Pink Floyd Member Struggled To Sing In Studio

Billy Corgan from The Smashing Pumpkins recently outlined how Pink Floyd went through a “nightmare” while attempting to work with Syd Barrett, who was mentally deteriorating. He also shared insights from David Gilmour regarding that challenging process.

Pink Floyd fans are familiar with the tragic story of Syd Barrett, the band’s first frontman and primary songwriter. Barrett was a talented painter and musician. However, his experimentation with psychedelic drugs led to erratic behavior and a swift decline in his mental health. As a result, he became unrecognizable to his bandmates, friends, and family.

Despite his downward spiral, Pink Floyd members continued to try to collaborate with him for some time. They eventually realized that it was a fruitless endeavor and that Barrett’s presence was ultimately detrimental to the band’s future. Following his departure, Barrett went on to record two solo albums, with assistance from his former bandmates.

Billy Corgan reveals what David Gilmour told him

In a conversation with John 5 on The Magnificent Others with Billy Corgan, frontman Billy Corgan of The Smashing Pumpkins recalled the stories David Gilmour told him about how the members of Pink Floyd did their best to help Syd Barrett make his records. He said:

“When Syd Barrett, sadly, was going insane and had left Pink Floyd, Gilmour, who had been his friend, and the other guys in Floyd were still supportive, and he was technically signed to Harvest, which was their label. They made those Syd Barrett records. I don’t know if you ever heard them.”

“Well, the only way they could record was, Syd would go in and record live with all those weird stops and starts and timings, and then they’d have to figure out how to go back in and build a band around the tracks. And David Gilmour told me it was a nightmare, because it’s like, how do you follow that weird timing?”

John 5 then noted that it must have been an impossible task. Corgan agreed and noted that Pink Floyd’s love for Barrett kept them motivated and determined enough to keep recording:

“It was this labor of love where they so badly wanted to support him. It was one of those things, like, how do you overdub drums on an acoustic? I mean, play live with singing? I bet they did anything they could think of. If you go back and listen to those records, they’re really beautiful. Those were all posthumously added music.”

“I think in some cases they played live with him, but I think – I can’t remember if it’s stuff that David Gilmour told me privately, or stuff I’ve seen in interviews – but basically, it got to the point where he couldn’t play the same thing twice.”

“So even if they rehearsed a take, like, ‘Okay, you play the drums. I got the bass,’ he would play it differently the next time. So the only way they could track it was to let him do whatever number of takes, edit those together, and then try to add instrumentation to it, as he kind of slid into total madness.”