Published by Omnibus Books in February in Europe, and May in North America, is The Lyrics of Syd Barrett. 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. A good friend of Brain Damage is Dr Kevin De Ornellas, a Lecturer in English Literature at Ulster University, and he has taken a detailed look at this new book… In an era of gargantuan coffee-table books, bloated CD and DVD box sets and cumbersome multi-disc vinyl re-releases, it is it refreshing to enjoy a relatively simple and affordable artefact: a small, easily handled book. This book, an apparently official provision of what is claimed to be Syd Barrett’s complete lyrics, is beautifully designed by Lora Findlay. It comes in a tactile, attractive cloth cover: on the front, a well-known Michael Ochs portrait of Syd Barrett is encased within an elaborate psychedelic border that is tasteful because it is all done with only two colours â white and a sort of mauve-lilac colour. The endpapers are particularly lovely â they feature repeated, wallpaper-like reproductions of Syd Barrett’s renowned Tortoise. Half of the tortoises have the head facing upwards â the other half are rotated 180 degrees. There are 168 tortoises in total. It is both a bit whacky and a bit poignant â and very much in the spirit of Barrettâs later music. A fuller, page-high reproduction of Barrettâs original, subtly-coloured 1963 Tortoise work is provided inside (page 18). The book is petite and thin but the high-quality cloth, the firm binding and the crisp texture of the pages makes the book feel sturdy: it is a keeper that will weather well. The lyrics are all laid out in a clear, readable font on either one or two self-contained pages and there are many splendid illustrations and photographs: if I counted correctly there are 18 monochrome images and 8 colour ones. Every one is reproduced perfectly: most feature posed or in-performance photographs of Syd Barrett with or without Pink Floyd; some reproduce Barrett’s art works. It might have been better to have more of Barrett’s art and less of Rick Wright’s cigarette and less of Roger Waters’ understated scowl. But the text of the book is what matters â here, there is much promise but the odd problem too.
Related Articles
Listen to Emanuel’s latest smooth, sweet and rich new single ‘Black Woman’
Toronto’s rising R&B star Emanuel has been on a steady rise to international fame since the release of his debut single ‘Need You’ earlier this year, the video for which was creatively directed by none other than famed British actor and DJ, Idris Elba. Since then, Emanuel has been unstoppable, his subsequent project and debut …
The post Listen to Emanuel’s latest smooth, sweet and rich new single ‘Black Woman’ appeared first on Turtle Tempo.
Share this:
- Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
- Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
- Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
- Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
- Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
- Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
- Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window)
- Click to share on Telegram (Opens in new window)
- Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window)
- Click to share on Skype (Opens in new window)
- Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)
Nick Mason’s Saucerful Of Secrets announce more European dates for 2020
Some great news for our visitors in Europe – Nick Mason's Saucerful Of Secrets have added six more shows for this year's tour, and on their social media update, they note that more dates will follow!The additional shows they HAVE confirmed all go on sale this coming Monday (February 10th) at 9am UK/10am CET, from the ticket agencies listed below with the dates themselves:June 10th – ALEXELA CONCERT HALL / KONTSERDIMAJA, TALLINN, ESTONIA – TICKETS (https://www.piletilevi.ee/eng/tickets/muusika/rock-ja-pop/nick-masons-saucerful-of-secrets-the-echoes-tour-309112/?shop_provider=kattop)June 12th – HALL OF CULTURE / KULTUURITALO, HELSINKI, FINLAND – TICKETS (https://www.tiketti.fi/tapahtuma/68157)June 25th – STUPINIGI SONIC PARK, TURIN, ITALY – TICKETS (https://www.dalessandroegalli.com/events/644/nick-masons-saucerful-of-secrets)June 26th – LUCCA SUMMER FESTIVAL, LUCCA, ITALY – TICKETS (https://www.dalessandroegalli.com/events/644/nick-masons-saucerful-of-secrets)July 1st – BARTS, BARCELONA, SPAIN – TICKETS (https://proticketing.com/barts/es_ES/tickets)July 2nd – PALACIO MUNICIPAL, MADRID, SPAIN – TICKETS (https://www.ticketmaster.es/event/22989)As and when we hear of further dates on this tour, which is really not to be missed, we will let you know.
Share this:
- Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
- Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
- Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
- Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
- Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
- Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
- Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window)
- Click to share on Telegram (Opens in new window)
- Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window)
- Click to share on Skype (Opens in new window)
- Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)
Rare Syd Barrett painting sells at auction
A couple of weeks ago, we told you about a very rare Syd Barrett painting that was coming up for auction (https://www.brain-damage.co.uk/latest/very-rare-syd-barrett-painting-up-for-auction.html). The painting, titled Orange Dahlias In A Vase, 1961 and signed R. Barrett (Roger being Syd’s real first name), which was in the possession of childhood friend Phil Harden, had no problems finding a buyer on May 27th. The Cambridge based Cheffins auction house (https://www.cheffins.co.uk/fine-art/lot-view,-roger-syd-barrett-british-19462006_71901.htm), who sold the contents of Syd Barrett’s home in St Margaret’s Square, Cambridge, where he had lived since 1981, after his death in 2006, were running the auction for this incredible piece. The artwork was created by Barrett when he was just 15 years of age, and was a mix of watercolours and pastels. The auction house explained the provenance: “In 1957, Barrett began his secondary education at Cambridgeshire High School for Boys, which aimed to emulate the public-school model. As a student, Barrett was emphatically average and, to most of his teachers, remarkable only in his inability to follow the rules. To Gerald Arthur Clement Harden, the school’s art teacher between 1938 and 1971, however, Barrett was a conspicuous and prodigious talent and one of the very few pupils permitted to use Harden’s oil paints. “Painted when Barrett was just 15 years old, the present lot was gifted to Harden by the artist shortly before he left the school and began studying art at Cambridgeshire College of Arts and Technology. Although generally perceived as an unmotivated student by most of his tutors, Hardenâs support encouraged Barrett to pursue further study in painting and ignited in him a passion for art that would continue to burn until his death in 2006.” There were nine later Barrett artworks sold in the previous Cheffins auction, raising £121,000 to fund local art training. The estimated selling price for this newly revealed artwork was between £3,000 – £5,000 plus buyer’s fees. As we suspected this was a VERY conservative figure. The final hammer price was a lot higher: £22,000, plus a “buyers premium” payable to the auction house of 29.4%, giving a total paid by (we understand) an Italian of what we work out to be around £28,468, plus the cost of getting it back to Italy.
Share this:
- Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
- Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
- Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
- Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
- Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
- Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
- Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window)
- Click to share on Telegram (Opens in new window)
- Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window)
- Click to share on Skype (Opens in new window)
- Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)