Syd Barrett’s legend looms large over the story of Pink Floyd. The band couldn’t have reached the heights they did without the inspiration they gained from their original leading light. But they likely would have gone down in flames had they tried to continue with him in the band.
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The historical tipping point came on a fateful night in early 1968, when the four other Floyds decided to leave Barrett home instead of picking him up for a gig. That ended Barrett’s time in the band. Here’s the story of how it reached that point, and what it meant for both the band and Barrett going forward.
Syd’s Highs and Lows
In the span of a calendar year, everything came together for Pink Floyd. And then, just as quickly, they threatened to fall apart. March 1967 saw the release of their debut single “Arnold Layne,” which introduced England to Barrett’s off-kilter songwriting and mesmerizing presence. By that time, the band was already drawing attention for their one-of-a-kind live shows, which featured Barrett’s feedback frenzy on guitar driving long instrumental pieces that were accompanied by trippy light shows.
Follow-up single “See Emily Play” did even better than the first, reaching the Top 10 in the UK. August saw the release of Pink Floyd’s debut album The Piper at the Gates of Dawn, which set the tone for the British version of the Summer of Love as much as any record not named Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. Pink Floyd seemed to be on their way, with their idiosyncratic frontman Syd Barrett looking like he’d be hailed like Lennon, Jagger, Davies, or any other pop visionary of the era.
But Barrett’s use of LSD, coupled with his discomfort with the trappings of celebrity, spearheaded a drastic change in his behavior. He started becoming unreliable when it came to turning up for gigs or promotional opportunities on time. When he did show, his performances were often ragged to the point of nonexistent. Occasionally, he’d slowly detune his guitar throughout a show until any notes he played were hopelessly out of synch with what the rest of the band were playing.
Things deteriorated rapidly. The band’s appearances on the iconic UK TV show Top of the Pops when “See Emily Play” was hitting featured Barrett looking wild and detached. An attempt to tour America went even worse. In an appearance on American Bandstand, keyboardist Rick Wright was forced to mime Barrett’s vocal parts, because Syd simply refused to do so.
A Crucial Decision
The other members became increasingly frustrated with Barrett’s behavior, complaining to Pink Floyd’s management about this impossible situation. One solution: Bring in another guitarist to help cover for Barrett until he, hopefully, came back down to Earth. David Gilmour, who was a childhood friend of Barrett’s, got the gig.
But Floyd’s few live shows as a quintet didn’t go well at all. Barrett was mostly uncommunicative with the rest of his band at the time. Many have speculated, without certainty, if Barrett perhaps had preexisting mental problems that the drug use only exacerbated. In any case, it became increasingly clear Barrett wouldn’t be recovering any time soon to become a functional member of the group.
One night in January 1968, the four other members of Pink Floyd (Gilmour, Wright, Roger Waters, and Nick Mason) assembled on their way to a performance in Southampton, England. Although it had building up for some time, they spontaneously decided that evening they wouldn’t pick Barrett up for the show. He was out of Pink Floyd.
The four men later went to Floyd’s management to explain the situation. Interestingly enough, those managers (Andrew King and Peter Jenner) decided to keep managing Barrett and cut the others free, thinking the commercial prospects of this new version of Floyd were nil.
The Aftermath
Syd Barrett attempted a solo career, and while there are moments of brilliance on his albums (which received major contributions from Waters and Gilmour), he was far too erratic to put down anything consistent. He’d soon retreat from the music business and public life, living quietly out of the spotlight with his family.
Of course, we know how it turned out for the rest of Pink Floyd. Roger Waters became chief lyricist, while David Gilmour’s musical brilliance pushed the band to new heights. Albums like Dark Side of the Moon, Wish You Were Here, and The Wall made the band superstars.
Many people listening to those records only had a vague idea of the former member of the band whose brilliance and sad struggles inspired so many of the songs. Syd Barrett may have been fired from Pink Floyd on that fateful 1968 day, but the band’s subsequent success owes an immeasurable amount to his influence.
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