Rhino Factoids: Syd Barrett leaves Pink Floyd

48 years ago today, Pink Floyd formally announced that Syd Barrett had left the ranks of the band, cementing a decision that had effectively been made at the end of January.

Although it was his unique brilliance and musical genius which helped Pink Floyd stand out from the crowd and become one of the most memorable psychedelic bands to come out of the UK in the 1960s, Syd Barrett’s behavior had been growing increasingly eccentric as the band found further success, reaching a point where his bandmates had grown so frustrated with him that it was virtually impossible to play concerts with him.

When Pink Floyd had been scheduled to record a session for the BBC’s Saturday Club in July 1967, Syd walked out with no warning, causing the band’s manager, Peter Jenner, to cite “nervous collapse” as the explanation for his departure. He did perform the following day at the International Love-In in London, but he was, per author Rob Chapman, “apparently tripping his brains out (and) barely capable of performing.” In November, when Pink Floyd went to America for tour dates and promotional appearances, let’s just say that it went…poorly. And when the band got back to the UK, things only got worse. The only thing that helped in any capacity was the decision to bring on David Gilmour to help out on guitar, since Syd was growing increasingly inconsistent and needed to be backed or, even worse, completely replaced.

What happened on January 26, 1968 is the stuff of rock legend, but according to Gilmour, it’s true: as Pink Floyd headed to perform a concert at Southampton University, someone said, “Shall we pick Syd up?” and someone else said, “Let’s not bother.”

Mind you, no one actually told Syd that they weren’t picking him up, nor did they tell him that he was effectively out of the band altogether, which got a little weird for Rick Wright, who was rooming with Syd at the time. There were brief discussions of having Syd serve as the Brian Wilson of Pink Floyd, writing songs at home while the band played concerts without him, but on April 6, 1968, it was formally announced that Syd Barrett was no longer a member of Pink Floyd.

Obviously, Pink Floyd went on to be far more successful in the wake of leaving Barrett behind, but for better or worse, they haven’t been the same band since. That’s not a dismissal, that’s simply a fact: there’s never been anyone else like Syd Barrett.