Syd Barrett – Opel

Syd Barrett was an English singer, songwriter, and musician who co-founded the rock band Pink Floyd in 1965. Barrett named the group and was their original frontman and primary songwriter, becoming known for his English-accented singing, literary influences, and whimsical take on psychedelia. As a guitarist, he was influential for his free-form playing and for employing dissonance, distortion, echo, feedback, and other studio effects. He was also a key figure in the development of London’s underground music scene during the late 1960s and –despite his rather brief period of activity– a continuing influence on popular (and unpopular) music onward into the 21st century. In 1972, Barrett left the music industry, retired from public life and strictly guarded his privacy until his death. Pink Floyd recorded several tributes and homages to him, including the 1975 song suite Shine On You Crazy Diamond and the 1979 rock opera The Wall. Opel is a compilation of unreleased material and alternate takes of recordings from sessions for Barrett’s solo albums, The Madcap Laughs and Barrett. It consists of eight previously unreleased songs and alternate versions of six already released songs, many of them produced by David Gilmour, Roger Waters, and all of them approved by Syd Barrett before their release.

Label: Harvest
Cat. # 0825646310777