last friday saw the passing of one of rocks leading lights fade out and diminish from our proximity. "be still now, the dark turns to light after the longest of nights"... ive had many a fine hour in your enchanting brilliance.
rest in peace syd you crazy, crazy diamond.
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Syd Barrett dies age 60
Pink Floyd legend passes away at home
11 July 06 - Sixties legend Syd Barrett, the former singer and lead guitarist of Pink Floyd, has died.
He passed away last Friday (7 July) at his Cambridge home from complications related to diabetes aged just 60.
His brother Alan confirmed his death, saying only: "He died peacefully at home. There will be a private family funeral in the next few days."
Barrett's former Floyd bandmates Nick Mason and Richard Wright issued this statement:
"The band are naturally very upset and sad to learn of Syd Barrett's death.
"Syd was the guiding light of the early band line-up and leaves a legacy which continues to inspire."
Barrett had a drug-induced breakdown at the height of his fame and has been a virtual recluse ever since.
"Syd was the guiding light of the early band line-up and leaves a legacy which continues to inspire."
Pink Floyd statement
Pete Jenner was Pink Floyd's original manager. He told 6 Music he was upset to learn the sad news of Barrett's death, but added he wasn't "totally surprised":
"About six months ago the rumour hit me that he was very unwell and was having trouble with his sight because of his diabetes."
He added: "Rumour has it that he [Barrett] appeared on occasions and certainly seemed to feel that they [Pink Floyd] were still his band, and it was very hard to get through to him.
"So I don't know whether he fully accepted that he had left the band or what his position was."
Graham Coxon is among the fellow musicians who've been lining up to pay tribute to the star.
He told 6 Music that Barrett was an enormous influence on him as a guitarist:
"He's terribly overlooked as a guitar player. He's someone I listen to regularly and I was only listening to him the other day.
Coxon added: "For me as a songwriter, he was someone who seemed to take us places that were ever so special, with a lot of humour and mischief. A treasure of this country."
Barrett was born Roger Keith Barrett in Cambridge in 1946, gaining the nickname 'Syd' at the age of 15.
He left Pink Floyd in 1968, just as the band was on the verge of gaining huge international acclaim.
The band penned Shine On You Crazy Diamond in tribute to him a few years later, appearing on their 1975 classic album Wish You Were Here . Just last summer at Live 8, the briefly reformed line-up dedicated the song to their former bandmate live on stage.
Meanwhile, the band's 1967 debut album The Piper at the Gates of Dawn is credited as one of the best psychedelic albums of all time, taking its title from a chapter in Barrett's favourite children's book, The Wind in the Willows .
Despite having left the band by the time of the release of the second album, A Saucerful of Secrets , the following year, his influence is still felt in the shape of the track Jugband Blues, which he penned.
He was replaced by guitarist, and friend of the band, David Gilmour, who had been originally drafted in as a fifth member as Barrett's behaviour become more erratic.
However, Barrett re-emerged in 1970, releasing two solo albums, The Madcap Laughs and Barrett. Both records featured his former Floyd bandmates (David Gilmour also produced most of the sessions) as well as members of the Soft Machine.
However, these are his only solo works post-Floyd. He became a recluse once more, and was never to release any more material.
In 2004, a five-song session he recorded for John Peel's Radio 1 show in 1970 was uncovered and released.
Syd Barrett
6 January 1946 - 7 July 2006
) After his departure the band moved on to produce increasingly darker , sinister psychedelic and ultimately brilliant material under the guidance of Roger Waters and David Gilmore , the two members of the band who imo are the true soul and architects of the legend that is Pink Floyd .If Barrett had remained with the band it's my opinion that the Floyd we know and love may never have "happend as it was only Barretts departure that enabled the arrival of Dave Gilmore .
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