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The August 10th, 2006, issue (number
1006) of the world renowned magazine Rolling Stone includes a detailed,
two page tribute to Syd Barrett.
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Rolling Stone,
August 10th |
Drawing on past interviews with
his colleagues from Pink Floyd, alongside contemporary comments from
those close to him, the tribute looks at the events of the early days
of the band, until Syd left and went down the route of solo material,
and focuses on the love, the sadness and the regret of those he has
left behind.
In the article, Roger Waters
notes: "What was so stunning about Syd's songs, was through the whimsy
and the crazy juxtaposition of ideas and words, there was a very
powerful grasp of humanity. They were quintessentially human songs. And
that is what I've always attempted to aspire to..."
The sadness of Syd's story is
summed up by David Gilmour's comments: "[Barrett's life] is a sad story
romanticized by people who don't know anything about it. They've made
it fashionable, but it's just not that way."
Andrew King and Peter Jenner, who
managed the band in the early days, look back with fondness for the
man, with some interesting insights into the influences on Syd, and
some of the creative processes - in particular looking at how Syd would
operate the mixing desk with painterly movements of his hands, and also
how he agonized over the lyrics to Arnold Layne for a month.
The magazine is hitting US
shelves now, and is available in a number of countries either as an
import, or in a domestic version. Domestic versions might not all have
the Barrett tribute in them - this depends on the editorial policy of
each region.
Our thanks to Nick Urmston for his help with this story.
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Roger Waters 2007 
