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“I don't think I'm easy to talk about. I've got a very irregular head. And I'm not anything that you think I am anyway.”—Syd Barrett’s last interview, Rolling Stone, 1971�Roger Keith “Syd” Barrett (1946–2006) was, by all accounts, the very definition of a golden boy. Blessed with good looks and a natural aptitude for painting and music, he was a charismatic, elfin child beloved by all, who fast became a teenage leader in Cambridge, England, where a burgeoning bohemian scene was flourishing in the early 1960s. Along with three friends and collaborators—Roger Waters, Richard Wright, and Nick Mason—he formed what would soon become Pink Floyd, and rock ’n’ roll was never the same. Starting as a typical British cover band aping approximations of American rhythm ’n’ blues, they soon pioneered an entirely new sound, and British psychedelic rock was born. With early, trippy, Barrett-penned pop hits such as “Arnold Layne” (about a clothesline-thieving cross-dresser) and “See Emily Play” (written specifically for the epochal “Games For May” concert), Pink Floyd, with Syd Barrett as their main creative visionary, captured the zeitgeist of “Swinging” London in all its Technicolor glory.�But there was a dark side to all this new-found freedom. Barrett, like so many around him, began ingesting large quantities of a revolutionary new drug, LSD, and his already-fragile mental state—coupled with a personality inherently unsuited to the life of a pop star—began to unravel. The once bright-eyed lad was quickly replaced, seemingly overnight, by a glowering, sinister, dead-eyed shadow of his former self, given to erratic, highly eccentric, reclusive, and sometimes violent behavior. Inevitably sacked from the band, Barrett retreated from London to his mother’s house in Cambridge, where he would remain until his death, only rarely seen or heard, further fueling the mystery.�In the meantime, Pink Floyd emerged from the underground to become one of the biggest international rock bands of all time, releasing multi-platinum albums, many that dealt thematically with the loss of their friend Syd Barrett: The Dark Side of the Moon, Wish You Were Here, and The Wall are all, on many levels, about him.�In A Very Irregular Head, journalist Rob Chapman lifts the veil of secrecy that has surrounded the legend of Syd Barrett for nearly four decades, drawing on exclusive access to family, friends, archives, journals, letters, and artwork to create the definitive portrait of a brilliant and tragic artist. Besides capturing all the promise of Barrett’s youthful years, Chapman challenges the oft-held notion that Barrett was a hopelessly lost recluse in his later years, and creates a portrait of a true British eccentric who is rightfully placed within a rich literary lineage that stretches through Kenneth Graham, Hilaire Belloc, Edward Lear, Lewis Carroll, John Lennon, David Bowie, and on up to the pioneers of Britpop.�A tragic, affectionate, and compelling portrait of a singular artist, A Very Irregular Head will stand as the authoritative word on this very English genius for years to come.
- Sales Rank: #181928 in Books
- Published on: 2012-08-28
- Original language: English
- Number of items: 1
- Dimensions: 1.40" h x 5.50" w x 8.40" l, 1.10 pounds
- Binding: Paperback
- 472 pages
Review
''The few times I saw Syd Barrett perform in London at UFO and the Marquee clubs during the '60s will forever be etched in my mind. He was so charismatic and such a startlingly original songwriter. Also, along with Anthony Newley, he was the first guy I'd heard to sing pop or rock with a British accent. His impact on my thinking was enormous. A major regret is that I never got to know him. A diamond indeed.'' --David Bowie (on Syd Barrett)
About the Author
Rob Chapman has written for Mojo, The Times, Guardian, Independent on Sunday, Uncut, Word, and the dance music fanzine Jockey Slut. He is the author of two books of nonfiction and a novel. He has compiled and written liner notes for CD reissues by artists as varied as the Last Poets and John Faley, as well as numerous psychedelia and loungecore compilations.
Most helpful customer reviews
19 of 21 people found the following review helpful.
THE BEST IN DEPTH VIEW YET INTO A TROUBLED MIND, BUT STILL NOT DEFINITIVE
By Stuart Jefferson
2 page Forward, 4 page Acknowledgements, 5 page Introduction, 409 pages of text, 3 page Bibliography, and an Index. There are 16 pages (in 2 sections) of color and b&w photographs of Barrett, his family, PINK FLOYD, plus reproductions of a few of Barrett's artwork. This is actually a 3 1/2 star review, simply because of no in depth, definitive information on Barrett's mental condition.
"I don't think I'm easy to talk about. I've got a very irregular head. And I'm not anything that you think I am anyway"-Syd Barrett.
There are a few books about (the late) Syd Barrett that are worth reading, but this is the first authorized biography of Barrett to see the light of day. The author, Rob Chapman, who has written about Barrett for Mojo Magazine, had exclusive access to Barrett's family and friends, plus journals, letters, and artwork, to write the first truly in depth account of the troubled Barrett.
The book begins with Barrett's family and family life beginning in the 1940's. The depth Chapman goes into helps give an inside look at Barrett's life as a boy ( for instance how Roger Barrett became "Syd") and the many things that influenced him during this period. From there Barrett's friendships through his boyhood, his schooling, and his predilection for painting helps lay the foundation for Barrett's outlook on life. While no real diagnosis of Barrett's mental state was ever undertaken, the consensus of opinion is that Barrett, at the very least, suffered from some form of paranoia, which was exacerbated by all the attention he received, first in PINK FLOYD, and later with his solo music and his art. His use of mind altering drugs only made things worse. But Barrett used them to travel inside himself, where people who knew him during this time, felt Barrett seemed to want to explore, and where he felt he might find "something".
From that point Barrett's introduction to music, and meeting up with future PINK FLOYD band members, and early recordings ("Lucy Leave", "I'm A King Bee", etc.) is looked at in conjunction with Barrett's (and friends and acquaintances) use of the drug LSD. The early English music scene (1966), in conjunction with the left-leaning counterculture is put into perspective in relation to what was then called "pop" music and the beginning of a new type of music, including the AMM, SOFT MACHINE, and others, who played at places like the Marquee Club, and the Roundhouse.
Chapman also takes an in-depth look at many of the songs now famous by PINK FLOYD, including "Arnold Layne" and "Bike", as examples. He also writes about the pressures of being on the road, and how this begun to affect Barrett, and when he started to become unreliable and erratic in his behavior. But Chapman writes that Barrett's decline wasn't constant. During this period when most people thought of Barrett as unstable, he had many periods when his actions were very normal. During his period of slow mental decline a number of Barrett's friends speak about a number of good points they saw in Barrett. He seemed to have an inward energy that people seemed to pick up on, especially women, who wanted to sleep with him. He gave the impression of being a deep thinking person, even when he said nothing.
Barrett's sacking from the band, and it's effects on him is delved into at depth. After being forced out of the band, Barrett began his solo career. A number of songs he recorded ("Silas Lang", "Golden Hair") are used to show Barrett's use of poetic imagery in forming his songs. Barrett's struggle to record his music ("The Madcap Laughs" album for example) was very difficult for him during this time, with Barrett attempting to write record his songs over a long period of time.
The book goes into some detail concerning Barrett's slow decline by citing various interviews Barrett gave over the course of several years. In the beginning Barrett was eager to talk about his music and his band, only later to become more obtuse and non-linear in his answers. Barrett never really enjoyed fame, which is supported by a number of people who knew him during this period. In 1974 Barrett virtually disappeared from the public eye. This is the period when all the myths and stories began concerning Barrett's mental state-running onto an airport runway trying to hail an airplane like you would a taxi, trying on several pairs of pants, and seeing they fit, walking out of the store without paying, walking around in a dress, and other oddities are all here. But the myths surrounding Barrett were only a part of his, admittedly, troubled life. His continued use of mind altering drugs and how they contributed to Barrett's fragile mental state are told by friends and acquaintances who witnessed Barrett during this last stage of his withdrawal from life. But Chapman also writes about Barrett's somewhat undeserved reputation during this time because Barrett fit into the romantic category of a lost soul.
No one knows what, or how much, Syd Barrett would have contributed to both music and art had he led a "normal" life. This book goes further than any others into the life and surroundings of a troubled soul. Not only do we get an in depth look at Barrett, but the era in which he lived. Chapman, by putting those areas together, has woven the best look so far, at a man who never seemed to want fame and it's attendant problems. After reading this book you're left with a feeling of sadness for a man who never seemed to find his place in the world. Touched with mental illness, in combination with mind altering drugs, robbed all of us of someone with a unique talent in both music and art.
10 of 11 people found the following review helpful.
Not so See-through Baby Blue
By venussansfurs
Rob Chapman's book is a curious "biography" of Roger Keith "Syd" Barrett. In fact, if it weren't for the first and the last few chapters of the book, I would hesitate to call it a biography at all, but rather more of a critical essay.
Chapter one discusses Barrett's childhood in Cambridge, his family, friends, schooling and his first forays into art and music. Ok so far. In the next several chapters, Syd has moved to London and gotten involved in art school, the underground scene and Pink Floyd. This is where Chapman starts to digress, often going on for long passages about artists who may have influenced Syd, people in the scene, fringe bands and writers, underground organisations and publications, etc. Syd himself takes a back seat in this section, and I started to wonder if the rest of the book was going to go on this way.
I needn't have done so, for in the next sections the author dissects Syd's music into extended reviews, analysing nearly every song he wrote, discussing rhyme and metre, momentum and stasis, and writers he copped his lyrics from to the point of distraction. This gets tedious for the average reader (it did for this one anyway). It's fine to cite references and influences, but paragraphs on end about the histories of Victorian writers and their styles do not make for an entertaining read here and bogs the flow of the book down considerably.
The last third of this book was its saving grace for me, and the main reason I've given it a 4-star review. At this point I was actually glad (in terms of the book, not Syd's real life!) that Syd had stopped making music as Chapman, for the most part, dispenses with the long-winded critical analyses and Barrett himself becomes the major character in his own story for the rest of his sad existence. Syd's few interviews are discussed and Chapman makes some good observations here. He also attempts to refute many of the myths that have perpetuated over the years about his subject quite thought-provokingly, even debunking some of his own past erroneous reportage. Much of the final chapter is intriguing and indicates that Syd may have been engaged in some sort of self-analysis.
As the author had the family's cooperation, I kept waiting for some earth-shattering information to be revealed, but no joy. Libby Gausden's letters reveal nothing other than the ruminations of a love-struck teen (unsurprisingly), and if she remembers any significant passages from Syd's diaries (she had possession of them before returning them to Syd, who promptly burnt them) they aren't presented. I don't know if the author had access to Barrett's medical records, but if he did, no concrete info is given here regarding his actual mental condition. (As the man has passed, what is the point in withholding this information unless there really is none? One ponders the fact that shattering the enigma may give authors less to write about in future.)
A lifelong Barrett fan and songwriter who's been influenced by his music, I anticipated a lot from this book by the number of glowing reviews I've read, and I compliment Mr Chapman for his excellent research and dedication to this work. Some of it is quite good and even gave me a few chuckles (not an easy task considering the subject matter). But much of it fell short for me, not to mention inducing sheer exhaustion after having finished it. I suspect that since some of the earlier books about Syd seemingly contained not enough information, the more recent biographers may now be (well-intentionally) over-compensating. Regardless, the enigma remains and we may go on waving our arms in the air.
13 of 15 people found the following review helpful.
The best, and hopefully last book about Syd.
By James Skinner
How do you write about a man who was never here, or should I say he was here for such a short period of time what is left to write? Syd Barrett as we remember him, the guiding light behind the early Pink Floyd, was like a flash of lightening just visible out of the corner of your eye. Did you really see it, or was it something you imagined? The sad fact is we will never know who Syd/Roger was. The former personality exploded in a brilliant flash of talent and just as quickly died out, morphing into the later in order to survive the pain caused by it all.
If you want to read a book about Syd, this is the one to read. The author does not exploit Syd's mental state, nor play on all the myths that grew around it. It is as honest a book as we will likely ever see, and I hope it is the last. His family and friends cooperated, so at this point I see nothing left to write about. The life of Syd Barrett makes for a very depressing read, and you will feel the sadness when you close this book.
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