From Vegetable Man to Country Compilations

Yesterday afternoon, whilst checking the net for details about yet another terrorist atrocity and the several hundred deaths of innocent Indian commuters, the main story on the BBC at the time was the news of Syd Barrett's death. The news of the attack eventually put Mr Barrett's death into perspective. Sad news nevertheless I suppose. Having shunned the limelight for over three decades I can only hope that Syd was happy in himself. I am sure that much purple prose has been written about him already. I can't really join in with that. My first exposure to Syd came via the Jesus and Marychain's debut single Upside Down where a cover of Syd's solo effort Vegetable Man was the b side. Pretty mindblowing, but despite a daliance with and appreciation of early Pink Floyd, I was never a big fan of Syd solo. His story always struck me as that of an acid casualty (see Roky post below)and a talent snuffed out before he got a chance to blossom.
During last summer I picked up on The Be Good Tanyas and especially liked the outro to the track The Littlest Birds (featuring Jolie Holland on Vocals).

I don't care if the sun don't shine
And I don't care if nothing is mine
And I don't care if I'm nervous with you
I'll do my loving in the Winter

It was vaguely familiar, then when I saw the writing credits featured S. Barrett it clicked. Sure enough, it is from the Pink Floyd song Jugband Blues. A co writing credit that would among other things place Syd's lyrics on The Very Best of Country Gold compilation last year along with the likes of Dolly, Kenny,Johnny and Crystal.

If you prefer your Syd more like how he is traditionally remembered then here is a literal cartoon interpretaion of his song Bike from Pink floyds debut Piper at The Gates of Dawn.

Meanwhile on the Folk front work continues on the recording with piano parts courtesy of Verity from Delta Mainline. We will hopefully have some tunes to post before the month is out.