Syd Barrett: A Very Irregular Head
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Chapman has unravelled the skeins of rumour, exaggeration and anecdote that have been wound so tightly around Barrett... Chapman is very good on the array of almost exclusively literary influences that made Barrett such a singular and definably English songwriter... A Very Irregular Head is a consistently illuminating, and often surprising, read... the best book yet about him. --Sean O'Hagan, Observer
Rob Chapman bravely hacks his way through the undergrowth of innuendo and speculation to give us the clearest insight yet into the rise and fall of one of rock s greatest enigmas. This being an authorised biography, Chapman was granted access to letters and archives, and has assiduously interviewed family and friends... Chapman s...critical analysis is generally inspired. His panorama of what he calls Barrett s found world, an unprecedented meeting of a whimsical English tradition and modernist techniques is impressively researched. --Mike Barnes, Wire Magazine
Rob Chapman s biography is by far the most diligent yet at disengaging reality from sensationalism. Barrett s early years, in particular, receive a forensic going over, with new insights from his sister Rosemary...and a fascinating evocation of the libertine environment of early-60s Cambridge...Detailed analysis of Barrett s literary and musical sources dominate the later narrative, exposing the singer s rich intellectual inner-life and gifts as a poet. --Pat Gilbert, Q Magazine
Rob Chapman bravely hacks his way through the undergrowth of innuendo and speculation to give us the clearest insight yet into the rise and fall of one of rock s greatest enigmas. This being an authorised biography, Chapman was granted access to letters and archives, and has assiduously interviewed family and friends... Chapman s...critical analysis is generally inspired. His panorama of what he calls Barrett s found world, an unprecedented meeting of a whimsical English tradition and modernist techniques is impressively researched. --Mike Barnes, Wire Magazine
Rob Chapman s biography is by far the most diligent yet at disengaging reality from sensationalism. Barrett s early years, in particular, receive a forensic going over, with new insights from his sister Rosemary...and a fascinating evocation of the libertine environment of early-60s Cambridge...Detailed analysis of Barrett s literary and musical sources dominate the later narrative, exposing the singer s rich intellectual inner-life and gifts as a poet. --Pat Gilbert, Q Magazine
Book Description
The first definitive biography of Syd Barrett - the original creative force behind legendary rock group Pink Floyd
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
19 of 20 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
A must read for Syd fans - the author Rob Chapman bravely tackles the mysteries of pop's greatest enigma in an enchanting fashion.
He charts Syd's idyllic childhood in Cambridge to the pinnacle of success in Pink Floyd and his downward spiral into obscurity. As Syd lived a 'half life' Chapman needs to fill in gaps wherever possible, and he does this skillfully, by exploring Syd's work against the background of 60's London.
Almost every single article about Syd in existence has been read and scrutinised. The author challenges many theories about Syd's influences - the common references to Edward Lear, Lewis Carrol and Kenneth Grahame are shook off as minimal, as its commonly held that Syd was more likely to take one small idea and go off on a tangent of his own.
Not always. Chapman discovers that Syd seems to have thieved the lyrics for 'Octopus' from Henry Newbolt's poem 'Rilloby Rill.' I never knew that and dont hold it against Syd because his twist was always a masterpiece. Chapman scrutinises every word and lyric, song by song, so its a real joy for the diehards.
The chapters names are lyrics of his songs, eg: 'Watching buttercups cup the light' such touches appear throughout the book.
The book title 'A very irregular head' is spot on and how Syd referred to himself in his last ever interview with Rolling Stone in 1971. Big feather in the authors cap to get Syd's first girlfriend Libby Gausden to open up her letters and quote them in the book!This is truly groundbreaking stuff and delightfully detailed. Tragic is the fact that she gave him Syd back his diaries and he burned them, which doesnt bear thinking about.
Chapman charts Syd's disintegration highly respectfully and much of the account seems to be accurate. Syd is said to have lost his mind in one weekend on June 2nd, '67: Dave Gilmour has always been the strongest source on this.
Some of the same faces are interviewed, including Syd's sister Rosemary, who also cooperated on the other extremely short biography by Tim Willis.
On a more critical note, there is not a lot of new information, but Syd was notoriously secretive. So with this in mind, the book exhausts what it can. There is much about the swinging 60's which fills in some gaps and appeals to all music fans
Although the book does examine the possibilities that Syd had schizophrenia.... its pretty well established that Syd was a sound synesthete (hears colours) and that fed directly into his music. Chapman has only mentioned this in one sentence.Considering the extensive way Chapman dedicated pages to so many other issues, this surely deserved more attention.
However, these are pithy criticisms. Syd fans will gobble up anything they can find on him. This book goes beyond the pale of enquiry. A must-have for music fans.
He charts Syd's idyllic childhood in Cambridge to the pinnacle of success in Pink Floyd and his downward spiral into obscurity. As Syd lived a 'half life' Chapman needs to fill in gaps wherever possible, and he does this skillfully, by exploring Syd's work against the background of 60's London.
Almost every single article about Syd in existence has been read and scrutinised. The author challenges many theories about Syd's influences - the common references to Edward Lear, Lewis Carrol and Kenneth Grahame are shook off as minimal, as its commonly held that Syd was more likely to take one small idea and go off on a tangent of his own.
Not always. Chapman discovers that Syd seems to have thieved the lyrics for 'Octopus' from Henry Newbolt's poem 'Rilloby Rill.' I never knew that and dont hold it against Syd because his twist was always a masterpiece. Chapman scrutinises every word and lyric, song by song, so its a real joy for the diehards.
The chapters names are lyrics of his songs, eg: 'Watching buttercups cup the light' such touches appear throughout the book.
The book title 'A very irregular head' is spot on and how Syd referred to himself in his last ever interview with Rolling Stone in 1971. Big feather in the authors cap to get Syd's first girlfriend Libby Gausden to open up her letters and quote them in the book!This is truly groundbreaking stuff and delightfully detailed. Tragic is the fact that she gave him Syd back his diaries and he burned them, which doesnt bear thinking about.
Chapman charts Syd's disintegration highly respectfully and much of the account seems to be accurate. Syd is said to have lost his mind in one weekend on June 2nd, '67: Dave Gilmour has always been the strongest source on this.
Some of the same faces are interviewed, including Syd's sister Rosemary, who also cooperated on the other extremely short biography by Tim Willis.
On a more critical note, there is not a lot of new information, but Syd was notoriously secretive. So with this in mind, the book exhausts what it can. There is much about the swinging 60's which fills in some gaps and appeals to all music fans
Although the book does examine the possibilities that Syd had schizophrenia.... its pretty well established that Syd was a sound synesthete (hears colours) and that fed directly into his music. Chapman has only mentioned this in one sentence.Considering the extensive way Chapman dedicated pages to so many other issues, this surely deserved more attention.
However, these are pithy criticisms. Syd fans will gobble up anything they can find on him. This book goes beyond the pale of enquiry. A must-have for music fans.
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
If there were anyone qualified to write a biography on Syd Barrett, then a former writer for the Syd fanzine has to fit the bill. Of the five Syd books I have this is by far the most authoritative and insightful, but not necessarily the best read. If you're only going to buy one, though, this would be it. What's wonderful about it is that he traces many of Syd's songwriting influences and where he stole his lyrics from. What's bad about it is that he seems keen to put down some of his fellow biographers and almost pointedly ignore aspects they featured - Tim Willis's book on Syd features photos and stories from his trip to Butlin's Skegness camp with his first girlfriend, Libby. There's no mention of this. He hardly mentions 'Iggy', Syd's "eskimo chains", the naked girl on the Madcap album cover that used to share a flat with him. Girlfriends after Libby get tangential mentions, as though they are peripheral to the core of the book, which is tracing where the musical and literary styles emerged from.
So, you have to accept that this is a brilliant, but very right-on treatment of Syd, keen to dispel myths about him and undermine accepted Syd stories. For instance just because no-one can agree the date of the 'melting brylcreem face' story it doesn't mean to say it didn't happen.
What this, like all the Syd bios fails to answer is: if he was getting hundreds of thousands of pounds from royalties every year - and millions after Echoes came out in 2001 - why didn't his family move him from his house, where Chapman maintains Syd was subject to regular unwanted intrusions, to a more private location? Who had financial control of his affairs? Is that such a difficult question?
The book is great on the literary hooks, but 'Crazy Diamond' and 'Madcap' are still worth reading to get a sense of the timescale of his career. There is so much reference backward and forward with 'Irregular Head' that at times it's difficult to work out where you are in the story. And where Chapman goes into detailed, long-winded psycho-analysis of Syd's predicament, one of the other bios simply quotes Pete Townshend as saying he thought "Syd was a bit of a mummy's boy".
The only Syd story I can contribute is that before I discovered Syd's music I was working on a farm in Trumpington,on the outskirts of Cambridge and one of the local lads who also worked on the farm, a real jack-the-lad who seemed to be able to wangle free punts from two or three colleges was always trying to get us to go to a pub to get a glimpse of Syd, "because he's always in there drinking". This was quite a few years after he'd left Floyd. I wasn't interested and we didn't go. But this was the summer of 1979. The book says he returned to Cambridge in 1982 - that's how difficult Syd stories are to pin down even for the most dilligent of biographers.
So, you have to accept that this is a brilliant, but very right-on treatment of Syd, keen to dispel myths about him and undermine accepted Syd stories. For instance just because no-one can agree the date of the 'melting brylcreem face' story it doesn't mean to say it didn't happen.
What this, like all the Syd bios fails to answer is: if he was getting hundreds of thousands of pounds from royalties every year - and millions after Echoes came out in 2001 - why didn't his family move him from his house, where Chapman maintains Syd was subject to regular unwanted intrusions, to a more private location? Who had financial control of his affairs? Is that such a difficult question?
The book is great on the literary hooks, but 'Crazy Diamond' and 'Madcap' are still worth reading to get a sense of the timescale of his career. There is so much reference backward and forward with 'Irregular Head' that at times it's difficult to work out where you are in the story. And where Chapman goes into detailed, long-winded psycho-analysis of Syd's predicament, one of the other bios simply quotes Pete Townshend as saying he thought "Syd was a bit of a mummy's boy".
The only Syd story I can contribute is that before I discovered Syd's music I was working on a farm in Trumpington,on the outskirts of Cambridge and one of the local lads who also worked on the farm, a real jack-the-lad who seemed to be able to wangle free punts from two or three colleges was always trying to get us to go to a pub to get a glimpse of Syd, "because he's always in there drinking". This was quite a few years after he'd left Floyd. I wasn't interested and we didn't go. But this was the summer of 1979. The book says he returned to Cambridge in 1982 - that's how difficult Syd stories are to pin down even for the most dilligent of biographers.
8 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is the fourth Syd biography I have read having been a devotee since my teens and in some ways this is the best book written about him. The main flaw is also the main advantage of the book - by avoiding extensive input from the other band members, it allows the author to veer off into relatively fresh territory regarding the literary influences on Syd work - the unravelling of "Octopus" being particularly impressive research. The section exploding myths is also a highly interesting piece of work though those of us who have been Sydologists for yonks always thought of them as apocrhypal at best. The weaknesses of the book are in the analysis of the music itself and this is amplified by the absemce of commentary from the other musical players in the scenario - especially when considering the recording sessions of 1967, none of the books have given us a proper flavour of what the sessions were like and what the players themselves felt about the strengths and direction of the music. The absence is also noticeable in the analysis of later recording sessions. This is again a lost opportunity as even Nick Mason failed to go into any real detail in his own book and so we are still left with no real feel for how Piper and the later BBC sessions were conducted. To balance this there is plenty of analysis of the lyrics and I suppose that is always the flaw in a journalist rather than a miusician wiritng books about music, the musical analysis rarely rises above generalised assessments of technique. Shame. However, this is not a fatal blow to the book which overall is a good read and given the rabid intensity of Syd fans will no doubt be gratefully received. Somewhat reassuringly Syd and his music remains largely an enigma and this book leaves many questions unanswered which is hardly a bad thing as Syd himself said, "I'm not what you think I am anyway". Worthy but not definitive, give it a read. Three.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Lost Youth Volume 2 ( R.I.P Syd Barrett
LOST YOUTH VOLUME 2 LONDON was written while listening to the early creative music from the Cambridge legend that was Syd Barrett. Read more
Published 3 days ago by Geoff McDonald
Captivating...
...compelling, but just like previous books it simply cannot answer the question that we want to ask and that we hold deep inside us...
Published 4 months ago by Hud
The Book Barrett Deserves
This is by far the best biography of Syd Barrett to date: it tells the tale concisely and clearly, and the quality of the writing is as far ahead of its rivals as Syd was ahead of... Read more
Published 6 months ago by Runmentionable
A Fairly Irregular Read
A weird one this. On the plus side the book is very well-researched and quotes new sources for some of the explantions it gives, even although it suffers from having the interview... Read more
Published 7 months ago by MikeDickson
A fine piece of work...but was Syd that good?
I echo most of the previous comments. The main plus-points of the book are simply that it is well-written with a real poetic touch at times, it is aware of the Syd myths so is able... Read more
Published 8 months ago by Mr. A. S. Rotunno
Chapman has written an excellent book, which entirely avoids the...
Chapman has written an excellent book, which entirely avoids the `mythical approach' to Syd, so common in rock journalism, relying instead on a scholarly approach, fusing... Read more
Published 10 months ago by Red Eyes
It just is......
A wordy nerdy book that, in spite of and equally due to its nature, is in part an informative read. Being aware of Barret since before the release of PATGOD - my brother went to... Read more
Published 11 months ago by Jefroc
long gone
this is an excellent book on the legend/myth that is syd barrett. anybody hoping to find out anything about barrett's last years will be dissapointed,but anybody trying out... Read more
Published 13 months ago by dominoes
Excellent Syd bio, but...
This is far and away the best bio I've read about Syd/Roger... but there are two major problems that dilute, but don't entirely spoil, the enjoyment. Read more
Published 14 months ago by Andrew G. Doe
Lies & poor research
This book is full of lies, i lived next to syd for over 25 years so i knew how he ended up better than even his family members. Read more
Published 18 months ago by dave s
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