When I was an animator, I’d listen to music to keep focus. After about a decade songs got irritating and repetitive; improv jams and formless explorations like this were what I’d rely on as ambience. Like classical music, it takes a while to learn to listen. Friends would just hear noise; I heard music that travels places. It reminds me of hiking a new trail or riding a bike through a strange city.
For years this was said to be "20 minutes of percussion." It's a whole lot more than that. It's Syd's free jazz masterpiece. How in the world did they ignore this and Opel back in the day?
Nobody on this planet could do with a guitar what Syd could. This is a fragmented masterpiece that you couldn't possibly fit into any timeline by listening to it.
This is a 1968 studio jam of Syd Barrett with Soft Machine. It's 20 minutes of those guys playing with and off each other all together at the same time. It's a band performance, not a solo recording. The notion that it could be Syd on every instrument (besides percussion) is highly unlikely. Sure, there are overdubs to enhance the track. But Barrett's frame of mind was not focused enough to diligently overdub the whole 20-minute piece four or more times to get bass, guitars, keyboards and sound effects. No. It didn't happen. This isn't one of those boy-genius solo recordings, it's a group. Steve Took is playing percussion, as widely reported (the only credit given besides Syd). But it's Robert Wyatt on drums and Mike Ratledge on keyboards. The bass and guitars are Syd Barrett, Kevin Ayers and Hugh Hopper. I'm not sure which one is playing which instrument. I lean toward it being Syd on bass, at least at first, because that instrument takes so much of the lead. And there's some similar sounding bass on his final session (8-12-74). But if so, it changes to Hugh Hopper later when the bass playing gets so much more adept. The guitar parts are more "thrown in". It was revisited and mixed in early 1969. After the track was recorded it wasn't hard to add touches throughout, which Syd and Ratledge applied. There's a 2nd guitar in places. There are weird backwards tape moments, panning, add-on sound effects, mellotron, vibes, and other psychedelia. It's a cool track. Made not in the least less significant by not being solo but being a collaboration between Syd Barrett and Soft Machine, two legends of Brit Psychedelic music. Can't help but hear echoes of "Sing This All Together (See What Happens)".
What can i say, i agree with GC Sound Artifacts reply; and it is so obvious just from listening, that it's the Soft's at work here with Syd and the others. i've heard that the Soft Machine were asked to help out because they could cope with Syd's varying tempo's and timings. Listening to the songs that were released they do a brilliant job.
agreed.. some people reach very (baby) strange conclusions on how this instrumental take was recorded...iiwii really does sound like the late 60s Soft Machines keyboardist Mike Ratledge pounding on the organ..not sure about the piano player tho
Even if it was at all known for a fact that it’s the members of Soft Machine playing (which I’m fairly sure it’s not), it still makes sense Syd Barrett would be the credited artist. Like there’s a shit ton of albums where even though it’s a whole band playing free form improv it’s only credited to one artist (there are several by Ornette Coleman and Sun Ra for examples). Even though it’s a jam, Syd Barrett is still acting as bandleader and it was during sessions for his album, also I’m sure it was assumed by everyone involved with the song that Syd would be the sole attributed artist
The cover image is really smart.. Its actually a collection of Syd's songs, on the right is "See Emily play", on the left is "bike" and around the masked man there are "Apples and Oranges" even the masked man can either Syd himself or his song ""Clowns and Jugglers"
@@Kowasi "you were caught in the crossfire of childhood and stardom" : planes/bears = childhood top hat /mask = Arnold Layne Vid. Sam could be in the basket or up the tree ;-)
+Kowasi The teddy bear is reportedly a reference to a heavy acid trip Syd Barrett had with a group of friends, including Storm Thorgerson (who did the cover here). Everyone apparently saw Syd dancing around as a teddy bear while on it, and Syd supposedly became withdrawn following the trip.
I forgot where I read it, but I have frequented the Syd Barrett groups on FB, and talked to ex friends and girlfriends of his that knew him. Somewhere along the way, someone posted about that trip. I think it may have actually been a post from the Men on the Border page. They go really deep into Syd’s history, and have lots of long posts dedicated towards dispelling rumors and myths about Syd, and digging up facts about why things happened the way they happened.
despite what you might read in the comments soft machine did not play on this..by their own admission they were first contacted by barrett after a gig they did at the hundred club in london in march 1969 and were booked by barrett to do one session on the 3rd may 1969 overdubbing the barrett tracks 'clowns and jugglers','no good trying',and 'love you'....this track is from june 8th 1968-much earlier-at that time the ayers line up of soft machine was busy touring the states and hugh hopper had yet to join soft machine
So is it just Syd and Took? Someone pointed out that it wouldn’t be likely for Syd to have gone and overdubbed the track loads of times to add the effects plus guitars and mellotron (assuming that’s him playing bass), unless it was done at a later time like when they did all those overdubs for the Madcap Laughs songs he did in ‘68?
This is a collaboration Syd Barrett did with his friend Steve Peregrin Took, former percussionist with Tyrannosaurus Rex. Steve was also a backing vocalist for a session with David Bowie.
I think that's pretty fair assessment of where Roger was at once Syd was out of the picture and PF was his. Suddenly Syd's contributions were almost entirely cut from Saucerful and they've all said they dropped Syd's songs from the live set pretty quickly bc even though they weren't too confident in writing without him, they had to move on & find their own sound. Sure, but then Waters made quite a career out of playing up Syd's "madness" (of being an artist and not wanting to do endless repetitive music & performances, so omg he must be craaaazy). Gilmour was pretty adamant about getting Syd back to making music & paid for Syds solo recordings out of his own pocket, got the rest of the musicians together, played on em, mixed them, made sure Syd got included on compilations and got his royalties for decades, & still seems the most affected, but then Syd & Dave were the childhood friends who learned to play guitar together & traveled on their own pre-floyd. So I think I give DG & to a slightly lesser extent Rick Wright the credit for making the effort with him, especially as challenging as his sprawling free-form compositions were to record. But Waters...
Syd is truly verily rare that the mainstream music industry can't make room for bcoz his music lacks the common commercial value but as only time can tell, his creative juice is now better absorbed & appreciated, aleluah!
Syd knew how to make hits. The 1965 sessions proved he had bangers, and “Arnold Layne” and “See Emily Play” were bangers, too. “Piper” had a good number of them as well. That’s what got the album to chart so high in the UK, despite grouping them together with extremely experimental instrumentals. It simply got to a point where Syd saw the music industry for what it really was. He hated the lack of control, and being labeled a sell-out by the audiences he originally played to, while his new audiences who loved “See Emily Play” disrespected the band’s instrumentals. The record label kept milking him, and for him, enough was enough. But of course, if he wanted to, and without any pressure, he was easily capable of writing commercial songs.
I don't think anyone mentioned "In Islam, Ramadan is a holy month of fasting, introspection and prayer". Syd was advanced and he was 2 free to be Pink or Floyd. This astonishing music reminds me of "Bitches Brew". Miles and Syd had a lot in common and a lot different. It took a lot of alcohol, "girl n boy", n psychedelics to make bitches brew not to mention exposure to 19 y.o. Betty Davis and not much older Hendrix. Difference is Miles had a recording contract, an international following and sidemen. Syd is the best part of Floyd cause he was so free and such a changeling! Thank you Willyam St Jean! ~~*
Unfortunately, Sid was an "acid casualty" which means he had the genius, but not the stamina, nor the discipline to be anything more than an "inspiration" later in life, or maybe not----given how he lived and died in obscurity. While an interesting character, his music doesn't age well, nor is it particularly inspiring to enough people to even know who he was. This rambling mess he recorded is best left alone.
@@jamesdaniel2363 Another ridiculous proposition which is spouted every time Syd is recognised for what he truly was. People like you are the reason he died in obscurity; people who are far too uninteresting and talentless.
The mighty syd barrett strikes again! I heard that this was just percussion and random bits of nothing slapped together but I knew better and decided to check it out, glad I did. How tf did something as awesome as this get written of like its nothing special?
This sums up my psychedelic neurons left in my brain 🧠 im 55, piper was always my go to plus madcap, im intoverted and recluse just as l immagined it to be. Thank you for this beautifully memorie. Peace to you all, wish you were here right now sipping on mushroom tea 🍵 ❤
Wonderful previously unreleased track! Typically, I notice that most people (incl. ROLLING STONE magazine) dismissed it, when it was first available as a free download for the "AN INTRODUCTION TO SYD BARRETT" album. But what were they talking about?!? This track ranks with the best of Pink Floyd's early improvisational material. Listen to that bass guitar, which I initially supposed to be Roger Waters at some his best, only to learn that it's apparently Syd himself playing it! And listen to that mellotron, after the 11-minute mark! It sounds like either he time-traveled into the future to jam with Autechre (my favorite experimental electronic group), or else they time-traveled back into the past to jam with him!
Conga played by Steve Peregrin Took during the recording sessions in May 1968. He had to keep his involvement in this session secret because Marc wouldn't have liked him 'moonlighting' for others while in Tyrannosaurus Rex. This is why it wasn't until recently when his identity was confirmed.
Hi Marc wouldn't approve because as you say Syd was Marc's 'hero' so as Marc considered Took to be secondary to him Took's identity was kept hidden so Marc wouldn't feel snubbed by his 'lesser' getting to play with his hero.
Actually, there wasn't a "bitter feud" as you put it +psychedelicpiper. When they met at Boston Gliderdome they hugged. They met a number of times before Bolan's death and Took was distraught when he heard Bolan had died. It was a clash of egos certainly, Took was writing songs and wanted the duo to perform some of his songs. Needless to say Bolan was having none of it and as Bolan was the one who was financially outward looking band member compared to Took whose 'underground' ethics were less commercial the management sided with Bolan - and so Took was sacked prior to the US Tour, but was forced to go on it as the contracts were already signed for Tyrannosaurus Rex as "Bolan and Took".
The wait was worth it. The fidelity of the recording alone fully elucidates the performances. All that is left is to work out who is playing what - so much personality.
It sounds like great impressions of Lalo Schifrin doing Dirty Harry incidental and Fred Karlin doing Westworld chase music before either of them actually surfaced, it's great.
Marc Bolan loved and admired Syd and his poetic mind,would sit in on his jam sessions in total admiration . . I'm sure he'd have been ok with Took on percussion for this piece
My goodness that's good..my jack russell pal is called Syd and he is is so talented.I really missed Roger Barrett from the Pink Floyd and no guys he was Roger Barrett RIP Syd x
its sad that its taken years after his death that people are finally starting to see the truth about Syd and pink Floyd . I remember years ago when I first got into Pink Floyd the whole thing seemed weird to me but every time I would point it out the community of fans would just "lol Syds crazy" and dismiss it. as I read more and more i understood pretty much what happened as i imagine most do now thanks to the internet.
Personally I think Syd seriously actively prevented it. Now that he is dead we can intrude and celebrate an artist who made three architects into musicians. It took another 3 decades to make them artists. His sister is glad too and said he would not have liked it. I guess there is a lot of truth in that artists don't get their appreciation till after they die.
Lol, I was terrified of Syd when I was a child. Now he just seems too good to be true. He's the only musician in the British psychedelic scene that could compete with the BIG Psychedelic bands of USA, like Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, The Doors and The Jimi Hendrix Experience. Too sad that he is sometimes neglected, one of the most brilliant minds in the history of Rock Music, for sure.
This is brilliant. I think it’s possible that part of Syd’s decision making was he was a true artist and wanted to get away from the hype. This is music at its best.
in my younger days I listened to madcap laughs and barret albums on LSD and they sounded great! but dip (drug induced psychosis) is a sad,sad, nasty thing that can happen to anyone if they are not cateful
Yes but his solo music is amazing. And yes you can hear him start to become more and more withdrawn as he sometimes would forget lyrics and get a bit lost but the music is genius in my opinion. Some of the best lyrics I've ever heard. It's more like poetry.
@@bruce369able I was impressed. Nick Mason gave a sincere tribute to Syd Barrett “without whom we wouldn’t be here” and they played with enthusiasm. But it was a tribute band rather than something completely original.
Zetetik - yeah chocolate's cool..... though probably not that one what with it being so near the sun an all. But hot chocolate can be cool as well ........ mmmmmmmm chocolate!!
What a shame this masterpiece is no longer available to buy. Edit: having RU-vid as the sole source for it isn't too bad though. Sounds great to these ears at double speed (the bike sounds ferocious) and also at a quarter speed (the soundtrack to an unreleased Kubrick film set in deep space).
Many Floyd fans and music lovers in general sometimes ask something like "how Pink Floyd would sound along it's career if Syd stayed as the band's frontman and creative leader?" I think they would go in a way similar to this style...and far beyond. Much more.
So much that has already been told about Syd and it's easy to believe it when you know what decade he created his music in! The man was a genre all his own and will always be talked about like a creepy painting you'd find in the attic of an old rundown house! Or maybe they could make a really good motion picture about him and tell the music world who gave birth to Pink Floyd and not who made one album and disappeared! Who knows maybe they will! Who could play Syd? 💎
@@5jerry1 That's my wishful thinking if you will. If Syd had stayed in the band a bit longer, this could have been his solo contribution to the Ummagumma studio project.
That could have been the best Pink Floyd album cover yet! Is it a Hipgnosis picture? Haven't even come close to reading all of the comments, but some interesting prespective from what I have read! Maybe this has already been discussed. Didn't know this existed, but I've been a big Floyd/Soft Machine fan since the early 70s. Great stuff!
It’s the cover to the “Introduction to Syd Barrett” compilation that David Gilmour executive produced, and which features a few remixes of Syd’s tracks. Unfortunately, “Rhamadan” was a download-only track which has since expired. I really wish they’d release “Rhamadan” as a Record Store Day exclusive, at least. And yes, the album cover’s by Storm.
@@andreazavareei6548 Very digitally compressed, though, a victim of the loudness wars. I got a copy, just to check the waveforms. The iTunes bonus track is the best-sounding source for this track.
oh my grud! if only he"d finished it !! the vision here is amazin , puddin ! Quick fixers -fuk off --- true believers - listen + imagine....what would his vocals + lyrics b like ???? its a paintin
I'm not certain that this was to have lyrics. Most likely going in a sort of return to interstellar direction. From what I've gathered it could also have been called innerstellar.
Actually, Barrett is doing something similiar to what Zappa did with the Mothers of Invention, prompting the other musicians with his rhythm guitar and pointing the direction of the piece. I site "King Kong" on side 4 of "Uncle Meat" as an example. This even applies to the episodes of complete musical abandon and anarchy. And don't forget that both the Stones and Floyd were impacted by "Freak Out" and "Absolutely Free". There is very little in the way of melody in Syd's playing. He's more involved with rhythm and timbre like his idol Varese.
+routeoz02 I think they were heavily influenced by the beatles too. All that 'for the benefit of mr kite' type stuff! People even spoke weirdly in those days.. sort of a cross between tommy steele and bbc radio broadcasters.. keith moon, classic example.
There’s a sequence on an early Floyd/Syd playlist I’ve curated that has Lanky, Pt. 1, Rhamadan, Sysyphus Pt. 3, and the John Latham tracks 1-9 in one section. I’d love to sample Lanky, Pt. 2 and slot it into the sequence as well.
Here we do taste melodic contours known and loved by Hindus, but there is also an absolutely new harmonic material which brings us prisms, clusters of chords, light chimes and tinkling of garlands. What strikes first of all in this music is, on the one hand, the penetrating charm of the harmonic aggregations and, on the other hand the absolute clarity of the intervals 🔥🕊
