THE PINK FLOYD & SYD BARRETT STORY

This DVD has been repackaged a number of times but remains essentially the same in terms of content. It is now widely available (in the UK at least) at a budget price.

It should be said straight away that this is not really a music DVD, it is a 50 minute documentary about the life of Roger "Syd" Barrett. There are extracts of tracks including "Interstellar overdrive", "Arnold Layne", etc., but they are incomplete, and are often spoken over.

All the Pink Floyd members appear, including Bob Klose, who modestly opines that his departure accelerated the band's progress. Mason, Wright, Waters and Gilmour all offer personal reminiscences of Syd and the atmosphere of the time when he was in the band. All paint a picture of a good friend slowly destroying himself through drug abuse and personal weakness. Also included are friends and fans of the band such as Robyn Hitchcock , Jerry Shirley of Humble Pie, and Graham Coxton of Blur. Hitchcock and Coxton are featured in the "Bonus" section performing acoustic versions of Barrett songs.

The documentary covers both Barrett's work with Pink Floyd and his solo material. It also features subsequent songs by Pink Floyd which relate to Barrett such as "Shine on you crazy diamond" and "Wish you were here". At one point Waters even says that main character in "The wall" was essentially based on Syd too.

Despite the fact that at the time this programmes was recorded, Syd was still alive and living as a recluse, it comes across very much as a requiem for the Syd the contributors new and loved. When the four Pink Floyd members talk about him arriving unannounced in the studio during the recording of "Shine on you crazy diamond", and failing to recognise him, there is genuine emotion and regret in their voices.

Worth a look.

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