The following took place at a Pink Floyd Band Meeting in early 1967, just prior to the release of their debut album Piper at the Gates of Dawn.
Rick Wright walked into the room with a tray of tea and scones, placed them on the rickety coffee table Roger Waters had bought for a fiver at the Camden market, and took a seat next to Syd Barrett. Nick Mason, who had brought along a batch of his mum's homemade hedgehog, was lazing in a beanbag near the heater, tapping his foot in time with its regular clicks. Waters was idly picking his nails with a plectrum, tightly pursing his lips, while Barrett was eating buttered kippers while standing on his head.
Waters: Thanks Rick.
Wright: So where are we with the album title?
Waters: Oh! Syd has a great one. Really nice suggestion. Where did it come from, Syd?
Silence.
Mason: Syd?
Wright: Syd!
Barrett: For God's sake, Syd!
Mason: Mate, you're Syd!
Barrett: I'm Roger!
Waters: No, I'm Roger.
Barrett: You sure?
Waters: Positive.
Barrett: Cos I'm pretty sure I'm Roger.
Wright: No, you're Syd. Roger's Roger. I'm Rick and that's Nick.
Barrett: Well then where's Daryl?
Wright: There is no Daryl.
Barrett: I'm sure there's always been a Daryl.
Barrett's pants fall off. He is wearing no underpants. There's an awkward silence. Mason coughs.
Waters: So, ah, where did the title come from?
Barrett: Sausages.
Waters: What?
Barrett: Schmoozlepop.
Waters: What the hell are you talking about?
Mason: Syd told me the title was from Wind in the Willows.
Barrett: Yeah, that's it!
Wright: Oh groovy. I love that book.
Barrett: Especially when the zombies rise up from the mud and fuck mole in the arsehole.
Wright: That never happened!
Barrett: And then they ate Ratty's balls and beat up that fucking fat cunt, Toad.
Wright: There aren't any zombies in Wind of the Willows!
Barrett: How's this for an opening line for a song about bikes: "I've got a bike, you can ride it if you like..."
Waters: Do you want to have a lie down?
Barrett: I'm feeling fine. And I still reckon I'm Roger.
Mason (whispering to Waters): You know my mate Dave? He's a great guitar player and a handy singer.
Waters: (whispering back): Syd founded this band, man! We can't kick him out, no matter how weird he gets.
Mason: Maybe we should just pencil in Dave for the second album.
Waters: I always get this feeling of impending doom when I meet Dave.
Mason: He's alright.
Barrett: Are you talking about Copernicus?
Waters: Um, yes.
Barrett: Copernicus fixed my bike. Listen to this: "It's got a basket and bell and rings and things to make it look good..."
Waters: Nick?
Mason: Yeah?
Waters: Call Dave.
Barrett is standing on his head and his pants fall off?
ReplyDeleteSomething doesn't seem right about that.
I have one of his solo albums, made in about 1970 (interestingly: produced by Dave Gilmour)and it's fucking shithouse. And so is 'Bike'. And so is every song he wrote for Pink Floyd, even the hits. He is unlistenable.
ReplyDeleteI challenge the 'genius'. I reckon he was just 'mad'.
And yet... and yet. Why do I keep playing his music? And why does he fascinate me so?
He's no genius, but his madness was entertaining, I spose.
Ahh drugs, you gotta love 'em.
ReplyDeleteI'm a bit (OK a lot) of a Pink Floyd tragic and have albums, demos, bootlegs etc. Some of Syd's stuff is actually pretty good, but some is, as Pers says, completely unlistenable. Vegetable Man is a prime example. I quite like Bike though. The early Floyd/Barrett stuff while pretty fucked up, also has a very peculiar Englishness to its fucked-uptedness.
ReplyDeleteWhich one from Pink Floyd has the unfeasably large classic car collection?
ReplyDelete