Today marks birthday number 52 for Pink Floyd-founder Syd Barrett.
Barrett's LSD-influenced song-writing helped to distinguish
Pink Floyd from the legions of art-rock British bands in the late-'60s and
to influence such artists as Genesis, Roxy
Music and Smashing Pumpkins,
as well as several of today's ambient acts. Barrett first hooked up with
keyboardist Richard Wright, bassist Roger Waters and drummer Nick Mason in
1966, with Barrett taking vocal and guitar duties on their psychedelic versions of
old blues tunes, which the group mostly had played for college students. It
was Barrett who came up with the group's name, a combination of the names
of old bluesmen Pink Anderson and Floyd Council. By 1967, the group became
well-known for their long, psychedelic jams and light shows and even hit the
U.K. charts with "Arnold Lane" and "See Emily Play."
Barrett's continued use of LSD started to get the better of him in 1968, and
the group brought on guitarist David Gilmour to help fill in the blanks.
Barrett only appeared on one track of 1968's A Saucerful of Secrets,
and by 1969 he had fried himself to edge of sanity and right out of Pink
Floyd. Without Barrett at the helm, Pink
Floyd went through a long period of performing psychedelic epics,
eventually going on to become one of the top-grossing rock 'n' roll acts of the '70s
and '80s. Barrett went into seclusion after his burnout but released two
solo albums in the early '70s, Madcap Laughs and Barrett. In
1975, Pink Floyd released Wish You Were Here as a tribute to their
former frontman; it included the song "Shine On You Crazy Diamond."
Other birthdays: Kim Wilson (Fabulous Thunderbirds), 47; Kathie Sledge
(Sister Sledge), 39; Jazzie B. (Soul II Soul), 35; and Mark O'Toole (Frankie
Goes To Hollywood), 34.
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