The Madcap Passes On
To me, Syd Barrett was the ultimate reclusive figure in rock. I didn't find much interesting in the 'death or disappearance" of Jim Morrison or Elvis Presley (although the respective estates milked the artist's fans for every last dollar). Much more interesting was the man that hid in plain sight.
The stories of Elvis and Jim always centered around when/if they were coming back, and what they were doing when they were gone. Who cared? And the more bizarre the stories got, the more attention that was paid to them. My favorite was when a Pittsburgh radio station played a tape "Elvis" made in 1981. He was signing a song (I think it was "I Love A Rainy Night") when he suddenly stopped, because he was just told (in the middle of recording???) that Reagan was shot. Instead of continuing to sing, he babbled on about the fact that Reagan was shot. On one hand, it seems like a waste of studio time, on the other, it's a better performance that any other one I ever heard Elvis give.
Both estates churned out substandard product for years (and will continue to do so). I remember all the hype of The Doors "Alive, She Cried" in 1983. Morrison (Jim, not Van), will sing "Gloria", and it will be dirty! They made a video, and it will be shown on MTV (Take that, new wave fans)! The album sucked, I can't even find evidence that it is in print anymore.
By contrast, Syd quietly disappeared after Pink Floyd's second album. The story of his disappearance never changed. He was an acid casualty/victim of mental illness. He spent his remaining days mostly painting and gardening. He released two albums shortly after leaving Pink Floyd. A third album was released in 1988. There was no noisy promotion, no flashy video, no trotting him around on tour to make a quick buck.
By accounts, Syd's family took care of him, and the other members of Pink Floyd also took care of him, making sure he continued to receive the royalties to which he was entitled.
Syd lived his remaining days, and died with dignity, while Morrison and Elvis are crassly promoted to this day. What a difference it makes when people who genuinely care about you take care of your legacy.
The stories of Elvis and Jim always centered around when/if they were coming back, and what they were doing when they were gone. Who cared? And the more bizarre the stories got, the more attention that was paid to them. My favorite was when a Pittsburgh radio station played a tape "Elvis" made in 1981. He was signing a song (I think it was "I Love A Rainy Night") when he suddenly stopped, because he was just told (in the middle of recording???) that Reagan was shot. Instead of continuing to sing, he babbled on about the fact that Reagan was shot. On one hand, it seems like a waste of studio time, on the other, it's a better performance that any other one I ever heard Elvis give.
Both estates churned out substandard product for years (and will continue to do so). I remember all the hype of The Doors "Alive, She Cried" in 1983. Morrison (Jim, not Van), will sing "Gloria", and it will be dirty! They made a video, and it will be shown on MTV (Take that, new wave fans)! The album sucked, I can't even find evidence that it is in print anymore.
By contrast, Syd quietly disappeared after Pink Floyd's second album. The story of his disappearance never changed. He was an acid casualty/victim of mental illness. He spent his remaining days mostly painting and gardening. He released two albums shortly after leaving Pink Floyd. A third album was released in 1988. There was no noisy promotion, no flashy video, no trotting him around on tour to make a quick buck.
By accounts, Syd's family took care of him, and the other members of Pink Floyd also took care of him, making sure he continued to receive the royalties to which he was entitled.
Syd lived his remaining days, and died with dignity, while Morrison and Elvis are crassly promoted to this day. What a difference it makes when people who genuinely care about you take care of your legacy.
posted by Beukey @ 12:22 PM
2 Comments:
At 11:11 AM,
Bluey said…
As much as I can't stand Elvis, how can you even begin to compare Syd Barrett to either Elvis or Morrison? Syd Barrett wrote childish tripe in his time with Floyd and Floyd really only became interesting to me after Waters took over most of the songwriting.
I love Floyd and realize that there would be no Floyd without Barrett, but let's face it, he was a mediocre talent at best. He was a sub-standard guitar player as well. Gilmour's addition was the final piece of the puzzle that gave Pink Floyd their identifiable
sound.
Barret's insanity just may have saved Floyd from irrelevance in my honest opinion.
Not to give a dead man a beating but I've held this opinion for 20 years.
Beukey, I never took you for a fan of the "laughing madcap".
At 4:27 PM,
Beukey said…
In this post, I meant to compare how pop culture dealt with the disappearance of the artist, not the quality of the work the artist created (other than taking a shot at Elvis). These are three famous "disappearing acts" where the artist continued to be talked about after the disappearance (although Syd got less press than the other two). You could also add Brian Wilson and Tupac to this list.
I do like "The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn" although I only have it on album and haven't listened to it in the last 10 years. I never listed to a Syd solo album, although since everyone's been posting tracks after he died, I did listen to a song. In the great English tradition, it was very fey.
I have to agree that Syd leaving the group improved the group and led to the work for which Pink Floyd will be remembered. I also think that if Syd didn't leave after that second album, Waters would have gotten tired of singing about laughing gnomes, storybooks, and eiderdown comforters about 1970, and edged Syd out.
Post a Comment
<< Home