Jack White’s Third Man Records to release Syd Barrett box set
Prior to the 1970s, Pink Floyd were a psychedelic rock band with the late Syd Barrett at the helm. To celebrate his career, a box set of his solo recordings are being released by Jack White’s Third Man Records.
After leaving Pink Floyd, Barrett released a handful of solo albums including The Madcap Laughs, Barrett and Opel. Being out of print for almost ten years, Third Man Records is issuing Barrett’s material together for the first time. Fans need to register their interest with the record label by July 31st to “guarantee” a copy of the collection which will be released on 180-gram vinyl.
Despite leaving his previous band, Barrett saw the singer enlist the help of his former bandmates with David Gilmour working on production duties. Alongside some of the rarities, there are a handful of bonus tracks from each of the sessions, including Gilmour’s takes on Barrett’s songs.
Although Gilmour was willing to help with Barrett’s musical ventures, he would later describe working on the album as a hardship, saying, “The sessions were pretty tortuous and very rushed. The guy was in trouble, and was a close friend for many years before then, so it really was the least one could do”.
While Barrett’s first two solo outings were released following his departure, Opel wasn’t released until 1988. It was released when a cult following began to emerge around Barrett’s solo material, and his third album was a collection of various outtakes of what he had worked on between his first two solo outings.
Following the release of his solo material, Barrett would disappear from the public eye due to his mental health problems, and eventually passed away in 2006.
Third Man Records was formed by White in 2001. Outside of releasing his own solo material, the manufacturers have also released different issues of work by other classic musicians including Johnny Cash and Captain Beefheart.
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