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VERY BEST WISHES AND STAY WELL - your friends at Brain Damage
Just published (last Thursday, February 18th) in Europe by Omnibus Books, is The Lyrics of Syd Barrett. In North America, you'll have to wait a little bit as it comes out over there on May 6th.
Featuring 52 songs and a foreword by Pink Floyd's first manager, Peter Jenner, and an introduction by Rob Chapman (author of Syd Barrett: A Very Irregular Head), this beautifully illustrated and official 96-page book compiles Syd's extraordinary lyrics together for the very first time. David Gilmour has been a key person behind this book, working his way through Syd lyrics checking them for accuracy before the book went to the printers.
As the publisher's rightly note, "legendary Pink Floyd founding member Syd Barrett's songwriting was unique, memorable and utterly brilliant." This book is sure to be a popular choice for many; Syd's lyrics were captivating, sometimes playful, sometimes dark and painful, but always unforgettable. Alongside the lyrics are a number of photos and artwork.
Having just got our hands on this, we've been very impressed with it. It's very nicely produced (and slightly larger format than we were expecting) and finally we have what must be considered the definitive version of Syd's song lyrics - with David Gilmour listening to the isolated vocal track on the original tapes at times to nail exactly what Syd was singing at various points, specifically for this book, that should settle any arguments over the lyrics for these songs.
We'd love to know what you think about the book, particularly if you have your copy already. Did anything come as a surprise to you? Do let us know at the normal email address!
For those who would like to add this to their Floydian bookshelves, you can order it through the following direct links. Ordering through our links also helps with BD's ongoing running costs, and we really appreciate it:
Amazon UK, Amazon.com, Amazon Canada,
Amazon France, Amazon Germany, Amazon Spain and Amazon Italy. Alternatively, London based TheFloodGallery.com are also selling the book, and they were doing a book and print bundle, although these now seem to be sold out.
We're always very keen for Brain Damage visitor contributions, and the following is a great example of writing by I. G. Roberts. He has come up with a great, and well argued, Pink Floyd playlist that, he suggests, looks at "the gentler, lesser spotted, more rusticated side of one of the world's most successful bands. 'A sun-dappled world of birdsong, bees, church bells and drowsy melodies drifting down the river into the sunset awaits you.’"...
I fell under the spell of The Pink Floyd on hearing their first two singles, ‘Arnold Layne’ and ‘See Emily Play’, during the fabled spring and summer of 1967 – I think the definite article may have still been in play then, although it had certainly disappeared by early August when the debut album was released. At the time, I spent approximately half of one week’s wages on the thrilling ‘See Emily Play’ – about 35p these days – from my after-school job (collecting paint and wallpaper etc. on a delivery bike with a basket attached for a local decorator’s shop from a wholesaler). Joint-top of my birthday wish-list were Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band and The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn. I certainly got both albums,
although as I had left school and was working by then, I may have had to cough up some of the price of them out of my wages. I think albums cost 32s/6d each – in modern money, a combined sum of £3.25p. I doubt if I’ve ever since had such value from that amount of cash. No wonder that Pepper and Piper are forever linked in my mind. Incidentally, the recording of both albums overlapped in the studios at Abbey Road during the first half of 1967.
One of the ever present areas of interest for Pink Floyd collectors are posters. Whilst originals are the most desired, and highly sought after, reproductions and newly created works marking past concerts often prove a more affordable way for fans to brighten dull walls.
To tap into this desire, a recently opened gallery, Echo, are now offering a range of officially licensed, limited edition posters representing different artists, including Pink Floyd. They have just launched the first of their Floyd posters, a print by artist WolfSkullJack commemorating Pink Floyd’s performance from October 13, 1973 in Vienna, Austria which is now available to buy in three variants.
The artist said: "My father introduced me to Pink Floyd when I was but a wee pup and Dark Side of the Moon was a regular on the record player. I am eternally thankful to have inherited his excellent music taste! When working for musicians I love to put on their music as I sketch and ink in an attempt to capture the bands essence and I think that shines through here.
"The art is heavily influenced by Time and Breathe, two of my favourites, with reference to the lyrics, ‘Run, rabbit run’ in Breathe. Wolves in my work are often ethereal/celestial creatures who represent time and space. The wolf is representative as part of the natural life cycle of the rabbit in an all natural way rather than something sinister."
Should you be interested in these prints, or subsequent ones they offer (including a 2021 Subscription scheme) visit EchoPrintGallery.com for more information.
A quick alert for - principally - those of you in the UK. If you find yourself with little to do on Friday morning, especially with the current Covid restrictions, you could do worse than tune in to the Sky Arts television channel (now available on Freeview channel 11, as well as through other providers including Sky and Virgin Media).
From 11:30am until 12:00pm, there's a special show called "Auction" which takes a look at the sale back in June 2019 which raised a staggering $21.5million for the ClientEarth charity. The programme description simply notes: "The huge personal guitar collection of Pink Floyd's David Gilmour comes to Christie's - including the black Fender Stratocaster that featured on many of the band's records." Whatever the show covers, should be worth tuning in where possible (or setting your recorders if you can't watch it on broadcast). Sky and Now TV customers can also watch Sky Arts shows on demand afterwards.
For those who miss the Friday morning airing of this show, it is repeated at 5:30am on Saturday morning.
Our thanks to Andy Finn for letting us know about this programme.
In a move which should come as no surprise to anyone, it has just been announced that the 2021 UK tour of Nick Mason's Saucerful Of Secrets has had to move due to the current pandemic affecting people the world over. The dates have all moved from April/May this year to the same period next year (2022).
In the announcement, the band apologise "for any inconvenience these changes might cause; the band are desperate to perform, but have to ensure the experience is a safe one for everyone!"
It makes perfect sense to postpone the shows now, giving people some notice, rather than holding on and hoping that the vaccination rollout proceeds at pace, AND that the virus recedes so that shows can take place. We would be amazed to see any shows take place for a while. Obviously, there were European dates scheduled for May - July, but at this stage, there's no official word on what might be happening with those - or indeed, if there are any plans for shows elsewhere, a question we get frequently.
We're sure most people are aware of how moved shows work now - keep hold of your tickets as they are automatically valid for the new dates, and there's no need to contact whoever you bought your tickets through to get new ones, or confirm attendance at the new date. Here's the details of the revised dates:
One of Yusuf/Cat Stevens' best known songs is the pastoral Morning Has Broken, which David Gilmour performed recently as part of the regular Von Trapped sessions, and can be seen below. Our thanks to Jamie Joyner for letting us know about the standalone clip of Morning Has Broken, and for the suggestion that David and family seem to be in a very Twin Peaksian red room!
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Just published (last Thursday, February 18th) in Europe by Omnibus Books, is The Lyrics of Syd Barrett. In North America, you'll have to wait a little bit as it comes out over there on May 6th.
We're always very keen for Brain Damage visitor contributions, and the following is a great example of writing by I. G. Roberts. He has come up with a great, and well argued, Pink Floyd playlist that, he suggests, looks at "the gentler, lesser spotted, more rusticated side of one of the world's most successful bands. 'A sun-dappled world of birdsong, bees, church bells and drowsy melodies drifting down the river into the sunset awaits you.’"...
One of the ever present areas of interest for Pink Floyd collectors are posters. Whilst originals are the most desired, and highly sought after, reproductions and newly created works marking past concerts often prove a more affordable way for fans to brighten dull walls.
A quick alert for - principally - those of you in the UK. If you find yourself with little to do on Friday morning, especially with the current Covid restrictions, you could do worse than tune in to the Sky Arts television channel (now available on Freeview channel 11, as well as through other providers including Sky and Virgin Media).
In a move which should come as no surprise to anyone, it has just been announced that the 2021 UK tour of Nick Mason's Saucerful Of Secrets has had to move due to the current pandemic affecting people the world over. The dates have all moved from April/May this year to the same period next year (2022).
