While Roger Waters and David Gilmour remain the public faces of Pink Floyd today, the early days of the group are covered with the fingerprints of one Syd Barrett. As the band’s founder and principal songwriter for their debut album—The Piper at the Gates of Dawn—he set the trajectory for what would become one of the pioneering psychedelic groups of the 1960s.
Though Barrett’s work with the band concluded following the release of their sophomore album—1968’s Saucerful of Secrets—the enigmatic singer-songwriter continued to his pursue his art. In addition to two solo albums, both released in 1970, Barrett was also a visual artist. As of now, the only official book about Syd Barrett is Barrett: The Definitive Visual Companion, which boasts over 350 images from throughout his life and career.
Related: David Gilmour Covers Syd Barrett During Family Live Stream [Watch]
Unfortunately for many Barrett enthusiasts, this massive collection was only released in special, limited-edition prints back in 2011. There was the classic slipcase edition that ran for $150 and the deluxe, two-volume deluxe copy that sold for $475. However, the book’s publisher has announced a paperback edition that will drop down to an affordable $45 and is available on November 24th.
While this run of copies won’t contain as many goodies and other special offerings, it is still the only officially-licensed work approved by the late musician’s estate. The paperback edition of Barrett: The Definitive Visual Companion is split into five sections: an introduction, Barrett’s life in photographs (one section for Pink Floyd and another for his solo work), unpublished illustrated letters sent to Libby Gausden-Chisman and Jenny Spires between 1962—1965, and all of Barrett’s existing work as a visual artist. Over 100 of the images have never been published, and all of the images include detailed notes.
While Barrett’s withdrawal from Pink Floyd—and public life—is most commonly attributed to his penchant for psychedelic drugs, drummer Nick Mason offered an alternative theory to Rolling Stone back in 2016.
“Looking back on it, there’s no doubt that LSD exacerbated the state, but I think perhaps what was happening was Syd had realized he didn’t want to be in a rock band at all,” Mason said. “He’d done that, decided it wasn’t really what he wanted to do and probably wanted to go back to art school, but he couldn’t find a way of getting out of it. Certainly, we couldn’t believe that anyone didn’t want to be in a rock band.
“So I think when he was messing around with the songs, like [Saucerful of Secrets’] ‘Jugband Blues,’ I think he almost did it as a whim, thinking it would be another really peculiar thing, whereas, actually, I think the song has an extraordinary edge,” he continued. “I think what was going on was Syd really was trying to leave.”
Fellow surviving member Waters somewhat dismissed the notion, with Waters stating, “It’s a perfectly decent theory,” he said. “I think that maybe there is something to that, but we’ll never know, because Syd wasn’t making all that much sense by that time, so it’s hard to know where he was at or what he was thinking. We’ll never know.”
The paperback edition of Barrett: The Definitive Visual Companion is available for pre-order here, and a sample offering of images are available below.
[H/T Brooklyn Vegan]