Syd Barrett - Barrett
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Music CD Cover
Artist: Syd BarrettEdition: Music CD
CD Release Date: 1990-07-03
Music Label: Capitol
Soundtracks:
- Baby Lemonade
- Love Song
- Dominoes
- It Is Obvious
- Rats
- Maisie
- Gigolo Aunt
- Waving My Arms in the Air
- I Never Lied to You
- Wined and Dined
- Wolfpack
- Effervescing Elephant
Free Music Notes for Barrett
Free Music Review: The one with the bugs on the cover
Hit: 5 Stars
Last week (at this writing), some of us were gathered at a friend's house for a cookout, and when the topic of conversation went to music, someone mentioned Syd Barrett, and a guy I have known for many years said, with a lot of venom in his voice, "Syd Barrett was a complete waste," I felt the need to defend him. Sadly, many people feel this way. But, on the good side, he still has a lot of fans and supporters, myself included.
In my review of "The Madcap Laughs," I rated it with four stars. This wasn't necessarily due to it having a piecemeal format; that is fine, I did so because of the disjointed way the second half goes. It sort of falls apart. And the version of "Dark Globe," was simply shrieked, as opposed to the superior version included on "Opel." "If It's In You?" Imagine the Gong Show panelists "gang gonging" him; it isn't difficult to picture. Roger Waters and David Gilmour said it was a nightmare doing that record ("Madcap," that is).
"Barrett," the one with with the insects on the cover, was also an allegedly frustrating experience to record, but the results were a lot more even and professional sounding. First, there is a consistent line-up here. Humble Pie's drummer, Jerry Shirley, also on some of the "Madcap" sessions, plays most of the drum parts on this. Rick Wright plays all of the piano and organ this time, and one-man-band David Gilmour plays bass, as well as uncredited guitar, keyboards, and does some drumming as well. It must have been strange, doing sessions with several members of the band that fired you at the peak of your success. But, with the exception of Floyd drummer Nick Mason, they all have nothing but kind things to say about him. And if you ever have the opportunity to watch any Mason interviews, you'll notice he becomes strangely quiet when talking about Syd Barrett. I personally think he didn't like him very much, as a musician or as a friend. If I am wrong, I'll stand corrected, though I doubt I am.
"Baby Lemonade" starts it off, with an arpeggiated guitar solo provided by David Gilmour, and via overdubs, he doubles on bass. Barrett sings two-part harmony with himself with the overdubs, and as with almost all of Barrett's material, it has a certain innocence to it. Same with "Love Song," a pleasant no-frills song about a girl he knew and liked; he could tell the simplest stories, the kind you could tell to a little kid, but with an adult sophistication. It's hard to believe this is the same mind which came up with "Arnold Layne," the infamous cross-dresser song. Of course, this child-like delivery is offset with "Dominoes," somber and bleak-sounding, with a backward guitar solo and double-tracked drums. One track plays foreward, as the other plays backward. A better-known performance which uses this trick is Jimi Hendrix's "Are You Experienced?" If you haven't heard "Dominoes" before, it has the same kind of production. Of course, it's a different piece altogether, but you get the idea.
"It Is Obvious" is just a basic two-chord song, similar in mood to "Love Song," in it's just him delivering a somewhat catchy melody with the back-up band accompanying him, which leads into "Rats." It's everything one would picture. A one-chord, cacaphoneous jumble while the lead vocal provides a recitation of what sounds like coffee house beatnik poetry. As Frank Zappa would say, it has "No Commercial Potential." This is geared to the more hard-core fans of Barrett's work, and myself, I think it's great.
"Maise" is a gloomy blues number, Barrett droning the lyrics in a lower-register voice about "...bad luck, the bride of a bull..." to a minor key jam which sounds like it could be used in a cheap, really bad B movie. But he brings us back up a little with "Gigolo Aunt," one of his "hits," per se. When he is good, he is very good, as this, and the next number, "Waving My Arms In The Air" show. In "Waving..." he gives a very wise, sage-like message: "You shouldn't try to be what you can't be." This segues into "I Never Lied To You." There is an honesty in his more accesible lyrics I feel a lot of people miss. He had a very simple approach to life, however much he complicated it himself.
"Wined And Dined" is another good example of his simple approach to things: "...Wined and dined, oh it seemed just like a dream. Girl was so kind; kind of love I'd never seen..." He really was a poet of the highest calibre.
"Wolfpack" gives us a look at the more frantic approach to his work. Interesting is his double-band approach to this. In one channel, you have the band playing it acoustically, with piano and acoustic guitar and Barrett singing melody, and in the other, the band is playing electric instruments, organ and some interesting Fender Telecaster abuse(I say this jokingly) with Barrett singing a histrionic, higher version of the same lyrics. This is overlooked creative genius.
"Barrett" winds down with "Effervescing Elephant," a return to the child-like approach he often used in his writing. Once again, it is a silly song that young child and seasoned adult can appreciate equally.
Syd Barrett may be gone, but his legacy WILL live on, even if some folks look at him as a "waste." He was, and still is, a VERY important figure in contemporary music. I don't care what anyone says, I think he was great.
Barrett Poster
Track List: 1. Baby Lemonade 2. Love Song 3. Dominoes 4. It Is Obvious 5. Rats 6. Maisie 7. Gigolo Aunt 8. Waving My Arms in the Air 9. I Never Lied to You 10. Wined and Dined 11. Wolfpack 12. Effervescing ElephantClassic Rock Music CDs
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