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| Syd died 10 years ago today. |
Roger Keith "Syd" Barrett (6
January 1946 – 7 July 2006) was an English musician, composer, singer,
songwriter, and painter. Best known as a founder member of the band Pink Floyd,
Barrett was the lead singer, guitarist and principal songwriter in its early
years and is credited with naming the band. Barrett was excluded from Pink
Floyd in April 1968 after David Gilmour took over as their new guitarist, and
was briefly hospitalised amid speculation of mental illness.
Barrett was musically active for less than
ten years. With Pink Floyd, he recorded four singles, their debut album (and
contributed to the second one), and several unreleased songs. Barrett began his
solo career in 1969 with the single "Octopus" from his first solo
album, The Madcap Laughs (1970). The album was recorded over the course of a
year with five different producers (Peter Jenner, Malcolm Jones, David Gilmour,
Roger Waters and Barrett himself). Nearly two months after Madcap was released,
Barrett began working on his second and final album, Barrett (1970), produced
by Gilmour and featuring contributions from Richard Wright. He went into
self-imposed seclusion until his death in 2006. In 1988, an album of unreleased
tracks and outtakes, Opel, was released by EMI with Barrett's approval.
