You learn something new every day, and I'm a fool for a Rock doc. I'll watch a documentary about any band, even ones I never listened to. I'd watch a doc about the Banana Splits if they'd made one. Heck, for all I know maybe they did. I'll have to search. If they did I'll watch it.
I was watching a thing about Syd Barrett, original guitarist and songwriter of Pink Floyd. People into "Classic Rock" history have likely heard about Syd and his misadventures.
He was very reluctantly released from the band after he basically flew over the Cuckoo's nest. Syd was gifted but he blew a chip and only recorded one album with the band plus several singles and a few songs that were released on the next record.
Syd fried his brain with acid, but according to several accounts by close friends who are still pissed off like I am, it wasn't his fault. He did take acid willingly, but apparently he was so entertaining when he was tripping that some of his "friends" helped him along by spiking his drinks with even more acid, to see how "out" he could get. That's uncool. That's so very uncool.
Like any powerful drug, exceeding the usual dose to a large degree can be extremely dangerous if not fatal. Lots of people took too much acid all at once and never completely returned from the trip. I've known a few myself. It's a very sad thing.
After a couple of post-Floyd solo albums that are brilliant, and a half-hearted attempt at a comeback, Syd retired from the music biz and moved in with his parents, gardening and having nothing to do with music ever again.
He tried to live an ordinary life but the damage was done and he never recovered from his acid journeys. It's a horrible shame. He's gone now. I hope he eventually found peace.
There's an incredible story about the time he just showed up out of the blue at the studio where Pink Floyd was recording Wish You Were Here. He wandered in and sat down without saying a word, and no one recognized him. I guess security was a bit lax in those days.
He'd brought along a toothbrush and spent the whole time brushing his teeth in silence. I don't know if that's Rock & Roll but it's pretty out there. As if that weren't crazy enough, they happened to be recording the song Shine On You Crazy Diamond, which was a song about Syd. What are the odds?
You can call it a coincidence all day of the week but I think that with things on that level of specificity there may be a bit more to it. That's heavy. Needless to say the band was shocked when they realized it was Syd, and most of them burst into tears.
The doc said that when he wrote charts for songs he used colors instead of musical notes. I'd never heard that. How interesting. Syd had Synesthesia. I'm not surprised because acid can cause it, or at least enhance it.
I've been to Dead shows tripping, and I could "see" the music coming out of the speakers. It seemed totally real and it made perfect sense. I think it's already there and acid just brings it out, but as always what do I know? I'm not a doctor.
Toward the end of his time with Floyd he was famous, or infamous, for doing things like going out onstage and playing a single guitar note for the entire show. Now that's Rock & Roll.
There's also an incident where he allegedly went onstage with a whole jar of hair cream in his hair, along with a bottle of crushed-up Mandrax tablets. Mandrax (methaqualone) was the British equivalent of Quaaludes.
I always thought that story was sus, and some years ago I read an interview by a member of the band who shot the story down. He said: "Syd would never waste good Mandies." I love that.
I'd love to see some of the charts Syd wrote and I wish I knew what chord went with what color. The doc said that to Syd, a C- Major chord was "obviously" yellow. Who am I to say that a C-Major chord isn't yellow?
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