Syd Barrett, a creative genius, Rest in Peace.

Syd Barrett, pictured with Pink Floyd and top, his 1988 compilation 'Opel'.

I was sorry to hear today of the death of Syd Barrett, one time guitarist with the rock band Pink Floyd. I first got into listening to his work in about 1988 on my cassette driven Sony Walkman. I remember thinking that the Pink Floyd albums The Piper at the Gates of Dawn(1967) and A Saucerful of Secrets (1968) were great albums while bassist Roger Walter’s tribute to him ‘Shine on You Crazy Diamond’ rates as one of my all time favorite songs. His 1988 compilation Opel was another well used cassette i got into.
Barrett struggle with drugs and mental illness meant he dropped out of the band after a number of increasingly erratic performances both on and off stage. One anocdote I remember being told was that of Barrett putting an entire tube of Brylcreem (purportedly mixed with crushed heroin substitute Mandrax, giving it a chocolate like consistancy) on his head, which subsequently melted down his face under the heat of the stage lighting, making him look like "a guttered candle" and getting in his eyes causing huge discomfort. However drummer Nick Mason disputed this, stating in the Barrett biography, Madcap, "Syd would never waste good mandies."
Following a disastrous abridged tour of the US, David Gilmour (a school friend of Barrett's) was asked to join the band as a second guitarist in order to cover as Barrett's erratic behavior prevented him from performing. For a handful of shows Gilmour played and sang while Barrett wandered around on stage, occasionally deigning to join in playing.
In January 1968, on the way to a show at Southampton University, the band elected not to pick Barrett up. They attempted to retain him in the group as a songwriter, much as The Beach Boys had with Brian Wilson, but this proved to be untenable.
Despite his replacement David Gilmour’s protestations to the contary, drugs ruined a creative genius. . The last compilation of his solo work was entitled ‘Wouldn't You Miss Me?’ His many fans will.