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I know a lot of us sherdoggers are fans of Pink Floyd and I decided lets make a thread about the band and all the things associated with them. I've decided also to create a poll to see which album is everyone's favorite (I've only included studio albums)
The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn (1967) is the only album made under the leadership of founding member Syd Barrett. Syd Barrett was let go from the band on April 6th of 1968 due to his increasing erratic behavior as a result of his ever increasing use of psychedelics and especially LSD. Syd Barrett would go on to produce two albums The Madcap Laughs and Barrett both in 1970. In August of 1974 Barrett was persuaded to go into Abbey Road Studio to hopefully record a third album, the sessions lasted three days. It was after these sessions Syd withdrew from the music industry for good. Barrett died on July 7th of 2006 at his home in Cambridge due to Pancreatic Cancer. There is evidence that Syd Barrett might have suffered from Schizophrenia which was exacerbated due to his heavy use of LSD. Because of that Barrett mental health declined and I don't know if he was ever the same. Syd was a unique and extremely talented guitarist and songwriter. The Pipers At The Gates Of Dawn is one hell of a debut and gave us a glimpse of what might have been from Syd.
Personally my favorite album is and always will be Wish You Were Here and it has to do a lot with David Gilmour and his impeccable guitar playing and the overall quality of the writing (After all he is one of the three biggest influences on my guitar playing next to that of Frank Zappa and Chuck Schuldiner). Not to mention the album is a tribute to founder Syd Barrett
There is one fascinating story about the recording of Wish You Were Here. On June 5th, 1975 the band was in the process of completing the final mix of the song "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" when an overweight man with a shaven head, eyebrows and holding a plastic bag walked into the studio. Band members Roger Water's initially did not recognize him, Richard Wright was perplexed as to who it was and asked Waters if he was a friend of of his to which Roger said no. It was only then that Richard Wright figured out it was Syd Barrett. David Gilmour initially thought it was a member of the EMI staff and Nick Mason failed to recognized who it was until Gilmour realized it was Syd and told Mason who became instantly "horrified". The sight of Syd Barrett in that state reduced Roger Waters to tears. the graphic designer Storm Thorgerson who is well known for creating almost all of Pink Floyd's iconic album covers reflected on Barrett's appearance stating "Two or three people cried. He sat round and talked for a bit but he wasn't really there." As well Richard Wright had this to say about the day in question "Roger was there, and he was sitting at the desk, and I came in and I saw this guy sitting behind him – huge, bald, fat guy. I thought, "He looks a bit... strange..." Anyway, so I sat down with Roger at the desk and we worked for about ten minutes, and this guy kept on getting up and brushing his teeth and then sitting – doing really weird things, but keeping quiet. And I said to Roger, "Who is he?" and Roger said "I don't know." and I said "Well, I assumed he was a friend of yours," and he said "No, I don't know who he is." Anyway, it took me a long time, and then suddenly I realised it was Syd, after maybe 45 minutes. He came in as we were doing the vocals for "Shine On You Crazy Diamond", which was basically about Syd. He just, for some incredible reason picked the very day that we were doing a song which was about him. And we hadn't seen him, I don't think, for two years before. That's what's so incredibly... weird about this guy. And a bit disturbing, as well, I mean, particularly when you see a guy, that you don't, you couldn't recognize him. And then, for him to pick the very day we want to start putting vocals on, which is a song about him. Very strange."
None of the band members saw him from that day on until his death in 2006.
The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn (1967) is the only album made under the leadership of founding member Syd Barrett. Syd Barrett was let go from the band on April 6th of 1968 due to his increasing erratic behavior as a result of his ever increasing use of psychedelics and especially LSD. Syd Barrett would go on to produce two albums The Madcap Laughs and Barrett both in 1970. In August of 1974 Barrett was persuaded to go into Abbey Road Studio to hopefully record a third album, the sessions lasted three days. It was after these sessions Syd withdrew from the music industry for good. Barrett died on July 7th of 2006 at his home in Cambridge due to Pancreatic Cancer. There is evidence that Syd Barrett might have suffered from Schizophrenia which was exacerbated due to his heavy use of LSD. Because of that Barrett mental health declined and I don't know if he was ever the same. Syd was a unique and extremely talented guitarist and songwriter. The Pipers At The Gates Of Dawn is one hell of a debut and gave us a glimpse of what might have been from Syd.
Personally my favorite album is and always will be Wish You Were Here and it has to do a lot with David Gilmour and his impeccable guitar playing and the overall quality of the writing (After all he is one of the three biggest influences on my guitar playing next to that of Frank Zappa and Chuck Schuldiner). Not to mention the album is a tribute to founder Syd Barrett
There is one fascinating story about the recording of Wish You Were Here. On June 5th, 1975 the band was in the process of completing the final mix of the song "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" when an overweight man with a shaven head, eyebrows and holding a plastic bag walked into the studio. Band members Roger Water's initially did not recognize him, Richard Wright was perplexed as to who it was and asked Waters if he was a friend of of his to which Roger said no. It was only then that Richard Wright figured out it was Syd Barrett. David Gilmour initially thought it was a member of the EMI staff and Nick Mason failed to recognized who it was until Gilmour realized it was Syd and told Mason who became instantly "horrified". The sight of Syd Barrett in that state reduced Roger Waters to tears. the graphic designer Storm Thorgerson who is well known for creating almost all of Pink Floyd's iconic album covers reflected on Barrett's appearance stating "Two or three people cried. He sat round and talked for a bit but he wasn't really there." As well Richard Wright had this to say about the day in question "Roger was there, and he was sitting at the desk, and I came in and I saw this guy sitting behind him – huge, bald, fat guy. I thought, "He looks a bit... strange..." Anyway, so I sat down with Roger at the desk and we worked for about ten minutes, and this guy kept on getting up and brushing his teeth and then sitting – doing really weird things, but keeping quiet. And I said to Roger, "Who is he?" and Roger said "I don't know." and I said "Well, I assumed he was a friend of yours," and he said "No, I don't know who he is." Anyway, it took me a long time, and then suddenly I realised it was Syd, after maybe 45 minutes. He came in as we were doing the vocals for "Shine On You Crazy Diamond", which was basically about Syd. He just, for some incredible reason picked the very day that we were doing a song which was about him. And we hadn't seen him, I don't think, for two years before. That's what's so incredibly... weird about this guy. And a bit disturbing, as well, I mean, particularly when you see a guy, that you don't, you couldn't recognize him. And then, for him to pick the very day we want to start putting vocals on, which is a song about him. Very strange."
None of the band members saw him from that day on until his death in 2006.
