User:PCMorphy72/Wikifloyd/Syd Barrett Music

SYD BARRETT

MUSIC

Syd Barrett wrote Pink Floyd's first three singles, almost all the songs for their first album and the ending song for their second album. After that he released under serious difficulties only part of his repertoire in a couple of solo albums which failed to chart, though their artistic value is still under discussion.

PART 1 - WITH PINK FLOYD PART 2 - SOLO ARTIST PART 3 - BELATED RELEASES

Pink Floyd's first two singles "Arnold Layne" and "See Emily Play" propelled the band into the mainstream, while they were beginnig to attract the attention of the music industry.

A: "Arnold Layne"
B: "Candy and a Currant Bun"
Written by Syd Barrett
Produced by Joe Boyd
Recorded on 29 January 1967 at Sound Techniques Studios, London (Track A) and on 27 February 1967 at EMI Studios, London (Track B)
Released in UK on 11 March 1967
Released in US on 24 April 1967
Notes: The song's unusual transvestism theme led to a ban by Radio London and several radio stations. Two promotional films were recorded for the song, though they weren't aired by BBC.

A: "See Emily Play"
B: "Scarecrow"
Written by Syd Barrett
Produced by Norman Smith
Recorded on 21 May 1967 at Sound Techniques, London
Released on 16 June 1967
Notes: In the now lost recording there was backward tapes and much use of echo and reverb. Syd Barrett was not happy with the final studio cut, as well as with the three performances on BBC TV's Top of the Pops. Parts of the first performance have been recovered from a badly damaged home video recording in late 2009.

Their debut album The Piper at the Gates of Dawn was released the same year with positive reception, and is now recognised as one of the best British psychedelic albums of all time.

A1: "Astronomy Domine"
A2: "Lucifer Sam"
A3: "Matilda Mother"
A4: "Flaming"
A5: "Pow R. Toc H."
A6: "Take Up Thy Stethoscope and Walk"
B1: "Interstellar Overdrive"
B2: "The Gnome"
B3: "Chapter 24"
B4: "The Scarecrow"
B5: "Bike"

Written by
Syd Barrett (Tracks A1-A4, B2-B5)
Syd Barrett, Roger Waters, Richard Wright, Nick Mason (Tracks A5, B1)
Roger Waters (Track A6)
Produced by Norman Smith
Recorded from 21 February to 21 May 1967 at EMI Studios, London
Engineered by Peter Bown
Cover photo by Vic Singh
Released on 5 August 1967

Notes: Syd Barrett did his own little drawing on the back cover. Because of Syd Barrett's quiet voice, he was placed in a vocal isolation booth to sing his parts. Automatic double tracking was used to add layers of echo to the vocals and to some instruments. The album featured an unusually heavy use of echo and reverberation to give it its own unique sound.

The album's title, The Piper at the Gates of Dawn, refers to the god Pan, as depicted in the book The Wind in the Willows.

Peter Bown: "I had certainly never heard anything quite like it before."

Vic Singh: "It was unusual and different, and they were delighted with it."

John Cavanagh, on the back cover of his book on the album:

...a moment when everything seemed possible, when creative worlds and forces converged, when an album spoke with an entirely new voice. “Such music I never dreamed of,” as Rat said to Mole.

The single "Apples and Oranges" was released towards the end of that year after a disastrous US tour: an increasingly alienated Syd Barrett would be only a guest on A Saucerful of Secrets.

A: "Apples and Oranges"
B: "Paint Box"
Written by Syd Barrett (Track A), Richard Wright (Track B)
Produced by Norman Smith
Recorded on 26 and 27 October 1967 at EMI Studios, London
Released on 18 November 1967

Syd Barrett: "It's a happy song, and it's got a touch of Christmas. It's about a girl who I saw just walking round town, in Richmond."

Roger Waters: "Apples and Oranges' was destroyed by the production. It's a fucking good song."

A1: "Let There Be More Light"
A2: "Remember a Day"
A3: "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun"
A4: "Corporal Clegg"
B1: "A Saucerful of Secrets"
B2: "See-Saw"
B3: "Jugband Blues"
Written by
Roger Waters (Tracks A1, A3, A4)
Richard Wright (Tracks A2, B2)
Roger Waters, Richard Wright, David Gilmour, Nick Mason (Track B1)
Syd Barrett (Track B3)
Produced by Norman Smith
Recorded from 7 to 8 August 1967 (Track A3) and from 18 January to 3 May 1968 (Tracks A1, A2, A4-B2) at EMI Studios, London, and on 19 October 1967 at De Lane Lea Studios (Track B3)
Released on 29 June 1968
Notes: A promotional video was recorded for the track. The band's management wanted to release the song as a single, before being vetoed by both the band and the producer.
From the lyrics: "It's awfully considerate of you to think of me here / And I'm most obliged to you for making it clear that I'm not here."

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