Syd Barrett, the "crazy diamond" guitarist who shaped the early Pink Floyd psychedelic sound, has died nearly 40 years after becoming one of rock music's most dramatic casualties.
He turned into a recluse after an LSD-induced breakdown and in recent years suffered from complications due to diabetes.
After becoming severely ill last week, Barrett was admitted to Addenbrooke's hospital, Cambridge. He was discharged on Thursday and died the following day at his home, in St Margaret's Square, which he shared with his mother until she died a few years ago. He was 60.
His brother, Alan, said: "He died peacefully at home. There will be a private family funeral in the next few days."
Barrett walked away from fame as a cult figure, vanishing behind the blinds of his mother's semi-detached house, preferring to tend his garden, visit Sainsbury's on a bike and mutter inanities to unwelcome visitors.
Barrett reportedly entered a mental home at one stage, and latterly always avoided anybody who called on him. Wearing only his underpants he met his biographer Tim Willis at his front door and said: "I'm just looking after this place for the moment. I'm not going to stay here forever."
However, he is thought to have left a fortune. David Gilmour, drafted in to Pink Floyd during a period in which Barrett was behaving erratically, made sure that royalties on his compositions flowed steadily into his bank account.
Even though he was only with the band for its first three years and appeared on just one album, Piper At The Gates of Dawn, Barrett's quarterly income was still into seven figures. Friends said he was happy never to mention his cult status, adding that he was neither poor nor sad.
Rock stars paid tribute to him last night. David Bowie described Barrett as a "major inspiration", saying: "I can't tell you how sad I feel.
"The few times I saw him perform in London at UFO and the Marquee clubs during the 1960s will forever be etched in my mind. He was so charismatic and such a startlingly original songwriter. His impact on my thinking was enormous. A major regret is that I never got to know him. A diamond indeed."
A statement from Pink Floyd said: "The band are naturally very upset and sad to learn of Syd's death. He was the guiding light of the early band line-up and leaves a legacy which continues to inspire."
The former Blur guitarist Graham Coxon released a statement saying: "Lost him again ... For bang on 20 years Syd led me to better places."
BBC's Radio Cambridgeshire played the Floyd's Wish You Were Here, with its opening lyric, "So, so you think you can tell Heaven from Hell, blue skies from pain". The recording, in 1975, was the last time the band saw Barrett.
He ambled into the studio to listen and, initially, nobody recognised him, as the former 9st guitarist had become a shambolic, 16st balding man.
At first, Pink Floyd was Syd's band, made in his image, and making singular music with its quintessentially English take on psychedelia. But the feeling is that Barrett was a fragile figure from the first, and LSD, with its increasingly uncontrollable trips, put him over the edge.
Gilmour said he thought that Barrett's breakdown was always on the cards. "It was a deep-rooted thing. But I'll say the psychedelic experience might well have acted as a catalyst.
I just don't think he could deal with the vision of success and all the things that went with it."
Joe Boyd, his first producer, said: "It is a very sad and lonely tale. With the band and him, you had the feeling you were in the presence of people who were a soundtrack of a revolutionary period. I don't know what Swinging London would have been without him."
"Is everybody in?... Is everybody in?...The ceremony is about to begin...
- The Celebration of the Lizard, Jim Morrison
------
I looked at the calendar last Monday with a feeling of weight. A feeling of emptiness, of grief...
July 3, 1971 - Paris, France. A good thirteen years before I would be born, James Douglas Morrison died. He was twenty-seven.
And that was thirty-five years ago.
----
How do you grieve for someone who you never met? In the same way people miss John Lennon, Jimi Hendrix, Kurt Cobain, John Bonham, Jeff Buckley, Keith Moon....
The list goes on and on.
Fortunately, the music lets them all live forever.
Think of it...its the late 80's, you're in Seattle, Washington cupping your ears, trying to figure out the "new" sound that seems to be everywhere. You already thought that George Michael was beginning to seem like the anti-christ of rock All the glam pop/rock of the late 70's is dying out, and something darker and heavier is fusing with the remains. No longer is every band trying to get on the space ship with Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars; they are trying to find a space somewhere grounded on this planet. Their elevation comes instead from a wall of muddy sound coursing through Marshall amps as tall as small buildings. The aura of the music has the sneer of Sid Viscious and the stage antics of the over-the-top Elton John. Who shall herald in this change, be the ringleader with the magic guitar pick of gold...and the voice that can be heard above the thunderous crowds?
Many say that Nirvana broke through with the most innovative force, and they would be quite wrong. Kurt even admitted on numerous occasions that his music was greatly influenced by other artists such as the Pixies and The Melvins. So he was pretty much putting a megaphone up to sounds already circulating the alternative music scene. Yes, there was Soundgarden, The Melvins, Alice In Chains, Nirvana...but there was also one band that stood out amongst them all: the infamous Mother Love Bone.
Never heard of them? Well, that could be because they never got the chance to shine like so many of the other Seattle bands. Like so many other sad rock n' roll stories, their lead singer Andrew Wood (from the band Malfunkshun), died of a heroin overdose before the release of their first album, Apple. The other reason you might still be scratching your head could be because two of the band members went on to form an even more sucessful band, some would say the most powerful rock band fame wise other than U2: Pearl Jam.
Stone Gossard and Jeff Ament, while best known as guitarist/bassist for Pearl Jam, actually wrote some of their greatest stuff musically during their short lived musical project, Mother Love Bone. Mother Love Bone mixed the beautiful piano arrangements of Elton John withAndrew Wood's vocal stylings (somewhere between the sexual howl of Robert Plant and the flambuoyant energy of Freddie Mercury). On top of all that, add the scorching guitar licks of Stone Gossard in his post-glam/punk glory, and you have the best band to come out of the Seattle scene. Or at least, the band with the most outright potential for earth shattering rock. I suppose we'll never know for sure what could have been since there is only one album, some bootlegs, and some old frayed concert t-shirts.
I write this article not to say I have less love for bands like Pearl Jam, I just think that many grunge fans are missing out if they don't also have a place for Mother Love Bone beside Pearl Jam's debut Ten. Since I'm not the kind of girl who wants to leave her readers hanging, I'm going to leave you with two music videos. The first is Pearl Jam covering my favorite Mother Love Bone song by far, "Chloe Dancer-Crown of Thorns." Then, I'll leave with you with Star Dog Champion, a rare video from Mother Love Bone. Let me know what you think, seriously. I'm way suprised nobody in here ever mentioned this band before because I know most of you are obessesed with grunge and Pearl Jam.
Some trivia for you: did you know that the band Temple of the Dog was formed to create such tribute songs as "Say Hello to Heaven" for the late Andrew Wood of Mother Love Bone who was Chris Cornell's roomate? The band included members of Sound Garden and Pearl Jam. Also, Eddie Vedder sings lead vocals on "Hungerstrike."
"Chloe Dancer/Crown of Thorns" Mother Love Bone cover performed by Pearl Jam; from the 2003 DVD, Live at the Garden.
"Stardog Champion" rare video by Mother Love Bone circa 1989
Today I decided to feature "Jeremy" by Pearl Jam because I remember being profoundly effected by the video when I first saw it as a young child. I was too naive when I first heard the song to really understand its meaning, but I knew there was something evil and sinister that happened to this Jeremy boy. It made me, for the first time in my short life, doubt the saftey of my own home and community. I no longer thought my daddy could protect me from everything, especially evil more real and more invisible than the boogeyman who hid in my closet.
I hadn't seen this video for years, and then I watched it today and it just floored me. Especially after growing up with the Colombine shootings in 1999, this video in turn seemed somewhat eeriely prophetic and even more chilling than before. What I didn't know prior to today, was that "Jeremy" was actually inspired by real events. A boy named Jeremy Delle killed himself in 1991 in front of a classroom of 16 peers and his teacher. Doesn't that make lyrics like these resonate even more deeply in the base of your spine?:
Jeremy spoke in class today Try to forget this... Try to erase this... From the blackboard.
I'm going to include the actual newspaper report written up about this event because I think its important that when we listen to "Jeremy" we realize that this song is in memory of a boy who didn't know any other way out. I think Pearl Jam's purpose in putting this song out there isn't to scare us, but to make us realize how precious every life is, even the kid who sits in the back of the classroom, talking to himself and scribbling into a journal that is more real to him than the people who taunt him. We need to battle this invisible evil that is apathy, that is there everytime a child feels alone and unloved in this world. I think Kurt Vonnegut gave some pretty good advice on how to fight apathy, and stop senseless suicides from occuring when he wrote the following words in his novel, The Sirens of Titan: "A purpose of human life, no matter who is controlling it, is to love whoever is around to be loved."
I think Eddie Vedder said it best though, when he was interviewed about the song: "you kill yourself and you make a big old sacrifice and try to get your revenge. That all you're gonna end up with is a paragraph in a newspaper. [...] it does nothing … nothing changes. The world goes on and you're gone. The best revenge is to live on and prove yourself. Be stronger than those people. And then you can come back".
Well said.
Richardson Teen-Ager Kills Himself in Front of Classmates
by Bobbi Miller, Annette Nevins
RICHARDSON - A Richardson High School sophomore, described as a loner who had been in counseling, fatally shot himself Tuesday in front of a classroom of about 30 students. Jeremy Wade Delle, 16, who had transferred from a Dallas school, died instantly after firing a .357-caliber Magnum into his mouth about 9:45 a.m. police said.
Because he had missed class, the teacher in his second-period English class told Jeremy to get an admittance slip from the school office. Instead, he returned with the gun, police said. He walked directly to the front of the classroom. "Miss, I got what I really went for," he said, then placed the barrel in his mouth and fired, according to Sgt. Ray Pennington, a police spokesman.
The shooting occurred before the students or teacher Fay Barnett could react, said school district spokeswoman Susan Dacus-Wilson. It stunned students and faculty members throughout the school at 1250 W. Belt Line Road. Brian Jackson, 16, said he was working the combination on his locker just outside Jeremy's English class when he heard a loud bang "like someone had just slammed a book on a desk."
"I thought they were doing a play or something," he said. "But then I heard a scream and a blond girl came running out of the classroom and she was crying."
Frightened, but curious, Brian looked into the classroom and saw Jeremy lying on the floor bleeding. "The teacher was standing against the wall crying and shaking," Brian said. "Some people were standing around her holding her as if to keep her from falling."
Another student, Howard Perre Felman, and 11th-grader, was in government class when he heard the shot. At first students joked about the noise, thinking that someone was playing around, he said.
"But then we heard a girl running down the hall screaming," he said. "It was a scream from the heart."
Sgt. Pennington said Jeremy apparently had given some thought to his actions because he left a suicide note with a classmate. Investigators would not disclose its contents. Principal Jerry Bishop said Jeremy's class attendance had been sporadic. Mr. Bishop said he had met with the boy and his father to discuss the problem. Police said that Jeremy had been in counseling with his father, but they did not know the specifics.
Sgt. Pennington said police did not know where the youth got the gun and had no clue why he would kill himself in a crowded classroom. The classmates who witnessed the shooting were immediately ushered to a secluded room for counseling. About 30 members of the school district's volunteer crisis team arrived to counsel students.
Classes continued throughout the day. Some students were allowed to leave early, but counselors encouraged them to stay at school and discuss their feelings. Few students knew Jeremy well because he had attended Bryan Adams High School in Dallas last year and had enrolled in the Richardson school in October. They described him as a loner.
"He was real quiet and he acted down at times. He acted sad," said Koury Kashiem, 15.
Lisa Moore, 16, said she knew Jeremy from the in-school suspension program. "He and I would pass notes back and forth and he would talk about life and stuff," she said. She said Jeremy wanted to discuss the boy she was dating and also mentioned that he was having trouble with one of his teachers. He signed all of his notes, "Write back." But on Monday he wrote, "Later days."
"I didn't know what to make of it," she said. "But I never thought this would happen."
However, Sean Forrester, 17, remembered Jeremy as friendly with no outward signs of turmoil.
"He never looked like he had anything wrong with him. . .He always made a joke over everything," Sean said.
Jeremy was the son of Joseph R. Delle of Richardson, with whom he lived, and Wanda Crane. The couple divorced in 1979, according to Dallas County court records. Mr. Delle could not be reached for comment. Ms. Crane, through a spokesman, declined to comment.
Tuesday's shooting was the first known teen suicide in a Richardson school. It was the first by a Richardson student since 1988, when student suicides prompted the creation of the crisis intervention program in May that year.
Three Richardson students committed suicide during the first half of 1988. They included a sixth-grader and two sophomores at J. J. Pearce High School. One of the sophomores hanged himself from a tree behind Mohawk Elementary School during a weekend.
In 1985, a 17-year-old Arlington student shot himself in front of four fellow students in the drama classroom at Arlington High School. Earlier, and outbreak of teen suicides in Plano, where eight youths killed themselves in 1983 and 1984, helped focus national attention on the plight of suicidal teen-agers.
Students and counselors agreed that the shock of Jeremy's public demise would have a lingering effect on the Richardson students, particularly the witnesses.
"They are going to go through a ton of sadness, anxiety and fear," said Sheryl Pender, a counselor with Willow Park Hospital in Plano and former director of the Suicide and Crisis Center in Dallas.
Staff writer Jeffrey Weiss contributed to this report.
If you want to learn more about Jermey Delle, check out the following links:
Witness one of the best Xylaphone solos in rock n' roll history. The quality on this video isn't top notch, but I think seeing early 80's era Violent Femmes action is well worth a few blurry patches of video. I think it is worthy to note that the day I bought The Violent Femmes self-titled 1982 album was the day I became obsessed with punk and indie music. So you can thank the Femmes for this blog, because without them, I'd probably still be listening to just my classic rock heroes.I 'm so angry that couldn't go see the Femmes play First Avenue because I'm not quite 21 yet. God damn age limits. I don't need alcohol to get buzzed....just some of that great acoustic marachi bass action.
Currently listening to: Violent Femmes By Violent Femmes
Sometimes in order to get the ball rolling, you need a mother's blessing. And that is just what writer/director Brian Jun received from Mary Guibert, mother of the late Jeff Buckley, when he proposed a biopic of her son. In fact, Guibert is taking her involvement to the next level; she will co-produce the film with Michelle Sy, who worked on last year's Best Picture Oscar nominee Finding Neverland.
"I can tell Jeff's fans with complete confidence that Brian is not the sort of fellow to sugar-coat or manipulate the facts," Buckley's mother said in a press release. "I know that he's a straight shooter. There's a depth of character to Brian, surprising in someone so young, and I have seen from his filmmaking that he has the courage and the skill to do this the way it should be done."
In January, Jun's film SteelCity was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival. Cool moms eat that stuff up.
This marks the second time Jeff Buckley's life story has been slated for the big screen. Writer/producer Train Houston secured the rights to music critic David Browne's 2001 book, Dream Brother: The Lives & Music of Jeff and Tim Buckley, last year, according to Billboard.com.
My Opinion:
Holy bejezus...first I hear about that Ian Curtis/Joy Division movie (which still hasn't seen the light of day yet as far as I've been informed.) Now, they are remaking the story of Jeff Buckley's life and music for film yet again. I can't say I've had the pleasure of coming across a copy of the first big screen film version of the Jeff Buckley saga. I can say that I do have high hopes for quality on this biopic, because Mary Guibert (Jeff's mother) is helping produce, and the director Brian Jun got a nomination at the Sundance Film Festival. So as long as the movie doesn't twist the facts as much as Oliver Stone's The Doors, I will be one happy Buckley fanatic.
Here is a perfect performance of the song "Lipstick Vogue" by Elvis Costello and the Attractions at the 1979 Pinkpop festival. Back when Elvis really knew how to shake up a crowd and get their feet in a tantric rhythm. Not to say that Elvis has faded into obscurity today...far from it. Its just that he's taken the "Burt Bacharach" songwriting path. He uses more melodious strings than Moody Blues sometimes, and he's not afraid to get gospel singers in on the mix. This is all fine and dandy because his lyrics and songwriting ability are still top notch. The songs he makes now aren't things I'd wanna dance to at a rock club, you know what I mean?
So, to celebrate the days in the late 70's when Elvis' music was still being labelled as "punk", I bring you a very energetic and ELETRIC peformance by my man, Elvis Costello. Oh, and is it just me, or do those glasses just DO it for you ladies? I wanna lick em' and rip off that pink suit he's got on. Very classy of me, eh? Well, can you blame me?
I was in a record store the other day and a song was playing. I loved it, so I asked the guy working there who it was, and he said Jolie Holland. I went home and listened to some clips of her music on iTunes, and they're all wonderful. She just came out with a new album called "Springtime Can Kill You". I already have a favorite song on it, and it's called "Mexican Blue." You can listen to it here: http://www.myspace.com/iamspok. Hope you like it. :)
Sleater-Kinney, probably my favorite 'RIOTGRRL" band after Bikini Kill has decided to disband. They issued the following statement:
"After eleven years as a band, Sleater-Kinney have decided to go on indefinite hiatus.
The upcoming summer shows will be our last. As of now, there are no plans for future tours or recordings. We feel lucky to have had the support of many wonderful people over the years. We want to thank everyone who has worked with us, written kind words about us, performed with us, and inspired us.
But mostly we want to extend our gratitude to our amazing fans. You have been a part of our story from the beginning. We could not have made our music without your enthusiasm, passion, and loyalty. It is you who have made the entire journey worthwhile."
If you want one more chance to see them live before they disband, here are the last of their tour dates. Better get a move on for those tickets, I'm sure they are selling out faster than Liz Phair....(um, that was a joke...if you didn't catch the sarcasm, Liz Phair has officially morphed into Britney Spears shite the last few years).
07-29 Louisville, KY - Mellwood Arts Center 07-31 Philadelphia, PA - Starlight Ballroom 08-01 Washington, DC - 9:30 Club 08-02 New York, NY - Webster Hall 08-04 Chicago, IL - Grant Park (Lollapalooza)
Now, just wait, I bet I'll listen to "I Wanna Be Your Joey Ramone" on repeat for the next 2 days, whilst walking around like a zombie with a box of Kleenex saying "Oh the humanity." Why can't the crap bands get a clue and disband instead? Seriously, first my new favorite dance band, Clor, called it quite after one album (Welcome Music Lovers) and now Sleater Kinney?!
Currently listening to: The Woods By Sleater-Kinney
Aimee, one of the co-creators of Vintage Rock, was so gracious to point out a blog called Kwaya Na Kisser. I still don't really know what the title is all about, but the content is excellent. Pierre, the founder, is a very gracious man; he uploads tons of live sets and rare tracks by some fantastic artists: Built to Spill, PJ Harvey, Tom Waits, Linda Ronstandt, Deerhoof, Thin Lizzy, Bahaus etc...
Well, in his post celebrating 200 blogs, he invited two others to join. I of course jumped at the chance. I love writing here, don't get me wrong...but I don't really get any responses on the posts I work so hard to write and research. I'd like to get my musical posts more exposure and an audience that actually responds. I feel so lonely in this blog sometimes, even though I know there is a steady audience of readers who lurk in the corners and never introduce themselves.
So if you'd like to check out my other blogging location here is the link:
There has been much coming and going of the authors here at Vintage Rock. If you have not posted an entry in over two months, I'm either deleting you from Vintage Rock or marking you as inactive on the side-bar. I don't think its fair to give authors credit here if they don't post any entries. Its nothing personal, I'm sure you all understand.
Kristy (founder)
Aims (co-founder)
Shay (non active co-founder)
Jess (non active co-founder)
Morgan (non active co-founder)
Kerry
What Is "Vintage Rock" About?
Vintage Rock has officially been on the internet in various forms for about five years now. I started it on a whim of boredom at the terrible, bolt.com. I met some great friends there, and we ended up forming a super-group; a forum where it was okay to speak our minds about anything and everything music. And since there were multiple authors here, we were able to learn about an eclectic variety of music news, recommendations, and bands.
In the last few years, many of the authors who helped co-found this blog quit posting entries. I'm not bitter about their absence, because I know it takes a lot of time and dedication to write quality articles and posts. I will never forget them, but I think its time I quit expecting them to come back. I'd really like to see Vintage Rock turn back into the place it once was. I really don't forsee that happening though. I do however think it is valid for me to keep up this blog in hopes I can inspire even one person to realize that MTV is not the only way to define one's musical tastes. I know its difficult, and takes a lot of research, but there are amazing bands out there just waiting to be discovered. And that is the purpose of this blog. I've never made one penny for running Vintage Rock, and that's okay. Its worth all the hard work when I hear one person say, "Hey, that band kicks ass!" So yes, if you like Vintage Rock and what we stand for, don't be afraid to comment on an entry or say hi on the tag-board. The more input from you readers, the more likely I am to be inspired to post more entries.
Anyway, I'm off my soap-box for today. I just thought I'd let you know that things are going to be a bit different here. I'm taking the focus off the side bar and deleting a lot of things I don't find relevant anymore.
Album:
Our Beloved Revolutionary Sweetheart closed with Lowery singing about how "Life Is Grand" in pointed response to "those of you who have appointed yourselves to expect us to say something darker." So when Key Lime Pie came out, its moodier music and imagery, not to mention that soon after the fact the band fell apart on the tour for the album, led more than one person to think those darker times had finally arrived. As it is, the group had already gone through one major shake-up between the two albums -- founding member Segel had taken a powder to concentrate on other efforts, with Morgan Fichter brought in as a replacement violinist. Her abilities were certainly praiseworthy, as the album-starting instrumental "Opening Theme" shows quite well. However, it's definitely not the same band that did Telephone Free Landslide Victory a mere four years previous -- things are more straightforwardly rock here most of the time, perhaps not too surprising in light of Lowery's subsequent work in Cracker. As it is, though, it's excellently conceived rock, with space, moodiness, and more to spare. Consider "Jack Ruby," with its wordless backing vocals, tense rhythms, and thick soloing, or "Laundromat" and its steady but unnerving crunch. It's not all potential melancholia, though -- "June" in particular is an underrated number, celebrating the early summer with sweetness and love (at least up to the increasingly stranger ending). Lowery's singing is his best yet, perhaps a little less prone to wackiness but an emergent, distinct voice all the same, and certainly prone to sing a quirky lyric or two still. The oddest thing of all was that the band actually gained a little mainstream attention on MTV and radio via a cover of Status Quo's psych-era nugget "Pictures of Matchstick Men."--- Ned Raggett
