"Shining diamond" by the name of Barrett. Sid and Pink Floyd

The word "cult" is withered. Often they are labeled with everything that even stands out a little from the general series. The phenomenon that truly causes unconscious worship, which has a mystical character, is the concept of "cult", the word corresponding to it is a rarity. In rock music there are several absolutely cult phenomena, among them a man named Barrett. Sid is one of the founders and the legendary frontman of Pink Floyd.

The expanding minds of the sixties

They were familiar with the school, English boys from decent families who lived in a place that personified the intellectual component of Britain and the world - Cambridge. They became friends, becoming teenagers, and together they began to master the guitar: Roger Waters and Sid Barrett. Biography "Pink Floyd" in a sense started then. It became clear to the guys that one day they would all go to London and organize their group.

Waters recalled how once as a child, they talked about experiments with drugs. Roger was strongly against, and Sid said that a real creative person needs to try everything in this life. Subsequently, almost all of their surroundings had similar experiences, but for Sid, it became tragic. It turned out that hallucinogens are more easily tolerated by people whose imagination and acuity of perception of the world does not exceed the average level. Barrett also distinguished nakedness of nerves and defenselessness before the flow of new ideas and impressions.

Star School

He was born on January 6, 1946. His real name is Roger Keith Barrett. Sid received the nickname Syd, according to one version, in honor of the popular jazz player in town, who was called Sid Bit Barrett. Then he changed one letter in the spelling to be different from the namesake. Another version says: he received a simple Soviet Sid from his peers, when he once came to a meeting of scouts, wearing instead of a corporate headdress a flat cap worn by the inhabitants of working areas. At the same time in school, Sid was a real darling. A beautiful, witty author of verses, a star of school theater productions, a regular participant in concerts, easy to communicate with peers and adults - he was known at school and the College of Art in London, where he entered in 1964 to study painting.

In the Barrett family, all five children loved music, the head of the family, well-known pathologist Arthur Max Barrett, played the piano beautifully. Sid was more inclined to draw, but also tried to play keyboards. He could hear music. His favorite sister, Rosemary, recalled that she had once seen Cid sitting on a bed with her eyes closed and carrying on with an invisible orchestra. "Did you hear that?" The brother's question did not look intimidating, but spoke of his enthusiasm for the world of sounds.

Birth of the group

When Syd arrived in London, his school friend Roger Waters had already studied at the Moscow College of Architecture and played rhythm and blues with his classmates - drummer Nick Mason, keyboardist and vocalist Richard Wright and guitarist Bob Close in a group called Tea Set - " Tea-set".

At the invitation of Waters, Barrett joined them. Sid was involved in the emergence of the new name of the group. Subsequently, he liked to state the version that the phrase "Pink Floyd" was dictated to him from a flying saucer, although the real story is more prosaic. At one of the concerts, where they participated, the team already appeared under the same "tea" name. I had to hurry to do naming. Sid caught two names from the cover of the CD from his collection of blues music: Pink Anderson and Floyd County. The version of "Anderson Council" to him just seemed less sonorous - so the cult name "Pink Floyd" was born.

"The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn"

Initially, the band's music did not have a legendary "Floyd" sound. Most of all their compositions resembled the "Rolling Stones", which then attracted the majority of rockers. But gradually a new frontman Barrett came to the forefront. Sid wrote texts and music, which was clearly influenced by his intense "experiments" with LSD and other drugs. But explaining the whimsicality of Sid's talent is only the influence of drugs is wrong. The choice of themes for the texts was affected by his fascination with the authors of English literature of the absurd and paradox - Lewis Carroll, Edward Lear, Kenneth Greene, the riot of John Tolkien's fantasy .

His manner of playing the guitar caused a protest in the group considered the best musician Bob Close, who soon left the Pink Floyd. Then Close acknowledged that it went to the team for good - the unique sound of "Floyd" was born. He always considered Barrett a musician with a unique sense of rhythm, especially admired the use in the melody of sudden changes in tempo and sound color. And his search for a new technique of playing with different "gadgets" was really innovative. The listeners were delighted when Sid ejected sounds, leading a metal lighter through the strings.

The debut album of the group, which included 11 compositions, the author of which was mainly Sid, was released in 1967. He made "Pink Floyd" the leader of the psychedelic direction of rock music and brought world fame.

Something's wrong with Sid ...

Soon the story of Pink Floyd and Sid Barrett acquired a dramatic character. Because of his fascination with "substances," Barrett began to lose touch with reality. When he suddenly froze on the stage, staring at one point and randomly pulling strings, the audience was delighted, considering it an element of the show, and the musicians realized that they were losing Sid.

They unsuccessfully tried to organize his treatment from drug addiction, but could not persuade him to enter the door of the clinic. Attempts to leave behind him only writing new compositions without using on stage were met with his fierce rebuff. After the guilt of "Pink Floyd" in America and the recording of the TV show were almost lost due to Sid's fault, it was decided to part with Barrett. In his place was invited David Gilmour, who went through an absurd situation, when he had to rehearse with Barrett, duplicating his guitar and vocal parts. But Sid, it seemed, could not adequately perceive the environment. In the spring of 1968, the ways "Pink Floyd" and Barrett parted ways.

Crazy Diamond

The members of the group experienced sincere respect for Sid and admired his talent. They understood that Pink Floyd could overcome the crisis, which they predicted after the departure of the frontman, largely due to the ideas and creative messages of Sid. Waters, Gilmour, Wright helped a friend in their attempts to continue the music lessons that Sid Barrett undertook. The albums "The Madcap Laughs" and "Barrett" (1970) were the result of a long painful work in the studio, but did not succeed, despite the fact that some of them are considered Sid fans for unsurpassed peaks.

The legendary composition "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" ("Shine, crazy diamond") From the album " Wish You Were Here" (1975) - another tribute to "Pink Floyd" to his former leader. During the recording of this song, dedicated to Sid, there was a story. Sid Barrett appeared in the studio, where musicians worked. In fattened, untidily clad, naked shaved man, hardly reacting to what is happening, for a long time no one could recognize his friend. For many, this was the last time they saw Sid in public.

With no financial problems due to the regular deductions made by Pink Floyd, Barrett lived to a retirement at his home in Cambridge until the age of 60, occasionally painting and working in the garden. On July 7, 2006, he died, remaining a rock legend and his shining diamond.