When Syd Barrett called his former Pink Floyd bandmates “rather unexciting people”
There is no doubting the fact that Pink Floyd are one of the most iconic rock groups to ever arise from the British Isles. There is a debate, however, over the band’s greatest period musically. Initially founded by the artistic visionary Syd Barrett, the group helped to define the revolutionary sounds of psychedelia. Soon after, they sacked Barrett and diverted to long, overly complex concept albums and grandiose live performances – much to the disappointment of many fans and Barrett himself.
From the offset, it was clear that Barrett was brimming with ideas and inspiration when it came to Pink Floyd. During those early years, the vast majority of the material was penned by the Cambridge-born artist, and as a result, records like Piper At The Gates of Dawn remain some of the greatest moments within the discography of Pink Floyd. So, why was the songwriter kicked out? It seems as though his penchant for LSD – while producing some incredible tracks – was detrimental to his mental health and soon meant it was virtually impossible for him to carry on with the group.
Not many groups would survive the departure of their guitarist and predominant songwriter, but luckily, Roger Waters stepped up to take the mantle of Pink Floyd. Over the course of the next two decades, under the leadership of Waters, the band would produce their most commercially successful works, including groundbreaking records like The Dark Side of the Moon. Despite their success, there were still those who believed that Pink Floyd ended with the departure of Barrett.
Admittedly, it is easy to see why some fans think this way, as the material of the band changed drastically under the helm of Waters. According to an interview Barrett gave to Melody Maker in 1971, this change in direction came as no surprise, with the musician saying, “Their choice of material was always very much to do with what they were thinking as architecture students. Rather unexciting people, I would’ve thought, primarily.”
Seemingly, Barrett and Waters were operating at crossed purposes during their time together in Pink Floyd. According to the psychedelic master, “The choice of material was restricted, I suppose, by the fact that both Roger and I wrote different things,” explaining, “We wrote our own songs, played our own music. I don’t know that there was really much conflict, except that perhaps the way we started to play wasn’t as impressive as it was to us, even, wasn’t as full of impact as it might’ve been.”
Usually, pop and rock groups release their most exciting material in the form of singles, but Waters and company did not seem overly taken with the idea of single releases, preferring full albums. Barrett seemed to be the only one within the group to recognise the potential of a 45 RPM release. “It was probably me alone, I think”, he revealed, “Singles are always simple. They were very exciting. That’s all really,” adding, “The whole thing at the time was playing on stage.”
After Barrett’s departure from the group, Pink Floyd threw themselves entirely into perfecting that on-stage appeal. Characterised by incredible light shows and grandiose performances, it is difficult to argue that the band were not exciting, but their music certainly lost some of its revolutionary quality after Barrett left the group.
