The teenage mischief of Pink Floyd’s David Gilmour and Syd Barrett
Pink Floyd are one of the best-loved prog-rock acts of all time. In fact, even applying the term ‘prog-rock’ to a band like Floyd can sometimes feel a touch stretched. The truth is that Pink Floyd had a unique sound that no other group can lay claim to, so applying any term or any genre to them is somewhat futile; they are simply ‘Pink Floyd’.
The band were founded in 1965 by Syd Barrett, Nick Mason, Roger Waters and Richard Wright, though guitarist David Gilmour would join in 1967, just after the release of the band’s debut album Piper at the Gates of Dawn. Gilmour and Barrett had been childhood friends, and the guitarist once related the story of meeting the singer.
Gilmour said he met Barrett “When I was 14 or 15. He was someone people pointed out in the street; he had that charisma and magnetism. He was funny. Witty. Nothing slipped by him. He was up to date on everything; well read and a very sharp cookie. I’d hang out with him, go around his place, and when I moved to Cambridge Tech, we used to meet up in the art school most lunchtimes and play Bo Diddley and ‘Come On’ by The Rolling Stones.”
Sadly, Barrett had to leave the band in 1968 owing to a sharp decline in his mental health. This was in part due to his extensive use of LSD, and he became increasingly erratic and withdrawn throughout 1967 and 1968. The once energetic and joyous singer had become depressed and plagued by intrusive thoughts.
Another potential reason for Barrett’s decline may have been the fact that his father tragically died in 1961. Barrett, as a young lad, may have pushed the trauma of this occurrence down into his subconscious, where it was likely brought to the surface when he began experimenting with psychedelic drugs. It makes his withdrawal from society all the sadder.
Gilmour, however, would remember the fun times the pair shared as teenagers and revealed an amusing anecdote of the mischievous times they used to get up to. He said, “In the summer of 1965, I think, while my parents were away in America again, I hitchhiked down to the South of France, and Syd came down in a Land Rover with a friend, and I joined them in a campsite near St Tropez. Bacon and eggs on the Primus for breakfast – fantastic!”
He added, “We went busking in St Tropez and got arrested. On the way back home, we stopped off in Paris and bought all those naughty books that used to be banned in England. The Naked Lunch and The Story of the Eye. I remember sitting at the campsite reading these things by torchlight. We had a great time. His father’s demise never seemed to enter into anything. You know, we’re all very good at covering these things up.”