can see an accursed poet. He had a reputation of being difficult. Was he?

Mick Rock: No, quite the opposite. Syd and me were very comfortable together. I think that was why I got the pictures I got. I took acid with him once, just one time. And whenever I say it to people they think, Oh, my God, that must have been weird. But it wasn’t.

It was actually quite relaxed and very playful. We had a lot of fun, and we played records and looked at Robert Crumb comics and played like a kind of Chinese checkers game. I still remember certain things about it and it was entirely playful. I did have some pretty bizarre experiences with certain people under the influence of acid but not with Syd.

It was more with Syd about the pressures. I did actually the last interview with him, and that’s where that phrase, ‘a very irregular head,’ comes from and ‘I’m full of dust and guitars.’ That was from the very last public interview he ever did, not long after I finished at Cambridge in 1971.

That’s when I did the very last pictures of him in the garden of his mother’s house and down in the basement where he had a pad.

So I got on with Syd. I often have to remind myself and remind people when I’m talking about those early years, how young we all were. Everyone was in their early 20s. My daughter’s 21 now, and I look back and think of all the craziness I was up to at 21, including taking photos of Syd.

And I think it was a very accelerated kind of time, not just for me, but for the people I hung around with. It was a time when there was still something called the ‘underground’ where all this creativity happened . . . not in the political sense because I had little interest in it and still don’t. I’ve never voted in my life. I despise all politicians.

Maybe Winston Churchill you can take your hat off to, but even he had a checkered early career. It was only his facing down of Hitler that transformed him into this very substantial person. He’s a fascinating man. But in general, politicians are undoubtedly a lower form of human life. They’re in the business of lying and manipulation.

And, if you get someone who comes along who’s not so bad, like Obama, even he’s forced into all kinds of compromises by the circumstances. I’m sure he’s got a fairly pure heart, but he’s stuck with the fact that he’s black and with racism that’s still rife in this country, and the powers that be that really control what happens . . . but that’s a whole other tale.

Riffraf: At the time of the Madcap Laughs, do you think Syd was relieved from the pressures of Pink Floyd?

Mick Rock: I think he was relieved from having to play the same songs every night. In the same way. He was really more like a jazz musician in many ways. He thought like a painter. Like an abstract painter. That’s really what he was for the rest of his life. And what he had been originally since a young age.

A book of his art came out last year. There aren’t many of his actual physical paintings left—but the interesting thing was that he would photograph his paintings and then destroy them.

In recent years I reconnected with a girlfriend of Syd’s, Jenny Spires. And she has some of his original paintings, as well as a collection of Syd’s love letters to her. She’s referred to as ‘Jennifer Gentle’ in the early Floyd track ‘Lucifer Sam’.

Riffraf: I want to ask you one more question about Syd.

Mick Rock: Syd never goes away. It’s amazing. My first conversations with David Bowie were about Syd Barrett.

Riffraf: What did you guys talk about?

Mick Rock: We talked about Syd, and he had recently met Lou and Iggy. You’ve got to remember Lou and Iggy were not that well known at that moment in time. They both had a certain underground following, but that was before Transformer and Raw Power, and in either case had they been able to sell any records or get radio airplay.

I remember talking about Syd and Iggy and Lou Reed in the first of my conversations with David Bowie. I think that’s why we got on. We had certain tastes in common and you have to remember again, in 1972, those tastes were maybe slightly more esoteric than they are today.

Riffraf: I know Bowie used to go to the Floyd shows, the underground shows at the UFO Club.

Mick Rock: It was to see Syd. It was Syd that really obsessed him, not particularly Pink Floyd. And the other thing about Syd was he sang like an Englishman. David sort of almost invented singing like an Englishman, but the precursor was Syd Barrett. Even in the case of The Beatles you could hear Buddy Holly and the Everly Brothers and occasionally Little Richard or something. And the Stones were totally American influenced of course.

‘Arnold Layne was a strange fellow.’ That’s a totally British thing. David also sang with this English intonation which certainly influenced just about all significant succeeding British rock and rollers.

And then along comes Bryan Ferry. He was another of the British school. And a great singer/songwriter called Steve Harley who had a band called Cockney Rebel who, certainly in Europe in the 70s, was very significant.

Riffraf: I suppose that Syd was influenced by Ray Davies and his English-isms.

Mick Rock: Maybe. But I don’t recall Syd being particularly interested in The Kinks. Ray [Davies] didn’t sound that English early on. Think of ‘You Really Got Me.’ But by the time he got to ‘Lola,’ yes.

Besides the obvious like Dylan and the Stones and The Beatles, which we all loved, Syd was interested in jazz. That’s what he often played. Coltrane and Mingus. In a way he thought more like a jazz musician. It was always about improvisation and I think that was the thing with Floyd. He didn’t want to go out and play the same music every night. He wanted to just do whatever he felt like.

He was about the blues as well, but he mixed up all these influences and it became Pink Floyd which didn’t sound like anything you’d ever heard before and it was certainly the result of his LSD experiments. Although, at that time, I don’t think the rest of the band had taken acid, not at the beginning.

Syd was certainly the visionary as Dave and Roger constantly give him credit for. They’ve been very good about showing their respect for his innovations.

Riffraf: You can’t get away from Syd. In Tom Stoppard’s play Rock ‘n’ Roll, the Syd character looms large although he’s not a character in the play itself.

Mick Rock: Tom Stoppard, the renowned playwright, wrote the foreword to my book Exposed, and he talks about Syd and how that formed the connection between him and me.

And, of course, the afterword’s by a gentleman called Andrew Loog Oldham who I got to know in New York in the late 70s. He was the original manager and producer and publicist of the Rolling Stones. A genius, no doubt.

For that book I wanted to get a kind of slightly different flavor rather than going to somebody obvious and getting them to write a foreword because I’ve done collaborations with Queen and with Debbie [Harry] and with David and Iggy and even with Rocky Horror.

I have a great Rocky Horror book out in Germany for which Richard O’Brien, who wrote the musical and who plays Riffraf in the film, wrote the foreword for. It’s in both German and English although it is of course primarily a photobook.

And now I finally got around to doing a book with Lou Reed.

Riffraf: I’m glad Lou agreed to do that with you.

Mick Rock: Well, I think it’s about timing. It’s 40 years since Transformer. I’ve been often approached about doing it, but it was never going to happen without Lou’s full participation. I always involve the subjects of my books. And I have a deep and abiding respect for Lou both as a person and an artist, and I want him to be totally happy about the end result. I’m just scanning pictures and sending them over to him and he’s picking out what he likes. We’ll both write a foreword for the book and we’ll co-sign. It’ll be a beautiful signed and numbered and slipcased limited edition tome, to be published by Genesis Publications, with whom I did my collaborations with Bowie and Queen. And Syd, who co-signed 320 copies of our book Psychedelic Renegades, which was his only public gesture over the last 35 years of his life. The co-signed copies are now selling for several thousand dollars, if you can find them . . .

Of course, Lou has an interesting, somewhat combative public reputation in his maturity, but he shows one side to journalists, and that’s only a little bit of Lou Reed. The full man is much more interesting and complex. And has been very kind to a number of people I know.

Riffraf: I understand that you have a good friendship with David and had one with Syd, but were you ever in awe of a subject?

Mick Rock: I think I was a little in awe of all of them: Syd, David, Lou Reed. Lou, especially back in those days, was such a groundbreaker. We were all a bit in awe of Lou Reed, certainly David was too.

And Freddie, of course, an awesome talent. And Iggy Pop. Absolutely. He was a primal force, the like of which has never been equalled in rock n roll. When punk rock came along in full force a few years later, it was kind of amateur time compared to Iggy. It was like . . . this is punk?

I still think of Iggy in 1972, when I shot the Raw Power photos. Now, that was punk. And he’s still the one true punk out there. All the rest have drifted away. A great artist.



I agree (about Iggy). Check out this SICK boxed set a friend and fan sent me; all sourced from vinyl:

'Junkyard' photo shoot upgrades.

February 9, 2013, 8:11 am

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Thanks to Ewgeni Reingold who provided me with a link to a DVD copy of the Pink Floyd doc, the making of the album "Wish You Were Here", that contains these 2 Syd-era photo upgrades. 

These are from the 2nd October 1967 'Junkyard' photo shoot by Adrian Boot. The shot of the 4 sitting around a book is the 4th shot of this set up to surface. We've had Syd's face from this photo for years but not the whole group shot. There's still room for an upgrade as they didn't show the whole pic but panned across it while zooming out! I have reconstructed it as best I could. The shot of them sitting on the wall is a massive upgrade of this photo compared to what we had before. The close of Nick & Syd is from that same pic.

 

Untangling the Octopus Explained

March 7, 2013, 1:42 pm

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Untangling the Octopus

Untangling the Octopus

Untangling the Octopus

Untangling the Octopus

Ever since Paul Belbin wrote Untangling the Octopus in 2005 there has been controversy. Who wrote it? Why? Who published it first? Now apparently, the Author of a well-known Syd Barrett biography cribbed it for his book without acknowledging Paul. Anyway, I wrote Paul recently for an explanation and here is his reply to me below.

Hi Kiloh,

Here we go again... you would be amazed how much controversy that essay has embroiled me in over the years (or maybe not given your experiences over Roky material) ! Is this happening on the Facebook group? As you know, I don’t Facebook.

For clarity, here's a potted history, feel free to quote me. It’s probably longer than you expected, but hopefully, you’ll see why.

I first wrote 'Untangling The Octopus' in 2005. At the end, I added – “Copyright: July 2005 by Percy The Ratcatcher a.k.a. paulbelbin@btinternet.com For discussion on the Vegetable Friends and Madcapslaughing Yahoo ! Groups. Not for amendment, publication, reproduction or quotation without the author’s permission (you probably only have to ask though !)”

That's exactly what I wrote because I just copied and pasted it from the original essay. I extended and updated the essay in August 2006 and published Version 2 with the same copyright. The reason I added the copyright was not that I was precious about the essay - I knew there was more to discover, and wanted to encourage people to contribute ideas - but because I knew it would be easy pickings for a journalist / biographer to claim it for their own. After the amount of work I had put into it, I felt some acknowledgement was at least due. In turn, I acknowledged everyone who had contributed sources and suggestions.

Reactions and outcomes were mixed from the start. The owner of Vegetable Friends disapproved of the copyright to the extent of asking me to take the essay down. As a result, I no longer participate in that group. David Parker (author of 'Random Precision') gave the essay to the producers of the 'Syd Barrett: Under Review' DVD as evidence that Syd's writing was more than just acid-induced word salad. They used it, but didn't credit the source.

Julian Palacios earned my respect and gratitude by asking for my permission to publish - on the internet - an expanded essay mixing my observations with his own suggestions about influences and sources for 'Octopus'. I was happy to give him permission, and Julian wrote some kind words about the essay in 'Dark Globe', and referenced it in the bibliography. See the very last page of the book. Under online sources it says, Belbin, Paul ‘Untangling The Octopus’ Laughing Madcaps Group, 2004-6, http://www.sydbarrettpinkfloyd.com. That’s the right way to do it !

In May 2008 I received an email from Ian Barrett, saying that he knew Rob Chapman, who was writing a biography of Rog/Syd (as Ian put it). Ian said he had passed ‘Untangling The Octopus’ to Rob and “He is very interested in your work and is unaware of some of the references you have brought out. He told me he is very keen to speak to you about it and will be contacting you.”

That contact never happened. When I read Rob Chapman’s ‘A Very Irregular Head’, I found the section on Octopus not only  reproduced many of the sources identified in my essay, but took a very similar approach to setting out the case, sometimes even using the same words as me to make a point. I contacted Rob and congratulated him on a fine Barrett biography, but said I felt some acknowledgement was due. He disagreed, to the point of invoking the legal department of Faber and Faber and ‘strongly urging’ me to seek legal representation.

This is where Felix comes in. He had also read the ‘Octopus’ section in ‘A Very Irregular Head’, and he also thought that Rob Chapman could be accused of plagiarism. He wrote a review of the biography pointing out that the dissection of Octopus for which the author received much credit, actually wasn’t very original at all. That’s here:
http://atagong.com/iggy/archives/2010/06/the-big-barrett-conspiracy-theory.html

I thanked Felix for making this public, and he replied asking if he could host the essay on his site, ‘The Holy Church of Iggy The Inuit’. So… yes, I gave Felix permission to host the essay. But not exclusive permission. The damn essay was never meant to be exclusive, not even to me. it was a labour of love and the starting point – I hoped – for some serious research and discussion. My ego is large enough to think I deserve some credit for it, but I’ve never sought to gain anything else from it.

Felix is welcome to host it. So are you. If it’s anyone’s to give away, it’s mine and I give it freely! All I ask is that the source is acknowledged. I know you understand this, as HYGIY was done in exactly the same spirit.

Let me know whether this settles the arguments. I will forward it to Felix with a covering note.

Meanwhile, take care, and if there are any exciting developments / HYGIY updates, etc… don’t forget to put them on the Yahoo Group too, I still get the digests!

Cheers

Paul (Percy The Ratcatcher)
To read the Belbin/Palacios version of Untangling the Octopus go here:
http://www.sydbarrettpinkfloyd.com/2009/09/untangling-octopus-by-paul-belbin-1996.html

  

Syd Barrett Madcap Laughs & Barrett 8 Track Tape!

March 25, 2013, 10:21 pm

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Syd Barrett Madcap Laughs

Check out this Madcap Laughs & Barrett double 8 track cassette. Wow. I wonder if the mix is different on this? Back in the day, the record companies used to cram two LPs on one 8 track and sell it. I suppose to make up for the inferior packaging and mechanism.

Syd Barrett Madcap Laughs

Ahhhh, but the lowly 8 track tape is getting a spiffing up of its reputation these days. Frequently, 8 tracks contained different mixes than the LPs. All of the 13th Floor Elevators albums sported completely different mixes than their LP counterparts.

Syd Barrett Madcap Laughs

Pink Floyd issues a quadraphonic mixes on 8 track of their Atom Heart Mother, Dark Side of the Moon and Wish You Were Here albums. The 8 track issue of Animals includes a long version of Pigs on the Wing with a guitar solo by Snowy White. Some issues of this 8-track tape have square labels on each side, while other issues have a single label that wraps around both sides.

Syd Barrett Madcap Laughs

Syd Barrett Madcap Laughs & Barrett on 8 track! My mind is dancing with visions of different mixes!

Twink - Syd Barrett Stars Interview - 3/13

April 5, 2013, 9:11 pm

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Syd Barrett Stars

Over the month of March, 2013 a group of Syd Barrett fans interviewed Twink, Mohammed Abdullah John Alder, about his time with Syd in the short lived group Stars. Here is Twink's account of his Syd Barrett Stars period:
Annette May: My name's Annette May and I live in Portland, Oregon USA. I look forward to your interview with Mohammed! I'm amazed at all the memorabilia he has; plus his memory is sharp as a tack when it comes to all the questions he's been asked. It's really a pleasure to see that Mohammed is doing what he does best as a musician. We are all so fortunate to have him around on Facebook sharing his stories, music, and photos so generously!

1) Alexander P. HB: 1972, how was Syd at that time?, How did Syd join Stars?

TWINK: Response to question 1. Syd was in good health qnd he was looking for people to play with. He found Jack Monck and I and then we then formed STARS together.

2) Anette May: Hi Mohammed! How long did you spend time in Morocco before your collaboration with Syd and Jack and did the trip change the way you've played drums prior to the way you played them beforehand?

TWINK: Hello Annette you are question 2. I only spent 10 days in Morocco it was too hot and I moved north to Portugal and then France. I was away about 3 months. In the short time I was in Morocco I learnt a lot about North African rhythms which did influence my playing thereafter.

3) Boab Thomas: Was Syd still creating? Lyric writing? Was he taking the whole Stars thing seriously?

TWINK: Hello Boab you are question 3. Syd was painting and performing live a very creative time for him. I believe he was taking STARS seriously..... he didn't miss a rehearsal or a gig.

4) Mark Ashkettle: Was Syd really interested in getting a band together and writing new material or just going through the motions?

TWINK: Hello Mark you are question 4 which was answered in response to question 3.

5) Matthew Horsley: Did Syd start to prefer to be called "Roger" in 1972?

TWINK: Hello Matthew u r question 5. He responded to both Roger and Syd at that time.

6) Mark Ashkettle: Was there any indication that Syd was writing new material or was interested in writing new material? Did Syd give any indication that he thought Stars were a long-term prospect, that they might record an album of new material?

TWINK: Hello again Mark and question 6. It was much to early for any of us to discuss writing new material or to consider whether STARS was a long term project with a view to recording an album. We were simply enjoying our time playing together.

7) Boab Thomas: Equipment - guitars/effects Syd was using!

TWINK: Hello Boab no 8. Black telecaster with no effects apart from slide ....amp and mike.......drums and bass.

8) Stephen Ballard What songs were rehearsed?

TWINK: Hello Stephen no 8. We rehearsed and performed LUCIFER SAM....WAVING MY ARMS IN THE AIR....BABY LEMONADE....AND OTHER SYD SONGS as well as some blues jams.

9) Memo Hernandez: How had Syd's guitar style changed from his days in the Floyd?

TWINK: Hello Memo no 9. Yes his playing had matured.

10) Kiloh: Did he have an EchoRec unit at this time?

TWINK: Hello Kiloh no 10. No Echorec.

11) Lisa Jolene Anderson: Where were most of the STARS practices held at? Who arranged to have Syd included in STARS and was he hesitant about it?

TWINK: Hello Lisa no 11: The STARS rehearsals began at Syd's house and then moved to my place. Syd decided to form a band with Jack and I.

12) Kiloh: How different was his playing from the UFO days?

TWINK: Hello again Kiloh no 12. His playing had matured and his fingers were faster.

13) Julian Massaldi: How was Syd musically by that point, in terms of knowing the chords and lyrics to his own songs? Was it normal to rehearse with him, like any othermusician who wrote the songs you're playing, did he have to be reminded of how they went, or did he do them differently each time?

TWINK: Hello Julian no 13. Syd had no problem remembering the chords or the lyrics to any of his songs at rehearsals or gigs.

14) Marc Scobac: Which one of you came up with the name Stars? Did Syd decide the Stars set lists?

TWINK: Hello Marc no 14. Syd came up with the name STARS. Marc part 2 of your question. We all agreed the set list.

Syd Barrett Stars

Syd Barrett Stars

15) Julian Massaldi: Did he show any favoritism towards any of his own songs? We know he was quite proud of Octopus, were there any others that he was keen to play or wanted for sure on the set list?

TWINK: Hello Julian again no.15. It was a forgone conclusion that we would perform Syd's songs. Syd & Jack suggested songs and my suggestion was LUCIFER SAM. The blues jams were jams and very free form.

16) Julian Massaldi: Did he do any directing during rehearsals, did he give any instructions as to how to play them, or just let you play as you wanted?

TWINK: Hello Julian no.& 16. I remember Jack & Syd directing rehearsals which were very relaxed. We were all familiar with Syd's songs so once we got started on a song "it flew".

17) Joseph Morris: why was Syd growing a beard?

TWINK: Hello Joseph no 17. I can only speak for my beard. I didn't have the money for razor blades or shaving soap.

18) Memo Hernandez: Are there any more pictures? Maybe from the few gigs? Or from rehearsals?

TWINK: Hello Memo no. 18. Yes there are other pics all taken at the open air gig in Cambridge Market Sq by the friend of Steve Brink who moved to Australia quite soon after the show. I saw them and I had a couple of prints but not all.There may be other pics taken by others but I've never seen any.

19) Kiloh: What can you tell us about a set of pictures of Stars playing an outdoor gig in Cambridge Market Square in February (?) 1972, taken by an unknown Australian photographer?

TWINK: Hello Kiloh no. 19. See 18.

20) Gaz Hunter: How was Syd during rehearsals for the Stars gig, calm, paranoid, creative?

TWINK: Hello Gaz no. 20. He was humorous, calm & creative.

21) Marc Scobac: Was the Market Square gig planned in advance or did the band just show up and play?

TWINK: Hello Marc no. 21. The gig was planned in advance.

22) Kiloh: Can you write anything cool you remember as well as your strongest memory for each of the gigs below please:

Gigs:
1-26-72, King's College Cellars -- Barrett, Monck and Twink play a short set (also: Eddie "Guitar" Burns)
1-27-72, Corn Exchange, Cambridge, England -- Last Minute Put Together Boogie Band (also: Hawkwind, Pink Fairies)

February
2-5-72 the Dandelion Coffee Bar, Cambridge, England
2-?-72, Petty Cury (near Market Square) -- Stars
2-?-72, the Dandelion Coffee Bar, Cambridge, England
2-24-72, Cambridge Corn Exchange, Cambridge, England (also: MC5 / Skin Alley)
2-26-72, Cambridge Corn Exchange, Cambridge, England (also: Nektar)

TWINK: Hello Kiloh no 22.) 1) I was very happy to see Syd arrive at the gig with his guitar hoping to jam.
2) Exceedingly happy to see Syd come to the next gig, again with his guitar hoping to jam.
3)I remember Syd standing in front of Jack & I confident and performing a very nice set.
4) Definitely for our best gig, Syd had everyone in the palm of his hand.
5) Corn Exchange 1. The night before the show Syd, Jack, Jenny, Silver & I went out to celebrate and then back to Union Rd for a few laughs......the show was a disaster for STARS everything went wrong.
5) Corn Exchange 2. Good gig and recorded.
6) Dandelion another good gig.

23) Mary Cosco: Wonderful! How Syd was at that time? He was glad to get back on stage? Was he still using drugs? Did he of his Pink Floyd and their abandonment? Thanks

TWINK: Hello Mary no 23. Syd was healthy and happy. He was not using any drugs and never spoke about The Pink Floyd except in reference to his music.

24) Mark Ashkettle: Did they rehearse the unreleased Floyd stuff like scream thy last scream & vegetable man? did Syd talk about the Floyd albums released after he left?

TWINK: Hello Mark no.24. We never discussed the later Pink Floyd trax or albums only Syd's solo albums & PIPER ..... which we all appreciated considerably.

25) Kiloh: Yes, what did he say about Pink Floyd? Details, details, details... Was he bitter?

TWINK: Hello Kiloh no. 25. Syd never spoke about PINK FLOYD and never ever revealed any bitterness to me. He was happy !

26) Kiloh: Did he talk about his two solo albums? If so, what did he say? Did he talk about the botched mix of Madcap Laughs?

TWINK: Hello Kiloh no. 26. He only spoke of his 2 solo albums as reference points to songs we rehersed.

27) Alexander P. Hoffmann: Twink has brought him the later printed posters of The Stars. Then Twink has talked with him, of course. Perhaps Twink can tell a little bit about that meeting.

TWINK: Hello Alexander no 27. I didn't stay long at Syd's house I simply handed the poster to him he smiled, said "Thank you" and closed the door.

28) Joseph Morris: Where are the Stars tapes?

TWINK: Hello Joseph no 28. Only Allah knows.

29) Zachary Biggs: Yeah has any progress been made in finding any recordings?

TWINK: Hello Zachary no. 29. No progress as far as I know.

30) Kiloh: Supposedly, a soundboard recording was made of the gig with Nektar. Stars Roadie, Joly McFee, said that cassette copies were briefly circulating among band members and Staff. Do you remember such a tape circulating? If so, how did it get lost?

Here's what Joly says about the tape:

"Nektar, being prog, had state of the art audio—two WEM Audiomasters out front and monitors. I mixed the band. Another roadie was Nigel, who took care of the stage. I think it was a friend of his that taped the show. I was lent the tape by Nigel some months later and it sounded good; I gave it back without copying. I later heard he lost it. I believe that. If it were around, it would have surfaced by now."

TWINK: Hello Kiloh no. 30. I remember that recording and the tape that Joly had. I listened to it in his van on a trip from Cambridge to London. I sounded very good indeed.

31) Kiloh: Who was Victor Kraft? What can you tell us about him?

TWINK: Hello Kiloh no 31. Victor Kraft was a close friend of Leonard Bernstein, Aaron Copeland and STARS. An American gentleman living in Cambridge guarding his son Jeremy who was at school there. He came to all the STARS shows with a portable recorder and recorded some if not all the shows.

32) Steve Czapla: Did he have any particular opinion of the other bands on the bills -- MC5, Nektar, Hawkwind, etc?

TWINK: Hello Steve no. 32. MC5-The Greatest Rock n Roll Band ever, NEKTAR-Kool, Hawkwind-Great guys and The Pink Fairies - Nice

33) Memo Hernandez: Were there any plans in making an album?

TWINK: Hello Memo no.33. No plans to record.

34) Dave Folsom: Did he ever talk about Pink Floyd's albums with Syd? It would be great to know what Syd thought of Ummaguamma and Atom Heart Mother.

TWINK: Hello Dave no. 34. We only discussed PIPER ...... as a reference point for songs we were rehearsing.

35) Marc Scobac: Historically, it's been really hard to hear Syd's vocals on live tapes; did Syd sing softly at Stars gigs or could he be heard clearly.

Syd Barrett Stars

TWINK: Hello Marc no. 35. He could be heard clearly.

36) Michael Rawding: Jack Monck said the last Stars gig was his worst show ever. He felt that Syd was there in body only. What does Twink recall about the audience's reaction to the show?

TWINK: Hello Michael no. 36. Jack was referring to the gig before the last gig as he had forgotten about the NEKTAR show. When we finally took the stage after the MC5 set the crowd went wild with girls jumping on stage and dancing. Which was a bit off putting for Syd.Things got steadily worse culminating in Syd cutting his finger.

37) Alexander P. HB: Is the recording (the known) Olympia 1970 or The Stars 1972? , Are there photos of the performance in the hall of Corn Exchange ?????

TWINK: Hello Alexander no. 37. I believe that recording is STARS 1972 because I recognise my drumming and I can hear Jacks voice.

38) Marc Scobac: Why did the Last Minute Put Together Boogie Band split?, Did anyone ever contact you about releasing the Last Minute Minute Put Together Boogie Band with Syd sitting in recording?

TWINK: Hello Marc no. 38. When Jack and I left TLMPTBB it continued so I have no idea why the band broke up. Watch this space about the recording you refer too: (link missing).

39) Marc Scobac: Were you surprised Syd quit; why or why not?

TWINK: Hello Marc no. 39. I was not surprised when Syd quit as it could have happened at any time by any one of us.

40) Mark Ashkettle: Did Syd give any indications in 1972 that he was finding it difficult to deal with audiences and being a pop star, that he'd prefer to live quietly and concentrate on painting? Did Syd have any favourite new bands in early 1972, was he still interested in current music?

TWINK: Hello Mark no. 40. Syd had the perfect balance in his life at that time. He enjoyed playing in STARS continued with his painting and listening to jug band music.

41) Chris Oliver: Please ask Twink if he and Syd wrote anything together. I also heard rumors that he was around for the Think Pink sessions, Could you ask him if this is true? thank you!

TWINK: Hello Chris no. 41. The only thing that could be considered joint compositions would be the spontaneous live blues jams. Syd was not there for the THINK PINK sessions.

42) Marc Scobac: Did you make any other attempts to work with Syd or get him to come back to Stars after he told you he was leaving?

TWINK: Hello Marc no. 42. We stayed in touch for a time and Syd did come to a TWINK demo recording session at Polydor Studios but did not play on the recording. We never talked about STARS again.

43) Rickard Alstar: Mr. Alder, If the 3 man experiment (Barrett, Monck, Alder) would have worked to its full potential, would you have initiated the next step and formulated an original studio project?

TWINK: Hello Richard no.43. A studio project would have been the next progression however we were not given that opportunity.

44) Neville Harson: If it hasn't been asked of him too many times, it might be good to know if he has any unseen footage or unheard recordings.

Hello Neville no. 44. I have no unseen footage or unheard recordings of STARS.

45) Rich Hall: Has anyone asked if Twink and Syd ever talked after 1972? If yes, what kinds of things were on Syd's mind, and if not, why? Did they have a sour parting of the ways with the demise of Stars?

TWINK: Hello Rich no.45. Definitely no sour parting of the ways and my conversations with Syd after 1972 are personal and private business.

46) Rich Hall: Oh. One more. Did Syd contact Twink to drum on the 1974 sessions?

THINK: Hello Rich no. 46. I dont know if he tried to contact me or not.

47) Steve Czapla: Twink, is there any video or outtakes from your time with Plasticland, and did you cover any Syd/Floyd songs with them?

TWINK: Hello Steve no. 47. I think there must be some outtakes from the live recordings with Plasticland. There are 2 unreleased trax from studio recordings at that time 1) The original version of "Seize The Time" & "Hey Momma Keep Your Big Mouth Shut". No Syd or Floyd covers from Twink & Plasticland.

48) Wade Born: I would like to know if ANY outtakes or demos exist,have they been released or will be released from TWINK'S FIRST Solo release...THINK PINK.What a great LP
that is...were there any unmentioned artist contributions to these sessions? Does TWINK have any special recollections from this recording time period?

TWINK: Hello Wade no. 48. There are bonus trax on the new Sunbeam Records re-issue of THINK PINK - TWINK out April 4th. Full artist contributions and extensive recollections on this CD & LP release with 8 bonus trax. Also look for The Think Pink and Nevereverland Demos by Twink on the Italian Get Back label.

Free Syd Barrett & Roky Erickson Torrents!

April 8, 2013, 5:54 pm

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Here are the current torrent links for Have You Got It Yet? and a whole bunch of Roky Erickson and Golden Dawn. Duggie Interview is in HYGIY? Companion Files. Happy downloading. Merry Christmas. Free Beer and Chicken! Masoltov! Yippie!

Current torrent links:

HYGIY Vol 1&2 V2.0: http://thepiratebay.org/torrent/4035087& http://www.yeeshkul.com/forum/showthread.php?t=7269

HYGIY Vol 3 & 5-10: http://thepiratebay.org/torrent/3717941

HYGIY Vol 4 V2.0: http://thepiratebay.se/torrent/5899883& http://www.demonoid.ph/files/details/2425347 & http://www.yeeshkul.com/forum/showthread.php?t=22091

HYGIY Vol 11 V2.11: http://thepiratebay.org/torrent/5496150& http://www.yeeshkul.com/forum/showthread.php?t=19622

HYGIY Vol 12-19: http://thepiratebay.org/torrent/3766073

HYGIY Companion Files: http://thepiratebay.org/torrent/4936070 Duggie Fields Interview is in here.

Syd Barrett & Pre-DSOTM Pink Floyd Covers & Tribute Collection: http://www.demonoid.ph/files/details/2877322

Syd's Cambridge - 3 unique tours with over 50 locations related to Syd Barrett & the Roots of Pink Floyd, 4:3 PAL, 72:02
http://thepiratebay.se/torrent/6080359& http://www.demonoid.ph/files/details/2507921& http://www.yeeshkul.com/forum/showthread.php?t=22983

Project Syd - Roger "Syd" Barrett - Cambridge Autumn 2009 Interviews with Friends: Richard Jacobs, Sue Unwin, John Watkins, Stephen Pyle, Warren Dosanjh, Diana McKenna, et.al. By Alexandros Papathanasiou, 16:9 PAL, 17:29
Http://thepiratebay.se/torrent/5842633 & http://www.demonoid.ph/files/details/2390622

Pink Floyd - Careful With These Tracks - Ummagumma - Unreleased: http://thepiratebay.se/torrent/4944948

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ROK DVD 1-5
http://thepiratebay.se/torrent/7108414 & http://www.demonoid.ph/files/details/2883059

ROK DVD 6 - Roky Erickson & The Explosives - 2007-07-13, 'Roky's 60th Birthday Party', Paramount, Austin, TX, HH Aud/M, 49:24
http://thepiratebay.se/torrent/5867073& http://www.demonoid.ph/files/details/2385053

ROK DVD 7 - Roky Erickson - 2007-11-12, Austin Opry House, Austin City Limits S33E12 (aired 2008-01-12), 31:18
http://thepiratebay.se/torrent/5883933& http://www.demonoid.ph/files/details/2415994

ROK DVD 8 - Roky Erickson - 2010-12-12, Luxor, Cologne, Germany, Rockpalast broadcast: 2011-02-28, PAL, 16:9, 44:54
http://thepiratebay.se/torrent/6467883& http://www.demonoid.ph/files/details/2662575

ROK DVD 9 - Roky Erickson - 2012-03-01, El Rey Theater, Los Angeles, CA, HD Aud/HH, 40:45
Http://thepiratebay.se/torrent/7409830& http://www.demonoid.me/files/details/2965695

ROK CD 48 - Roky Erickson & The Aliens - 1978?, The Evil One Demos, Studio, 48:47
http://thepiratebay.se/torrent/6539010& http://www.demonoid.ph/files/details/2689558

ROK CD 49 - Roky Erickson & The Aliens - The Evil One Alternate Takes & Mixes, Studio, 118:00
http://thepiratebay.se/torrent/6543687& http://www.demonoid.ph/files/details/2691180

ROK CD 50 - Roky Erickson & The Aliens - The Evil One Vocal Takes & Instrumentals, Studio, 137:08
http://thepiratebay.se/torrent/6866815& http://www.demonoid.ph/files/details/2799200

ROK CD 51 -Roky Erickson - Don't Slander Me Alternate Takes & Mixes, 1982, The Site Studio, San Rafael, CA, 127:59
Http://thepiratebay.se/torrent/7501868

ROK CD 52 - Roky Erickson - 2012-11-09, T.T. The Bear's Place, Boston, MA, Aud/M, 67:22
http://thepiratebay.se/torrent/7849570

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Golden Dawn Collection:
http://thepiratebay.se/torrent/7080529 & http://www.demonoid.ph/files/details/2874144
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The Velvet Underground - 1966-4 Scepter Studios, Norman Dolph acetate: http://thepiratebay.se/torrent/3495078

The Velvet Underground - A Symphony Of Sound (Arcana compilation): http://thepiratebay.se/torrent/6744866

Pink Floyd Marquee Club Contract 1/5/67

June 3, 2013, 4:35 pm

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Pink Floyd Marquee Club

Check out this Pink Floyd Marquee Club contract for an appearance on 1/5/67, signed by Peter Jenner. The supporting act was The Eyes of Blue.

Set List (incomplete):

1. Instrumental 
2. Scream Thy Last Scream 
3. Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun 
4. Interstellar Overdrive

The Marquee was, perhaps, the most important club in the Swinging London Scene. Bands like the Rolling Stones, Animals and Yardbirds forged a new sound in pop music there. A few years later, bands like Cream, Pink Floyd and Jimi Hendrix made the Marquee the most important venue for the emerging British scene.

The Buyer had it checked out and here is what he said:

I had a meeting with an expert for old documents today.

- It is no copy.
- The paper is original 50s/60s paper.
- It´s written with a very old type writer (not electric).
- The autograph is in original ink (black) .

He said :
"Even without official expert report it is at 99% no forgery. It is the original."

---

Syd Barrett - the 1960s Cambridge Music Scene

July 22, 2013, 7:17 am

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Syd Barrett

Check this out! Warren Dosanjh has written a new book about the Cambridge Music Scene. Included with this is a link to download the whole book as a low-res PDF file so you can see what you are getting. It has the Walking Tour, the people, the music halls, everything. It appears that he has gotten with all his old friends and pooled all of their memories, photos, memorabilia and more to produce this book.

Syd Barrett fans are nothing if not detail orientated. This book is the obsessive-compulsive Syd fan's DREAM!The book is only 15 English Pounds too. I was looking through the PDF and, I must say, it's impressive; a must-have document for any serious fan of Syd Barrett.

Here's a link where you can learn a LOT more about this cool book. You can order one, you can contact Warren, you can download the PDF and see the whole thing for yourself:

http://www.i-spysydincambridge.com/booklet

Warren says to mention this blog post for a signed copy from him. This book is cool! I am ordering mine now!

Pink Floyd UFO Poster - 2/27/27 & 3/10/67

July 24, 2013, 12:57 pm

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Pink Floyd UFO

This Pink Floyd UFO poster was sold at auction in March. Here is that image and the Auction House's Description. BEAUTIFUL PIECE!

Pink Floyd UFO London Michael English 1967 XL Silkscreen

Original 1st printing 39" x 29" hand-pulled silkscreen concert poster for Pink Floyd (featuring Syd Barrett) on 2/27/1967 and 3/10/1967 (2/27 show was with the Brothers Grimm) and Soft Machine on 3/3/1967, all at the U.F.O. Club in London, England. Design by Michael English (pre-Hapshash & the Coloured Coat), medium-thick flat index stock silkscreen poster is in good to very good (B to B/B+) condition; a series of small creases/bends and tiny nips/tears scattered around the outer edges, a light to moderate degree of vertical/diagonal creasing along the left side of the image (a few soft folds), scattered small handling dings and a 4" diagonal bend in the bottom right corner (below Michael English's name), otherwise fine. This example presents itself VERY well, considering the age, size and fragility of the silkscreen ink... it will take a whole wall to display, but this is probably one of the most impressive-looking early Floyd posters from the "Piper at the Gates of Dawn"/Syd Barrett era. KILLER '60's "pop" graphic! 

Rick, Roger, David, Nick - Syd Barrett Interview

October 21, 2013, 1:56 pm

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Awhile back, Rick, Roger, David and Nick sat down individually and recounted their memories of the late, great, Syd Barrett. They all give the team, filming and asking the questions, much of their time and reveal much about their late friend and musical collaborator. These are great additions to the Syd Barrett Interview Canon!

Roger:


Rick:


Nick:

David:

 

Men on the Border - Syd Barrett Covers EXCELLENT!

December 6, 2013, 9:50 am

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Men on the Border

OK, my long time Syd buddy, Goran Nystroem, sent me two CDs by his group - Men on the Border. As you can probably tell from the name, the folks in this group love Syd Barrett. The first disc, SHINE!, is all comprised of Syd Barrett covers. The second disc, JUMPSTART, has two Syd covers on it and a song called Have You Got It Yet? Get it? I listened to the Syd covers disc on the way to work and I am now listening to the other disc in my office.

OK, I know what you are saying to yourself, (groan) *Another* disc of Syd Barrett covers? Well, I am here to tell you that this is (for me) the most enjoyable such effort and I have heard them all. What sets this apart is that these songs are all performed by a single group. Additionally, the Men on the Border lend professionalism and polish to these songs that can even be lacking on the originals.

Like... Syd is all mandied out of his skull, playing with his put together band, doing the song differently on each take. Face it, sometimes it sounds like it. Then you have those bands, fronted by a chick with blue hair or a guy who sounds like a gelded Morrissey wannabee, and... It's hard to take sometimes. Then you have the cheezy effects; oh yes, the cheezy effects. This is SYD BARRETT we're covering so we have to slather on the cheezy effects.

No, this is the songs played by capable musicians who, obviously, know and love the material. I also noticed that they (sort of) added in the beginnings of Astronomy Domine (on Opel) and Interstellar Overdrive on another song. Like, the vibe is that it's gonna be one of those songs and then it morphs into whatever it is.

What do I say about this to make my point that it's good? First, I am a music snob. I HATE cover albums usually and I HATE fan produced stuff. Being me, people mail me CDs to listen to pretty frequently. I always listen to them and then they (usually) go into the pile of stuff that I never plan to listen to again. Listening to SHINE!, I found myself turning up the volume on the car stereo four times until it was about all the way up. I was doing the air guitar and the twitching that I do when I like something I'm listening to. What I am going to do is take SHINE! and burn that and then burn the Syd covers from JUMPSTART and have a killer disc for my car.

You guys should buy this disc! It's good! I endorse this! By going to the website I found out that Ian Barrett did the cover art for JUMPSTART.

Find the website here:
http://www.menontheborder.com

Find the Facebook page here:
https://www.facebook.com/MenOnTheBorder

Listen to SHINE! on Spotify:
http://open.spotify.com/album/0i985T72vTF4KBtkInEAWw

Contact the band here:
info@menontheborder.com

Syd Barrett Blog Denounces Roger Waters

December 11, 2013, 1:45 pm

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Roger Waters

Over the last year (or so) former Pink Floyd Front-man, Roger Waters, has been in the press for his outspoken views on the State of Israel, the Jewish People & the Judaism Religion. Basically, he's been running his mouth a lot and doing shenanigans like putting a Star of David on a pig's ass at his concerts. Like... He's just so *clever*; a Star of David on a pig's ass.

His latest stunt is to compare the State of Israel with the Nazi Party. Whether you *agree* with Israel or not, this is repugnant and is something that should be reserved for the Ku Klux Klan or Holocaust deniers like that asshole; the former President of Iran. No, I don't know that asshole's name. Why should I?

The Syd Barrett Pink Floyd Blog would like to go on record that we denounce Roger Waters for his outspoken stance on Israel. One can disagree about this without the histrionics of putting the Star of David on a pig's ass or comparing Israel with the Nazi Party. It's wholly irresponsible and we wish that Roger would just shut his mouth and play bass; at least on this topic.

Syd Barrett Dominoes Analysis

December 15, 2013, 7:32 am

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OK, we know that Syd first spent time in a psychiatric ward right after Pink Floyd. I am guessing it was after the Jenner-Produced solo sessions in the Spring of '68 too but that's a GUESS. Maybe somebody can step up with further knowledge. But annnnnnnnnyway, Syd took to following Pink Floyd around England in his mini carrying enough drugs to get the whole North Korean Army loaded. He would get hopped upon speed and Listerine and then squirm down front and stare at David Gilmour; giving him those "dead fish eyes". Gilmour said it was quite unnerving.

After one of these gigs, Syd was speeding along in the cosmos, in his sunfighter space laser inducted ship, and a tree jumped out and hit him. He was removed from the wreckage a quivering, gibbering idiot and placed into a locked ward. I think this is where Dominoes comes from. See... I had a dear friend who went crazy and I used to visit him up on Cheney, at Hudson River State Hospital, Cheney was solid quarry stone and twenty stories tall. They said the higher you went, the longer you stayed. I will place a link to Cheney below the Dominoes link. Cheney is abandoned now.

Anyway, up in the locked ward my friend was on, the patients all used to sit around playing dominoes and staring out the window. That was Syd in the ward; staring out the window playing dominoes. The whole feel of the song has that psychotropic, mind numbing, calmness associated (so I am told) with being on shit like Thorazine and Haldol. My friend joked about walking the halls up in Cheney doing the "Haldol shuffle." He told me that, once, he got out and he walked up the stairs to the top floor. That's where they used to do all the "procedures" like orbital and frontal lobotomies. He said the metal tables with straps were still all there.

BTW, he's OK now and spent three weeks out in Phoenix visiting me last year. He has an apartment around Hyde Park, New York. He's a great guy and was a brilliant student AND Letterman in Track and Wrestling in high school. He became ill in college.

Syd Barrett Wolfpack Analysis

December 19, 2013, 11:40 am

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Syd Barrett Wolfpack

I got such a good response with my analysis of Dominoes that I am going to have another shot with Syd Barrett Wolfpack. With this, it’ll be more of my opinion. OK, here goes.

Wolfpack is about him being on that mental health ward in the hospital. When I lived in Pennsylvania, I lived directly across the street from the hospital and a community park. Every day, the Psych Nurses and workers would take the patients on a walk in the park. See where I am going with this? Syd was the lunatic on the grass. And they, the Nurses and workers, were always getting the group into formation; howling the pack back into formation.

He's in the pack, with the Psych Ward Nurses telling him to "GET BACK IN LINE!" (waving him back in formation). If I am not mistaken, they took the patients to the park to play cricket. "Bowling they bat" is a kind of perverted cricket analogy in my opinion. The loonies are playing cricket in the park; they are "on the grass".

The Last Stanza:

"Howling the pack back into formation, diamonds and clubs, waving us back into formation..."

The cricket game is over and the Psych Ward Nurses and Orderlies are getting everybody back together (in formation) to go back up on the Ward where the only thing to do is play card (Diamonds and Clubs) or dominoes.

Syd Barrett Wolfpack:

Howling the pack in formation appears
Diamonds and clubs, light misted fog, the dead
Waving us back in formation
The pack in formation

Bowling they bat as a group
And the leader is seen so early
The pack on their backs, the fighters
Through misty the waving

The pack in formation
Far reaching waves
On sight, shone right
I lay as if in surround

All enmeshing, hovering
The milder I gaze
All the animals laying trail
Beyond the bough winds

Mild the reflecting electricity eyes
Tears, the life that was ours
Grows sharper and stronger away and beyond
Short wheeling, fresh spring
Gripped with blanched bones, moaned
Magnesium, proverbs and sobs

Howling the pack in formation appears
Diamonds and clubs, light misted fog, the dead
Waving us back in formation
The pack in formation

---

Syd Barrett - Barrie Wentzell "Stoned Tramp" Photo Session 1971

December 25, 2013, 9:53 pm

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Syd Barrett

Taken from Syd Barrett Fan's Page Facebook Group:

Barrie Wentzell "Stoned tramp" photo session 1971

Photos taken at his manager's office in Mayfair, London; probably in late 1970 or early 1971 for promotion of his new album "Barrett", released in November 1970.

"Chris Welch and I went along to do a quick interview with Syd at his managers office. We were a bit apprehensive, as stories of Syd's behavior of late seemed bizarre. When we got there, we were met by a very upset guy who said Syd had locked himself into a room and he wouldn't come out. Oh dear! It seemed the stories were true. Chris and I spoke to him through the door and tried to convince him that we were his friends and that everything was ok. He slowly opened the door and ushered us in quickly shutting and locking the door behind us. He stood there looking very frightened, muttering, Those people out there are aliens, and are after me! We tried to tell him that they were his management and friends and they cared about him, as do we. He seemed unconvinced, and I took this dark side of Syd pictures and managed to persuade him to let Chris and I out and that wed send help. He took the key from his pocket, unlocked the door. We escaped and Syd locked himself back inside." ( Barrie Wentzell ).

The Making of the "Have You Got It Yet?" Series (1)

January 7, 2014, 8:00 am

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At the beginning of the nineties, a project from a Yahoo Group called Laughingmadcaps began. Fans and collectors got together in order to compile any unreleased piece of music of Pink Floyd’s founder member Syd Barrett. The man behind the curtain of this Project was Kiloh Smith: “We wanted to leave the listener wanting less not more”. Have You Got It Yet?, the name that was given to the collection, contains songs in which Syd Barrett participated with and without Pink Floyd: Studio outtakes, live recordings, homemade sound mixes, interviews, pictures, articles, essays, TV documentaries, song covers recorded by fans, design covers for the (so far) nineteen discs, all kinds of unreleased video material, songs dedicated to Syd Barrett, and even tracks in which his participation was put into question. No one earned a single penny; the fans traded bootlegs or just sent blank CDs in exchange… and sometimes they received them as presents from someone unknown from the other side of the world. The team who made this possible was interviewed for this article.

Kiloh Smith and Pschnob speak:

1. In order to begin a Project like this, you must love music. How was your first contact with Syd’s music?

Kiloh:My first contact was the live part of the Ummagumma album. Then, A Nice Pair. I came of age during the great progressive rock explosion of the seventies. Groups like Yes, ELP, UK, Gentle Giant and King Crimson were popular. King Crimson was already like... a legend because they had broken up and left all of this amazing music. However, in my neck of the woods, the people who really had the prog thing together listened to Syd Barrett. My friend, Robert Jewell, bought the double LP issued in the USA and I immediately fell in love. As with all artists who I REALLY like, I began collecting bootlegs and trying to learn about them as much as I could. Around 1985, I met Steve Czapla and we began trading bootleg tapes in earnest. This went on for over fifteen years. I still have all of my bootleg cassette tapes and recently purchased a Nakamichi tape deck to continue to enjoy them on. Analog!

Pschnob: I got a copy of piper as a teen and didn't care for it. I was more in a (hard) rock/alcohol phase and didn't sync with gnomes and fairies etc… until after I'd started to use drugs. Sometime in college (or late high school) I first heard Syd's solo work and quite liked it as the madness of it synched with the madness of my drug experiences :) I'm still a bit aberrant amongst Syd fans in that I prefer Syd solo and Pink Floyd post-Syd (before The Dark Side of the Moon), that said, of course I've come to love The Piper at the Gates of Dawn but it wasn't my first love. On a visit to a friend in Harvard I found my first Syd bootleg, the Vegetable Man LP in a Cambridge MA record store. When Opelcame out it was my first CD purchase; I had to wait a few weeks until I could afford a player to listen to it.

2. How and when did the idea for Have You Got It Yet? started? How was the material gathered?

K: By the early nineties I had accumulated thousands of hours of bootleg cassettes. By the way, we only traded on metal particle, chrome dioxide, cassettes. Those were the best. Of that, I had a few hundred hours of Pink Floyd. Almost all of the Syd Barrett was filleron some tape or another. Filler was where the piece of music wasn't long enough to warrant its own cassette tape and so was tacked on as filler at the end of some other recording. All of my bootleg Syd Barrett was in my collection in this manner. I thought: "Wouldn't it be nice to record all of this Syd music onto its own tape(s) and then be able to enjoy it all at once?" And that's exactly what I did. I ended up with like... 3.5, 90 minute cassette tapes of Syd Barrett music in chronological order. I played the shit outta those tapes too.

After the Laughing Madcaps group was started (around 1998), and I had all of the fans and Sydiots under one roof, I began thinking back to those 3.5 cassettes of Syd. See... this was the dawn of being able to burn CDs on your computer. The discs had just gone to 80 minutes long and people were availing themselves of this wonderful new technology. Torrents were still years away. So, aaaaaaaanyway... the Roky CD Club was rolling along. That's where the original Roky Yahoo Group (then: Texas Psych) took rare recordings on tape and converted them to CD for free distribution. I thought: "Why not make a CD copy of my tapes and we will get people to all send in their recordings and then pick out the best quality?" I then pitched the idea on the group and... re-pitched it. And... re-pitched it. And... re-pitched it until I got this guy named Rick, with his own recording studio in Connecticut, interested in the idea. See, Syd Barrett fans are, basically, really, really lazy people unless it comes to fighting amongst themselves on some message board.

But anyway, I got Rick on board and then we had a place to mail submissions to. That went on for several months. And I even went to visit Rick in Connecticut. Rick is also Jefferson Starship's Webmaster. After awhile, it became clear that Rick wasn't into going through all the material and picking out the best quality. He had a different vision for the project which involved just putting everything out and letting the fans assemble their own collection. That wasn't going to work and so I removed the project from Rick, which had grown to almost a hundred discs of submissions. I took my toys and went home.

Then I began lobbying my old friend, Steve Czapla to join the project. I was like: "Dude! I have over a hundred discs of Syd Barrett material and we need to percolate it down to the best shit! Also, I am running this Syd Barrett group full of crazy motherfuckers! Join up and I will make you a Moderator!" Steve didn't want to join anything that was being pitched to him as owned by me and full of crazy motherfuckers. I had to really work on him to join the group. I guilt tripped him, everything... Finally, he joined up.

So... the hundred discs were sent to Steve who had a bootlegged copy of Sonic Solutions which was like... a $5000.00 sound editing program back then. The idea came about that, not only would we pick the best recordings, but we would run them through Sonic Solutions. Then, Pinnacle Pschnob joined up and he had his own professional recording studio in Massachusetts. Then ChrisM joined up and some other guy named Swan Lee. These people: Steve, Pschnob, ChrisM and Swan Lee were true Syd Barrett Experts. They made copies of all the discs for each other and then began the long, hard, work of picking out the best version of each piece of material. After awhile, Steve and Swan Lee didn't see eye to eye anymore. Steve didn't like Swan Lee; said he was a douche. Swan Lee told me that Steve had committed the unpardonable sin of messing with his "work" on the project. Adios, Swan Lee.So we began to get a running order of the discs and comfortable working together. Basically, ChrisM and Steve slogged through the tracks and found other stuff. Then Steve and Pschnob would process the results through Sonic Solutions. Then, we would all listen to the various results to pick a “best" version of the processing.

Then we began getting discs together to release to the fans. This was before torrents, so we traded the discs via a tree and leaf network. I am the one that set all that up and I ran the networks too. Basically, a trunk was given a lossless version of the disc. He made lossless copies for the branches who made copies for the leaves. I set this whole thing up by continents and I ran the distributions too. This is where I invented the word Sydiot. This was for all the people who signed up to be branches who should have just stayed home sucking on their bong. They'd be like: "PICK ME! PICK ME! PICK ME!" and I would and then I would hand them the ball and they would throw the thing right into the dirt. Basically, the distributions, of hundreds of discsby continent, were like running gun battles but everybody got their discs.

3. Why is there still so much material unreleased?

K: I don't know what's still unreleased. We put out everything that was floating around and shut down the Syd Barrett Bootleg Industry.

P:That seems like a question better directed to the record company. I can only presume if Syd's solo records or Opel were big successes they'd have released much more… but we did get a lot of extra takes on Fish Out of Water... and “Bob Dylan Blues” and “Rhamadan”, so...there are trickles anyway...

4. Some volumes are being updated. Any plan on sight?

K:We are going to update everything. Ever since we put out HYGIY? that established us as THE Syd Barrett Audio People. So... we have gotten LOTS of upgrades and even some new shit. Yes, I want to put it out. It's up to Steve Czapla and ChrisM because they have the tapes and the track listings and all the upgrades. It's up to them. I want it to come out. The fans want it to come out.

P:Steve has some long term plans; I don't really; I've been working on Roky material for some time now but getting very slow...approaching retirement...

5. Is there an ultimate HYGIY goal?

K:To put the best stuff into all the fan's hands.

6. Was it easy to make fans cooperate?

K:No, they were a bunch of idiots but I ended up assembling a good team.

7. Did everything follow the same path with the Roky Erickson material?

K:HYGIY? was more organized than the Roky initiative. Also, the Syd fans don't think that I am Satan for doing it.

8. Who decided the title Have You Got It Yet?

K:We had a contest on the Laughing Madcaps Group and some woman thought it up. She won the big NO PRIZE.

9. What do you think is EMI’s opinion about it?*

K:I think EMI put out more Syd material because of HYGIY?

10. Ewgeni Reingold made a superb DVD with every visual Syd/Floyd material. Are you in contact with him for future collaborations?

K:We were going to do a HYGIY? video collection and assembled a LOT of video. Steve Czapla is a perfectionist. Sometimes I think that he thinks that this Syd Barrett material is like fine wine or something. Like... it needs to be aged more or something. JUST PUT THE SHIT OUT!!! Anyway, Pinnacle Pschnob got tired of waiting around for Steve to decide something so he gave copies of all of our video work to this Weenie guy. He did a bit of his own work and then put it out as his project.

P:I sent Eugene a lot of that material, the first version contained a lot of flv/mpg1 sourced material but subsequent versions have been upgraded from more mpg2 sources; yes we communicate. Due to a lack of motivation and unique material (no point in duplicating releases others have already done) there are currently no plans to release a HYGIY? DVD (as you know there were several VCDs); that actually was what I was hoping Eugene would do but Kiloh and he got into some dispute so…

11. What was the biggest surprise among the material?

K:Finding the“In theBeechwoods” backing track.

P:Yes,I suppose getting uncirculated material like the“Vegetable Man” and “Beechwoods” sessions recording with Nick [Mason], et.al.

About the finding of this particular track, designer Jean-Luke Epstein has first-hand information. He saw a projected tracklist for HYGIY, and noticed that he had something unique.

Jean-Luke: I went to the French Lycée in South Kensington in London. As a big Floyd fan, I'd often notice Nick driving around in his yellow Lotus Elan and Syd was also occasionally spotted too because he lived in 3-4 locations nearby as well ... The interview came about when I approached Nick after a very strange poorly-attended gig the Floyd did in February (1969). Suffice to say, that Nick was very amenable - we had friends in common - and he was up to giving an interview for my school magazine. He was living nearby in Sydney Street at the time. The meeting was very agreeable: he's a very pleasant individual - I met him again 5 years later, when he was living in Camden: he had no memory whatsoever of our '69 encounter but was still just agreeable to give you a sense of how fairly easy-going he is. The only pressure we had was that Nick was going to have to start recording that night - on what was to be the first of the recordings we now know as the More soundtrack. Though the film was still called The Last Dropthen. I had a Philips cassette recorder for the interview and brought a friend called Nico Preston (who had first turned me onto Arnold Layne ...) So the recorder was just running when we talked, during which Nick played us some of his parts for Ummagumma which he'd recorder with his girlfriend / fiancée, Lindy, whom he shared the flat with. His recordings were played on an Akai 4-track he had. It was from that that he also played the Vegetable Man backing track - which I recognised from John Peel's broadcasts - and “Beechwoods” that little gem which it still amazes me we haven't heard more examples of ... And it's something of a miracle that the piece you know survived because: My original copy of that recording was stolen - with a few other rarities of that period - a few weeks later. If Nico, who was something of scientific whizz-kid, hadn't made a copy for himself, we wouldn't have had that copy of a copy we're talking about today. 

For my part, it was in 1997 that I was working on my Syd tribute album (Dream Divers: In My Infant Air), and, on its release, got to start exchanges with Steve Czapla and, in due course, Kiloh and their Laughing Madcaps project. Shortly after, David Parker published his Random Precision book. We got to exchanging too and, in the process; Steve produced a lot of clever strokes in extracting remarkable audio, in the circumstances, from the recording which Nico had, by now, digitized to preserve from his dub copy.

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The Making of the "Have You Got It Yet?" Series SOON!

Norman Smith and Syd Barrett

January 10, 2014, 2:10 pm

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When Norman Smith, a former Royal Air Force glider pilot and failed jazz musician, saw an advertisement in The Times in 1959 stating that EMI were looking for apprentice engineers under the age of 28, the 35 year old decided to lie about his age. At the interview, his cheeky criticism of Cliff Richard, the label's rising star, chimed with his interlocutor's views and also made Smith stand out among the hundred or so applicants. He was one of the three apprentices hired on the spot and began work at EMI's Abbey Road Studios.

For the next six years, Smith worked closely with the producer George Martin, most famously as engineer on all of the Beatles' sessions, from their audition in June 1962 up to the Rubber Soul album at the end of 1965. Although he didn't take part in the Sgt Pepper sessions, Smith went on to produce several albums which helped define British psychedelia. Between 1967 and 1969 he produced Pink Floyd's The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn, A Saucerful of Secrets and Ummagumma , and helped the band experiment as they sought a way out of the chaos following the departure of the founder member Syd Barrett.

In the Spring of 1967, the band was the toast of the London underground, famous for its freeform, freak-out style of instrumental improvisation and throbbing, hallucinogenic light shows. It was all a little overwhelming for Smith, who was one of the more senior staff members at Abbey Road. But he knew he was on to something.

“I’m an old jazz man myself,” he says, laughing. “I didn’t know anything about psychedelia. But I could see that Pink Floyd were extremely popular, so I thought, Well, it looks as though we can sell some records here.”

Although Smith was still able to dabble behind the console after moving into production, once he began working with an underground, London-based, psychedelic rock outfit known as the Pink Floyd in early 1967, he "had too many other things to worry about such as Syd Barrett". And, having first seen the band at London's UFO Club, he also had to get to grips with their material.
Recording began almost immediately after signing to EMI in March 1967 and continued during an intense touring schedule through June and early July. Though Syd was still lucid and maintained a strong artistic control, he was, by the end of the sessions, becoming more withdrawn and difficult to communicate with. Norman Smith, called 'Normal' by John Lennon, found Syd especially tiresome. Sceptical of the band's musical ability and inclined to dismiss Barrett's songs as infantile, the sessions were not an altogether happy affair for Smith.

“I realized as time went on that Syd really and truly, in my opinion, didn’t get any pleasure out of recording,” Smith observes. “Syd’s thing was he would write these songs; he would go to an underground club, or something of that nature, and perform these songs. And that was really it for him.”

"When I look back I wonder how we ever managed to get anything done," Smith said. "It was sheer hell. There are no pleasant memories. I always left with a headache. Syd was undisciplined and would simply never sing the same thing twice. Trying to talk to him was like talking to a brick wall because the face was so expressionless. His lyrics were child-like and he was a child in many ways; up one minute, down the next."

Faced with the unreceptive Smith, Syd found another line of communication into the control room via Peter Bown. The eccentric Abbey Road engineer, then in his early forties, struck up an unlikely friendship with Barrett, resulting in some of the more unusual sounds on the album. "Bown was as loopy as they come," remembers King. "He'd sit at the mixing desk painting plastic skin on his fingers because he was worried they'd wear out through overuse."

"Syd's guitar was always a problem because he would not keep still and was always fiddling with his sound," says Bown, who retired in 1991. "He used to go and kick his echo box every now and then, just because he liked the sound it made. We wrecked four very expensive microphones that first night. They got louder and louder until everything was overloading and the mics just gave up the ghost. "With Syd you just never knew what was going to occue. We all knew he was taking drugs fairly heavily but, nevertheless, he was very creative. The fact that he didn't understand the recording process terribly well meant that he was less rigid about what could and couldn't be done. No-one really understood Pink Floyd, particularly Norman. Pink Floyd were different and they were meant to be different."

"I can't in all honesty say that the music meant anything at all to me," Smith confessed. "In fact, I could barely call it music, given my background as a jazz musician and the musical experience that I'd had with the Beatles. Still, there was something about Syd Barrett's songs that was indescribable — they were nondescript, but obviously had that Barrett magic for an awful lot of people. Nevertheless, I got along as well as anybody could with Syd Barrett. He really was in control. He was the only one doing any writing, he was the only one who I as a producer had to convince if I had any ideas, but the trouble with Syd was that he would agree with almost everything I said and then go back in and do exactly the same bloody thing again! I was really getting nowhere.

"I never actually saw Syd taking drugs in the studio, but he had the kind of character that, even if he hadn't taken any, you'd think he was on drugs. He was a peculiar person. You couldn't really hold a sensible conversation with him for longer than 30 seconds. Roger Waters had the best rapport with Syd, but even he found it difficult. I remember them being on [BBC TV's] Top Of The Pops with 'See Emily Play', and beforehand I took them into Number One Studio purely to rehearse what they would do on television for the first time. I was almost choreographing them, silly little old me, thinking they would actually stick with my choreography! Of course, that all went out of the window, thanks to Syd.

"He wasn't happy about doing Top Of The Pops; he didn't like singles — he only liked doing albums — and it was while waiting around for an appearance on [BBC Radio's] Saturday Club that he walked out of the door and went missing. That really was the first sign of his complete mental breakdown, and he never did come back into the studio any more after that, meaning that I had a hell of a hard time with the recordings."

Smith's input did help the band create an accessible album. As bootlegs of the rough mixes made by Syd attest, if Barrett had had his way the album would be full of phase-shifting and heavy reverb. One can only speculate how it might have sounded if Joe Boyd had produced it as originally planned.

"As musicians, the Floyd were capable enough, but again Nick Mason would be the first to agree that he was no kind of technical drummer. In fact, I remember recording a number — I can't now recall which one — and there had to be a drum roll, and of course he didn't have a clue what to do. I had been a drummer, and so I had to do that. Nick was no threat to Buddy Rich! Roger Waters, on the other hand, was an adequate bass player for what they did, but to be honest he used to make more interesting noises with his mouth. He had a ridiculous repertoire of mouth noises, and we used that on one or two things."

"So, they were capable, but I had a great struggle with them after Syd Barrett went funny and left. They tried very hard to write material — I remember them writing a song about apples and oranges, which I dressed up and released as a single, and that sold about six copies. It was around the time of the Saucerful Of Secrets album, and I really did think that it was all over. We still had to keep the singles coming for the audience that they had established, but the songs that were being composed by the other three guys were, to say the least, lacking in commerciality. Their recording career was going down the drain fast, and then along came Dave Gilmour and things started to pick up again."

After producing 1970's Atom Heart Mother, Norman Smith was the executive producer of Meddle the following year, yet he was about to exit the Pink Floyd story.

"These guys now knew what they wanted, and so it was silly for me to contribute any more," he explained. "I thought I'd done my bit with them and encouraged them to produce themselves — they were producing tape loops at home and bringing them in to me — as well as to be resourceful in the studio. Having done that, it was time for me to retire gracefully and offer to help them if they needed my advice at any time. However, they didn't, because Roger Waters — a bit like Paul McCartney — had the makings of being a good producer, and Dave Gilmour showed this ability as well, and I personally think that the two of them together were a greater force than Syd Barrett ever was. They were able to get back to what Pink Floyd was all about, and the rest is history."

The Making of the "Have You Got It Yet?" Series (and 2)

February 2, 2014, 1:41 am

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Second (and last) part of The Making of Have You Got It Yet? series, the definitive compilation of unreleased material of Syd Barrett with and without Pink Floyd.

Click HEREin order to have a look at Part 1.

Steve Czapla speaks

What did you do for HYGIY?

I did a lot of the grunt work. I was involved in the music, had nothing to do with the visual end, but I determined how most of the audio would go:Kiloh had conceived the project, had gotten people to send in their best material (or so they thought), and found someone to put it together. It turned out he wasn't quite up to the job, and so I was recruited. I got the mass of discs that had been submitted to him and had to make some sense of it. Much of it was unlabeled, mislabeled, redundant, in varying quality, and there were some hoax tracks. It took a fair amount of time just sorting and comparing before there was a rough idea of what would fit together and how.

The whole point was to present the material more or less chronologically, in the best possible quality, to give the clearest possible picture of Syd's career. It wasn't to be just another bootleg recycling the same old stuff; we wanted the definitive historical document, all under one roof. That hadn't been done before, that I'm aware. The closest I'd ever seen was "The Afterhours Tapes" by the Velvet Underground Appreciation Society. (I did some work on those back in the 80s). They put out pretty much everything available, but things were a bit scattered and a lot of solo material was mixed in. They weren't chronological; each cassette had a theme or two. History doesn't fit easily into 45-minute segments; they didn't have any wiggle room. Around 2000, suddenly we had the freedom to burn our own CDs, and that was a revolution. And so, once we had a rough template, it was my job to process the audio as well. This might involve declicking acetates, noise reduction (a controversial topic), EQ, sound levels, and sometimes speed correction as well.

There are a handful of Syd tapes that had never been heard in the proper pitch, because somebody's tape recorder had been wrong from the beginning. I've been a musician all my life and I know all the chords to the songs. I've even been known to play them in public. And if I hear a note, I can name it. So I knew for a fact that, say, "Terrapin" from (6/6/70) had to be brought down 10%, because Syd would only ever have played or sung it in E, not in F#. And if the tempo is slower than we were used to? That is what they played, so get used to it. We'd fight among ourselves over things like that. That was one particular skill I could bring that someone else couldn't, and I'm glad we got it right.

So anyway, that's essentially what I did. I organized the material, selected the best tracks, processed them, and compiled the audio discs.I had help, of course. Early on there was a member of the Yahoo Group, he went by the name SwanLee. He had compiled and processed his own ten CD set of Syd and early Floyd, called Early Effervescence. He donated that, and we borrowed a fair amount of material. His audio processing involved some fairly radical techniques. He's very talented but there was some controversy around that. (In the second edition of HYGIY? we phased out the SwanLee tracks from the core volumes, but much of it will be found on the later discs.) He was an essential collaborator at the beginning, though, and helped us get off the ground.

I also had invaluable input from Pschnob and ChrisM, bouncing ideas off of them, sending them proto discs to critique, that sort of thing. One pair of ears is never enough, and I'll usually defer when somebody sees a flaw I might have missed. I worked closely with Pschnob. He is a professional engineer, and a little "bootlegging" on the side might not look so good. He is responsible for the video discs though. ChrisM had a lot of input as well. He's always had his ear to the ground, trying to locate material.

Mark Jones, from Manchester, speaks: 
How did you end up designing the covers of HYGIY? Did you offer your services?

I was always interested in doing some covers for bootlegs but didn't really know how. It just so happened that I'd not long just got a PC and had just started a full time college course studying Graphic Design so by the time it came for some covers to be made I'd had a little bit of practice. At the end of first year I had to pick a biggish project to do and it so happened to tie in that it was at the same time as the first batch of CD's being finished, so I volunteered my services and did the first four covers as my end of year project.

Were you alone in the task?

Yes I did them all myself, but I did get a guiding hand from my college tutors.

Did you follow any pattern for the design?

I love doing collages and had a huge collection of photos to work from so used that as a starting point. I learnt a lot making them and if I did them now they would be much better. I've got better since then! For instance, looking at them now, I would have used a bigger main image for each cover then surrounded them with smaller ones, instead of just using smallish pictures all over. I would do that differently now. I had sort of got the idea by Volume 4, where I used a bigger image of Syd in the middle.

How did you find the Syd Yahoo group?

It's so long ago now I don't really remember. It most probably would have been just me typing in 'Syd Barrett' into Google.

Once you had the first volumes on your hands, and listened to it… what did you think?

It was amazing. There was so much stuff all over the place that it was brilliant to have it all in one place. For instance, I had the song 'Lucy Leave' on a bootleg called 'Magnesium Proverbs', it was great quality but the very beginning was missing. I had the same song on another bootleg but in lesser sound quality, but the start was there. I didn't want two versions that each had something the other different. I sent off my complete 'Lucy Leave' to the compilers and they grafted the missing beginning on to the better quality version from the 'Magnesium Proverbs' version so there you had it, the most complete and best quality version. That's why 'Lucy Leave' now starts off a bit murky then becomes clearer a few seconds in. It was great to have the best quality and most complete versions of all these unreleased tracks in one place. Then there was the discovery of the backing track of “In the Beechwoods” and the “Vegetable Man” jam. Those had NEVER been on any bootlegs before. For Kiloh to unearth them and put them on these CDs was the cherry on the cake. It was brilliant to be able to hear them for the first time. [The story of these tracks are in part 1]

Volume 11 has every Syd picture available, from childhood to retirement, including articles,

clips and his paintings. Hard work, indeed, and in constant updating. Are you still working on it?

It was hard work but didn't feel like it when I was doing it. I loved piecing together the photo shoots, finding black and white photos in color and discovering new photos. I loved every minute. I'll ALWAYS be working on it, I think, but since the “Barrett” book came out, unearthing some brilliant unseen shots, the well has sort of dried up for now. There's not been many new pics come to light since that book came out. I'm sure they'll be some more though. I'm still here, waiting for them to surface! Oh, and then to be asked to help with the official Syd Barrett website by Pink Floyd's managers was amazing. Justification that I hadn't been wasting my time for all those hours I'd put in collating this stuff. That was great!

What is the most unexpected picture you’ve ended up receiving?

One sent to me by one of Syd's girl friends that had never been published anywhere!

Syd in the times of Those Without

 

Any favourite one?

The one of the band performing on a Dutch TV in colour performing “Arnold Layne”! Just makes you wish the TV station had saved the clip and we had a video of it to watch!

Will there be a new release of Volume 11?

Yes there will. The only thing I have left to do is check that the new photos that have surfaced in the last few years are all in place. I didn't want to do that so soon after the book came out, but that's a few years ago now.

In order to download Have You Got It Yet? click HERE

In case you want an introduction to this collection, click HERE

Pink Floyd - Games for May 1967

March 20, 2014, 1:29 pm

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GAMES FOR MAYSpace Age Relaxation for the Climax of Spring
Queen Elizabeth Hall, London 5/12/67

Games for May

Pink Floyd performs the first-ever surround sound concert at “Games for May”, 12th of May 1967, a lavish affair at London’s Queen Elizabeth Hall where the band debuts its custom-made quadraphonic speaker system. The technological breakthrough not only amazes and confuses the mass of stoned concert-goers, but it goes on to raise the standard of what audiences would come to expect from a live rock performance.
Billed as a unique show, this event was based closely on the 12th May 1967 outing at its original venue, the intimate Queen Elizabeth Hall on London’s South Bank. This Hall was only opened in March 1967 by HM Queen Elizabeth so Pink Floyd were indeed unique in not only securing this brand new classical establishment but also in presenting the first rock concert in a ‘proper’ concert hall ever!

Games for May

The concert (setlist below) featured material from the band's debut album, "Piper At The Gates Of Dawn" (which came out later that year) and was a ground-breaking multi-media event. With a primitive yet revolutionary sound mixer, quadraphonic sound was used to wow an audience whose senses were already being assaulted by a light show, taped effects, on-stage carpentry, the distribution of hundreds of daffodils (which were trodden into the carpets) and bubbles filling the air (and stained the upholstery!).

Games for May

It was the first concert in Britain to feature both a complex light show and a quadraphonic sound system. The show was introduced with a series of tape recordings. Roger Waters created the opening dawn tape effects by using bird calls and various natural sounds (an effect he would use in both "Cirrus Minor" and "Grantchester Meadows"). The bubbles at the end of the show were created by Rick Wright while the ending piece was constructed by Barrett.[1] At this time "See Emily Play" was known as "Games for May."

Games for May

The Floyd were in the middle of recording sessions for their debut album, Piper at the Gates of Dawn, when their management team was approached by Christopher Hunt, a music promoter with a taste for avant-garde theater. Pink Floyd had been assaulting their audiences with both sound and light, incorporating rudimentary light shows, complete with abstract films and bubbling, psychedelic oil slide projections, into their live sets, so Hunt figured they were the perfect band to break new ground by offering a true multimedia event.

Games for May

The show was given the name “Games for May” and set for May 12. Hunt described it in press materials as “Space age relaxation for the climax of spring — electronic compositions, colour and image projections, girls and THE PINK FLOYD.” The chosen venue, the Queen Elizabeth Hall in London’s upscale South Bank performing-arts district, complete with suited ushers and upholstered seats, was usually only used for classical concerts, so the whole affair took on a peculiar whiff of high art. With the appropriate hype in place, Pink Floyd knew they had to produce something special to rise to the occasion.

Games for May

Roger Waters remembers, "I remember the Games For May concert we did at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in May 1967. I was working in this dank, dingy basement off the Harrow Road, with an old Ferrograph. I remember sitting there recording edge tones off cymbals for the performance - later that became the beginning of Saucerful Of Secrets. In those days you could get away with stuff like chasing clockwork toy cars around the stage with a microphone. For Games For May I also made "bird" noises recorded on the old Ferrograph at half-speed, to be played in the theatre's foyer as the audience was coming in. I was always interested in the possibilities of rock 'n' roll, how to fill the space between the audience and the idea with more than just guitars and vocals." 

Games for May

The group returned to an idea it had first experimented with at EMI’s Abbey Road studios a few weeks earlier. An engineer had hooked up an additional set of speakers to the usual stereo pair and set them at the back of the room, creating a surround-sound effect. The band was eager to test how this four-speaker setup would work in a live context — most concert clubs in London were only rigged for mono — so they asked one of Abbey Road’s techies, Bernard Speight, to pull together a system they could throttle up to full gig volume.

Games for May

Speight also designed a unique device for controlling how the sound was to be distributed among all the speakers in the proto-quadraphonic rig. He built a box with four separate 90-degree potentiometers, one for each speaker, all controlled by a single joystick. This invention was given the fittingly futuristic name of the Azimuth Coordinator.
Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason described how it worked once it was placed on top of keyboardist Richard Wright’s organ, “If the joystick was upright, the sound was centered, but moving it diagonally would dispatch the sound to the speaker in the equivalent corner of the hall,” Mason writes. “Rick could send his keyboard sounds swirling around the auditorium, or make footsteps — supplied from a Revox tape recorder — apparently march across from one side to the other.”
Those footsteps, among other effects, were supplied by the band, who prepped special four-track tapes to feed through the Azimuth Coordinator. The various members recorded passages filled with electronic blips and backwards cymbal crashes. Bassist Roger Waters supplied maniacal laughter and synthetic bird sounds.
The band played for a full two hours that night — an exceedingly generous amount of time for a musical act in those days. The show began with an artificial sunrise created by the Floyd’s lighting crew, who bathed the stage in red. The set was mostly made up of originals from the “Piper” album including the stretched-out jam vehicles “Interstellar Overdrive” and “POW R TOC H.” Barrett even wrote a new original for the gig titled “Games for May” — it would soon be renamed “See Emily Play” and go on to become the band’s next hit single.
The proper songs were intercut with bursts of taped sounds and organ swells, all fed through the quad system and sent bouncing around by the Azimuth Coordinator.
“The sounds traveled around the hall in a sort of circle, giving the audience an eerie effect of being absolutely surrounded by this music,” Roger Waters later remembered.
There was also a theatrical element to the show. Mason sawed through a log with a microphone attached to it, Waters threw potatoes at a large gong and arranged bouquets of flowers in various vases, and Barrett went to town with a plastic ruler, feverishly sliding it up and down the neck of his guitar with his amplifier cranked all the way up. Organist Wright operated a bubble machine that complimented the pulsating lights and projections with gigantic soap bubbles. The band’s roadies tossed daffodils into the crowd.

Games for May

The administrators of the Queen Elizabeth Hall were less impressed. The bubble machine and the flower petals had made a mess of the seats and carpet, and the venue banned Pink Floyd from ever playing there again. Worse yet, the Azimuth Coordinator was stolen after the show.
Nevertheless, everyone involved recognized a bar had been raised.

“In the future, bands are going to have to offer more than a pop show. They are going to have to an offer a well presented theater show,” Syd Barrett said after the fact.
“I think Games for May was one of the most significant shows we ever performed,” Nick Mason said.
Setlist:
1) Tape Dawn, Taped sound effects of birds etc. recorded by Roger Waters. Served as introduction to the show and was played in the foyer of the theatre prior to the show.2) Matilda Mother3) Flaming4) Scarecrow5) Jugband Blues6) Games for May (Written for this occasion and later rewritten and retitled to See Emily Play)7) Bike8) Arnold Layne9) Candy And a Currant Bun10) Pow R Toc H11) Interstellar Overdrive12) 'Tape Bubbles' Taped sound effects by Rick Wright to accompany soap bubbles filling the theatre (Later used on "Sysyphus")13) 'Tape Ending' Taped instrumental piece by Barrett (Later used on "Grandvizer's Garden Party" by Nick Mason)14) Encore: Lucifer Sam