He simply fried his cranial endowments after winning one too many doses of Lysergic acid diethylamide or as the San Francisco hipsters called it, LSD. In spite of his bizarre behavior and erratic output, Syd was the original songwriter for Pink Floyd and remaining the earth with a remarkable body of work. When I`m headed home from a nocturnal excursion, nothing pleases my ears more than popping on some late 1960`s psychedelic rock by the likes of the Doors, Grateful Dead, HP Lovecraft and the Jefferson Airplane. Though I don`t partake on drugs or heavy drinking, listening to this music at 2:00 PM gives me a contact high. An Introduction to Syd Barrett, a new issue of Barrett`s work is complete for those late night rides. It provides the hearer with a well rounded collection his writing with early Pink Floyd as easily as his solo material. The digest was supposedly supervised by David Gilmour and the remixes offer high quality sound. Barrett`s brand of groovy, atmospheric material evokes images of riding a merry-go-round at a Brighton amusement park and that`s even without taking LSD. Just pop on opening track " Arnold Layne" and you`ll immediately get what I mean. The song, originally released in 1967, has a cheesy cool, Farfisa organ sound, British art school lyrics and appropriately staccato textures. "See Emily Play" treads similar territory but far more brilliantly. While maintaining timeless aesthetic aplomb, it has a beautifully catchy verse and chorus melody that offers this twisted lyrical nursery rhyme: "Put on a gown that touches the ground, ah ooh Float down a river forever and ever, Emily, Emily There is no other day Let`s try it another way You`ll miss your brain and bring Free games for May See Emily play" Pink Floyd`s "Matilda Mother" seems to take been inspired by a child`s recollection of his mother imparting fairy tales about a king`s and his misty riders_or it could have only been the LSD talking. Either way, the results are interesting and reminded me of some Arthur Lee and Love`s work on Forever Changes-same period, same substances ingested. One of the gems of this collection is " Bike", which was originally featured on Pink Floyd`s Pipers at the Gates of Dawn, released in 1967. It`s form of like what a schizophrenic might have written after hearing to the Beatles` Sgt. Pepper, while concurrently ceasing his inhalation of medication. But it`s also an improper love song that is creatively arranged, strangely accessible and has a Clamor at the end that borders on unsettling. Some of Syd`s solo work gets a bit dicey in the region of coherence; but one of the better songs is "Baby Lemonade". The lyrics look like they could have been written by Thomas Pynchon after a psychotic break yet the cross itself is relaxed and melodic. Perhaps Syd didn`t enjoy being a rock star. When the force to publish more hit songs was dialed up, he indulged in substance misuse and began to break out of society. This caused Pink Floyd to revise and sally forth in another way for which the end result turned out reasonably well. Barrett was certainly a catalyst for them; and not unlike Brian Wilson is an artist whose brief but sterling period of enormous creativity can now be comprehended by a new genesis of fans. (Capitol)
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