Syd Barrett 2. Legacy.

Syd Barrett

2. Legacy.

Creative impact and technical innovation

Barrett's first acoustic guitar

Barrett wrote most of Pink Floyd's early material. He was also an innovative guitarist, using extended techniques and exploring the musical and sonic possibilities of dissonance, distortion, feedback, the echo machine, tapes and other effects; his experimentation was partly inspired by free improvisation guitarist Keith Rowe. One of Barrett's trademarks was playing his guitar through an old echo box while sliding a Zippo lighter up and down the fret-board to create the mysterious, otherworldly sounds that became associated with the group. Barrett was known to have used Binson delay units to achieve his trademark echo sounds. Daevid Allen, founding member of Soft Machine and Gong has cited Barrett's use of slide guitar with echo as a key inspiration for his own "glissando guitar" style^[33].

Barrett brought the guitar in a new direction. His free-form sequences of sonic carpets pioneered a new way to play the rock guitar.^[34] He played several different guitars during his tenure with Pink Floyd, including an old Harmony hollowbody electric, a Harmony acoustic, a Fender acoustic, a single-coil Danelectro 59 DC,^[35] several different Fender Telecasters, and a white Fender Stratocaster used in late 1967. However, a silver Fender Esquire with mirrored discs glued to the body was the guitar he was most often associated with and the guitar Barrett himself "felt most close to."^[16]

2.4. Musical and pop culture influence.

Many artists have acknowledged Barrett's influence on their work. Paul McCartney, Pete Townshend, Marc Bolan, and David Bowie were early fans; Jimmy Page, Brian Eno, and The Damned all expressed interest in working with him at some point during the 1970s. Bowie recorded a cover of "See Emily Play" on his 1973 album Pin Ups. Townshend called Barrett legendary.

Barrett's decline had a profound effect on Roger Waters's songwriting, and the theme of mental illness would permeate Pink Floyd's later albums, particularly 1973's The Dark Side of the Moon and 1975's Wish You Were Here which was a deliberate and affectionate tribute to Barrett, the songs "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" and the title track being specifically about him. The title track borrows imagery of a "steel rail" from Barrett's solo song, "If It's In You," from The Madcap Laughs album.

In 1986, Camper Van Beethoven released a version of Interstellar Overdrive, which was co-written by Barrett and the other Pink Floyd members, on their third album.

In 1987, an album of Barrett cover songs called Beyond the Wildwood was released. The album collected songs from Barrett's Pink Floyd albums and his solo albums. Artists appearing were UK and USA indie bands including The Shamen, Opal, The Soup Dragons, and Plasticland.

Other artists that have written tributes to Barrett include his contemporary Kevin Ayers, who wrote "Oh Wot a Dream" in his honour (Barrett provided guitar to an early version of Ayers' song "Religious Experience: Singing a Song in the Morning"). Barrett fan Robyn Hitchcock has covered many of his songs live and on record, and has paid homage to his forebear with the songs "The Man Who Invented Himself" and "(Feels Like) 1974". The Television Personalities' track "I Know Where Syd Barrett Lives" from their 1981 album And Don't the Kids Love It is another tribute. (The Television Personalities became the subject of controversy and derision when, as they had been selected as the opening act on David Gilmour's About Face tour in the early 1980s, lead singer Dan Treacy decided to read aloud Barrett's real home address to the audience of thousands. Gilmour removed them from the tour immediately afterwards.)^[36] In 2008, The Trash Can Sinatras released a single in tribute to the life and work of Syd Barrett called "Oranges and Apples", from their 2009 album In The Music. Proceeds from the single go to the Syd Barrett Trust in support of arts in mental health.^[37]

Johnny Depp has shown interest in a biographical film based on Barrett's life.^[38]

British punk and goth rock band The Damned paid tribute to Barrett on their 2008 album So, Who's Paranoid? with the fourteen minute work "Dark Asteroid".^{[citation needed]} They had unsuccessfully tried to get Barrett to produce their second album Music For Pleasure, which was eventually produced by Nick Mason. The Damned have also covered Lucifer Sam live and recorded a demo version of Arnold Layne.^{[citation needed]} The band's guitarist and co-founder Captain Sensible won critical acclaim for his rendition of Astronomy Domine at the Syd Barrett tribute gig on Thursday 10 May 2007.^{[citation needed]}

Barrett is also portrayed briefly in the opening scene of Tom Stoppard's play Rock 'n' Roll (2006), performing "Golden Hair". His life and music, including the disastrous Cambridge Corn Exchange concert and his later reclusive lifestyle, are a recurring motif in the work. Barrett died during the play's run in London.