Coming on November 24th is the new book from the estate of Pink Floyd co-founder, Syd Barrett, titled Barrett: The Definitive Visual Companion. Back in 2011, the book came out in a high-end, cost prohibitive exclusive edition — but the new trade version is likely to find its way to a much broader Floyd fanbase.
Syd Barrett retired from Pink Floyd in 1968, and due to his growing emotional problems exacerbated by heavy drug use, he only recorded sporadically in the years immediately following his departure.
He died on July 7th, 2006 from complications arising from diabetes at 60-years-old.
Rolling Stone reported Barrett: The Definitive Visual Companion, "collects 350 rare photos of Barrett and Pink Floyd on stage, in rehearsal, and in candid shots at home, as well as all of the surviving artwork he is known to have created in his lifetime — plus love letters, notes, postcards, and other correspondence. This new edition includes two never-before-published artistic works by Barrett. The artist’s family and his Pink Floyd bandmates participated in the creation and compilation of the tome."
Alice Cooper recalled to us that while the Alice Cooper band was still making their name in L.A. in the late '60s, they were the house band at the Cheetah Club, where they met the original members of Pink Floyd, who were in town to play a couple of shows there. In fact, Floyd actually ran out of money and moved into the house where Cooper and his bandmates lived, and the two groups hung out a lot.
Cooper told us that he and Barrett shared "a moment" of sorts one day over breakfast: ["Syd was sitting there at the table, and the box of cereal was between us. And he was watching the box of cereal the way that I would watch Star Trek on television. He was seeing something I wasn't seeing. I don't know what he was on, but he could have sat there all day, staring into that cereal, and he would have been just as happy as anybody else."] SOUNDCUE (:19 OC: . . . as anybody else)
Roger Waters explained that with Syd leaving the group, the creative rug was truly pulled out from under Pink Floyd: ["It was very difficult after that, because Syd was absolutely the core of everything when Pink Floyd first started its professional career — 'cause he wrote 90 percent of the songs. I think I wrote one song on the first album, well, maybe two — but basically, it was in his hands."] SOUNDCUE (:15 OC: . . . ion his hands)
Alice Cooper Remembers Having Breakfast With Syd Barrett :
Roger Waters On Syd Barrett’s Demise :
