ABOUT SYD

From Syd Barrett: Works
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Here is an overview of the many books written about Syd and his music, not all in print. Click on them to show more information. Below some lists of the works on him.

The last "stat-of-the-art" coffee-table book is of course a must for who loves to see Syd Barrett's legacy in detail, both as man and artist.
Here "artist" means not only musician but also painter, sketcher... and writer of love-letters as well.

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Barrett
Russell Beecher and Will Shutes

Contains the largest collection of Syd Barrett related images ever assembled, including hundreds of unseen and rare photographs of Syd and Pink Floyd, Syd's personal love letters and all of Syd's original artworks. The book offers an unprecedented insight into Syd's life.

Authors Russell Beecher and Will Shutes draw on their research to show Syd's work and life, resulting in a comprehensive study of Syd the artist. Includes comments from, and archive interviews with, many of Syd's friends and colleagues including Joe Boyd, Barry Miles, Libby Gausden-Chisman, Nigel Lesmoir-Gordon, Jenny Spires, and many more. Published on Friday 18th March 2011. Available from barrettbook.com.


While the last two biographical works are no less a must-read, also for the complete overview they offer on Syd's music, in a really flowing style.
You can't know how Syd became such a great musician if you don't read these books!

Really superb references, full of information, the two below are indispensable books for who search facts and first-hand accounts in chronological order.
The latter covers also the whole Pink Floyd story.

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A Very Irregular Head
Rob Chapman

Published in May 2010, this biography focuses on Syd's artistic influences and includes many new source interviews.

Published by Faber & Faber.

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Lost in the Woods
Julian Palacios

This June 1998 book was fully revised in September 2010, under the new title of 'Dark Globe', and is a detailed look at Barrett's life and music.

Published by Plexus Publishing.

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Random Precision
David Parker

A chronological look at Barrett's recording sessions from early Floyd in 1965, to his final solo sessions in 1974, accompanied by interviews with producers and engineers involved in the recordings.

Published by Cherry Red Books.

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Echoes
Glenn Povey

In an oversized edition, lavishly illustrated, this book presents all about Pink Floyd's concerts and a biographical account of their careers. Upgraded in a 2016 book...!

Published by Mind Head Publishing.


Of course, many other important books have benn written. Some of them are shortly overviewed below, then follows a complete list.

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Crazy Diamond
Mike Watkinson and Pete Anderson

The first major biography of Syd Barrett was published in 1991, and updated in 2006 with detail on the story behind his later years, his illness, and death.

Published by Omnibus.

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Madcap
Tim Willis

From 2002, this aimed to dispel some of the more outlandish myths, and bring balance and reality to Syd's story.

Published by Short Books.

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London Live
Tony Bacon

This January 1998 book is long out-of-print, and looks at the live concert scene in the UK capital between the 1950s-70s, with memorabilia and eyewitness accounts.

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Saucerful of Secrets
Nicholas Schaffner

Originally published in 1992 (revised March 2003), this heavily detailed book looks at the band's history, with a heavy focus on the early days.

Published by Helter Skelter Publishing.

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The Piper at the gates of dawn
John Cavanagh

This 2003 small book combines interviews and recording-studio nitty-gritty to vividly capture the first and last flush of Syd's psychedelic genius on the Floyd's '67 debut.

Published by Continuum.

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Syd Barrett: Legend
Bob Cairns

Printed in July 2009, this looks at Syd's rise to stardom, through to his death, and includes lyrics to his full solo material, with analysis of their meaning.

Published by Pegasus Elliot Mackenzie Publishers.

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Syd Barrett: Le premier Pink Floyd
Emmanuel Le Bret

This text-only French book was printed in January 2009, and provides a thorough analysis of his life, looking at each aspect in detail.

Published by Editions du Moment.

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Syd Barrett: Le Genie Perdu De Pink Floyd
Tim Willis

A 2005 French translation of Willis's 2002 book.

Published by Pegasus Elliot Mackenzie Publishing.


LIST OF ALL BOOKS ABOUT SYD BARRETT

Some Pink Floyd books are included here if they give the most complete and updated information about Syd Barrett, or if a substantial part of them is about him, or if some important parts are or were unavailable in other books. The translated editions are listed within the original in bold. If a book has tipped-in pages (plates/portaits) they are included in the page count.

Note: this table is sortable by date/surname/text, by clicking below
Pub. Title Author(s) pp. Notes
1976 The Pink Floyd Sanders, RickRick Sanders 159 Biography, 1 transl. ed., pub. by Futura Publications
1978 '67 Pink Floyd: The Early Years Miles, BarryBarry Miles 64 Song book, with photos, sheet music, introduction, comments, pub. by Wise Publications
1982 Syd Barrett: the making of 'The Madcap Laughs' Jones, MalcolmMalcolm Jones 31 Memoir on the recording, re-ed. in 2003, self-pub., pub. by Orange Sunshine Press (1986), Brain Damage (2003)
1985 Pink Floyd Ferrari, LucaLuca Ferrari 192 Collection of interviews/articles, discography, lyrics of unreleased songs, in Italian, pub. by Arcana Editrice
1986 Tatuato sul Muro: L'enigma di Syd Barrett Ferrari, LucaLuca Ferrari 131 Biography, re-ed. in 1991 and 1995 (144 pp.), in Italian, pub. by Gammalibri, Edizioni Blues Brothers (1995)
1988 Syd Barrett: Where is the madcap called Syd... Ferrari, LucaLuca Ferrari 90 Song book, with chronicle, interviews/articles, 2 tribute songs on 7", in Italian, pub. by Stampa Alternativa
1990 Pink Floyd: Dizionario Rock Ferrari, LucaLuca Ferrari 174 Reference work with articles on songs, places, studios, venues, in Italian, pub. by Arcana Editrice
1991 Crazy Diamond: Syd Barrett & the Dawn of Pink Floyd Watkinson, MikeMike Watkinson, Pete Anderson 184 Biography, re-ed. in 2006 (208 pp.), ebook ed. (2009, 192 pp.), 9 transl. ed., pub. by Omnibus Press
1991 Saucerful of Secrets: The Pink Floyd Odyssey Schaffner, NicholasNicholas Schaffner 348 Biography, re-ed. in 2003, 5 transl. ed., pub. by Harmony Books, Helter Skelter Publishing (2003)
1993 The Mick Rock Photo-Sessions Rock, MickMick Rock 48 Photo-book for the box set Syd Barrett: The Madcap Laughs, text by Pete Anderson, pub. by UFO Books
1994 Pink Floyd / Syd Barrett: Volume primo Bertrando, PaoloPaolo Bertrando 198 Song book, with introduction, transl. of lyrics, in Italian, pub. by Arcana Editrice
1996 Crazy Diamond Shuttleworth, TedTed Shuttleworth 130 Screenplay for a film never made, registered WGAw
1996 Syd Barrett: A fish out of water Ferrari, LucaLuca Ferrari 118 Biography, with interviews, monograph on the artwork, 2 songs on CD, transl., pub. by Stampa Alternativa
1998 London Live: From the Yardbirds to Pink Floyd to the Sex Pistols Bacon, TonyTony Bacon 192 Partially about places and bands related to Pink Floyd, pub. by Backbeat Books
1998 Lost in the Woods: Syd Barrett and the Pink Floyd Palacios, JulianJulian Palacios 352 Biography, pub. by Boxtree Ltd
1998 The Pink Floyd Encyclopedia Fitch, VernonVernon Fitch 456 Reference work, re-ed. in 1999 (448 pp.), 2005, 1 transl. ed., with Hawkwind CD, pub. by CG Publishing
2001 Psychedelic Renegades Rock, MickMick Rock 160 Photo-book, re-ed. in 2007 (142 pp.), 1 transl. ed., pub. by Genesis Publications, Rebel Arts (July 2007)
2001 Random Precision: Recording the Music of Syd Barrett 1965-1974 Parker, DavidDavid Parker 295 Reference work with articles on studio recordings, with interviews, pub. by Cherry Red Books
2002 Madcap: The half-life of Syd Barrett, Pink Floyd's lost genius Willis, TimTim Willis 186 Biography, 1 transl. ed., pub. by Short Books
2003 The Piper at the gates of dawn Cavanagh, John EricJohn Cavanagh 132 Monograph on the 1st album and the story behind it, with interviews, ebook ed., 2 transl. ed., pub. by Continuum
2004 Inside Out: A Personal History of Pink Floyd Mason, NickNick Mason, Philip Dodd 360 Biography, re-ed. in 2005 (384 pp.), ebook ed. (2011, 448 pp.), 10 transl. ed., pub. by W&N, Phoenix (2005)
2006 Pink Floyd: The Early Years Miles, BarryBarry Miles 160 Biography, ebook ed. (2011, 128 pp.), pub. by Omnibus Press
2006 Terrapin Salsman, RickRick Salsman 272 Collection of the fanzines Terrapin, with introductions, ebook ed. (2011), pub. by Central Studios
2007 Echoes: The Complete History of Pink Floyd Povey, GlennGlenn Povey 368 Reference work on concerts, with photos, discography, 4 transl. ed., pub. by Mind Head Publishing
2007 Le canzoni di Syd Barrett Bratus, AlessandroAlessandro Bratus 202 Reference work with articles on songs, in Italian, pub. by Editori Riuniti
2007 Pigs Might Fly: The Inside Story of Pink Floyd Blake, MarkMark Blake 424 Biography, re-ed. in 2013 (454 pp.), ebook ed. (2011, 200 pp.), 4 transl. ed., pub. by Aurum Press
2007 Scattered Needles Nass, Daniel RaymondDaniel Raymond Nass 129 Sheet music of orchestral versions of 4 songs, with commentary on music and lyrics, pub. by ProQuest
2008 Syd Barrett: Le premier Pink Floyd Le Bret, EmmanuelEmmanuel Le Bret 281 Biography, in French, pub. by Editions du Moment
2009 Syd Barrett: Legend Cairns, BobBob Cairns 176 Biography, pub. by Pegasus Elliot Mackenzie Publishers
2010 Syd Barrett: A Very Irregular Head Chapman, RobRob Chapman 476 Biography, ebook ed. (460 pp.), 2 transl. ed., pub. by Faber and Faber
2010 Syd Barrett & Pink Floyd: Dark Globe Palacios, JulianJulian Palacios 472 Biography, revision of Lost in the Woods (1998, 352 pp.), 1 transl. ed., pub. by Plexus Publishing
2011 Barrett Beecher, RussellRussell Beecher, Will Shutes 272 Photo-book, with monograph on the artwork, comments, 2 vol. ed. (272 pp., 72 pp.), pub. by Essential Works
2011 Syd Barrett: The Photography Of Mick Rock Rock, MickMick Rock 128 Photo-book for the box set of the same name, with Octopus on 7", pub. by EMI Records (prod.: Palazzo Editions)
2013 The Music Scene of 1960s Cambridge Dosanjh, WarrenWarren Dosanjh, Mick Brown 70 Partially about places and bands related to Syd Barrett, revision of a 2009 ed. (16 pp., 5 ebook ed.), self-pub.
Ferrari's 1986 Italian book was well written, although without the amount of information of later biographies.

A number of other books have been published by self-publishing or print on demand, e.g. by PageKicker (Syd Barrett MiniBio, Syd Barrett MiniBriefing) or by General Books LLC (Syd Barrett Songs, Syd Barrett Albums), but they don't represent proper works about Syd Barrett, because of the lack of editing work in the material copyed from other sources, or the lack of authorship in the factual information reported.


If we want to sketch an historiographical path of what was the documented public knowledge about Syd Barrett in the 70s and the 80s, we should have to seek among magazines and fanzines, seeing that the first related Pink Floyd books arrived rather late, also because extended musical biographies were not what they bacame in the 90s. Making an entire book on the then enigmatic figure of Syd Barrett would have been an editorial challenge. As you can see in the list above, the first example would be the now legendary hand-typed book by Malcolm Jones, which he had to publish himself in 1982: talking about Syd's recordings, and what was behind them, was not as interesting as the more sensational magazine articles were. You can feel what it meant by reading the essay "Green fridges, homeless and mushrooms", by the Italian musical biographer Luca Ferrari (from the original: the essay, as all of his works on Syd, is not very well translated). After some travel in London to interview some people involved in Syd's life, Ferrari saw his book Tatuato sul Muro published in January 1986 and solding well.

However, some of those articles were not all that bad, as you can see by reading them from the below list which contains also all the interviews Syd did on press, radio and TV. Some of the essays published here and there are also included, while those treating just Syd's music are listed also in the sub-section MUSIC/REVIEWS. By the way, in 5 further books there is a chapter on Syd Barrett, namely: Cult Rockers by Wayne Jancik and Tad Lathrop, Rock Bottom by Pamela Des Barres, Unknown Legends of Rock 'n' Roll by Richie Unterberger, Songs in the Key of Z by Irwin Chusid, and Pink Floyd and Philosophy by Brandon Forbes.

Instead the documentaries, together with some of the films dedicated to Syd, are listed separately:


In the digital era, the works which fans dedicated to Syd have moved from the old fanzines to the internet blogs:


Fans constructed also well followed websites, like Astral Piper, Dolly Rocker or The Syd Barrett Archives, creating online communities like The Laughing Madcaps, once a Yahoo group. They are listed in the LINKS section. Both the blogs and the websites now often have a related Facebook group or page that fans use to share things: it's the same for our site at www.facebook.com/Syd.Barrett/.

Going out from the typed world, the works of the major artists, releasing albums or songs on Syd, are listed in the sub-section MUSIC/DEDICATED TO SYD, as well as the most important cover versions they did from Syd's songs. And to not forget the major paintings and artworks on Syd, go to the sub-section ART/PORTRAITS OF SYD.

Very similar versions of the lists above, with sources and references for each entry, are in a work in progress Wikipedia user's page, with some of the pages became actual Wikipedia entries. The same user has made also the present prototype of the new official Syd Barrett website.