Syd Barrett: The Genius Who Almost Was
It was only a few months back that a friend told me he’d seen Syd Barrett drifting down Charing Cross Road, looking in guitar shops. His hair was long again, and he was back to wearing his old snakeskin boots. Such a revelation may not mean much to a lot of you, but to hard-core Pink Floyd fanatics, even the possibility of his return is cause enough for celebration.
It was only a few months back that a friend told me he’d seen Syd Barrett drifting down Charing Cross Road, looking in guitar shops. His hair was long again, and he was back to wearing his old snakeskin boots. Such a revelation may not mean much to a lot of you, but to hard-core Pink Floyd fanatics, even the possibility of his return is cause enough for celebration. Barrett — the guitarist/songwriter who shaped the early image of Pink Floyd through such vehicles as “Arnold Layne,” “See Emily Play” and “Interstellar Overdrive” — p had been in his post-Floyd obscurity the object of a cult-level adoration; a genius ; who almost was.
He flashed back briefly last year, forming a band called Stars with Twink, the midly notorious ex-drummer of such luminaries as Tomorrow, the Pretty Things and Pink Fairies, and some bashful nonentity known as Syd Monk on "bass. The ill-fated Stars lasted long enough for one gig: a one-off venue in Cambridge, backing up the MC5.
