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John, as I’ve told you on the Birdie Hop forum, these long form interviews which you did nearly 20 years ago are essential first-person documents. The Barrett community is so grateful for your contributions!
Dear John Jack was very unassuming as we see in this interview. We all were. There was no expectation of there being anything other than being in the moment with the freedom to play music. Unfortunately, the vibe from those who were more Biz minded was not unassuming. With the combination of Billing and Music hacks, history got out of hand and expectation was running high. Low key gigs that went before this worked into the ether but this one fell at the first hurdle. When we walked into the dressing room Syd seemed to freeze. He asked Twink why he was wearing, 'that Jacket?' He had on some kind of pink jacket ... but Syd may have been having some kind of a flashback I think and it was pretty obvious he was unsettled ... I had seen him do this before. With eyes wide shut, he'd withdrawn and it seemed he was crashing out yet, he went on stage. It was heartbreaking to see ... Thanks for the interview... no matter who it is, when reading between the lines, everyone is deeply touched .... Very best Jenny
Thank you so much Jenny for contributing your very moving and deep insights. Your account is an important corrective to those who had no emotional investment, just a narrow music biz interest. It’s clear that the Corn Exchange gig was devastating for all those who cared for Syd and his precarious state of mind.
Jennifer Gentle you’re a witch! I’ve read about you for years. I cannot tell you how much I love Syd. Is Peter Whitehead still alive? What do you think truly happened to Syd?
It's a pleasure and an honor to drop a little line to you Jennifer and I have always wanted a girlfriend that looked like you, I hope that doesn't offend you I'm just a little nervous and stumbling over my words. ☺️🤭🤗
Dear Jenny @jspires9216 , you seem to be one of the only people who truly cared about Syd. It seems like he was surrounded by vultures a lot of the time, which makes sense in that industry but also because of his charismatic personality. I have a daughter with high-functioning autism (Asperger's), and it seems to me from everything I've read about Syd, he had this condition and that's what contributed to his 'odd' behaviour. In those years it was nearly impossible to get diagnosed for such a thing, hence everyone's generalized misinterpretation of his antics. Do you believe that to be the case, possibly? I hope you don't mind me asking (and even if you'll ever see this, but will still try), did the I-Ching have anything to do with his return home and not wanting to be a part of the 'scene' anymore? Thank you and sending you my sincere respect, Andy
Can't remember, was this the lady that said Roger ended up looking all right? But that one paragraph was more insightful than some full interviews on Syds brain. If music made Syd see a colour, maybe seeing a colour made him 'hear' something? I can see why Dave kind of goes back on forth on Syd's 'intentions' versus his mental state. But Roger may have hit it on the head when he says that drugs can only hurt a brain with ANY kind of 'deviation' for lack of a better word. The more interviews I see on Pink Floyd the more 'madness' seems to naturally arise from celebrity. And maybe from having too much time on your hands. I think thats why my dads motto was "less thinking, more working, the think comes out in the work".
This is mythological to me and I got to thank you for this interview! There’s so very little talked of Syds time with Stars/The Last Minute Put Together Boogie Band and its mind bending to hear for someone that was actually there and in person nonetheless thank you!!
My uncle played a gig at the Roundhouse where Pink Floyd was headlining. He found the band to be rather (stand) off’ish, with the notable exception of Syd, who just wanted to talk and play music backstage with anyone and everyone.
I was around at the ‘What’s In A Name’ shop on Union Road for a few months. Must have been 1971. Twink lived there for some time. Steve Brink’s house was part of the shop. He was a very laid-back guy. Sadly, I never met Syd, or Jack at the time. From what I heard the gig they did at The Perse School was a very good performance, although that is never mentioned. Shame Melody Maker wasn’t at that one instead. Amazing to think that Syd’s first ever live performance was in March 1962 and virtually ten years later to the day, Syd made his last ever live performance as a member of a band.
This gem of an interview showed up in my feed. What a wonderful insight into this part of Syd's life from someone who was there. Also, I thought this was David Gilmour giving the interview at first. You have a very similar voice to his (at least to my humble American ears). Thank you for sharing this John!
Wonderful, thank you so much yet again John. I was almost feeling slightly disappointed (which is ridiculous of course) that Jack didn't have more descriptive things to say about Syd's personality at the time - then from the 15 minute mark he delivers another absolute pearl of an insight and elaborates on it. Devoted... brave... no safety net... Amazing.
You can tell that by this time Roger didn't really let people get to know him. Jack is being very honest, not just about the fact that this stuff happened 30 years prior but that Syd didn't really let him in. Some people in the comments are calling him a bore or 'he said so much but said so little' but when you're talking about something so long ago about a person who didn't really open up... that's what you get.
I got to meet and talk with Twink in the 1980's. We were both at Record Plant NYC at the time. I was doing recording sessions all that week... and Twink was with the band the CULT who were in Studio A making a record... Twink was their Road Manager if I have it right. He told me great stories about Syd. He loved Syd. I still have his business card. I hope he is well.
Thank you John for the excellent interview. I especially enjoyed how you started with Jack playing his bass guitar. It's so sad about the demise of Syd(Roger) Barrett as he was quite the musical genius. Sometime experimentation with powerful psychedelic drugs is not such a good idea especially for certain individuals. I look forward to exploring your channel. ✌
Yet again, thank you. First off, thank you for the original documentary, and now thank you for making all of these fantastic interviews available in their entirety. It's funny, I'm watching this thing and I'm thinking how you've got everything covered.....except I wanted to hear what it was like to play with him, how Syd functioned as a musician.......and no longer did I think that, did you ask your last question: "Lastly, what are your impressions of Syd as a musician?" (words to that effect). Thanks so much. EXCELLENT interviews, and the documentary was HIGHLY appreciated, as I said.
Recuerdo a Richard Wright decir lo que habia sido Barrett como persona desde sus comienzos , y de la gran diferencia de personalidad de lo que Barrett fue posteriormente......completamente diferente
Thanks for the interview. Once again someone who was near Syd in some way let us know he wasn't exactly eager to keep playing or performing live, but everyone failed to acknowledge that and forced him to keep doing what everyone else wanted, not asking what he really wanted. That's quite sad.
I think it was a little more complicated than you describe. It seems that Syd was enjoying the loose jamming sessions he played with Jack and friends in early 1972. The Cambridge Corn Exchange gig was another level of exposure … I believe he wanted to do it but was spooked by the focus on him , when it came to the event itself
I’d like to know exactly how it was to communicate with Syd at this point. Basically, how was he talking and how was his mood? Everyone wants to sell the image of brain damage and catatonic behavior. I’m sure it just wasn’t true sometimes.
The Making of Madcap Laughs. Producer notes: "The next evening we got down to business proper.а Syd was in a great mood and in fine form, a stark contrast to the rumours and stories I'd been fed with.а In little over five hours we laid down vocal and guitar tracks (extra backings on most came later) for four new songs and two old." "This was Syd at full tilt! At this session Syd was in great form, and very happy.а No matter what people may say to the contrary, Syd was very together, and this was his first session with the new songs.а Although Opel needed 9 attempts, Love You needed only one re-take.а The next track we did, 'It's No Good Trying' was much the same.а The very first take, with Syd and his blue speckled Fender Telecaster, was good.а Take two was a false start, and take three was the version we used (although at 5 minutes 14 seconds it needed a little shortening).а I kept Syd on the move, refusing too many retakes.а And it was working.а In the two hours between 7.30 and 9.30 we had completed several successful takes of three songs." "Dave was back at Abbey Road with the rest of the Pink Floyd recording material for 'Ummagumma', their first major album without Syd at all (he does play on several tracks on 'A Saucerful Of Secrets', contrary to stories stating otherwise)." "Again, I do not know how the first version on this session of 'She Took A Long Cold Look' went, but my original reaction, (which I still hold) was one of disappointment.а False starts are O.K. if they give an insight into the musicianship / artistry of those present, or even if they present the odd mistake which everyone is capable of.а But when I first heard the false starts to 'If It's In You' my reaction then, (as now) was first one of anger that they were left in, and, secondly, boredom!а Now I hate to wind people up, but the false starts to the tracks that I had personally supervised were far more interesting than those left in the final album.а They certainly would have been more of a candid insight to the atmosphere on the sessions and less detrimental to Syd's abilities than the ones left in.а Those left in show Syd, at best, as out of tune (which he rarely was) and, at worst, as out of control (which again, he never was).а They are still my least favourite tracks on the record, in direct contrast to my favourites which also were Gilmour/Waters productions ('Octopus', 'Golden Hair').а Apart from the overdubbing of organ onto 'Long Gone', the whole of this session was just Syd alone, a rather desolate ending to the recording of an album that took over a year to make, with as much ending up on the cutting room floor as on the issued album." madcaplaughs.narod.ru/Articles/Making.htm
Honestly it's hard to tell. I've been trying to find the answer to this and many other questions regarding Syd for many years now. I think it depended on many factors like who he was with and how comfortable he was with them, how many people were around, his mood, what he was doing, if he was on mandrax (probably not at this time period), etc. I think at this point Syd's behavior was very erratic, though I also think being back in Cambridge probably made him a bit more at ease. I personally don't believe Syd had fried his brain but I do think Syd suffered from a sort of nervous breakdown and mental health issues which were exacerbated by drug use and not only the pressure he was under coming from those around him, but also the pressure he was putting on himself. I was blown away the first time I read The Making of The Madcap Laughs because it seemed as though Syd was normal but then there accounts from others who say Syd was difficult to communicate with and had a fragmented way of speaking around this time. So all I can guess is that Syd sometimes appeared to be normal if he was comfortable and in a good mood, but if not he could be moody and extremely withdrawn. There's an interview of Syd from late 1967 which is painful to listen to but it will give you an idea of the difficulty Syd could have when speaking. The interview was done by "Meatball Fulton" who in my opinion was a clown caught up in the 60s counterculture and he asks some ridiculous questions that would make anyone uncomfortable. Anyhow the audio from the interview is on RUclips.
The impression I have from this interview was that he was largely functional in 1972, being able to play gigs etc. This is somewhat a surprise following from the accounts of the recording of his last album two years earlier, where he seemed not to be quite there. Nowhere in this interview it is said that he was difficult to make sense of or to actually play with. Maybe his mental state had improved somewhat by then.
I think it was Nick or somebody that said "maybe Syd was not the problem, maybe Pink Floyd was the problem". If you think about what you go through to be a 'rock star', you have to admit that there must be a certain amount of craziness involved. Granted they say 'being on a lighted stage approaches the unreal", but to do that non stop, thats almost crazy in itself. Roger says he got into a band to get sex, but I always want to say "you know, you can just ASK a girl for sex". This WAS the sixties and you're telling me you need to be in a band to get laid? And like Mike Rutherford says, there was no real feeeling you could make a living with this kind of music. So the reason we talk about such a small group of people is that these people really are kind of nuts, in a wonderfully artistic way. Of course after this point is what possessed Syd to eat like a pig, shave his hair, and go meet them. Maybe HE was smart enough that after their huge success maybe he wanted to mess with their head. Roger says his brother was a doctor and went to see Syd and claimed he was just fine. But with dave and roger doing two albums he seemed just incoherent. If the whole dam thing weren't so odd though we wouldn't be interested.
My impression was quite the opposite - Jack says Syd gave the impression of clearly not wanting to be there - that doesn't sound functional or easy to work with in a band context to me.
As a long term depressive in daily meds my condition still can yo-yo from good , productive , positive days to those when I can’t face the world and stay in bed all day . I realise Thayer until you experience mental health issues in yourself or others it is not easy , nay, impossible, to understand
Sorry for being blunt, but surely people want to hear what Syd was like as a person at this time. Was he coherent, how did he interact with people, what was his mindset, was he aware of his surroundings, did he have moments of 'being present', what did he talk about, and such.
One has to wonder if Barrett didn’t carry the deeply introverted side of his personality with him his whole life to some extent, and somehow found it easier to manage, or easier to overcome in his youth and young adulthood. It’s difficult to reconcile the outward facing pop-star persona(albeit reticent pop-star) with the extremely withdrawn personality of his later post-showbiz life.
apparently as a child he was into acting in plays, so he could've learned to "mask" his eccentricities through that. i linger in between him being on the spectrum or not. What is definite is that he while developed problems engaging the world afterward as he got older. Also, his breakdown and subsequent reclusivity mirrors what happens to hikikomori. They are young (and often neurodivergent) Japanese men who withdrawn as a result of being under the pressure of a competitive and heavily demanding society. His reclusivity is very precise to that. It's hard to get a sense of his character overall because there's so little footage of him talking and just being a person. All we have are snippets and hearsay of him that are often incomplete and prone to prejudices of the observer, making him even more enigmatic.
@@JOHNEDGINTONDOCUMENTARIES Her archive is insanely intriguing. Her accounts on being around the band are even more intriguing. Any footage U have of her in relation to the Floyd, post it.
Who is that? I always think the ex wives or women involved would be the best interviews. Any guy knows that with other guys you are always putting up a shield that really only comes down with women. Pamela Des Barres is about the only 'super groupie' that has writting a book, but I'm always curious about the women around bands. That guy from Smashing Pumpkins said it was not the case that they are all teenie boppers who just want to brag to friends they scored, lots of times its not even about sex, I guess depending on if you are Smashing Pumpkins or Rush or Kiss. Truth be told I'm more interested in the women regardless, when John says Gilmour was saying "I don't want to come off as illiterate" I'm thinking "good god, don't these boys ever grow up?" I remember an interview with the woman who 'broke' Rush in Cleveland and she was a pastors daughter and talks about staying up all night talking theology with Neil Peart, nothing sexual going on at all. But I suspect that depends on the individuals involved, and of course what stage in their careers we're talking. But contrasting Pink Floyd with Genesis, where they apparantly had NO female groupies, now THAT is when you are interested most in music.
@@mikearchibald744 yes yes women are renowned for their honesty in objectively recounting obscure, subjective matters that others are attempting to find clarity on.
I like Jack m now as the documentary they edited out and hearing 'you dont wanna b hear do u syd?' So making me think he's putting him down but not the case .
Yes and no, there have been rumblings that either Syd or Stars had the recordings but when Syd went home and left music altogether he left all his tapes and such and they were apparently lost to time. It’s all rumour and speculation for the most part though since my information is from various sources. Though the performance with Syd in the Last Minute Put Together Boogie Band was recorded and thankfully released though it’s apparently not everyone’s cup of tea but I definitely dig it.
Ya con solo mirarlo a Syd llegar a ese show, Monck se dio cuenta que el pobre Barrett no queria estar alli...y actuò solo por inercia...Syd fue solo para no faltar a ese show....querìa solo cumplir., no mas que eso.....porque si su microfono estaba frente a el, y pretendia cantar alejado del microfono mirando hacia un costado sin mirar de frente al publico , es porque su estado mental era deprorable....y la gente se diò cuenta rapidamente de que Barrett estaba completamente ido....incluso, una persona tiene problemas en sus movimientos motrices al estar drogada...y sobre todo si consumio por mucho tiempo LSD...Syd debiò hacer un tratamiento a tiempo , pero no lo hizo..al contrario, siguio drogandose, y sus problemas mentales se potenciaron...Y .PARECE QUE EN ESE SHOW, ESTABAN PRESENCIANDO A ALGUIEN COMO BARRETT DERRUMBANDOSE SUBIDO A UN ESCENARIO.....y como dijo Jack Monk...´´Hubo buenos y malos conciertos....pero ese concierto con Barrett, fue el peor de todos....penoso lo que le sucedio a este genio...una persona inteligente, culta, que estaba muy bien mientras con PInk floyd grabo el disco ´´ The piper at the first of dawn´´...y meses despues, comenzo a ponerse erratico, haciendo cosas impredecibles.....impensadas.....en fin...que descanse en paz, Syd........Greetings from Argentina
My personal opinion on the whole thing at this point is that after Pink Floyd Sid never quite found people that he worked well with again and probably got very frustrated. To go from 1967 where everything went right and swore I having some good luck having the right people to work with. I don’t think he had that after that moment left him Because clowns in Jugglerz the very experiment that he was trying to do the Pink Floyd was the very first recordings he did have you got it yet literally are the first recordings of octopus who is trying to do like these random tags and then he was doing that was all these other songs, trying to get these random, feels and seeing a different planet different so my idea truly hit him really hard and he was really inspired to do that but I don’t think without Pink Floyd in the situation he was in before he just didn’t work out. Well I think he became disinterested.
Everything I've ever heard about Syd post Floyd is incredible vague and non specific, I can't grasp what people mean by detached, was he like extremely python esque over exaggerated animated when he was fearful at times or did he just give off a vibe that could be construed as uncomfortable or malaise attitude? I've never heard or read about any specifically detailed description of how he physically was acting that would make a person think that he was off a bit 🤷
Watch Jerry Shirley’s interview on this channel where you get a sense of Syd’s state of mind after he left Punk Floyd ruclips.net/video/eRormHnvfus/видео.html
Well these ‘conditions’ will be alien to anyone not exposed to someone with mental health problems. As a long term major depressive in daily meds I know how it feels when you hear the ‘ pull yourself together’ type of comments. They are always from people that have no understanding, appreciation or respect of mental illness
If Stars had any ambitions to get a record deal, certainly none of those ambitions were in Syd Barrett's mind. He read a negative review of a particular performance, showed to one of the members of the band (it may have been Monck) and said, "I don't want to play anymore".
Thats interesting. I remember an interview with a guy talkng about John Hughes, who was a brilliant scriptwriter but who wouldn't talk to ANYBODY involved in any movie that wasn't successful, he just buried it. Maybe Syd could handle it while he was adored, but couldn't take criticism. I still remember playing one time and somebody said they didn't like it, and I didn't play again. Brains are crazy things.
Shame but you demonstrated you just didn’t have the right attitude , self belief or ambition to carry on . Probably wasn’t cut out to be playing music ?
In the Meatball Fulton interview he disclosed that he would get thoughts of past criticisms from art school coming into him as he painted. Who's to ssy that some form of that didnt come to him when he made music?
truth be told it's not the best audio for attentively listening to instruments being played, what we hear is his bass amp plus the acoustic sound of the strings which rarely sounds nice.
@@svetozarkuzman2924 The reverberation of the room sounds pretty bad too - not to mention the way the audio was captured: certainly know how a record is made.
Gossipp for the most part. If England were in a fight for survival? England's finest well they would rally as they always have in centuries past. Syd was as normal as the rest of you/us except that he was a genius and Rodger and David are not.
Man you sound sad not liking all those great70tz Floyd albums well I guess you could still try make an hash cooky not 2 strong eehj sorry I'm only almost 59 so a youngster😂🎉
Genius is incredibly misunderstood for sure but I beg to reply that David may not be genius level but as a guitar player he has obtained greatness status and I'd say Roger is maybe in the avant garde category 😊🤷
I mean the lyrics to dark side, WYWH, The Wall definitely put Roger in the upper echelons of rock lyricists. Looking at Davids playing just on the intro to Crazy Diamond would suggest he is in fact a musical genius.
I think the word 'genius' is as overused as 'jerk'. But its an odd sentence, 'he was normal....except for being a genius'. I think Joey Ramone was a 'genius' entertainer, which is another way of saying kind of a savant, kind of crazy, but I've noticed MOST people are crazy, just different levels to it. LOTS of creative people out there we NEVER hear about. In reality Syd was a creation of the recording industry. Had we not those records, we'd just have some peoples account. I'm a big believer that the environment plays the biggest role, as Bob Klose says. For one thing, where I'm from there was certainly no facility for 'taking art' in school. The idea that you can play guitar upstairs during lunch is about as alien as it gets. We didn't even HAVE an art class. Readin, writin, rythmatic. The Regent Street Poly STILL has no correlation here in Canada, maybe Ryerson. But the idea of 'architecture school', I wouldtn' even know WHERE to go study architecture. But as Klose says, any musician is lucky to have two or three standouts. Pink Floyd is exceptional because they've had so many. While I think Amused to death is 'better' than MOST Floyd albums, that was a trigger from Neil Postmans Amusing ourselves to death. But there's a reason why Pink Floyd's 'fallow' period is MOST of the time and they've been largely 'done' for over two decades, while Bob Dylan and Neil Young are still churing out stuff. So thats kind of a silly argument from the outset. Its Pink Floyd. NONE of these guys are 'amateurs'. Genius seems like a silly thing to argue about....but here we are:)
@@JOHNEDGINTONDOCUMENTARIES Nothing on you. Just some interviewees may have been on the ground at some interesting events, but it doesn't mean they can talk about them or even relate in a watchable way. I think it may be that rock stars end up telling their stories for years getting drinks bought for them years after the fact. This and the fact that most successful acts end up doing tons of interviews over the years and get relaxed with talking. Monck just seemed like he hadn't really thought about it after I'm sure he had time to think about it. I doubt you showed up at his front door and ambushed him for a surprise interview. You could have put a fireworks hat on and can can girls in the back and he still would have come over a snooze. Sad, as I saw Wayne Kramer last night and if I'd known Stars opened for them I would have asked him about it. He's a great interview but careful, he'll want exec producer credit and final cut. Didn't mean to insult you if that was the case. Love your interviews.
What the hell are you babbling out, you pathetic ingrate? I got every bit of information I wanted or needed from that interview. I think the real takeaway is: not everyone should comment on the intenet. As in Kenneth Norman, the walking bowel movement. Talking about it in a "watchable way"? That's not his job, imbecile! That's the job of the editor of the documentary.......which is fine! The documentary edits everybody's comments! Go watch it! See how that works, diaperboy? The takeaway is actually: your mother gave birth to an idiot. Even YOU know that, Kenneth! All we need to hear from you is THANK YOU FOR THE CLIP. Twits like you nobody needs, so sit down and shut up before you embarrass yourself even more. Who the f**k asked you to pass judgment on this guy? I got an idea for you, slug: don't click on Syd Barrett interview clips anymore! What a total dickhead. You owe the guy who was generous to share this with you a big "thank you" AND NOTHING ELSE.
@@kennethnorman8079 yours is not the usual reaction judging by other comments on here. But I guess you’re missing the nuances here. Jack is not comfortable talking about the experience because it was a pretty devastating one for him at that time. So he’s reluctantly dredging it up from some buried place.
@@JOHNEDGINTONDOCUMENTARIES that's the impression I took away: Monck trying to be forthcoming and objective about what must have been an embarrassing and demoralizing performance, while keeping a respectful and reverential tact about it. I would imagine that many people who had known and worked with Barrett would have been self conscious about sharing stories about this man who had obviously retreated far from public life. There was a long period of time when Barrett, when remembered at all, was known more for being the cautionary lost/damaged pop star, more so than being known for his exceptional body of work.
It sucks how oblivious this guy was. Syd didnt want attention. Why mooch off him for success. Plus ur w his ex girlfriend? Why do u thunk you're entitled to that
Did you even listen? As soon as Syd showed he didn't want to be there they packed it in. Its hardly unusual that if you are playing with somebody who is a known musician that actually playing to people is something out of the question. And entitled, what the f does that even mean? Have you ever been around any women? Who gets interested in a woman and says "gee, I'm not entitled to that".
I don't think oblivious is the right word. He in fact tried to play with Syd Barrett, and as was the case with all musicians who played with Syd after the infamous 1967 turn for the worse, this wasn't easy and was rather frustrating actually. I think Syd got along better with non-musicians after the 1967 thing. Anyone who downplays Syd's impossible nature should keep in mind his unpredictable nature which could seriously put people in awkward situations, such as being forced to cancel a gig in mid performance. Professional musicians never like to do this and this was the reason why Pink Floyd sacked him in the first place. And those who are so empathetic towards Syd's antiques, should spend a day or two with a schizophrenic; sure you may say Syd wasn't a schizophrenic but he really was, all the symptoms are there. By mid 70s onwards he was hardly speaking to anyone, was becoming rather withdrawn, sometimes delusional, etc. You can find interviews of his family, his sister Rosemary most importantly, who was the closest to him and by the end practically the only person he spoke to, even with her he would speak very little.
@@TheRocknrollmaniac I don't think its a question of that, the question is WHEN that final wheel came off the trolley. Dave and Rick talk about him not even being able to sit on a stool and just dropping his guitar. Rick talks about worrying he's going to fall down the stairs. This guy and Jenny certainly don't talk about him like that. But I'm off my chronology, was Stars AFTER his solo albums? I don't think anybody questions his madness, its more the puzzle of when each piece fell into place. Likely there is no answer, but as John said, its a good way to examine the LSD effect on people. Peter Green had a remarkably similar experience. But I seem to remember at the point when he made his comeback when he was old, they talked about his as a different person. In interviews when he talks about his 'old days' you can see his brain chugging away to make sense of it. With Syd we don't have that.
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John, as I’ve told you on the Birdie Hop forum, these long form interviews which you did nearly 20 years ago are essential first-person documents. The Barrett community is so grateful for your contributions!
Couldn't agree more 😊
Agreed
They are definitive
Why does Barrett have this outsized importance?
In my opinion, he did have some songwriting chops, but his childlike ideas have little substance.
Hearing a collaborator of Syd's talk about the unique harmonic vocabulary in his songwriting, like Jack does at 19:30, is awesome. Thank you John
John, what you have done relating to the Floyd is incredibly valuable . There's a ten part production in your archive .
Thanks 🙏
Dear John
Jack was very unassuming as we see in this interview. We all were. There was no expectation of there being anything other than being in the moment with the freedom to play music.
Unfortunately, the vibe from those who were more Biz minded was not unassuming. With the combination of Billing and Music hacks, history got out of hand and expectation was running high.
Low key gigs that went before this worked into the ether but this one fell at the first hurdle. When we walked into the dressing room Syd seemed to freeze. He asked Twink why he was wearing, 'that Jacket?' He had on some kind of pink jacket ... but Syd may have been having some kind of a flashback I think and it was pretty obvious he was unsettled ...
I had seen him do this before. With eyes wide shut, he'd withdrawn and it seemed he was crashing out yet, he went on stage. It was heartbreaking to see ...
Thanks for the interview... no matter who it is, when reading between the lines, everyone is deeply touched ....
Very best
Jenny
Thank you so much Jenny for contributing your very moving and deep insights. Your account is an important corrective to those who had no emotional investment, just a narrow music biz interest. It’s clear that the Corn Exchange gig was devastating for all those who cared for Syd and his precarious state of mind.
Jennifer Gentle you’re a witch! I’ve read about you for years. I cannot tell you how much I love Syd. Is Peter Whitehead still alive? What do you think truly happened to Syd?
It's a pleasure and an honor to drop a little line to you Jennifer and I have always wanted a girlfriend that looked like you, I hope that doesn't offend you I'm just a little nervous and stumbling over my words. ☺️🤭🤗
Dear Jenny @jspires9216 , you seem to be one of the only people who truly cared about Syd. It seems like he was surrounded by vultures a lot of the time, which makes sense in that industry but also because of his charismatic personality.
I have a daughter with high-functioning autism (Asperger's), and it seems to me from everything I've read about Syd, he had this condition and that's what contributed to his 'odd' behaviour. In those years it was nearly impossible to get diagnosed for such a thing, hence everyone's generalized misinterpretation of his antics. Do you believe that to be the case, possibly?
I hope you don't mind me asking (and even if you'll ever see this, but will still try), did the I-Ching have anything to do with his return home and not wanting to be a part of the 'scene' anymore?
Thank you and sending you my sincere respect,
Andy
Can't remember, was this the lady that said Roger ended up looking all right? But that one paragraph was more insightful than some full interviews on Syds brain. If music made Syd see a colour, maybe seeing a colour made him 'hear' something? I can see why Dave kind of goes back on forth on Syd's 'intentions' versus his mental state. But Roger may have hit it on the head when he says that drugs can only hurt a brain with ANY kind of 'deviation' for lack of a better word. The more interviews I see on Pink Floyd the more 'madness' seems to naturally arise from celebrity. And maybe from having too much time on your hands. I think thats why my dads motto was "less thinking, more working, the think comes out in the work".
This is mythological to me and I got to thank you for this interview! There’s so very little talked of Syds time with Stars/The Last Minute Put Together Boogie Band and its mind bending to hear for someone that was actually there and in person nonetheless thank you!!
My uncle played a gig at the Roundhouse where Pink Floyd was headlining. He found the band to be rather (stand) off’ish, with the notable exception of Syd, who just wanted to talk and play music backstage with anyone and everyone.
Thanks. Interesting perspective. I’m curious to know Who was your uncle ? His band ?
Thank you Mr Monck for taking the time to be interviewed. It’s highly appreciated.
I was around at the ‘What’s In A Name’ shop on Union Road for a few months. Must have been 1971. Twink lived there for some time. Steve Brink’s house was part of the shop. He was a very laid-back guy. Sadly, I never met Syd, or Jack at the time. From what I heard the gig they did at The Perse School was a very good performance, although that is never mentioned. Shame Melody Maker wasn’t at that one instead. Amazing to think that Syd’s first ever live performance was in March 1962 and virtually ten years later to the day, Syd made his last ever live performance as a member of a band.
What a BEAUTIFULLY respectful, insighful, compassionate, intimate and uncomfortable interview.
Thank you, John, and thank you, Jack.
🙏
My pleasure!
Love these interviews. I’ve read tons of Syd Barrett-related notes, books and interviews and these are way more informative!
Thanks ! Nice to get your appreciation!
This gem of an interview showed up in my feed. What a wonderful insight into this part of Syd's life from someone who was there.
Also, I thought this was David Gilmour giving the interview at first. You have a very similar voice to his (at least to my humble American ears). Thank you for sharing this John!
My total pleasure Eric !
Wonderful, thank you so much yet again John. I was almost feeling slightly disappointed (which is ridiculous of course) that Jack didn't have more descriptive things to say about Syd's personality at the time - then from the 15 minute mark he delivers another absolute pearl of an insight and elaborates on it. Devoted... brave... no safety net... Amazing.
You can tell that by this time Roger didn't really let people get to know him. Jack is being very honest, not just about the fact that this stuff happened 30 years prior but that Syd didn't really let him in. Some people in the comments are calling him a bore or 'he said so much but said so little' but when you're talking about something so long ago about a person who didn't really open up... that's what you get.
Nicely stated.
Yes. People just looking for the spectacular, easily being disappointed.
Very insightful and quite enlightening👍 Thanks to yourself and Mr Monck for doing this.
Thanks ! Glad you enjoyed it.
Thank you so much for all of the interviews you've done. As a PF and Genesis fan, your work is a goldmine for me haha.
Very nice picture quality for 2001. It could quite easily have been filmed yesterday
I thought it was at first glance
You know they had movin pictures 100 years ago.
Great interview, thanx from Sweden
I got to meet and talk with Twink in the 1980's. We were both at Record Plant NYC at the time. I was doing recording sessions all that week... and Twink was with the band the CULT who were in Studio A making a record... Twink was their Road Manager if I have it right. He told me great stories about Syd. He loved Syd. I still have his business card. I hope he is well.
Cheers John.great interview thanks for sharing👍🙏Syd
My pleasure
Thank you John for the excellent interview. I especially enjoyed how you started with Jack playing his bass guitar. It's so sad about the demise of Syd(Roger) Barrett as he was quite the musical genius. Sometime experimentation with powerful psychedelic drugs is not such a good idea especially for certain individuals. I look forward to exploring your channel. ✌
Thanks so much. Enjoy exploring !
Great interview 👍 thanks
Yet again, thank you. First off, thank you for the original documentary, and now thank you for making all of these fantastic interviews available in their entirety. It's funny, I'm watching this thing and I'm thinking how you've got everything covered.....except I wanted to hear what it was like to play with him, how Syd functioned as a musician.......and no longer did I think that, did you ask your last question: "Lastly, what are your impressions of Syd as a musician?" (words to that effect). Thanks so much. EXCELLENT interviews, and the documentary was HIGHLY appreciated, as I said.
Wow! Thanks for your rave review!
@@JOHNEDGINTONDOCUMENTARIES Thank YOU, John. (and to all the interviewees who shared their memories and impressions).
He had a great memory to recollect 30-some years earlier essentially a 2 month stretch of his life or so.
Syd was such a fascinating character
Recuerdo a Richard Wright decir lo que habia sido Barrett como persona desde sus comienzos , y de la gran diferencia de personalidad de lo que Barrett fue posteriormente......completamente diferente
Another good one John, thanks!
Thanks for the interview. Once again someone who was near Syd in some way let us know he wasn't exactly eager to keep playing or performing live, but everyone failed to acknowledge that and forced him to keep doing what everyone else wanted, not asking what he really wanted. That's quite sad.
I think it was a little more complicated than you describe. It seems that Syd was enjoying the loose jamming sessions he played with Jack and friends in early 1972. The Cambridge Corn Exchange gig was another level of exposure … I believe he wanted to do it but was spooked by the focus on him , when it came to the event itself
Yes that’s what I think as well. Enjoyed this interview very much
You"re gonna have a lot of excellent weekend wishes this way,Mr Edginton.
Wow, I had heard that last 72 gig was bad, but hearing it from this guy sounds like it was the worst nightmare ever.
I’d like to know exactly how it was to communicate with Syd at this point. Basically, how was he talking and how was his mood? Everyone wants to sell the image of brain damage and catatonic behavior. I’m sure it just wasn’t true sometimes.
The Making of Madcap Laughs. Producer notes:
"The next evening we got down to business proper.а Syd was in a great mood and in fine form, a stark contrast to the rumours and stories I'd been fed with.а In little over five hours we laid down vocal and guitar tracks (extra backings on most came later) for four new songs and two old."
"This was Syd at full tilt! At this session Syd was in great form, and very happy.а No matter what people may say to the contrary, Syd was very together, and this was his first session with the new songs.а Although Opel needed 9 attempts, Love You needed only one re-take.а The next track we did, 'It's No Good Trying' was much the same.а The very first take, with Syd and his blue speckled Fender Telecaster, was good.а Take two was a false start, and take three was the version we used (although at 5 minutes 14 seconds it needed a little shortening).а I kept Syd on the move, refusing too many retakes.а And it was working.а In the two hours between 7.30 and 9.30 we had completed several successful takes of three songs."
"Dave was back at Abbey Road with the rest of the Pink Floyd recording material for 'Ummagumma', their first major album without Syd at all (he does play on several tracks on 'A Saucerful Of Secrets', contrary to stories stating otherwise)."
"Again, I do not know how the first version on this session of 'She Took A Long Cold Look' went, but my original reaction, (which I still hold) was one of disappointment.а False starts are O.K. if they give an insight into the musicianship / artistry of those present, or even if they present the odd mistake which everyone is capable of.а But when I first heard the false starts to 'If It's In You' my reaction then, (as now) was first one of anger that they were left in, and, secondly, boredom!а Now I hate to wind people up, but the false starts to the tracks that I had personally supervised were far more interesting than those left in the final album.а They certainly would have been more of a candid insight to the atmosphere on the sessions and less detrimental to Syd's abilities than the ones left in.а Those left in show Syd, at best, as out of tune (which he rarely was) and, at worst, as out of control (which again, he never was).а They are still my least favourite tracks on the record, in direct contrast to my favourites which also were Gilmour/Waters productions ('Octopus', 'Golden Hair').а Apart from the overdubbing of organ onto 'Long Gone', the whole of this session was just Syd alone, a rather desolate ending to the recording of an album that took over a year to make, with as much ending up on the cutting room floor as on the issued album."
madcaplaughs.narod.ru/Articles/Making.htm
Honestly it's hard to tell. I've been trying to find the answer to this and many other questions regarding Syd for many years now. I think it depended on many factors like who he was with and how comfortable he was with them, how many people were around, his mood, what he was doing, if he was on mandrax (probably not at this time period), etc. I think at this point Syd's behavior was very erratic, though I also think being back in Cambridge probably made him a bit more at ease. I personally don't believe Syd had fried his brain but I do think Syd suffered from a sort of nervous breakdown and mental health issues which were exacerbated by drug use and not only the pressure he was under coming from those around him, but also the pressure he was putting on himself. I was blown away the first time I read The Making of The Madcap Laughs because it seemed as though Syd was normal but then there accounts from others who say Syd was difficult to communicate with and had a fragmented way of speaking around this time. So all I can guess is that Syd sometimes appeared to be normal if he was comfortable and in a good mood, but if not he could be moody and extremely withdrawn. There's an interview of Syd from late 1967 which is painful to listen to but it will give you an idea of the difficulty Syd could have when speaking. The interview was done by "Meatball Fulton" who in my opinion was a clown caught up in the 60s counterculture and he asks some ridiculous questions that would make anyone uncomfortable. Anyhow the audio from the interview is on RUclips.
loved it John
I’m so pleased that you enjoyed it Libby x
@JOHN EDGINTON DOCUMENTARIES Any chance of Mick Rocks full interviews on Syd? Please
One day soon
@JOHN EDGINTON DOCUMENTARIES that would be great...can't wait ❤
Incredible John ✌️
The impression I have from
this interview was that he was largely functional in 1972, being able to play gigs etc. This is somewhat a surprise following from the accounts of the recording of his last album two years earlier, where he seemed not to be quite there.
Nowhere in this interview it is said that he was difficult to make sense of or to actually play with. Maybe his mental state had improved somewhat by then.
I think it was Nick or somebody that said "maybe Syd was not the problem, maybe Pink Floyd was the problem". If you think about what you go through to be a 'rock star', you have to admit that there must be a certain amount of craziness involved. Granted they say 'being on a lighted stage approaches the unreal", but to do that non stop, thats almost crazy in itself. Roger says he got into a band to get sex, but I always want to say "you know, you can just ASK a girl for sex". This WAS the sixties and you're telling me you need to be in a band to get laid?
And like Mike Rutherford says, there was no real feeeling you could make a living with this kind of music. So the reason we talk about such a small group of people is that these people really are kind of nuts, in a wonderfully artistic way.
Of course after this point is what possessed Syd to eat like a pig, shave his hair, and go meet them. Maybe HE was smart enough that after their huge success maybe he wanted to mess with their head. Roger says his brother was a doctor and went to see Syd and claimed he was just fine. But with dave and roger doing two albums he seemed just incoherent. If the whole dam thing weren't so odd though we wouldn't be interested.
My impression was quite the opposite - Jack says Syd gave the impression of clearly not wanting to be there - that doesn't sound functional or easy to work with in a band context to me.
As a long term depressive in daily meds my condition still can yo-yo from good , productive , positive days to those when I can’t face the world and stay in bed all day .
I realise Thayer until you experience mental health issues in yourself or others it is not easy , nay, impossible, to understand
Sorry for being blunt, but surely people want to hear what Syd was like as a person at this time. Was he coherent, how did he interact with people, what was his mindset, was he aware of his surroundings, did he have moments of 'being present', what did he talk about, and such.
Exactly. I wished they would have talked about that
It can be hard to remember that stuff though. After all, nobody was going to be undertaking a process recording or mini mental state exam were they.
I've got a pair of go-hill boots. I've got, fading roots...
I've got wild staring eyes, and I've got a strong urge to fly, but I've got nowhere to fly to...
I’ve got a bike, you can ride it if you like….
Have you got it yet?
@@stephenstone8480 fly to, fly to, fly to, ooooooooooooh babe, when I pick up the phone. There's still nobody home.
doesn't sound like a very organized rehearsal schedule...LOL
Get ur to tickets. Syd is in the he international film fest this year
One has to wonder if Barrett didn’t carry the deeply introverted side of his personality with him his whole life to some extent, and somehow found it easier to manage, or easier to overcome in his youth and young adulthood. It’s difficult to reconcile the outward facing pop-star persona(albeit reticent pop-star) with the extremely withdrawn personality of his later post-showbiz life.
apparently as a child he was into acting in plays, so he could've learned to "mask" his eccentricities through that. i linger in between him being on the spectrum or not. What is definite is that he while developed problems engaging the world afterward as he got older.
Also, his breakdown and subsequent reclusivity mirrors what happens to hikikomori. They are young (and often neurodivergent) Japanese men who withdrawn as a result of being under the pressure of a competitive and heavily demanding society. His reclusivity is very precise to that.
It's hard to get a sense of his character overall because there's so little footage of him talking and just being a person. All we have are snippets and hearsay of him that are often incomplete and prone to prejudices of the observer, making him even more enigmatic.
Does anybody know when and where the new documentary , have you got it yet , about syd will be released I can’t wait
Waiting for the info myself
John, when will U post Jill Furmanovsky interview? I find her very fascinating.
I hadn’t thought to … but I might reconsider as you’re interested
@@JOHNEDGINTONDOCUMENTARIES Her archive is insanely intriguing. Her accounts on being around the band are even more intriguing. Any footage U have of her in relation to the Floyd, post it.
Would love to see this.
Who is that? I always think the ex wives or women involved would be the best interviews. Any guy knows that with other guys you are always putting up a shield that really only comes down with women. Pamela Des Barres is about the only 'super groupie' that has writting a book, but I'm always curious about the women around bands. That guy from Smashing Pumpkins said it was not the case that they are all teenie boppers who just want to brag to friends they scored, lots of times its not even about sex, I guess depending on if you are Smashing Pumpkins or Rush or Kiss. Truth be told I'm more interested in the women regardless, when John says Gilmour was saying "I don't want to come off as illiterate" I'm thinking "good god, don't these boys ever grow up?" I remember an interview with the woman who 'broke' Rush in Cleveland and she was a pastors daughter and talks about staying up all night talking theology with Neil Peart, nothing sexual going on at all. But I suspect that depends on the individuals involved, and of course what stage in their careers we're talking. But contrasting Pink Floyd with Genesis, where they apparantly had NO female groupies, now THAT is when you are interested most in music.
@@mikearchibald744 yes yes women are renowned for their honesty in objectively recounting obscure, subjective matters that others are attempting to find clarity on.
I’d live to get a count of how many time he said “you know” in that interview 😂
Its awful... This guy is shot
Yes JM is not the most articulate musician ever interviewed however
I like Jack m now as the documentary they edited out and hearing 'you dont wanna b hear do u syd?' So making me think he's putting him down but not the case .
Any recordings extant of ‘Stars ‘ ?
Yes and no, there have been rumblings that either Syd or Stars had the recordings but when Syd went home and left music altogether he left all his tapes and such and they were apparently lost to time. It’s all rumour and speculation for the most part though since my information is from various sources. Though the performance with Syd in the Last Minute Put Together Boogie Band was recorded and thankfully released though it’s apparently not everyone’s cup of tea but I definitely dig it.
Syd retreated.
Treading the backwards path...
“Syd” was humble.
Ya con solo mirarlo a Syd llegar a ese show, Monck se dio cuenta que el pobre Barrett no queria estar alli...y actuò solo por inercia...Syd fue solo para no faltar a ese show....querìa solo cumplir., no mas que eso.....porque si su microfono estaba frente a el, y pretendia cantar alejado del microfono mirando hacia un costado sin mirar de frente al publico , es porque su estado mental era deprorable....y la gente se diò cuenta rapidamente de que Barrett estaba completamente ido....incluso, una persona tiene problemas en sus movimientos motrices al estar drogada...y sobre todo si consumio por mucho tiempo LSD...Syd debiò hacer un tratamiento a tiempo , pero no lo hizo..al contrario, siguio drogandose, y sus problemas mentales se potenciaron...Y .PARECE QUE EN ESE SHOW, ESTABAN PRESENCIANDO A ALGUIEN COMO BARRETT DERRUMBANDOSE SUBIDO A UN ESCENARIO.....y como dijo Jack Monk...´´Hubo buenos y malos conciertos....pero ese concierto con Barrett, fue el peor de todos....penoso lo que le sucedio a este genio...una persona inteligente, culta, que estaba muy bien mientras con PInk floyd grabo el disco ´´ The piper at the first of dawn´´...y meses despues, comenzo a ponerse erratico, haciendo cosas impredecibles.....impensadas.....en fin...que descanse en paz, Syd........Greetings from Argentina
Hash cakes? Probably! 🤣
Most definitely. It's a must for real guitar players
@@ezekialalvarado2444😂😂
My personal opinion on the whole thing at this point is that after Pink Floyd Sid never quite found people that he worked well with again and probably got very frustrated. To go from 1967 where everything went right and swore I having some good luck having the right people to work with. I don’t think he had that after that moment left him Because clowns in Jugglerz the very experiment that he was trying to do the Pink Floyd was the very first recordings he did have you got it yet literally are the first recordings of octopus who is trying to do like these random tags and then he was doing that was all these other songs, trying to get these random, feels and seeing a different planet different so my idea truly hit him really hard and he was really inspired to do that but I don’t think without Pink Floyd in the situation he was in before he just didn’t work out. Well I think he became disinterested.
7:25 - 7:36 lol
From which year year is this interview?
1999/2000 from the Pink Floyd and Syb Barrett doc
Everything I've ever heard about Syd post Floyd is incredible vague and non specific, I can't grasp what people mean by detached, was he like extremely python esque over exaggerated animated when he was fearful at times or did he just give off a vibe that could be construed as uncomfortable or malaise attitude? I've never heard or read about any specifically detailed description of how he physically was acting that would make a person think that he was off a bit 🤷
Watch Jerry Shirley’s interview on this channel where you get a sense of Syd’s state of mind after he left Punk Floyd
ruclips.net/video/eRormHnvfus/видео.html
@@JOHNEDGINTONDOCUMENTARIES will do, much appreciated my friend
Well these ‘conditions’ will be alien to anyone not exposed to someone with mental health problems. As a long term major depressive in daily meds I know how it feels when you hear the ‘ pull yourself together’ type of comments. They are always from people that have no understanding, appreciation or respect of mental illness
he developed a social phobia from the looks of it. rare at the time but common now
@@JOHNEDGINTONDOCUMENTARIESpunk Floyd?that intentional?it's very funny and true at times with Barrett writing the music.
If Stars had any ambitions to get a record deal, certainly none of those ambitions were in Syd Barrett's mind. He read a negative review of a particular performance, showed to one of the members of the band (it may have been Monck) and said, "I don't want to play anymore".
Thats interesting. I remember an interview with a guy talkng about John Hughes, who was a brilliant scriptwriter but who wouldn't talk to ANYBODY involved in any movie that wasn't successful, he just buried it. Maybe Syd could handle it while he was adored, but couldn't take criticism. I still remember playing one time and somebody said they didn't like it, and I didn't play again. Brains are crazy things.
Shame but you demonstrated you just didn’t have the right attitude , self belief or ambition to carry on . Probably wasn’t cut out to be playing music ?
In the Meatball Fulton interview he disclosed that he would get thoughts of past criticisms from art school coming into him as he painted. Who's to ssy that some form of that didnt come to him when he made music?
Could this chap be the only person to make a Wal bass sound bad?
truth be told it's not the best audio for attentively listening to instruments being played, what we hear is his bass amp plus the acoustic sound of the strings which rarely sounds nice.
@@svetozarkuzman2924 The reverberation of the room sounds pretty bad too - not to mention the way the audio was captured: certainly know how a record is made.
THAT is all you have to add?
@@mikearchibald744one of nature’s joyful little bunnies
Twink Floyd.......
I have one of Twinks albums and it is called ........ Think Pink
What an uncomfortable interview.
Uncomfortable? For whom ?
Gossipp for the most part. If England were in a fight for survival? England's finest well they would rally as they always have in centuries past. Syd was as normal as the rest of you/us except that he was a genius and Rodger and David are not.
Man you sound sad not liking all those great70tz Floyd albums well I guess you could still try make an hash cooky not 2 strong eehj sorry I'm only almost 59 so a youngster😂🎉
@@misterghee1Your ignorance is pathetic.
Genius is incredibly misunderstood for sure but I beg to reply that David may not be genius level but as a guitar player he has obtained greatness status and I'd say Roger is maybe in the avant garde category 😊🤷
I mean the lyrics to dark side, WYWH, The Wall definitely put Roger in the upper echelons of rock lyricists. Looking at Davids playing just on the intro to Crazy Diamond would suggest he is in fact a musical genius.
I think the word 'genius' is as overused as 'jerk'. But its an odd sentence, 'he was normal....except for being a genius'. I think Joey Ramone was a 'genius' entertainer, which is another way of saying kind of a savant, kind of crazy, but I've noticed MOST people are crazy, just different levels to it.
LOTS of creative people out there we NEVER hear about. In reality Syd was a creation of the recording industry. Had we not those records, we'd just have some peoples account.
I'm a big believer that the environment plays the biggest role, as Bob Klose says. For one thing, where I'm from there was certainly no facility for 'taking art' in school. The idea that you can play guitar upstairs during lunch is about as alien as it gets. We didn't even HAVE an art class. Readin, writin, rythmatic. The Regent Street Poly STILL has no correlation here in Canada, maybe Ryerson. But the idea of 'architecture school', I wouldtn' even know WHERE to go study architecture.
But as Klose says, any musician is lucky to have two or three standouts. Pink Floyd is exceptional because they've had so many. While I think Amused to death is 'better' than MOST Floyd albums, that was a trigger from Neil Postmans Amusing ourselves to death. But there's a reason why Pink Floyd's 'fallow' period is MOST of the time and they've been largely 'done' for over two decades, while Bob Dylan and Neil Young are still churing out stuff.
So thats kind of a silly argument from the outset. Its Pink Floyd. NONE of these guys are 'amateurs'. Genius seems like a silly thing to argue about....but here we are:)
Jack said so much and yet so little...
Not particularly articulate or insightful. But thanks for trying.
Wow. Not everyone should be interviewed.
Meaning ?
@@JOHNEDGINTONDOCUMENTARIES Nothing on you. Just some interviewees may have been on the ground at some interesting events, but it doesn't mean they can talk about them or even relate in a watchable way. I think it may be that rock stars end up telling their stories for years getting drinks bought for them years after the fact. This and the fact that most successful acts end up doing tons of interviews over the years and get relaxed with talking. Monck just seemed like he hadn't really thought about it after I'm sure he had time to think about it. I doubt you showed up at his front door and ambushed him for a surprise interview. You could have put a fireworks hat on and can can girls in the back and he still would have come over a snooze. Sad, as I saw Wayne Kramer last night and if I'd known Stars opened for them I would have asked him about it. He's a great interview but careful, he'll want exec producer credit and final cut. Didn't mean to insult you if that was the case. Love your interviews.
What the hell are you babbling out, you pathetic ingrate? I got every bit of information I wanted or needed from that interview. I think the real takeaway is: not everyone should comment on the intenet. As in Kenneth Norman, the walking bowel movement. Talking about it in a "watchable way"? That's not his job, imbecile! That's the job of the editor of the documentary.......which is fine! The documentary edits everybody's comments! Go watch it! See how that works, diaperboy? The takeaway is actually: your mother gave birth to an idiot. Even YOU know that, Kenneth! All we need to hear from you is THANK YOU FOR THE CLIP. Twits like you nobody needs, so sit down and shut up before you embarrass yourself even more. Who the f**k asked you to pass judgment on this guy? I got an idea for you, slug: don't click on Syd Barrett interview clips anymore! What a total dickhead. You owe the guy who was generous to share this with you a big "thank you" AND NOTHING ELSE.
@@kennethnorman8079 yours is not the usual reaction judging by other comments on here. But I guess you’re missing the nuances here. Jack is not comfortable talking about the experience because it was a pretty devastating one for him at that time. So he’s reluctantly dredging it up from some buried place.
@@JOHNEDGINTONDOCUMENTARIES that's the impression I took away: Monck trying to be forthcoming and objective about what must have been an embarrassing and demoralizing performance, while keeping a respectful and reverential tact about it. I would imagine that many people who had known and worked with Barrett would have been self conscious about sharing stories about this man who had obviously retreated far from public life. There was a long period of time when Barrett, when remembered at all, was known more for being the cautionary lost/damaged pop star, more so than being known for his exceptional body of work.
What a bore
It sucks how oblivious this guy was. Syd didnt want attention. Why mooch off him for success. Plus ur w his ex girlfriend? Why do u thunk you're entitled to that
Did you even listen? As soon as Syd showed he didn't want to be there they packed it in. Its hardly unusual that if you are playing with somebody who is a known musician that actually playing to people is something out of the question. And entitled, what the f does that even mean? Have you ever been around any women? Who gets interested in a woman and says "gee, I'm not entitled to that".
I don't think oblivious is the right word. He in fact tried to play with Syd Barrett, and as was the case with all musicians who played with Syd after the infamous 1967 turn for the worse, this wasn't easy and was rather frustrating actually. I think Syd got along better with non-musicians after the 1967 thing.
Anyone who downplays Syd's impossible nature should keep in mind his unpredictable nature which could seriously put people in awkward situations, such as being forced to cancel a gig in mid performance. Professional musicians never like to do this and this was the reason why Pink Floyd sacked him in the first place.
And those who are so empathetic towards Syd's antiques, should spend a day or two with a schizophrenic; sure you may say Syd wasn't a schizophrenic but he really was, all the symptoms are there. By mid 70s onwards he was hardly speaking to anyone, was becoming rather withdrawn, sometimes delusional, etc. You can find interviews of his family, his sister Rosemary most importantly, who was the closest to him and by the end practically the only person he spoke to, even with her he would speak very little.
@@TheRocknrollmaniac I don't think its a question of that, the question is WHEN that final wheel came off the trolley. Dave and Rick talk about him not even being able to sit on a stool and just dropping his guitar. Rick talks about worrying he's going to fall down the stairs.
This guy and Jenny certainly don't talk about him like that. But I'm off my chronology, was Stars AFTER his solo albums? I don't think anybody questions his madness, its more the puzzle of when each piece fell into place. Likely there is no answer, but as John said, its a good way to examine the LSD effect on people.
Peter Green had a remarkably similar experience. But I seem to remember at the point when he made his comeback when he was old, they talked about his as a different person. In interviews when he talks about his 'old days' you can see his brain chugging away to make sense of it. With Syd we don't have that.