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‘Have You Got It Yet? The Story of Syd Barrett & Pink Floyd’

Cult icon, enigma, recluse… the life of Syd Barrett, founding member of Pink Floyd, is full of unanswered questions. Until now.

Piecing together his comet-like rise to pop stardom, his creative and destructive impulses, breakdown, exit from the band and subsequent life alone, this feature length documentary is set against the social context of the explosive sixties. Directed by Storm Thorgerson (Hipgnosis) and award-winning director Roddy Bogawa, it features new interviews with Syd’s friends, lovers, family and band mates Roger Waters, David Gilmour, and Nick Mason.

Syd Barrett, founding member of world famous rock group Pink Floyd and its initial songwriter and leader, led a life full of unanswered questions. Was he a drug casualty of the sixties? Did he walk away from the pressures of the commercial music world? Did he suffer from an undiagnosed mental illness?

Pink Floyd were caught in the epicentre of the ‘underground’ explosion of the 60s as the psychedelic house band of the UFO club in London, with Syd Barrett its enigmatic figurehead, inspiring such musicians as David Bowie and Marc Bolan. Though he named the group, wrote the first two hit songs and was the lead vocalist and guitarist, Barrett was pushed out of the band by its members who were convinced he was having an LSD induced psychotic breakdown.

After leaving Pink Floyd, Barrett struggled to record two solo records but eventually dropped out of the music industry completely, living as a recluse for thirty years – while Pink Floyd went on to worldwide fame as one of the biggest selling bands of all time. Many Pink Floyd works examined themes of genius and madness.

The film includes iconic screen footage for SHINE ON YOU CRAZY DIAMOND, rarely seen excerpts of Syd backstage, never-before seen photographs and a soundtrack full of Floyd’s music, HAVE YOU GOT IT YET? will thrill fans and newcomers to Syd’s legend alike.

Produced by Mercury Studios, @believemedia and A Cat Called Rover, and directed by @roddybogawa and the late Storm Thorgerson, ‘Have You Got It Yet?’ will premiere at @everymankingscross in London on 27th April 2023 📽

Have You Got It Yet? The Story of Syd Barrett & Pink Floyd will premiere across Everyman Cinemas in the UK from Monday 15th May. For more information, please visit https://www.everymancinema.com/ and late June in the US & Canada

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Enjoy Syd on our new Instagram channel

Syd Barrett 1967

For photos of Syd in an Instagram style then please check out our new Instagram account, @syd_barrettofficial.   It includes photos spanning his lifetime as well as lyrics, quotes and videos.  We hope you enjoy this new channel of Syd and join in the conversations there.

We also have a whole host of photos on this website, please take a look.

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Syd’s Birthday

Lee

Syd’s birthday is on 6th January, born in 1946 to Win and Max Barrett in Cambridge.   To celebrate Syd’s birthday this year, Lee Harris has written a piece on one of Syd’s songs in our section Stories behind the Songs.  Lee chose the song “Here I Go” written by Syd and recorded in 1969.  Lee embraces in his article how this song celebrates and captures the fun of Syd.  If you want to read how other songs have impacted the life of other artists, please read them in our Stories Behind the Songs section.   For more insight into Syd’s life, take a look at our section on Syd’s Life charting his life before his impactful, but short, career in Pink Floyd and as a solo artist, and afterwards as an artist living in Cambridge. 

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Cambridge University students introduced to Syd

Thomas Gilhooly, student at Cambridge University, took the opportunity recently of introducing Syd to a Cambridge University student audience via an article (here’s the link) in the student newspaper, the Varsity. Using the 50 years since the Madcap Laughs (1970) as his starting point, Thomas discusses Syd’s character, his work as an artist and how Syd expressed himself through his appearance, exploring the fashion path which he cut and which is still followed today.

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29 March 2022

As with the works of Pink Floyd from 1987 onwards, and David Gilmour’s solo material, all of Syd Barrett’s solo recordings are now being removed from all digital music providers in Russia and Belarus. This is to stand with the world in strongly condemning Russia’s continued attack and invasion of Ukraine.

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Mick Rock dies – iconic photographer and Syd’s friend

(c) Mick Rock 2021We were very sorry to hear about the death of the psychedelic renegade Mick Rock today.   He captured Syd, David Bowie, Queen, Lou Reed, Debbie Harry and many more, in photos which have been central to the image of music since the 1960s.   

To read more about his life and his impact on the world, visit https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-59344065

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Syd’s guitar sale benefits local and national charity

On the 28th October, Cheffins, the Cambridge auctioneers, sold Syd’s 12-string Yamaha acoustic guitar for £16,000.  We are very delighted to report that the proceeds of this sale will go straight to two chosen charities, MIND and the Arthur Rank Hospice.  These two charities were chosen by the family honoring the memories of both Syd and his big brother, Alan, who looked after the guitar for many years.

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Syd’s Yamaha Guitar in Cambridge Auction

The Cambridge Auctioners, Cheffins, have many pieces of Syd Barrett memorabilia for sale in their next auction on 28th October 2021.  One of these lots is a 12-string acoustic Yamaha guitar owned by Syd and which was passed onto his brother, Alan.  Alan died last year and it seems timely now to put this guitar up for sale, some 50 years since Syd took enjoyment in its ownership.  The reason for the sale is in order to donate the proceeds to two charities equally in the memory of both Syd and Alan.  These are the mental health charity, MIND, and the Arthur Rank Hospice.

The sale has been initiated by Alan’s son and Syd Barrett’s nephew, Mark Barrett, pictured here with the guitar (photo credit, Chris Parnham).

A Brief History of Syd Barrett’s Yamaha FG-230 12-String Acoustic Guitar (Serial No. 1090448) by Mark Barrett

The guitar was manufactured in Japan on 21st October 1969 (date stamped inside the body of the instrument).  Syd is likely to have bought it either in Cambridge or London.

Syd talked about it and played it during the course of Mick Rock’s 1971 interview with him for Rolling Stone Magazine which was conducted in my grandmother’s garden in Hills Road, Cambridge (Syd was living a basement studio there at the time).

At the time that my grandmother sold the Hills Road house in late 1974, Syd was not living there and some of his belongings from the studio, including the guitar, a record collection, a turntable and some spotlights were transported to my parent’s house just round the corner in Hinton Avenue, for safe keeping. Syd never collected the guitar and my father (his brother) Alan John Barrett continued to store it over 3 subsequent house moves, eventually offering it to me after Syd died in 2006, I finally collected it from my father’s house in November of 2020 shortly before my father died.

 

 

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‘Orange Dahlias’ – Syd Barrett painting in auction

A painting that Syd gave to his Art Teacher as a gift is up for sale at Cheffins Auction house, in Cambridge on the 27th May 2021.    

For a little bit of Syd history and to see how this piece of art has lived it’s life so far, please follow this link 

Here also, if you are interested, is the link to the auction house, Cheffins.  The painting is expected to reach between £3,000 and £5,000.

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Duggie Fields (1945-2021)

It is with much sadness that we report the death of Duggie Fields.  An iconic and exciting artist and, for a time, Syd’s flat mate.  Please find here the link to Duggie’s obituary, detailing his extraordinary life.  

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