Forgotten Fretmasters #18 - Syd Barrett [SPECIAL EDITION] 

I’ve been a big Syd fan for most of my life, this was really well done. But more importantly, it was done with the utmost respect to Syd’s humanity and spirit…a very big thanks 🙏

Madcap Laughs and Barrett were masterpieces, just like The Piper at the Gates of the Dawn!

I've seen every film there is on Syd and this is easily the most thoughtful and respectful, well done.

Dude, I’m a huge Syd freak. It’s rare I watch something about him anymore and learn something I hadn’t heard before. Well researched, well presented, well done! A+!!!

Admittedly without any evidence. The nickname Syd possibly comes from the English working class comedian Sid James. He was very popular in the 60's and often wore a flat cap.

Unforgettably fretmaster. Great songwriter, guitarist and visionary. The book An Irregular Head is absolutely fantastic at dispelling most of Barrett’s myths. Thanks for posting.

I always admired the way Pink Floyd and especially David Gilmore never tried to erase Barrett’s influence from the band in the way other bands did to band mates who left for similar reasons (Brian Jones and the Stones) You can always tell Gilmore was devastated that Barrett left and honoured him in his music as well as collaborate with him in his solo work. Amazing video

syd will never be forgotten.

Those bad trips were his warnings, likely getting louder each time. The day the door slipped closed and locked behind him, all was conspicuously quiet. Poor kid. It sucks, it's a damned heavy story, and it haunted everything they ever did.

Probably the best “documentary” on Syd that I’ve ever seen…keep up the great work on this terrific series!

I love Syd Barrett RIP 🎸 THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THIS VIDEO! Very well done

I've been a Floyd phan for 50 years, and it's cool to have this historical perspective on Syd Barrett, and the band. An MKUltra connection? Hmmm... It's possible, but not very likely. Thank you, and... nice use of special video effects.

I first heard See Emily play in 1966 in my cousins bedroom! Loved it. I became a total obsessed fan once Set the Controls for the heart of the sun. Loved Sids sound but fell in love with Gilmour and his dreamy guitar and voice. Saw Floyd in Baltimore in 1971. Then in Pittsburgh for Dark Side of the Moon. Always their music is a flowing ribbon is my life.

"...come on you raver, you seer of visions come on you painter, you piper, you prisoner, and shine.."

I don't think there's another figure in rock history that continually captures the imagination of rock n roll fans young and old than Syd. I absolutely adore the man, its crazy how much his story has still remained a huge part of Floyds legacy even after all they've accomplished without him. He obviously had a profound impact on the lives of the band members. Bless Gilmour for helping him get them solo albums together.

Thanks for this. Syd blew my mind way back in 1967 when I bought 'The Piper at the Gates of Dawn' as a 13 year old. His music is still great

1967 saw my first exposure to Pink Floyd when Arnold Layne with the songs ethereal sound, a somewhat plaintiff sound perhaps, came out of the cowshed radio on the farm where I had escaped to get a break from the destructive life of a late teen city kid. Three songs stick as being a pastiche from that time: The Blues Magoos - You ain't seen nothin' yet, Gimme Some Lovin' - Spencer Davis Group and Arnold Layne - Pink Floyd. All three have been included in every play list, dubbed onto a music cassette, CDR and latter a USB drive, music that even now continues to be the sound track to my life.

Syd Barrett and Peter Green were two of my favourite guitarists with sad stories.

There is a story of Syd turning up at a friend of his sister's place of work one day who i think was a solicitor back in the 90s and playing a guitar The story was told by a ex Radio one DJ called Nicky Campbelll who knew Syd's sister at the time Apparently Syd turned up one afternoon to this guys office but the chap was called out of the room not long after Syd turned up and he was left in the office for some 15 minutes on his own Now its said that when the chap came back in the room Syd was playing a guitar that was in the room but as soon as syd saw the bloke enter the room he dropped the guitar like a stone and then left the room.

I loved Syds solo albums; they managed to capture some gems. I gobbled up everything Syd Barrett all the way through college smoking “pot”. Great music. The more I have grown , the more I understand Roger. Bless his heart & his good friends who helped assure him an income in retirement.

great video for a genius...SYD BARRETT FOREVER !!! @ best regards from Italy... @

This was beautifully done. As much as I've seen and read, this was everybit as enjoyable if not more Thanks

Excellent Jason! Thanks for your hard work! Rest in peace Syd...

This document goes a long way to pinning down Mr B. After all, we are all stuck in a world that's not of our own making...

Well done sir, most people don't realize how ground breaking and influential Syd was.

This is the most in depth story of Syd Barrett I've ever seen and I've seen alot. Great job.

Thank you very much ❤️. I didn’t expect I would cry when he died in 2006. But his poetical influence on me was huge in the 90's, he just showed me there's no limits in the way one could express his thoughts at all. So I felt devastated to my own surprise. It appeared he meant that much to me. The man, who stopped writing even before I was born, in fact.

I met a muso who knew Pink Floyd in the 60's. He said they were all upper class, haughty and arrogant, except for Sid who was great. Really talkative, sweet guy.

How have i never gotten this channel recommended?? This is 110% MY BAG

That was a beautiful video and very respectful towards Syd.

Syd was my obsession since around 1970 when I first heard The Madcap laughs, I was hooked.

Your video is more in depth than all those "Official" primetime documentaries. Well done and thank you!

I learned something new. Thank you!

That was a very sweet and sympathetic telling of Syd's tale. I thought the eerie interludes of distorted light and sound were a brilliant metaphor for his descent into chaos. Really outstanding and artistic work on this video! 👍

Informative and tasteful....good job.

I love Syd I’m a huge fan of him RIP Syd ❤

Great doc! Very informative, I learned much about Syd Barrett and Pink Floyd. Thank you!

That was excellent. Aside from not commenting on the Jugband Blues video which is an unknown story in itself and a real indication of where Syd was at at the time and how he saw himself. (I’ve been unable to find any info on this video, like who directed, who did the lighting etc and how much Syd himself decided.) Your videos are always superb in your selection of imagery and this one really had some great images, many that I hadn’t seen before and I’ve seen so many. Great, respectful documentary.

There are some artists whom, after hearing them for the first time, you know you'll never be the same again. Syd was definitely one of those artists. Getting acquainted with his work led me to see both lyrics and music in a whole new light. Drugs aside, I doubt he would have stayed in the music business anyway. There's so much about that machine which was simply against his nature.

people claim Syd was going crazy because he would change up songs every take on his solo albums... in most forms of music improvising is given great praise... the song had been around since the dawn of time so perhaps Syd thought it was time to improvise the song and change it up on the fly without informing his bandmates, with the theory being these are songs not complex compositions so maybe the other fellas could keep up just like in a jazz band or jammin rock band... as someone who loves hard rock music and psychedelics and riding my bicycle and cats that first pink floyd album is pretty gosh darn freakin awesome, with Syd's vocals being just timeless... fax!!!

This is your BEST episode yet.

A very respectful and wonderful retrospective on Syd! The best I've seen yet!!

RELICS will always be my favorite Pink Floyd album I still have it today and is a weekly go to .

Amazing video !!! Really deep and well documented with interesting info !! Cheers from South America !!

Syd Barrett's innovative contribution to Psychedelic Pop/Rock was his use of Glissando in tandem with the Binson Echorec which he debuted on the introduction to "See Emily Play"!

wonderful episode. thanks!

Boy is this ever informative & entertaining... Well done!!

Thank you for your time and effort. This was very well done and I greatly appreciate your time.

I know a teacher from Cambridge who occasionally sat and talked to Syd, he would chat about most things but never ever talked about Pink Floyd or music. A gifted genius, a lost sole, an innovator. Shine on Syd.

Thanks for an awesome video!

Simply excellent. Thank you!

incredible. An interesting, different video about Syd. Love it. Thanks

Well done Things I would have never known ! My hat off to you !! These videos mean so very much to me

Great job on this!! You did your research, for sure. The beauty of a clear and perfect moment in time, shines through to all of us. This is proof that one person can change the world, and forever Syd's sparkle continues to emanate like the sun's shimmer of waves on the water.

Great work Guitar Historian, loved it. Syd was and always will be a great influence on me. Something about his writing style is both wonderfully knowing and forever curious, guiding and yet totally free.

Wow ! that was fantastic, Thank You. many don't know the genius that Syd was.

Great video with great information. Thank you!

Well done! Exceptional documentary of Syd…thank you so much!!!

Best, most in-depth review of Syd's life and career I've seen.

Thank you. Your presentation was the best I've seen about Barrett. You made it clear. There was a life of Syd, then a life of Roger Barrett. Syd was a great artist. Roger was at peace.

I thought that it was me!!! Whenever this video would just stop and go into a trance!!!? I already taste colors and see sounds!!!!!!?Lol God bless you all today 🙏 Shalom

This was the best documentary i have had yet to see on Syd Barrett. Very respectful and insightful. Thanks man.

Well done, sir. This was eminently respectful to Syd/Roger and his family, as well as informative.

Very well done sir! A really thoughtful and respectful overview of a remarkable and enigmatic man. Thank you GH.

Very informative and respectful. Well done!

I love Syd

Great job on this documentary!! Reallky important to see the humanity behind the music.........

Pink Floyd The Epitome Of Music with or without Syd. (SHINE ON 💎) 🎼☮️🇨🇦👊 🌗

Well done, sir. Thank you

Jugband blues is one of the most haunting, yet beautiful songs I've ever heard. Basically him saying "I'm completely aware of everything that's happening, but there's nothing I can do to change it."

Thank you Jason. Sad but true and he will be missed.

Excellent ! Thank you

Very well done man. We learned a lot, as always. Keep up the good work!

Syd was a special artist and musician. He was an important obstetrician for a great band. I think he did everything right. thanks for your video...

Merci beaucoup for this excellent video. Your video techniques were a great complement to the content and the life of Syd.

EXCELLENT! VERY INTERESTING AND INFORMATIVE DOCUMENTARY.

Thank you very much for this!

Great show, very sensitive. Thanks.

Syd we will meet at the gate of the dawn.

A wonderful overview of a singularly creative and influential person. Loads of not widely known informative details here that belie your dedication and respect for the subject. Thanks for the lead on Mason's book - must check it out for sure. Cheers

Very well done!! Kudos!!

Excellent video - thank you. I'd heard a lot of the content from other sources previously, but your presentation of the whole story was better than any tv programme.

Very sad situation. Very sad.

More information in this doc than all like 10 or so I’ve tried watching and the hour long interviews with the band members and his sister interview. Good work here

A really well researched and presented documentary, I've never seen some of those photos!

I have a couple of theories about Syd, the first is : In the weekend Syd went missing, some people reported that Syd's friends would put LSD, mandrax and other stuff on Syd's drinks without him knowing it. After this incident as Wright said, Syd was physically the same, except for one of his eyes, that once bright and full of life now displays a "dead look". This made Syd write "Dark Globe" which is a reference of this incident and one of the main inspirations for The Darkside of The Moon and The wall Check this live DSTM 72 show : ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-HIGuTCY--xc.html Right at the beginning at 1:10 The second, Syd released 3 solo albums: 1 - The madcap laughs 2 - Barrett 3 - Opel The last album's title track "Opel" is a description of the gemstone called Opal, which is know for its color play. This album was recorded in 68-70 but only released in 1988 Isnt it weird that Pink Floyd released a album displaying this exact color play on their cover art for DSTM ?

superb! a must watch.

Great job, Jason! Very enjoyable.

Another good forgotten fretmaster! A highschool classmate of mine was really into floyd. He was an old soul. Hippy somewhat. He always seemed high and spaced out but super passionate about music. He would give me all of these floyd cassettes he and his dad made. My sophmore year 1990 he brought me madcap laughs and said this is my dads and it's Syd's solo album. Enjoy. Oh and make sure you bring it back! I remember listening to it thinking this dude is out there! But I liked it though. I didn't want to give it back lol so he made me a copy. Keep in mind NOBODY I knew at our school was listening to this stuff. A few years back I found out my classmate had been shot and killed. Such a cool guy. He would say he was on a mission to deliver floyd to me properly. I never got to say thanks. Job well done and thanks Pat. RIP

That was a great show, indeed. Great research on Syd's life and musical career throughout the years. However, I just want to mention that there was one little mistake: "Effervescing Elephant" appeared not on the first, but on the second album, "Barrett". Also, I missed mentioning some interesting obscure facts about Syd and Pink Floyd: his interest in free-improvisation came from watching performances of the ensemble AMM, taking some of his chops from Keith Rowe, a pioneer of prepared guitar. He and the band even made a soundtrack to an experimental movie by the painter who was responsible for Floyd's first psychedelic light shows: John Latham (and it only surfaced in the box set "The Early Years 1965-1972"). (Someone at RU-vid put that soundtrack along with Latham's movie here: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-FBMor-V2HXA.html .) Barrett's last songs with Pink Floyd were "Vegetable Man", "Scream Thy Last Scream" and "Jugband Blues"; only the third would appear in their second album, the first two ones were deemed as a disturbing material, too telling about Syd's state of mind - but their studio recordings appeared in the boxset I've mentioned. That's all. :) More than a musician, Barrett was a composer and poet who was truly gifted by his vision as a painter. His most brilliant guitar playing came out as soundscapes, specially in "Interstellar Overdrive". His use of slide guitar and Echoplex was pioneering, innovative and groundbreaking. No wonder why how much he became so influential... Thanks for detailing the tragedy of his life; he indeed had two deaths, as you mentioned in the video. Keep up the great work!

Great history here... Learned quite a few things from this👏👏

Excellent well produced and your presentation spot on of this true legend! Thanx ❤

I’m liking some of the presentation changes. Another great one, man!

This is the most I’ve learned about Barrett to date. Very well researched and presented. Good stuff.

Very thorough and informative, well done.

Very interesting. I used to see Syd quite often in his last few years. Never spoke to him - it was obvious he didn't want the interaction - but I'd see him pushing his bike, going in and out of his usual stores, always a newspaper rolled up in his coat pocket. It was as if the rest of us were ghosts - that was how he looked at (or rather, through) people.

Easily the best take on Syd I've ever heard. Thank you, brother.

Love his playing.

very well done

Awesome Thank you