What if Syd Barett had stayed with Pink Floyd?

Say, what if he joined them on Wish You Were Here?

"Wish I Was Here".

But other than that...

Like a weirder version of Iron Butterfly or something.

Interesting to see where David Gilmour would've ended up, though.

He was a good friend of Wright and Mason. And Roger liked his style.

Syd's increasingly erratic behavior, especially in live performances, would have ensured the doom of the band. Unless they just gave him instruments to play that weren't plugged into anything and weren't actually required for any song.

After Dave came on board, they unplugged Syd's guitar so they could actually play the songs. The only way Syd could have stayed in the band was if his mind hadn't chugged around the bend from too many heavy-duty psychedelics. Dave was destined to be Floyd's lead player.

Have you never smelled a rotting corpse?

:yoiks: :rofl:

would have been as successful in my opinion as they were. I do wish he would have went on to have a good solo career putting out more hit singles such as Terrapin, See Emily Play, Arnold Layne, No Good Trying and Bike. Maybe he could have had a very good solo career the way Peter Gabriel did after he left Genesis.

I figure they would have gone in an entirely different direction had Syd stayed with the band, and wouldn't have become as iconic as they are. Syd was groundbreaking for the time, but it was the tension/interplay between Roger and David that made the Pink Floyd sound that I came to love. Albums like Animals and The Wall may not have been made because it seemed like Roger was very enthralled by Syd and didn't spread his wings like he did after Syd left. I also think the separation was better for Syd and his metal health issues.

edit: grammar

had a special magic about them that complemented each other like Lennon and McCartney.

Which they are. :)

Barrett was wonderful in his way, but he was a better muse. And I agree they're one of the finest groups ever.

I don't think Barrett has a fraction of Gilmour's musical ability or depth. I know there are people who think that the first Floyd album is visionary and transcendent and all, but his eccentricities would have worn thin after a while.

He was no Brian Wilson...unless you compare him to Wilson-penned classics like "Do You Like Worms?"...A.K.A. "Roll Plymouth Rock"...from "Smile." But Wilson wrote a hundred Hall of Fame-worthy songs, and Barrett didn't write any.

and had a successful solo career.

Sticking with the Floyd pre-supposes his relative sanity.

he is one of the most over rated mystical figures in Rock history. The band improved 1000% when they ditched him.

As a huge Pink Floyd fan myself, I couldn't agree more. There are a lot of "geniuses" in this world who eventually never amount to squat because of their own self-destructive tendencies. Getting the work done competently is one of the requirements for being a successful artist, and poor Syd unfortunately proved himself unable to rise to that challenge.

It's too bad, because it seems like he must have been a very gifted, charismatic, and likeable guy prior to his meltdown. He certainly did leave an impression on Roger and David. And I heard that Rick Wright broke down in tears when Syd visited the studio while they were recording "Wish You Were Here", because he was just so mortified about what his friend had turned into.

The Syd Barret era Pink Floyd was quirky and unique--a lot of people would say visionary, but when you get right down to brass tacks David Gilmour was a quantum leap forward in the guitar department. And clearly the band's productivity really got on stable footing.

I just don't think they would have gotten nearly as far with Barret.

He taught Syd alot of techniques when they were teenagers together. He doesn't like to talk about it out of respect for the memory and the whole mystic surrounding Syd Barrett.