1 00:00:00,720 --> 00:00:15,480 Speaker 1: Disgraceland as a production of Double Elvis. The stories about 2 00:00:15,480 --> 00:00:20,800 Speaker 1: Pink Floyd are insane. Their original frontman, Sid Barrett, did 3 00:00:20,880 --> 00:00:24,400 Speaker 1: so much LSD that he experienced a mental breakdown just 4 00:00:24,440 --> 00:00:28,880 Speaker 1: as the group began to achieve mainstream appeal. Sid's drug 5 00:00:29,000 --> 00:00:32,199 Speaker 1: use began as a mind altering inspiration for his art, 6 00:00:32,360 --> 00:00:35,400 Speaker 1: but quickly became a coping mechanism for the demands of 7 00:00:35,440 --> 00:00:40,040 Speaker 1: commercial success. Sid became paralyzed in front of television cameras. 8 00:00:40,400 --> 00:00:43,360 Speaker 1: He detuned his guitar and so it was literally unplayable 9 00:00:43,400 --> 00:00:47,440 Speaker 1: and refused to perform alongside his band, and then he 10 00:00:47,520 --> 00:00:50,960 Speaker 1: stopped showing up at all. And even though Pink Floyd's 11 00:00:51,040 --> 00:00:54,840 Speaker 1: legacy largely focuses on the years after Sid Barrett left, 12 00:00:55,400 --> 00:00:59,760 Speaker 1: Sid Barrett made great music with Pink Floyd, some of 13 00:00:59,800 --> 00:01:03,800 Speaker 1: the trippest, most expansive, mind altering music of all time. 14 00:01:04,720 --> 00:01:06,760 Speaker 1: Unlike that music I played for you at the top 15 00:01:06,800 --> 00:01:10,399 Speaker 1: of the show. That wasn't great music. That was a 16 00:01:10,440 --> 00:01:16,320 Speaker 1: preset loop from my mellotron called Clandestine Procession MK. One. 17 00:01:17,280 --> 00:01:19,600 Speaker 1: I played you that loop because I can't afford the 18 00:01:19,680 --> 00:01:22,960 Speaker 1: rights to light my fire by the doors, and why 19 00:01:23,000 --> 00:01:26,960 Speaker 1: would I play you that specific slice of Funeral pyed Cheese. 20 00:01:27,000 --> 00:01:30,880 Speaker 1: Could I afford it? Because that was the number one 21 00:01:31,000 --> 00:01:35,240 Speaker 1: song in America on August fifth, nineteen sixty seven, and 22 00:01:35,400 --> 00:01:38,720 Speaker 1: that was the day that Pink Floyd released their debut album, 23 00:01:38,840 --> 00:01:41,720 Speaker 1: The Piper at the Gates of Dawn, a moment that 24 00:01:41,720 --> 00:01:44,720 Speaker 1: would have an immediate impact on its front man, Sid 25 00:01:44,760 --> 00:01:49,880 Speaker 1: Barrett and changed the trajectory of the band forever. On 26 00:01:49,920 --> 00:01:56,240 Speaker 1: this episode LSD Mental Breakdowns, Funeral Pired Cheese, Sid Barrett 27 00:01:56,440 --> 00:02:02,400 Speaker 1: in Pink Floyd, I'm Jake Brennan in This Is Disgraceland. 28 00:02:33,000 --> 00:02:34,840 Speaker 1: It was around one in the morning when the house 29 00:02:34,919 --> 00:02:38,200 Speaker 1: lights went down. The sound of a heartbeat throbbed in 30 00:02:38,200 --> 00:02:42,200 Speaker 1: the darkness in the capacity crowd at Radio City Music Hall, 31 00:02:42,360 --> 00:02:46,680 Speaker 1: basted and quadraphonic sound. A clock began to tick from 32 00:02:46,760 --> 00:02:50,280 Speaker 1: the stage, another from the back of the room, and 33 00:02:50,320 --> 00:02:53,720 Speaker 1: then more stage left and stage right, all of them 34 00:02:53,760 --> 00:02:57,440 Speaker 1: clacking out of sync. The clock suddenly rang out in 35 00:02:57,600 --> 00:03:01,720 Speaker 1: ear splitting dissonance. Kids in the audience tripping on Blue 36 00:03:01,760 --> 00:03:05,640 Speaker 1: Sunshine already knew the sound colages from Pink Floyd's brand 37 00:03:05,680 --> 00:03:09,320 Speaker 1: new album Dark Side of the Moon by Heart. This 38 00:03:09,720 --> 00:03:12,359 Speaker 1: was better than listening to the LP on headphones in 39 00:03:12,400 --> 00:03:17,120 Speaker 1: a dank bedroom, louder, more immersive. A sphere dangled from 40 00:03:17,120 --> 00:03:20,519 Speaker 1: the ceiling. Its mirrored exterior sent flashes of light into 41 00:03:20,560 --> 00:03:24,440 Speaker 1: the audience. It shot red lasers, It oozed incandescent smoke. 42 00:03:25,280 --> 00:03:28,720 Speaker 1: A mechanical platform on the stage began to rise. It 43 00:03:28,800 --> 00:03:32,280 Speaker 1: got higher and higher, until it finally revealed the four 44 00:03:32,360 --> 00:03:38,240 Speaker 1: figures standing on it. Four skiny psychedelic messiahs, prog prophets, 45 00:03:38,520 --> 00:03:42,640 Speaker 1: clad and warned jeans and tight t shirts. Roger Waters, 46 00:03:42,720 --> 00:03:47,560 Speaker 1: David Gilmour, Richard Wright, Nick Mason. It was March seventeenth, 47 00:03:47,920 --> 00:03:54,720 Speaker 1: nineteen seventy three, and Pink Floyd had arrived. They had 48 00:03:54,760 --> 00:03:57,320 Speaker 1: literally arrived in New York City as part of this 49 00:03:57,520 --> 00:04:01,400 Speaker 1: massive tour, but they'd also arrived as a massive force 50 00:04:01,480 --> 00:04:04,360 Speaker 1: on the charts. Dark Side of the Moon was only 51 00:04:04,440 --> 00:04:07,360 Speaker 1: a few weeks old, but was already approaching gold in 52 00:04:07,400 --> 00:04:10,920 Speaker 1: the United States. They didn't know it yet, but Dark 53 00:04:10,920 --> 00:04:12,920 Speaker 1: Side of the Moon would go on to enjoy a 54 00:04:13,120 --> 00:04:16,719 Speaker 1: historic run of nine hundred and fifty nine weeks on 55 00:04:16,760 --> 00:04:20,600 Speaker 1: the US charts, go fourteen times platinum in the UK, 56 00:04:21,120 --> 00:04:25,360 Speaker 1: and sell upwards of forty five million copies in counting 57 00:04:26,240 --> 00:04:30,039 Speaker 1: But in nineteen seventy three, the band previously known as 58 00:04:30,120 --> 00:04:33,920 Speaker 1: the Pink Floyd Sound or simply The Floyd were taking 59 00:04:33,960 --> 00:04:38,200 Speaker 1: their first step towards becoming an honest to God worldwide phenomenon. 60 00:04:39,080 --> 00:04:41,280 Speaker 1: It had taken them a decade to get there, eight 61 00:04:41,400 --> 00:04:44,919 Speaker 1: albums into their career, but they got there without someone. 62 00:04:45,320 --> 00:04:49,120 Speaker 1: A crucial piece of the Floyd's DNA was missing. The 63 00:04:49,200 --> 00:04:52,000 Speaker 1: four on stage all new they had lost him forever, 64 00:04:52,480 --> 00:04:54,520 Speaker 1: and they didn't know if they'd ever seen him again. 65 00:04:55,400 --> 00:04:58,080 Speaker 1: As they looked out at the stoned audience, all four 66 00:04:58,120 --> 00:05:10,839 Speaker 1: of them thought the same thing they wished Sid was here. London, 67 00:05:11,240 --> 00:05:15,320 Speaker 1: nineteen sixty seven, Pete Townsend was tripping his balls off 68 00:05:15,920 --> 00:05:19,040 Speaker 1: the shamrocks painted on the walls spun like a kaleidoscope. 69 00:05:19,520 --> 00:05:22,480 Speaker 1: The colors coming from the liquor projections were so vibrant 70 00:05:22,520 --> 00:05:25,839 Speaker 1: they were nauseating, and the people dancing next to Pete 71 00:05:25,960 --> 00:05:29,279 Speaker 1: cascaded into infinite people every time they opped into the air, 72 00:05:29,400 --> 00:05:32,119 Speaker 1: like the plane cards spilling out from a shaken deck. 73 00:05:33,000 --> 00:05:35,080 Speaker 1: He wondered if they were all as high as he was. 74 00:05:35,800 --> 00:05:39,560 Speaker 1: Probably LSD was easy enough to score down here in 75 00:05:39,600 --> 00:05:42,360 Speaker 1: the basement of thirty one Tottenham Court Road, but only 76 00:05:42,400 --> 00:05:45,520 Speaker 1: once a week. When the pedestrian Blurney Club was transformed 77 00:05:45,640 --> 00:05:48,919 Speaker 1: to the way hib Upoux Club, it was spelled like 78 00:05:48,960 --> 00:05:52,280 Speaker 1: the Flying Saucers UFO, but if you pronounced it that way, 79 00:05:52,480 --> 00:05:54,359 Speaker 1: you weren't in the know, and if you were in 80 00:05:54,400 --> 00:05:56,680 Speaker 1: the know, the bouncers might slip you a tab at 81 00:05:56,680 --> 00:06:00,440 Speaker 1: the door. Pete Townsend brought his own LSD like a 82 00:06:00,480 --> 00:06:04,320 Speaker 1: proper London rock star, but now he was regretting dropping 83 00:06:04,360 --> 00:06:08,320 Speaker 1: acid at all because every time he locked eyes with 84 00:06:08,440 --> 00:06:11,760 Speaker 1: Roger Waters wielding his Brickenbocker bass up on a UFO's 85 00:06:11,839 --> 00:06:15,520 Speaker 1: stage with the Floyd, Pete freaked out. He knew the 86 00:06:15,560 --> 00:06:18,560 Speaker 1: handsome and charming bass player had a thing for his girlfriend, 87 00:06:18,800 --> 00:06:22,040 Speaker 1: that the LSD had rendered Pete defenseless, and that now 88 00:06:22,240 --> 00:06:25,640 Speaker 1: Roger Waters, a guy who was staunchly anti acid even 89 00:06:25,680 --> 00:06:28,839 Speaker 1: though his band repped the psychedelic scene, stood there with 90 00:06:29,000 --> 00:06:31,520 Speaker 1: that shit eating grin of his, the one that said 91 00:06:31,520 --> 00:06:35,599 Speaker 1: that I'm gonna steal your girlfriend, Happy Jack. It wasn't 92 00:06:35,640 --> 00:06:38,560 Speaker 1: just his love that Pete Townshend worried about. It was 93 00:06:38,600 --> 00:06:44,960 Speaker 1: his professional life too. Pete was a guitarist and the 94 00:06:45,040 --> 00:06:48,719 Speaker 1: loudest band in London, the Bloody Who, but Tonight Pink 95 00:06:48,760 --> 00:06:53,640 Speaker 1: Floyd were loud as the fuck. Their instrumental song, Interstellar Overdrive, 96 00:06:54,080 --> 00:06:57,040 Speaker 1: was past the twenty minute mark. It put the Who's 97 00:06:57,120 --> 00:07:00,960 Speaker 1: ear shattering fourteen minute live version of My General to shame. 98 00:07:01,880 --> 00:07:04,800 Speaker 1: The song opened with the descending guitar riff before descending 99 00:07:04,800 --> 00:07:08,240 Speaker 1: into utter madness. The far Fisa organ whined and was 100 00:07:08,240 --> 00:07:10,480 Speaker 1: not a cigarette lighter. The guitarist was running up and 101 00:07:10,480 --> 00:07:13,360 Speaker 1: down his strings, as if the eerie sounds coming from 102 00:07:13,360 --> 00:07:16,520 Speaker 1: his fender weren't enough. The guitarist in glued small metal 103 00:07:16,560 --> 00:07:19,640 Speaker 1: discs in the instrument's body, which absorbed every beam of 104 00:07:19,760 --> 00:07:23,160 Speaker 1: light and shot it back out to the audience. Pete 105 00:07:23,200 --> 00:07:26,480 Speaker 1: now had this psychedelic stage to contend with the guy 106 00:07:26,560 --> 00:07:30,360 Speaker 1: with a reflective and refractive guitar, Sid Barret, the Floyd's 107 00:07:30,400 --> 00:07:33,680 Speaker 1: de facto leader and primary songwriter, who was the most 108 00:07:33,720 --> 00:07:36,360 Speaker 1: popular guy in any given room and to the Floyd's 109 00:07:36,400 --> 00:07:41,720 Speaker 1: female fans, the dreamiest. Sid wore velvet trousers, yellow shoes, 110 00:07:41,920 --> 00:07:46,040 Speaker 1: paisley shirts in a turquoise waistcoat. He stood on his tiptoes, 111 00:07:46,080 --> 00:07:49,800 Speaker 1: hovering in mid air whists. His wild, long curly hair 112 00:07:49,920 --> 00:07:53,080 Speaker 1: suspended as well. Like the heavens had begun hoovering him up. 113 00:07:53,800 --> 00:07:56,680 Speaker 1: Alike Roger and the other members of the Floyd, Sid 114 00:07:56,720 --> 00:07:59,200 Speaker 1: was the one who talked the talk and walked the walk, 115 00:07:59,800 --> 00:08:02,520 Speaker 1: the talk being the creation of songs that defined the 116 00:08:02,560 --> 00:08:05,800 Speaker 1: far out vibe of London circu Early nineteen sixty seven, 117 00:08:06,280 --> 00:08:12,640 Speaker 1: in the walk being a steady diet of LSD. There 118 00:08:12,720 --> 00:08:15,920 Speaker 1: was a sound that only Sid heard, and he chased it, 119 00:08:16,320 --> 00:08:19,840 Speaker 1: and the rest of the band they followed him. When 120 00:08:19,880 --> 00:08:22,600 Speaker 1: he was on stage at the UFO singing about kings, 121 00:08:22,680 --> 00:08:27,120 Speaker 1: unicorns and dandelions, with the primitive light show conjuring hallucinations 122 00:08:27,160 --> 00:08:31,080 Speaker 1: all around him, Sid Barrett was in his element. Sid 123 00:08:31,080 --> 00:08:33,280 Speaker 1: closed his eyes and found himself in the middle of 124 00:08:33,320 --> 00:08:36,200 Speaker 1: one of his favorite books, Kenneth Graham's The Wind in 125 00:08:36,240 --> 00:08:40,120 Speaker 1: the Willows. Never had Sid noticed the roses so vivid, 126 00:08:40,520 --> 00:08:43,760 Speaker 1: the willow of herbs so riotous, the meadows sweet, so 127 00:08:43,920 --> 00:08:48,720 Speaker 1: odorous and pervading. In his element, surrounded by the elements 128 00:08:48,720 --> 00:08:52,160 Speaker 1: of sound and vision, Sid was transported back to a 129 00:08:52,240 --> 00:08:56,840 Speaker 1: time of childlike wonder. Songs like The Gnome, the Scarecrow 130 00:08:56,920 --> 00:09:01,280 Speaker 1: and c Emily Play were candy coated funhouse mixing pastoral 131 00:09:01,400 --> 00:09:06,240 Speaker 1: englishness with an acid expanded consciousness. Even Arnold Lane, a 132 00:09:06,320 --> 00:09:08,920 Speaker 1: song about a creep of the fetish for stealing women's underwear, 133 00:09:09,080 --> 00:09:13,200 Speaker 1: was less creepy and more catchy in Sid's hands. Sid 134 00:09:13,240 --> 00:09:15,720 Speaker 1: wasn't the only one tripping on fairy tales and fantasy 135 00:09:15,760 --> 00:09:19,079 Speaker 1: in London circa nineteen sixty seven. The Beatles got back 136 00:09:19,120 --> 00:09:22,280 Speaker 1: to Penny Lane and Strawberry Fields, the Stones got their 137 00:09:22,360 --> 00:09:25,600 Speaker 1: nurse fery rhyme on with Dandelion. Even the Hollies sang 138 00:09:25,640 --> 00:09:29,680 Speaker 1: about riding on a flying horse and Pegasus. But Sid 139 00:09:29,960 --> 00:09:32,560 Speaker 1: was better than most of tapping into his inner child. 140 00:09:33,120 --> 00:09:36,520 Speaker 1: The acid helped one door of perception leading to another, 141 00:09:36,640 --> 00:09:39,440 Speaker 1: and all that and pretty soon the doors of the 142 00:09:39,440 --> 00:09:42,520 Speaker 1: band found themselves walking through were bigger than ever before. 143 00:09:43,240 --> 00:09:45,880 Speaker 1: They outgrew the underground, seeing that you fought that they 144 00:09:45,920 --> 00:09:49,560 Speaker 1: had helped to foster and next they signed at Emi Records. 145 00:09:50,000 --> 00:09:52,680 Speaker 1: Sid was beside himself. He had practically worn out his 146 00:09:52,720 --> 00:09:55,360 Speaker 1: copy of Revolver. Sid and the band had to pinch 147 00:09:55,440 --> 00:09:58,160 Speaker 1: themselves while they recorded their debut album in Abbey Roads 148 00:09:58,200 --> 00:10:01,720 Speaker 1: Studio three, knowing the whole time that John, Paul George 149 00:10:01,720 --> 00:10:04,560 Speaker 1: and Ringo were rapping Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts club band 150 00:10:04,559 --> 00:10:10,160 Speaker 1: in the adjacent room. For Sid, However, the experience at 151 00:10:10,160 --> 00:10:13,600 Speaker 1: abbey Road didn't have a fairy tale ending. Annie Kenneth 152 00:10:13,640 --> 00:10:16,839 Speaker 1: graham vibes at the start gave way to grim brothers fatalism. 153 00:10:16,880 --> 00:10:20,480 Speaker 1: At the end, he watched as his artistic vision went pop. 154 00:10:21,000 --> 00:10:23,360 Speaker 1: The band was assigned one of Abbey Road's white Coats, 155 00:10:23,400 --> 00:10:27,160 Speaker 1: Norman Smith, as their producer. Smith had experience as an 156 00:10:27,160 --> 00:10:30,400 Speaker 1: engineer on the Beatles' recordings, but he was as pragmatic 157 00:10:30,400 --> 00:10:34,040 Speaker 1: as Sid was idealistic. Smith new to the group's twenty 158 00:10:34,080 --> 00:10:38,000 Speaker 1: minute plus interstellar overdrive down to under ten minutes in 159 00:10:38,120 --> 00:10:41,880 Speaker 1: Sid's eyes. Smith watered down their single c Emily Play 160 00:10:41,920 --> 00:10:45,520 Speaker 1: in the commercial track the debut full length album that 161 00:10:45,600 --> 00:10:48,720 Speaker 1: followed in August of nineteen sixty seven. The Piper at 162 00:10:48,720 --> 00:10:51,840 Speaker 1: the Gates of Dawn bore no resemblance to the loud, 163 00:10:51,920 --> 00:10:54,760 Speaker 1: dynamic band that had been rattling ear drums around London 164 00:10:54,800 --> 00:10:58,480 Speaker 1: for the better part of a year. The crowd back 165 00:10:58,480 --> 00:11:02,240 Speaker 1: at the Upho agreed. Someone scribbled Pink Fink's in the 166 00:11:02,320 --> 00:11:06,960 Speaker 1: Underground club's bathroom. The venue's former house band were sellouts. 167 00:11:07,320 --> 00:11:10,000 Speaker 1: Even worse they were accused of turning their backs on 168 00:11:10,040 --> 00:11:14,080 Speaker 1: the psychedelic scene. When the UFO's co founder, John Hobby 169 00:11:14,120 --> 00:11:16,520 Speaker 1: Hopkins was nabbed at a drug bust and sent to 170 00:11:16,640 --> 00:11:20,120 Speaker 1: jail on the day Sergeant Pepper's hit Shells, London's underground 171 00:11:20,160 --> 00:11:24,160 Speaker 1: drug scene huddled, but Pink Floyd simply distanced themselves from 172 00:11:24,200 --> 00:11:28,360 Speaker 1: the drama. Meanwhile, Pete Townsend grew a pair big enough 173 00:11:28,360 --> 00:11:30,160 Speaker 1: to say what he really felt about The Piper at 174 00:11:30,200 --> 00:11:33,720 Speaker 1: the Gates of Don his review, I thought it was 175 00:11:33,800 --> 00:11:39,880 Speaker 1: fucking awful. Sid couldn't blame him. The record wasn't what 176 00:11:39,960 --> 00:11:43,240 Speaker 1: he imagined. It wasn't that sound he heard in his head. 177 00:11:43,760 --> 00:11:46,240 Speaker 1: And maybe they were right. Maybe he was a sellout, 178 00:11:46,400 --> 00:11:48,760 Speaker 1: a shill of Pink Fink. The Piper at the Gates 179 00:11:48,800 --> 00:11:52,040 Speaker 1: of Don It was too polished, too polite, too pop. 180 00:11:53,120 --> 00:11:55,800 Speaker 1: Even worse than the selling of his artistic vision. However, 181 00:11:56,360 --> 00:11:59,760 Speaker 1: was he increased attention he was now receiving the concerts, 182 00:12:00,000 --> 00:12:03,280 Speaker 1: television appearances. The expectation at Emi that' Sid in the 183 00:12:03,320 --> 00:12:06,200 Speaker 1: band go right back into the studio and do it again. 184 00:12:07,240 --> 00:12:10,040 Speaker 1: But Sid Barrett, just twenty one years old and with 185 00:12:10,120 --> 00:12:12,959 Speaker 1: his debut album at number six on the UK charts. 186 00:12:13,559 --> 00:12:16,360 Speaker 1: Didn't think he could do it again, any of it. 187 00:12:45,920 --> 00:12:50,160 Speaker 1: The mode of transportation wasn't the issue. Albert Hofman knew 188 00:12:50,160 --> 00:12:52,160 Speaker 1: what he was going to use to get himself back home, 189 00:12:52,800 --> 00:12:57,520 Speaker 1: his bicycle. This was April of nineteen forty three in Switzerland, 190 00:12:57,640 --> 00:13:00,280 Speaker 1: after all, and due to wartime vehicle restrictions and his 191 00:13:00,280 --> 00:13:04,000 Speaker 1: personal cars were forbidden from driving on the roads. The 192 00:13:04,120 --> 00:13:06,920 Speaker 1: problem was how he was going to navigate his way 193 00:13:06,960 --> 00:13:09,640 Speaker 1: to his house on his bicycle given his current condition. 194 00:13:10,480 --> 00:13:14,400 Speaker 1: He was dizzy, anxious. The horizon quivered in a rainbow 195 00:13:14,440 --> 00:13:18,160 Speaker 1: of colors. He couldn't move his arms. He felt like laughing. 196 00:13:18,280 --> 00:13:23,760 Speaker 1: For the next twelve years, Albert Hoffman was a chemist 197 00:13:23,840 --> 00:13:28,240 Speaker 1: at Sando's laboratories. In the mid thirties, Hoffmann began work 198 00:13:28,280 --> 00:13:31,719 Speaker 1: on synthesizing compounds and medicinal plants to suss out their 199 00:13:31,760 --> 00:13:36,760 Speaker 1: benefits for the pharmaceutical industry. In the process, he unintentionally 200 00:13:36,800 --> 00:13:41,040 Speaker 1: created numerous lysurgic acid compounds, and he named his twenty 201 00:13:41,080 --> 00:13:44,840 Speaker 1: fifth attempt LSD twenty five and put it on a shelf. 202 00:13:45,520 --> 00:13:49,480 Speaker 1: It sat there for five years until now April nineteenth, 203 00:13:49,640 --> 00:13:54,440 Speaker 1: nineteen forty three. Just days earlier, Hoffman had resynthesized the 204 00:13:54,480 --> 00:13:57,080 Speaker 1: long dormic compound and hopes that it could provide some 205 00:13:57,160 --> 00:14:00,520 Speaker 1: benefit in his ongoing research. He acted up get a 206 00:14:00,520 --> 00:14:03,679 Speaker 1: little of it on his skin, and what he experienced 207 00:14:04,240 --> 00:14:09,040 Speaker 1: was indescribable. But he knew he wanted to experience it again, 208 00:14:10,960 --> 00:14:14,520 Speaker 1: and so on April nineteenth, that yes four twenty, in 209 00:14:14,559 --> 00:14:18,920 Speaker 1: the afternoon, Albert Hoffman diluted two hundred and fifty micrograms 210 00:14:18,920 --> 00:14:22,320 Speaker 1: of LSD twenty five and ten cc of water and 211 00:14:22,480 --> 00:14:27,080 Speaker 1: drink it. At first, he felt nothing, and then the 212 00:14:27,240 --> 00:14:32,680 Speaker 1: dizziness set in. He felt strange. It was late in 213 00:14:32,760 --> 00:14:34,760 Speaker 1: time to go home, but he wasn't sure he could 214 00:14:34,760 --> 00:14:37,080 Speaker 1: find his way. He looked out at the road and 215 00:14:37,080 --> 00:14:41,080 Speaker 1: all he saw were circles and spirals, rotating fountains of 216 00:14:41,160 --> 00:14:45,040 Speaker 1: color exploding from the vortex of rotating shapes. He called 217 00:14:45,040 --> 00:14:47,120 Speaker 1: out for his assistant, who helped to get on his 218 00:14:47,200 --> 00:14:50,480 Speaker 1: bicycle see that. He was immediately struck by how he 219 00:14:50,480 --> 00:14:52,480 Speaker 1: didn't hear the sound of the pedals and of the 220 00:14:52,520 --> 00:14:56,320 Speaker 1: bicycles spitting tires. He saw the sound of the petals 221 00:14:56,600 --> 00:15:00,480 Speaker 1: and the tires. How was he seeing sounds? It didn't 222 00:15:00,520 --> 00:15:04,560 Speaker 1: make any sense. No matter the dizziness had subsided, and 223 00:15:04,680 --> 00:15:08,480 Speaker 1: the wind on his face was a religious experience. When 224 00:15:08,480 --> 00:15:11,360 Speaker 1: he arrived at his home, Hoffman couldn't remember the path 225 00:15:11,400 --> 00:15:14,440 Speaker 1: he took to get there, but he'd never forget his trip. 226 00:15:18,200 --> 00:15:21,720 Speaker 1: Twenty years after Albert Hoffman dosed himself for the first time, 227 00:15:22,160 --> 00:15:25,880 Speaker 1: the drug he created was still legal and plentiful. An 228 00:15:25,880 --> 00:15:29,360 Speaker 1: intellectual stronghold like Cambridge, as city on the River cam 229 00:15:29,440 --> 00:15:33,040 Speaker 1: north of London, known for its universities, centuries old architecture 230 00:15:33,040 --> 00:15:38,000 Speaker 1: and Bucolic scenery, was ripe for psychedelic exploration. In the 231 00:15:38,040 --> 00:15:41,720 Speaker 1: early nineteen sixties, middle class Cambridge teens were reading on 232 00:15:41,760 --> 00:15:44,720 Speaker 1: the road by Jack Kerouac, listening to Bee Bob and 233 00:15:44,840 --> 00:15:49,800 Speaker 1: jamming in R and B bands. Intellectualism was sexy, and 234 00:15:49,920 --> 00:15:53,960 Speaker 1: so were nonconformists and anti authoritarians. They couldn't open their 235 00:15:53,960 --> 00:15:58,040 Speaker 1: minds wide enough. It's like LSD was made for them. 236 00:15:58,480 --> 00:16:00,880 Speaker 1: Not that every kid in Cambridge was dropping acid in 237 00:16:00,920 --> 00:16:04,960 Speaker 1: the sixties. Roger Waters famously took only one trip because 238 00:16:05,080 --> 00:16:07,880 Speaker 1: Roger Waters was less of an artist seeking transcendence and 239 00:16:08,240 --> 00:16:11,360 Speaker 1: more of a career oriented task master. But that's a 240 00:16:11,400 --> 00:16:15,640 Speaker 1: whole other story. Similarly, fellow Cambridge kid and guitarist David 241 00:16:15,640 --> 00:16:18,920 Speaker 1: Gilmour took LSD only a few times, but found that 242 00:16:19,000 --> 00:16:21,440 Speaker 1: he too wanted more control over his mind than the 243 00:16:21,480 --> 00:16:25,720 Speaker 1: drug would allow when he joined Jokers, while the band 244 00:16:25,720 --> 00:16:28,960 Speaker 1: he played in from nineteen sixty three to nineteen sixty seven. 245 00:16:29,360 --> 00:16:32,640 Speaker 1: Gilmore approached the gig as a gig, not an outlet 246 00:16:32,680 --> 00:16:35,960 Speaker 1: for stoned artistry, and he knew that art didn't pay 247 00:16:35,960 --> 00:16:38,840 Speaker 1: the bills, so he picked up side jobs to supplement 248 00:16:38,880 --> 00:16:42,000 Speaker 1: his income. He delivered wine, worked a hot dog stand, 249 00:16:42,040 --> 00:16:45,080 Speaker 1: carried sheet metal and, thanks to his Adonnis good looks 250 00:16:45,440 --> 00:16:52,360 Speaker 1: modeled for photographers. Gilmore's Cambridge friend Roger Keith Barrett, couldn't 251 00:16:52,360 --> 00:16:56,000 Speaker 1: have been more different. He lived the artist's lifestyle. Sleep 252 00:16:56,080 --> 00:16:58,640 Speaker 1: until noon, don't hold down a real job, Chase the muse, 253 00:16:58,760 --> 00:17:02,480 Speaker 1: chase that sound always create, nothing else matters. His sister 254 00:17:02,560 --> 00:17:05,000 Speaker 1: claimed that he cried NonStop as a baby until around 255 00:17:05,000 --> 00:17:06,719 Speaker 1: eighteen months, when he learned how to hold a pen 256 00:17:06,840 --> 00:17:10,639 Speaker 1: and draw. He continued to live the restless artist lifestyle 257 00:17:10,680 --> 00:17:13,120 Speaker 1: as an adult, but when he moved to London at 258 00:17:13,160 --> 00:17:16,400 Speaker 1: age eighteen for art school. It was at this point, 259 00:17:16,600 --> 00:17:19,480 Speaker 1: around nineteen sixty four, that he stopped going by his 260 00:17:19,560 --> 00:17:23,840 Speaker 1: given name Roger, it was calling himself Sid. Accounts differ 261 00:17:23,880 --> 00:17:26,000 Speaker 1: as to exactly why he settled on the name, but 262 00:17:26,359 --> 00:17:28,240 Speaker 1: some suggest that it gave him the air of a 263 00:17:28,240 --> 00:17:33,560 Speaker 1: working class beatnik. Accounts also vary when it comes to 264 00:17:33,680 --> 00:17:37,800 Speaker 1: just how much acid Sid consumed, first in Cambridge and 265 00:17:37,840 --> 00:17:41,080 Speaker 1: then in London, but what was clear was that he 266 00:17:41,160 --> 00:17:43,960 Speaker 1: was the only blotter carrying member of Pink Floyd, the 267 00:17:44,000 --> 00:17:47,520 Speaker 1: band he joined, named and begrudgingly led after Roger Waters 268 00:17:47,560 --> 00:17:50,960 Speaker 1: first met Richard Wright and Nick Mason in London. The 269 00:17:51,000 --> 00:17:53,480 Speaker 1: band went through a few lineup and name changes before 270 00:17:53,520 --> 00:17:57,120 Speaker 1: Sid joined. Sid mashed up the names of American bluesman 271 00:17:57,240 --> 00:18:00,480 Speaker 1: Pink Anderson and Floyd Council and steered the group away 272 00:18:00,520 --> 00:18:03,080 Speaker 1: from R and B covers and into a psychedelic forest. 273 00:18:03,760 --> 00:18:06,880 Speaker 1: It suited the band just fine. To be honest, they 274 00:18:06,880 --> 00:18:10,119 Speaker 1: were remedio musicians, and they caught flak from other bands 275 00:18:10,160 --> 00:18:12,440 Speaker 1: for not being able to play well, for not paying 276 00:18:12,480 --> 00:18:16,240 Speaker 1: their dues on the road. Under Sid, Pink Floyd used 277 00:18:16,280 --> 00:18:20,200 Speaker 1: these weaknesses to their advantage. Instead of virtuosic guitar sol 278 00:18:20,240 --> 00:18:23,640 Speaker 1: those like those that Hendrix and Clapton pedaled, the Floyd 279 00:18:23,760 --> 00:18:27,679 Speaker 1: leaned into reaverb echo and distortion, sonic sleight of hand, 280 00:18:28,200 --> 00:18:31,400 Speaker 1: and the music sparkled with childlike wonder and they had 281 00:18:31,440 --> 00:18:36,480 Speaker 1: Sid Barrett to thank for that. But once Emi commercialized 282 00:18:36,480 --> 00:18:39,840 Speaker 1: his artistic vision, Sid felt like a little kid being 283 00:18:39,880 --> 00:18:43,240 Speaker 1: taken to task by an adult, an artist demoted to 284 00:18:43,320 --> 00:18:47,280 Speaker 1: a commodity. He continued taking LSD, but now he did 285 00:18:47,280 --> 00:18:50,800 Speaker 1: it to cope with the anxiety. Anxiety around the fear 286 00:18:51,000 --> 00:18:54,400 Speaker 1: that Emi was dumbing down his vision, an anxiety over 287 00:18:54,440 --> 00:18:57,680 Speaker 1: having to repeat the commercial success of their first recordings. 288 00:18:58,440 --> 00:19:01,800 Speaker 1: Audiences at the Floyd's Life shows didn't offer much relief. 289 00:19:02,280 --> 00:19:04,679 Speaker 1: I'm not just talking about the UFO or when the 290 00:19:04,720 --> 00:19:06,800 Speaker 1: band tore it out of town or promote the piper 291 00:19:06,800 --> 00:19:09,880 Speaker 1: at the Gates of Dawn. Fans expected the condensed pop 292 00:19:09,960 --> 00:19:12,960 Speaker 1: nuggets they knew from the album, not the twenty minute 293 00:19:13,000 --> 00:19:16,520 Speaker 1: space rock epics that they received, and they responded by 294 00:19:16,560 --> 00:19:21,960 Speaker 1: pelting the band with beer bottles. Sid soon moved into 295 00:19:21,960 --> 00:19:24,360 Speaker 1: a flat at one oh one Cromwell Road in London, 296 00:19:24,640 --> 00:19:27,800 Speaker 1: an address that, according to photographer and friend Mick Rock, 297 00:19:28,000 --> 00:19:32,720 Speaker 1: was a major burnout giant acid overload central and the 298 00:19:32,760 --> 00:19:36,560 Speaker 1: Cromwell Road flat. Sid wrote he drew he strommed his 299 00:19:36,600 --> 00:19:39,880 Speaker 1: Fender guitar with the reflective metal discs, and he chased 300 00:19:39,880 --> 00:19:43,399 Speaker 1: the sound amuse He'd rather do that alone, and to 301 00:19:43,520 --> 00:19:46,399 Speaker 1: appear on the BBC's Top of the Pops again. The 302 00:19:46,440 --> 00:19:48,879 Speaker 1: band had done it twice at this point, two times 303 00:19:48,920 --> 00:19:51,440 Speaker 1: too many in his opinion, and they didn't even play 304 00:19:51,440 --> 00:19:54,080 Speaker 1: their instruments or sing on the show. They lip synced 305 00:19:54,119 --> 00:19:57,119 Speaker 1: the whole thing. Mine belonged to the recording and it 306 00:19:57,200 --> 00:19:59,520 Speaker 1: was bullshit. It was all a lie, and they were like, 307 00:19:59,560 --> 00:20:03,359 Speaker 1: fucking our salesman, what was the point to sell more records? 308 00:20:03,720 --> 00:20:07,320 Speaker 1: And that wasn't art. Left alone in his flat, Sid 309 00:20:07,359 --> 00:20:11,399 Speaker 1: could focus on art pure, synthesized art as pure as 310 00:20:11,440 --> 00:20:15,800 Speaker 1: the lsd Albert Hoffman synthesized in his Swiss lab. Sid 311 00:20:15,880 --> 00:20:18,280 Speaker 1: chased it like Mole and Rat chased the sounds of 312 00:20:18,320 --> 00:20:21,280 Speaker 1: Pan's pipes in the children's story that gave the Floyd's 313 00:20:21,320 --> 00:20:24,520 Speaker 1: debut album its name. But in The Piper at the 314 00:20:24,560 --> 00:20:27,200 Speaker 1: Gates of Dawn, one of the many stories in Kenneth 315 00:20:27,240 --> 00:20:30,719 Speaker 1: Graham's book The Wind and the Willows, Mole and Rat 316 00:20:30,920 --> 00:20:34,840 Speaker 1: don't just find the mythical piper. They also find Little Portly, 317 00:20:35,320 --> 00:20:38,159 Speaker 1: the missing member of the Otter Family, Safe and Sound. 318 00:20:39,200 --> 00:20:42,000 Speaker 1: Sid may have fancied himself like mol Or Rat, a 319 00:20:42,080 --> 00:20:45,840 Speaker 1: searcher of the sound, but as nineteen sixty seven wore on, 320 00:20:46,240 --> 00:20:49,760 Speaker 1: he became more like little Portly. He was the one 321 00:20:49,840 --> 00:20:53,119 Speaker 1: who went missing. He was the one that others struggled 322 00:20:53,160 --> 00:20:57,040 Speaker 1: to find. First his heart wasn't in it, then his head, 323 00:20:58,040 --> 00:21:04,920 Speaker 1: and then Sid Barrett. Just stop showing up altogether. We'll 324 00:21:04,960 --> 00:21:16,000 Speaker 1: be right back. After this word, word word, Sue Kingsford 325 00:21:16,000 --> 00:21:20,240 Speaker 1: barely recognized her friend. Syd Barrett stood in the doorway 326 00:21:20,280 --> 00:21:24,760 Speaker 1: of Sue's South Kensington flat. His bare feet were bleeding. 327 00:21:25,240 --> 00:21:27,960 Speaker 1: He wasn't talking, He wasn't standing up on the tips 328 00:21:27,960 --> 00:21:30,880 Speaker 1: of his toes in his usual way. His feet were 329 00:21:30,920 --> 00:21:35,920 Speaker 1: flat on the floor, grounded. Sue guided Sid inside, where 330 00:21:35,960 --> 00:21:39,080 Speaker 1: she gave him sugar puffs and coffee. It was the 331 00:21:39,119 --> 00:21:42,360 Speaker 1: same greeting that David Gilmour had received earlier in nineteen 332 00:21:42,440 --> 00:21:44,840 Speaker 1: sixty seven when he dropped in to visit the Floyd 333 00:21:44,880 --> 00:21:48,960 Speaker 1: during the recording session for c Emily Play. David wasn't 334 00:21:48,960 --> 00:21:51,520 Speaker 1: town to buy equipment for a residency with his band 335 00:21:51,640 --> 00:21:55,840 Speaker 1: Jokers Wild in Paris. Sid didn't acknowledge that his Old 336 00:21:55,880 --> 00:21:58,400 Speaker 1: Cambridge made it stop by to say hello. He didn't 337 00:21:58,400 --> 00:22:02,360 Speaker 1: even seem to recognize him. Now in South Kensington, if 338 00:22:02,400 --> 00:22:04,600 Speaker 1: Sid knew that he was at a friend's house, he 339 00:22:04,640 --> 00:22:07,879 Speaker 1: didn't show it. He sat at the table in silence 340 00:22:08,080 --> 00:22:11,880 Speaker 1: and sipped his coffee. An hour went by. It then 341 00:22:12,040 --> 00:22:16,120 Speaker 1: came another knock at Seu's store. It was then the Floyd. 342 00:22:18,920 --> 00:22:21,720 Speaker 1: They'd searched for Sid for hours, and they were booked 343 00:22:21,760 --> 00:22:23,800 Speaker 1: to perform on Top of the Pops for a third 344 00:22:23,840 --> 00:22:27,119 Speaker 1: time that afternoon. But Sid had gone a wall. He 345 00:22:27,240 --> 00:22:30,000 Speaker 1: was over it. Roger Waters and the others didn't give 346 00:22:30,000 --> 00:22:32,439 Speaker 1: a shit when he was over. Sid was going with 347 00:22:32,520 --> 00:22:36,000 Speaker 1: them now, and they dragged him back to the BBC's studio, 348 00:22:36,080 --> 00:22:38,040 Speaker 1: where he sat on a cushion and struggled to get 349 00:22:38,040 --> 00:22:41,359 Speaker 1: through his third appearance on British television. So fucked up 350 00:22:41,359 --> 00:22:43,600 Speaker 1: that he couldn't even stand on his own two feet, 351 00:22:44,040 --> 00:22:48,480 Speaker 1: uncomfortably numb. The Floyd thought their inaugural toward the United 352 00:22:48,480 --> 00:22:51,280 Speaker 1: States in the fall of nineteen sixty seven were fair better. 353 00:22:51,720 --> 00:22:54,520 Speaker 1: A change of scenery would do Sid some good, but 354 00:22:54,560 --> 00:22:58,080 Speaker 1: the Omens were bad from the start. Their work visas 355 00:22:58,119 --> 00:23:02,080 Speaker 1: were late, their US label Capital felt secure instruments, so 356 00:23:02,119 --> 00:23:04,520 Speaker 1: they had a beg and plead with local music shops 357 00:23:04,520 --> 00:23:08,000 Speaker 1: to loan them gear. The California grass was high test, 358 00:23:08,200 --> 00:23:11,200 Speaker 1: not cut with tobacco like it was back home. One 359 00:23:11,280 --> 00:23:16,800 Speaker 1: Toke sent Sid in the Interstellar Overdrive, and there's a 360 00:23:16,840 --> 00:23:21,119 Speaker 1: long standing story, likely apocrypho, that at a show in California, 361 00:23:21,320 --> 00:23:25,359 Speaker 1: Sid rubbed crushed up Mandrick's tranquilizer tablets and brill cream 362 00:23:25,400 --> 00:23:29,240 Speaker 1: and his hair on stage. In reality, Sid did very 363 00:23:29,240 --> 00:23:32,600 Speaker 1: little on stage that night. He detuned his guitar until 364 00:23:32,600 --> 00:23:35,760 Speaker 1: the strings wabbled like wet spaghetti, and then he just 365 00:23:35,880 --> 00:23:38,159 Speaker 1: stood there like if he didn't make a move, perhaps 366 00:23:38,200 --> 00:23:41,320 Speaker 1: he would cease to exist. But he couldn't miss him. 367 00:23:41,680 --> 00:23:45,080 Speaker 1: He loomed like a cautionary tale. His fender hung from 368 00:23:45,119 --> 00:23:48,439 Speaker 1: the strap around his neck like a concrete block. Roger 369 00:23:48,480 --> 00:23:51,040 Speaker 1: Waters looked over at his bandmate and felt the anger 370 00:23:51,080 --> 00:23:54,560 Speaker 1: bubble up again, the anger he felt when Sid bailed 371 00:23:54,560 --> 00:23:56,840 Speaker 1: on the top of the Pops. He wanted to punch 372 00:23:56,840 --> 00:23:58,920 Speaker 1: a Sid in the face and maybe that would wake 373 00:23:58,960 --> 00:24:02,439 Speaker 1: the stupid kit. Instead, he took it out of his base. 374 00:24:02,840 --> 00:24:04,720 Speaker 1: He gripped his left hand tight around the neck and 375 00:24:04,760 --> 00:24:07,280 Speaker 1: imagined it was Sid's neck. He dug the fingers of 376 00:24:07,280 --> 00:24:10,439 Speaker 1: his right hand into the nickel plated strings harder, and 377 00:24:10,520 --> 00:24:13,040 Speaker 1: he slapped the strings with his thumb, and the more 378 00:24:13,160 --> 00:24:17,240 Speaker 1: Sid did nothing, the more Roger attacked his instrument. Suddenly 379 00:24:17,440 --> 00:24:21,199 Speaker 1: his fingers ached in intense pain. He looked down and 380 00:24:21,359 --> 00:24:26,400 Speaker 1: blood was everywhere. Fuck this, Roger thought, he doesn't want 381 00:24:26,400 --> 00:24:28,480 Speaker 1: to play. He doesn't want to have to play. Sid 382 00:24:28,480 --> 00:24:30,560 Speaker 1: Barreck can fuck right off and do whatever he wants 383 00:24:30,640 --> 00:24:34,399 Speaker 1: to do. The remaining US tour dates were canceled. The 384 00:24:34,440 --> 00:24:36,800 Speaker 1: band knew they couldn't carry on like this with Sid. 385 00:24:37,200 --> 00:24:39,840 Speaker 1: Something in him had changed for good. He wasn't the 386 00:24:39,840 --> 00:24:43,320 Speaker 1: person they once knew. Whether LSD was solely to blame, 387 00:24:43,680 --> 00:24:46,840 Speaker 1: and they had their suspicions but couldn't be sure. Roger, 388 00:24:46,880 --> 00:24:49,320 Speaker 1: for one, began to suspect that perhaps the drug had 389 00:24:49,320 --> 00:24:52,360 Speaker 1: awakened the long dorm a mental illness. What they were 390 00:24:52,440 --> 00:24:54,840 Speaker 1: sure of was that the band needed someone dependable if 391 00:24:54,840 --> 00:24:57,560 Speaker 1: they were going to last, someone who wasn't afraid of 392 00:24:57,560 --> 00:25:01,199 Speaker 1: commercial success, someone who treated the gig like what it was, 393 00:25:01,760 --> 00:25:05,240 Speaker 1: a bloody gig. This wasn't a fairy tale, this was 394 00:25:05,320 --> 00:25:09,520 Speaker 1: real life, and so Roger Richard and Nick nodded in 395 00:25:09,560 --> 00:25:12,560 Speaker 1: agreement it had to be done. They picked up the 396 00:25:12,560 --> 00:25:14,800 Speaker 1: phone and called the one guy who was the exact 397 00:25:14,880 --> 00:25:24,560 Speaker 1: opposite of Sid Barrett in every way. Sid flashed back 398 00:25:24,600 --> 00:25:27,399 Speaker 1: and forth. The camera captured shots of him in and 399 00:25:27,480 --> 00:25:30,800 Speaker 1: out of understanding his reality. In one shot, it looks 400 00:25:30,840 --> 00:25:33,119 Speaker 1: like he can actually see those heavens trying to hoover 401 00:25:33,240 --> 00:25:36,320 Speaker 1: him up, his eyes set somewhere else from those of 402 00:25:36,359 --> 00:25:40,560 Speaker 1: his bandmates. In another, Sid is barely visible in the background, 403 00:25:40,880 --> 00:25:44,119 Speaker 1: peeking out behind the shoulders of Nick and Roger. And 404 00:25:44,160 --> 00:25:48,520 Speaker 1: in perhaps the saddest shot, Richard is wearing flying ace goggle, 405 00:25:48,600 --> 00:25:51,600 Speaker 1: seated on a bicycle and sent her frame, perhaps a 406 00:25:51,640 --> 00:25:55,399 Speaker 1: nod to Sid's song bike. It's a goofy photo, and 407 00:25:55,520 --> 00:25:58,720 Speaker 1: the other band members stifle smiles, but Sid doesn't have 408 00:25:58,800 --> 00:26:01,679 Speaker 1: to try. He looks a good twenty years older than 409 00:26:01,720 --> 00:26:04,560 Speaker 1: everyone else in the band. His dark eyes looked like 410 00:26:04,600 --> 00:26:08,240 Speaker 1: he's having a grim realization. Was he actually standing next 411 00:26:08,280 --> 00:26:11,600 Speaker 1: to his old mate from Cambridge, David Gilmour? Was this 412 00:26:11,680 --> 00:26:17,080 Speaker 1: another hallucination? It was January nineteen sixty eight. The piper 413 00:26:17,200 --> 00:26:18,600 Speaker 1: was at the gates of a dawn of a new 414 00:26:18,720 --> 00:26:21,560 Speaker 1: year and the piper was about to call a different tune. 415 00:26:22,720 --> 00:26:25,640 Speaker 1: Sid glanced over at David, the long Haired to Donna's, 416 00:26:25,680 --> 00:26:28,000 Speaker 1: who was as much a clean cup preppy as Sid 417 00:26:28,040 --> 00:26:30,800 Speaker 1: was a burnt out hippie, and it all came back 418 00:26:30,840 --> 00:26:35,280 Speaker 1: to him. This was no bad trip, this was reality. 419 00:26:35,960 --> 00:26:39,399 Speaker 1: He remembered everything he'd forgotten about all over again. The 420 00:26:39,440 --> 00:26:42,159 Speaker 1: band had hired David as a second guitarist after that 421 00:26:42,240 --> 00:26:46,960 Speaker 1: disastrous US tour. Months later, after recording their sophomore album, 422 00:26:47,119 --> 00:26:50,000 Speaker 1: A Saucer Full of Secrets, and after they had stopped 423 00:26:50,000 --> 00:26:52,560 Speaker 1: picking up Sid on the way to gigs, Pink Floyd 424 00:26:52,600 --> 00:26:57,000 Speaker 1: made it official in April nineteen sixty eight. Sid Barrett 425 00:26:57,200 --> 00:27:02,800 Speaker 1: was no longer in the band. Sid understood he didn't 426 00:27:02,800 --> 00:27:04,359 Speaker 1: want to be there, and if he didn't want to 427 00:27:04,400 --> 00:27:06,120 Speaker 1: be there, why would the others want him to be there. 428 00:27:06,640 --> 00:27:09,199 Speaker 1: But just because Sid was done with Floyd didn't mean 429 00:27:09,240 --> 00:27:12,080 Speaker 1: he was done chasing the sound in his head. He 430 00:27:12,200 --> 00:27:15,440 Speaker 1: convinced DMI to allowing to return to Abbey Roads Studios 431 00:27:15,480 --> 00:27:19,320 Speaker 1: to make a solo record. The new songs were scatterbrained, 432 00:27:19,720 --> 00:27:23,639 Speaker 1: the sessions were all starts and stops, and the resulting album, 433 00:27:23,720 --> 00:27:27,240 Speaker 1: The Mad Cap Laughs, was released in January nineteen seventy, 434 00:27:28,080 --> 00:27:32,680 Speaker 1: Alternately inviting and impenetrable. The album's fractured psychedelia would eventually 435 00:27:32,680 --> 00:27:36,080 Speaker 1: become a Rosetta stone for artists like Robin Hitchcock, Guided 436 00:27:36,080 --> 00:27:38,560 Speaker 1: by Voices and all the bands in the Elephant six 437 00:27:38,600 --> 00:27:42,679 Speaker 1: collective of the late nineteen nineties. Sid's second solo album, 438 00:27:42,800 --> 00:27:47,840 Speaker 1: simply titled Barrett, arrived later in nineteen seventy. Sympathetically produced 439 00:27:47,840 --> 00:27:51,080 Speaker 1: by David Gilmour and featuring both David and Richard Wright. 440 00:27:51,400 --> 00:27:54,520 Speaker 1: It felt a bit more cohesive, like Sid was actually 441 00:27:54,560 --> 00:27:58,439 Speaker 1: getting a shit together. The two solo albums made Sid 442 00:27:58,440 --> 00:28:02,760 Speaker 1: feel creatively renewed. He returned to his childhood home in Cambridge, 443 00:28:02,800 --> 00:28:05,960 Speaker 1: where he lived the quasi hermetic life in the windowless cellar, 444 00:28:06,480 --> 00:28:09,200 Speaker 1: and the isolation helped keep the distractions of the world 445 00:28:09,200 --> 00:28:12,800 Speaker 1: at bay and helped him focus on one thing, that sound. 446 00:28:13,600 --> 00:28:16,000 Speaker 1: Soon he was playing in a band again, a trio 447 00:28:16,280 --> 00:28:23,480 Speaker 1: called Stars. In February nineteen seventy two, Stars announced a 448 00:28:23,560 --> 00:28:27,320 Speaker 1: show at the Corn Exchange in Cambridge. Word quickly spread 449 00:28:27,400 --> 00:28:30,920 Speaker 1: that everyone's favorite ex Floyd frontman was once again performing 450 00:28:30,960 --> 00:28:34,119 Speaker 1: live for the first time in four years. The show 451 00:28:34,240 --> 00:28:37,600 Speaker 1: quickly sold out. Sid hoped for the best. He even 452 00:28:37,600 --> 00:28:40,240 Speaker 1: bought a new pair of velvet pants, But as soon 453 00:28:40,240 --> 00:28:43,200 Speaker 1: as he strummed the night's opening chord, Sid thought about 454 00:28:43,200 --> 00:28:46,400 Speaker 1: the US tour all over again. The sound in the 455 00:28:46,520 --> 00:28:48,920 Speaker 1: venue was muddy, he could barely make out what he 456 00:28:48,960 --> 00:28:51,760 Speaker 1: was singing into the microphone, and the bass player's amp 457 00:28:51,760 --> 00:28:54,880 Speaker 1: went dead. Sid sliced his finger on a guitar string. 458 00:28:55,840 --> 00:28:58,880 Speaker 1: Before long, Sid was looking for a quiet spot on 459 00:28:59,000 --> 00:29:02,280 Speaker 1: stage where he could nurse his wound, and just disappeared. 460 00:29:04,960 --> 00:29:08,040 Speaker 1: A few days later, Bellody Maker published a less than 461 00:29:08,080 --> 00:29:12,120 Speaker 1: flattering review of the show. The article confirmed sid suspicions 462 00:29:12,480 --> 00:29:14,960 Speaker 1: that he was a shill, that he wasn't a true artist, 463 00:29:15,200 --> 00:29:17,600 Speaker 1: that he was a has been who frankly never was, 464 00:29:18,200 --> 00:29:22,240 Speaker 1: and he'd never find that fucking sound. He went back 465 00:29:22,280 --> 00:29:25,880 Speaker 1: to his family house on Hills Road. He descended into 466 00:29:25,880 --> 00:29:28,360 Speaker 1: the cellar where he could be alone, and the door 467 00:29:28,520 --> 00:29:32,520 Speaker 1: slammed behind him. What a bloody mess. He looked up 468 00:29:32,520 --> 00:29:35,400 Speaker 1: at the low ceiling and it hung there flat. A 469 00:29:35,440 --> 00:29:40,160 Speaker 1: clean slate ridiculed him. Everyone had an opinion, even the 470 00:29:40,200 --> 00:29:43,040 Speaker 1: fucking ceiling. He stood on a chair and had to 471 00:29:43,080 --> 00:29:46,480 Speaker 1: scooch down because the ceiling was right there, and then 472 00:29:47,000 --> 00:29:50,040 Speaker 1: he just did it. He thrust his head into the ceiling. 473 00:29:50,560 --> 00:29:53,320 Speaker 1: It hurt like hell, and he did it again. The 474 00:29:53,400 --> 00:29:55,720 Speaker 1: second time. It hurt even worse, and he did it 475 00:29:55,760 --> 00:29:59,760 Speaker 1: a third time, and then a fourth, over and over again. 476 00:30:00,160 --> 00:30:04,200 Speaker 1: Soon he felt nothing at all. He knew blood was 477 00:30:04,320 --> 00:30:07,240 Speaker 1: running down his head now, but he didn't care. He 478 00:30:07,400 --> 00:30:10,280 Speaker 1: just kept smashing his head into the ceiling. If he 479 00:30:10,360 --> 00:30:12,840 Speaker 1: hit it hard enough, maybe he'd lose the sound he'd 480 00:30:12,840 --> 00:30:16,560 Speaker 1: been chasing for good. Just knock it clean out. He 481 00:30:16,600 --> 00:30:18,680 Speaker 1: opened his eyes wide as he continued to hit his 482 00:30:18,840 --> 00:30:22,800 Speaker 1: bashed and bloodied head over and over again. He wanted 483 00:30:22,800 --> 00:30:25,360 Speaker 1: to see it, see it with his own two eyes, 484 00:30:25,680 --> 00:30:28,320 Speaker 1: the sound, that fucking sound. 485 00:30:28,280 --> 00:30:31,400 Speaker 2: A fleshy, bashed out piece of him, And when it 486 00:30:31,440 --> 00:30:34,560 Speaker 2: came tumbling from his brain, he would be ready, ready 487 00:30:34,600 --> 00:30:57,400 Speaker 2: to pounce on it and kill it once and for all. 488 00:31:06,760 --> 00:31:13,000 Speaker 1: June fifth, nineteen seventy five, Abbey Roads Studios, London, David 489 00:31:13,000 --> 00:31:16,960 Speaker 1: Gilmour and Roger Waters were arguing again. David wanted the 490 00:31:17,000 --> 00:31:19,840 Speaker 1: sound of the new album to be warmer. Roger wanted 491 00:31:19,880 --> 00:31:22,959 Speaker 1: it to sound raw. David wanted to include the songs 492 00:31:23,000 --> 00:31:27,320 Speaker 1: that Roger didn't want to include. Pink Floyd were back 493 00:31:27,360 --> 00:31:30,479 Speaker 1: in the studio recording Wish You Were Here, the follow 494 00:31:30,560 --> 00:31:33,280 Speaker 1: up to the critical and commercial smash Dark Side of 495 00:31:33,320 --> 00:31:37,680 Speaker 1: the Moon. Tensions were higher than ever. Tensions between David 496 00:31:37,760 --> 00:31:40,320 Speaker 1: and Roger have been high ever since Sid Barrett left 497 00:31:40,320 --> 00:31:43,520 Speaker 1: the group. Maybe Roger just needed someone to battle, they 498 00:31:43,560 --> 00:31:46,360 Speaker 1: all thought one day at Sid. The next day, It's David. 499 00:31:47,120 --> 00:31:49,880 Speaker 1: David had proved a major asset for the band. Not 500 00:31:49,920 --> 00:31:52,640 Speaker 1: only did he coax and molten tone from his stratocaster, 501 00:31:53,080 --> 00:31:56,240 Speaker 1: but he had the focus in drive that his predecessor lacked. 502 00:31:56,720 --> 00:32:00,320 Speaker 1: And while Pink Floyd mark Io sounded nothing like the band, 503 00:32:00,640 --> 00:32:02,960 Speaker 1: that didn't mean the band had stopped thinking about the 504 00:32:03,000 --> 00:32:06,400 Speaker 1: guy who used to be their leader. Darkseye, at its 505 00:32:06,440 --> 00:32:09,760 Speaker 1: themes of anxiety, fear and madness, was very much a 506 00:32:09,800 --> 00:32:13,680 Speaker 1: record consumed with Sid Barrett's absence, and now they were 507 00:32:13,680 --> 00:32:16,520 Speaker 1: once again making a record that was haunted by his presence. 508 00:32:17,120 --> 00:32:19,920 Speaker 1: Both Wish You Were Here's titled track and Shine On 509 00:32:20,120 --> 00:32:25,480 Speaker 1: You Crazy Diamond were hunabashed tributes to Sid songs of sentimentality, reverence, 510 00:32:25,560 --> 00:32:29,520 Speaker 1: and loss. The band was listening to a rough mix 511 00:32:29,600 --> 00:32:32,600 Speaker 1: of Shine On You Crazy Diamond and Abbey Road's control 512 00:32:32,720 --> 00:32:35,440 Speaker 1: room when David noticed a man walking around the studio. 513 00:32:36,120 --> 00:32:39,719 Speaker 1: He looked out of place, strange. His eyebrows had been 514 00:32:39,760 --> 00:32:43,360 Speaker 1: shaved off and sowed his hair. He was overweight. He 515 00:32:43,400 --> 00:32:46,200 Speaker 1: wore a white T shirt that appeared one size too small, 516 00:32:46,600 --> 00:32:48,920 Speaker 1: and the waistband of his pants was pulled up over 517 00:32:48,960 --> 00:32:53,400 Speaker 1: his stomach. Plastic shopping bag in his hand. David had 518 00:32:53,400 --> 00:32:55,960 Speaker 1: to admit the man looked like a crazy person who 519 00:32:56,000 --> 00:32:58,760 Speaker 1: walked in off the street. The rest of the band 520 00:32:58,800 --> 00:33:02,200 Speaker 1: now took notice. The playback of Shine on You, Crazy 521 00:33:02,240 --> 00:33:05,400 Speaker 1: Diamond continued from the monitors in the control room. The 522 00:33:05,440 --> 00:33:08,040 Speaker 1: strange looking man slowly made his way into the room 523 00:33:08,040 --> 00:33:09,800 Speaker 1: with the others, where they looked up at him from 524 00:33:09,800 --> 00:33:12,520 Speaker 1: where they all sat, not exactly sure what to say. 525 00:33:13,800 --> 00:33:18,160 Speaker 1: Suddenly Roger's face went from confusion to epiphany. He shuddered, 526 00:33:18,320 --> 00:33:21,520 Speaker 1: his jaw sank. He could hardly believe what he was seeing. 527 00:33:22,760 --> 00:33:25,520 Speaker 1: Roger felt his eyes well up. He brought a hand 528 00:33:25,560 --> 00:33:27,240 Speaker 1: up to catch a tear before it had a chance 529 00:33:27,280 --> 00:33:30,760 Speaker 1: to roll down his face. The man stared back at 530 00:33:30,840 --> 00:33:34,120 Speaker 1: Roger and did say a word. Gone was the gleam 531 00:33:34,160 --> 00:33:37,120 Speaker 1: in his dilated eye. Gone was the long hair of 532 00:33:37,120 --> 00:33:39,680 Speaker 1: the pretty bohemian face that drove many a girl. While 533 00:33:39,800 --> 00:33:43,800 Speaker 1: back at the U Folk Club. Bald eyebrowless and overweight. 534 00:33:44,320 --> 00:33:47,960 Speaker 1: Sid Barren, now looked as one of the Floyd's former managers, 535 00:33:48,000 --> 00:33:50,280 Speaker 1: would later put in like the type of blow who 536 00:33:50,320 --> 00:33:54,600 Speaker 1: serves you in a Hamburger barer in Kansas City. Sid 537 00:33:54,640 --> 00:33:57,280 Speaker 1: broke his silence. He asked me he could over dub 538 00:33:57,280 --> 00:34:03,000 Speaker 1: his guitar part. The band gave him confused looks and response, Sorry, Sid, 539 00:34:03,040 --> 00:34:06,840 Speaker 1: They told him the guitar is all done. Sid stood 540 00:34:06,880 --> 00:34:10,080 Speaker 1: still and listened as the song's chorus welled up like 541 00:34:10,160 --> 00:34:14,520 Speaker 1: the tears in Roger's eyes. David's guitar cut through the mix, 542 00:34:14,640 --> 00:34:17,719 Speaker 1: so clean and so clear it left no trace of 543 00:34:17,760 --> 00:34:21,960 Speaker 1: psychedelia in its lucid wake. Shine on You, Crazy Diamond 544 00:34:22,120 --> 00:34:26,680 Speaker 1: was EON's from c Emily play If Sid realized that 545 00:34:26,719 --> 00:34:29,479 Speaker 1: he gave no indication and if he knew the song 546 00:34:29,560 --> 00:34:33,240 Speaker 1: was about him, he made no mention. He simply pulled 547 00:34:33,239 --> 00:34:36,040 Speaker 1: the toothbrush out of the bag and began to brush 548 00:34:36,040 --> 00:34:39,080 Speaker 1: his teeth in the middle of Abbey Roads control room. 549 00:34:40,000 --> 00:34:43,560 Speaker 1: When playback was finished, Sid put the toothbrush back in 550 00:34:43,640 --> 00:34:47,359 Speaker 1: the bag and left his friends in Pink. Floyd never 551 00:34:47,440 --> 00:34:51,960 Speaker 1: saw him again. Sid returned to Cambridge. He knew er 552 00:34:52,000 --> 00:34:55,520 Speaker 1: wrote songs, but he still created. A paintbrush or pen 553 00:34:55,600 --> 00:34:58,279 Speaker 1: in his hand provided a conduit to creativity and a 554 00:34:58,320 --> 00:35:01,440 Speaker 1: cure for restlessness, just like when he was a toddler. 555 00:35:02,239 --> 00:35:05,600 Speaker 1: According to his sister Rosemary, Sid would take a photograph 556 00:35:05,600 --> 00:35:08,279 Speaker 1: of something, say a flower, and then he would create 557 00:35:08,320 --> 00:35:10,960 Speaker 1: a large painting of that flower. And when he was finished, 558 00:35:10,960 --> 00:35:13,000 Speaker 1: he would take a photograph of the painting and then 559 00:35:13,360 --> 00:35:17,279 Speaker 1: destroy the painting. Once something was over, it was over. 560 00:35:17,400 --> 00:35:20,480 Speaker 1: His sister said, he felt no need to revisit it. 561 00:35:22,239 --> 00:35:25,760 Speaker 1: Sid's bandmates, on the other hand, they continued to revisit 562 00:35:25,800 --> 00:35:30,040 Speaker 1: his descent into madness for inspiration throughout their career. Sure 563 00:35:30,160 --> 00:35:33,560 Speaker 1: the main character of Floyd's nineteen seventy nine concept album 564 00:35:33,600 --> 00:35:37,239 Speaker 1: The Wall, features a lot of Roger Waters's biographical details, 565 00:35:37,239 --> 00:35:40,520 Speaker 1: but the one with the swollen hand, blues and pinhole 566 00:35:40,560 --> 00:35:43,040 Speaker 1: burns all down the front of his favorite satin shirt. 567 00:35:43,719 --> 00:35:48,280 Speaker 1: That's pure Sid comfortably numb to the end. When Sid 568 00:35:48,320 --> 00:35:50,239 Speaker 1: died in two thousand and six at the age of 569 00:35:50,320 --> 00:35:54,600 Speaker 1: sixty from pancreatic cancer, his former band revisited his music 570 00:35:54,680 --> 00:35:58,080 Speaker 1: once again, performing Arnold Laine and Bike in tribute to 571 00:35:58,120 --> 00:36:02,400 Speaker 1: their former leader a year later thousand and seven. To date, 572 00:36:02,760 --> 00:36:06,160 Speaker 1: this was the final gig billed as Pink Floyd, meaning 573 00:36:06,200 --> 00:36:10,120 Speaker 1: they began Pink Floyd with Sid songs and ended Pink 574 00:36:10,120 --> 00:36:16,359 Speaker 1: Floyd with Sid songs. But Sid never got to appreciate 575 00:36:16,480 --> 00:36:19,560 Speaker 1: how much his old bandmates owed to the Crazy Diamond 576 00:36:19,600 --> 00:36:24,319 Speaker 1: to inform some of their best work and that this 577 00:36:24,400 --> 00:36:45,399 Speaker 1: is a disgrace. I'm Jake Brennan in This is Disgraceland. 578 00:36:46,400 --> 00:36:49,160 Speaker 1: Disgraceland was created by Yours Truly and is produced in 579 00:36:49,239 --> 00:36:52,640 Speaker 1: partnership with Double Elvis. Credits for this episode can be 580 00:36:52,640 --> 00:36:56,040 Speaker 1: found on the show notes page at disgracelandpod dot com. 581 00:36:56,360 --> 00:36:59,439 Speaker 1: If you're listening as a Disgraceland All Access member, thank 582 00:36:59,440 --> 00:37:02,120 Speaker 1: you for supporting the show. We really appreciate it. And 583 00:37:02,239 --> 00:37:04,520 Speaker 1: if not, you can become a member right now by 584 00:37:04,520 --> 00:37:09,200 Speaker 1: going to disgracelampod dot com. Slash Membership members can listen 585 00:37:09,239 --> 00:37:13,000 Speaker 1: to every episode of disgracelam ad free, Plus you'll get 586 00:37:13,040 --> 00:37:17,880 Speaker 1: one brand new exclusive episode every month, weekly unscripted bonus episode, 587 00:37:17,920 --> 00:37:21,800 Speaker 1: special audio collections, and early access to merchandise and events. 588 00:37:22,360 --> 00:37:26,759 Speaker 1: Visit disgracelampod dot com slash membership for details, Rate and 589 00:37:26,800 --> 00:37:29,400 Speaker 1: review the show, and follow us on Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, 590 00:37:29,440 --> 00:37:33,359 Speaker 1: and Facebook at disgracelampod and on YouTube at YouTube dot 591 00:37:33,400 --> 00:37:40,759 Speaker 1: com slash at disgracelampod. Rock a Roller, He's a man. 592 00:37:40,960 --> 00:37:41,160 Speaker 1: Man