One of the things I love about music is one of the same things I love about life - there's always something new to learn.
Last night I was flipping through the television channels and came across a program on VH1 Classic about Syd Barrett. I'd heard the name before, but since I didn't know anything about the man, I decided to give it a go.
Syd Barrett was one of the founding members of Pink Floyd. As I've gotten older, I've developed an appreciation for Pink Floyd's music, but I wouldn't consider myself a fan. All I know of Pink Floyd is Dave Gilmour and Roger Waters, Dark Side of the Moon and The Wall. Years ago I watched the movie The Wall, but I didn't really get it. That may be because I watched the movie absolutely stone cold sober. In any case, Pink Floyd wasn't too high on my list of faves.
But I was fascinated with Syd Barrett's story. He recorded on the first two Pink Floyd albums and was the band's principle songwriter in the early days. His behavior both on and off the stage became increasingly erratic and he was dismissed from the band in 1968. He released two solo albums, but then retreated into self imposed seclusion for almost 30 years, passing away from either pancreatic cancer or complications from diabetes in 2006, depending on what report you believe.
Syd Barrett was known to have been a heavy LSD user. His family and former band mates also think there were other factors at work in Syd's psyche. There was speculation that he was schizophrenic, or bipolar. It was thought that he had a nervous breakdown. People also wondered if the flashing lights used in Pink Floyd's stage shows, combined with the drugs, could have triggered epileptic-like seizures. It's just amazing to me how many times we keep hearing the same story, only with different character names. Gifted young musician strives for success, achieves it, starts to use drugs, can't handle success they worked so hard for, self implodes.
The list of rock and roll cautionary tales gets longer every day.
No comments:
Post a Comment