Following the sad news of the dead of Syd Barrett last Friday, more tributes have been paid to the Pink Floyd founder.

Syd and Roger Waters, 196

The first of these came from Queen guitarist, Brian May, who posted on his website that he was "very sad to hear this. I never met Syd, but "The Piper at the Gates of Dawn" will always be one of the most evocative albums of all time for me. It will always bring back images of .....all the things I glimpsed but didn't quite understand as a young teenager, dazzled by the explosive birth of Psychedelia, the mysteries and delicious promises of a quality of spiritual life undreamed of by our parents ... Syd Barrett somehow encapsulated all that in this amazing tapestry of songs ...

"Very sad that he is gone. I hope, deep down, he felt the warmth of what he gave us ... I will go and dream to Interstellar Overdrive ... RIP Syd. Thank you."

Elsewhere, former Rainbow and Deep Purple singer Joe Lynn Turner told Launch Radio Networks, "I don't know anyone that loved Pink Floyd that wasn't influenced in some way by Barrett's presence and songwriting. He was a big voice in the band, although he was always overshadowed by the others. He was a true original, and there will never be another one like him again. He will be truly missed."

Former Ozzy Osbourne bassist Bob Daisley told Launch, "His situation reminds me of Brian Jones's with the Rolling Stones. In my opinion, without either of them, Brian and Syd, I think there would not have been a Stones or a Floyd as we know them. Brian was probably there to welcome him into the place where the good musicians go, bless 'em both."

The Beach Boys Bruce Johnston, who did some of the vocal arrangements on "The Wall", added "Syd Barrett dreamed up the 'roots' path for Pink Floyd to 'fill out' in future amazing albums. We might not have had 'The Wall' and 'The Dark Side Of The Moon' had it not been for Syd's early Pink Floyd musical contributions."

Our thanks to Arash Danesh for this info.

The band Ween have also paid tribute to the legendary Syd Barrett on Thursday (July 13th), covering "Dark Globe" in their show on that night. Pink Floyd have long been an influence on Ween, and Storm Thorgeson designed the cover for their "The Mollusk" album. Our thanks to Bill H for this.

Our friend Tim Willis, author of "Madcap: The Half-Life of Syd Barrett, Pink Floyd's Lost Genius" has been in touch. He has posted some drawings that Syd did as a teenager, some of which are reproduced for the first time, on TheFirstPost.co.uk.

In the accompanying article, titled "Lost sketches of a crazy diamond", Willis talks in depth about Barrett's interest in the visual arts from an early age. The drawings are from Barrett's letters and sketchbooks of the period. Many of the letters belong to Barrett's ex-girlfriends, who have given Willis permission to share them with the Floyd community.

Our friends Wendy and Freddy Bannister, legendary concert promoter - especially the Knebworth Festivals in the 1970s, has kindly scanned in the full report from the Cambridge Evening News of the sad loss of Syd. CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD the Zip file.

BOOK OF CONDOLENCE

With many fans wishing to mark their own respects to Barrett, and share their thoughts and prayers, we have set up an online "Book Of Condolence" in response to this, and in conjunction with our sister site A Fleeting Glimpse. If you wish to add your comments, or read those of others, click here to visit it.

There are some lovely, touching tributes to him there, and the Barrett family are being given the details of this book of condolence. It should be a comfort to them in this time of loss to see the love and respect of fans worldwide. Please can you therefore keep all comments respectful, and relevent to a book of condolence. It is NOT a forum for discussion or criticism of anything or anybody. Any posts that the moderator deems inappropriate WILL be edited or deleted.