Yeah I heard that.. :(
--
Sweetness . . .
The most precious possession that ever comes to a man in this world is a
woman's heart.
"gEoRgE:)2006" <artbygds@bellsouth.net> wrote in message
news:_xVsg.19557$Oc5.15040@bignews4.bellsouth.net...
| Syd Barrett, Founder of Pink Floyd, Dies
|
| Published: 7/11/06, 4:26 PM EDT
|
|
|
| LONDON (AP) - Syd Barrett, the troubled Pink Floyd co-founder who spent his
| last years in
|
| reclusive anonymity, has died, the band said Tuesday. He was 60.
|
| A spokeswoman for the band said Barrett died several days ago, but she did
| not disclose the cause
|
| of death. Barrett had suffered from diabetes for years.
|
| The surviving members of Pink Floyd - David Gilmour, Nick Mason, Roger
| Waters and Richard Wright
|
| - said they were "very upset and sad to learn of Syd Barrett's death."
|
| "Syd was the guiding light of the early band lineup and leaves a legacy
| which continues to
|
| inspire," they said in a statement.
|
| Barrett co-founded Pink Floyd in 1965 with Waters, Mason and Wright, and
| wrote many of the band's
|
| early songs. The group's jazz-infused rock and drug-laced, multimedia
| "happenings" made them
|
| darlings of the London psychedelic scene. The 1967 album "The Piper at the
| Gates of Dawn" -
|
| largely written by Barrett, who also played guitar - was a commercial and
| critical hit.
|
| But Barrett suffered from mental instability, exacerbated by his use of LSD.
| His behavior grew
|
| increasingly erratic, and he left the group in 1968 - five years before the
| release of Pink
|
| Floyd's most popular album, "Dark Side of the Moon" - to be replaced by
| Gilmour.
|
| Barrett released two solo albums - "The Madcap Laughs" and "Barrett" - but
| soon withdrew from the
|
| music business altogether. An album of previously unreleased material,
| "Opel," was issued in
|
| 1988.
|
| He reverted to his real name, Roger Barrett, and spent much of the rest of
| his life living
|
| quietly in his hometown of Cambridge, England. Moving into his mother's
| suburban house, he passed
|
| the time painting and tending the garden. His former bandmates made sure
| Barrett continued to
|
| receive royalties from his work with Pink Floyd.
|
| He was a familiar figure to neighbors, often seen cycling or walking to the
| corner store, but
|
| rarely spoke to the fans and journalists who sought him out over the years.
|
| Despite his brief career, Barrett's fragile, wistful songs influenced many
| musicians including
|
| David Bowie - who covered the Barrett track "See Emily Play."
|
| Bowie said in a statement posted on his Web site that Barrett had been a
| "major inspiration."
|
| "His impact on my thinking was enormous," Bowie write. "A major regret is
| that I never got to
|
| know him. A diamond indeed."
|
| The other members of Pink Floyd recorded the album "Wish You Were Here" as a
| tribute to their
|
| troubled bandmate.
|
| It contained the song "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" - "Remember when you were
| young, you shone
|
| like the sun." The band also dwelt on themes of mental illness on the albums
| "Dark Side of the
|
| Moon" and "The Wall."
|
| The band spokeswoman said a small, private funeral would be held.
|
|
|
|
|
|