Our friends over at The Pink Floyd Research Group have dropped two new films in the last week and a half. The first being a lent scanned copy of Pink Floyd live at the LA Sports Arena on April 27th, 1975 and the second being newly obtained footage just this year of Pink Floyd’s famous Montreal show in QC on July 6th, 1977 (the famous spitting incident) do check them out as they are worthy of repeat viewings!  If you have any archival material you’d like to have color timed and synced up do send them an email as its a labor of love for them and they share these films for free to fans all over the world.

Contact them at pinkfloydresearch@gmail.com

Major thanks to John Waters!!!

The Pink Floyd Research Group are proud to unveil a BRAND NEW Super 8mm film of Pink Floyd performing in Los Angeles, April 27th, 1975. If this date sounds familiar to you, it’s because we already have a film from this date; making this another source 2 for Pink Floyd!

This film is one of many duplicate concert film prints that were distributed through Creem & Hit Parader magazines back in the 1970s. You would see an advertisement, and you could order a copy. Unfortunately the whereabouts of the original master reels are lost.

This particular duplicate reel is owned by film archivist John Waters, who was gracious enough to lend me a scanned copy. I asked if I could share it online for everybody, and he said go for it! Endless thanks to him! – TPFRG 

Filmed by Daniel Graham Here is the infamous second film source of Montréal 1977 that appeared online a few months ago, synced up to a multi-recording matrix done by Davide Capolongo, as well as a colour correction. This is the legendary concert where Waters was so fed up with the rowdy American crowds that he ended up spitting in the face of a fan who was climbing up the front of the stage.

Waters claims in interviews that this moment was during a “quiet bit”. Chris Cockram — a roadie for the 1977 tour, working around the stage — claims that the spit did indeed happen during ‘Money’, and that the famous Wray Ellis account — who was not even near the stage after Animals — is simply untrue. The shot of Waters whistling at 4:13 clearly shows him facing upward. Judging by his upward stance and very pig-based dialog (a la, 1980-81), it is more than safe to assume — if not confirm — that the spit did NOT happen during Pigs, and that he was simply yelling at the inflatable. The clip of Waters at 14:08 during ‘Money’ shows him yelling angrily at somebody in the crowd, and giving them the middle finger. At 14:16, during the “quiet bit” to ‘Money’, Waters is seen lunging forward, in a spitting motion. This is very likely to be the historical moment captured on film. This will teach you; don’t believe everything you see on the internet, unless there is footage of it. – TPFRG 

Famous author Rob Chapman who wrote the perfect (and most informative) Syd Barrett autobiography A Very Irregular Head: The Life of Syd Barrett pens a new book titled Unsung: Unsaid: Syd and Nick in Absentia. It tells a partially fictional tale of what if Syd Barrett and Nick Drake had a series of encounters in the mid seventies? It also delves into each mens life and their troubled psyches. It will no doubt be an interesting read! Read the official synopsis below and find the link to pre-order, available January 1st, 2024.

In the summer of 1974 Nick Drake and Syd Barrett made their final ill-fated ventures into a recording studio. There has never been any evidence that they ever met or that their paths crossed in any meaningful way. Until now.

In a parallel fictional universe it turns out that they did indeed have a series of encounters that year, firstly in the café snack bar in Kensington Market and subsequently in other central London locations. These meetings, tentative and fragmentary, yet full of shared understanding reveal much about the inner life of each man during that troubled late stage of their respective careers.

In Unsung : Unsaid we also learn about other previously undocumented aspects of their young lives. There’s Nick’s showcase Festival Hall concert in the summer of 1971 and Syd’s short-lived band with Steve Took, during 1972. A portfolio of Syd’s unrecorded songs which turned up at his music publishers in 1974 will reveal to the reader for the very first time an abundance of previously unseen lyrics. Similarly, a bootlegged copy of Nick’s unreleased fourth LP is faithfully and lovingly detailed by two of his most ardent admirers. You can read about the long-lost solo album that Syd was going to record in 1967 before the demo went missing, and about Nick’s aborted plan to record an album of cover versions, complete with a full run down of the tracks he chose and his reasons for choosing them. A rare audio letter has been unearthed in which Nick muses on his musical apprenticeship and his misgivings about the record industry. In another equally candid letter, written but never sent to Francoise Hardy he talks about his love of Paris, about Albert Camus and other philosophical matters.

We explore the intricacies of both men’s dreams and what they say about their troubled psyches. We learn in more animated detail than ever before about the realities (and acid induced unrealities) of Syd’s formative years in Cambridge and his coming of age in Swinging London. The Happenings. The art school apprenticeship. The light shows. The I Ching and the search for spiritual enlightenment. Syd’s residency at the Chelsea Cloisters hotel and his increasingly wayward daily derives around London. It’s all here.

Unsung : Unsaid gives momentum to stasis, substance to enigma and helps us understand more about what drove and derailed each man’s creativity. It is a philosophical meditation on absence, existential crisis and loss. But underpinning it all is those three (or is it four? Or more?) encounters in 1974. “This bedraggled Estragon and haunted Vladimir, so alike in their vacancy” captured shortly before they both drift into myths and fables. In a way it always has been about myths and fables but you’ll learn as much here about the actual Syd Barrett and Nick Drake as you will from any biographical account.

Here’s to more plausible myths and fables.

You can order now: USA | UK

We at AFG would like to wish legendary Pink Floyd recording engineer and producer James Guthrie a very happy birthday! Have a great birthday, James! We hope you enjoy your day.

Our friends over at Fingal’s Cave have released yet another amazing episode this time featuring Rosemary Breen, the sister of Syd Barrett. This episode is a really special one and we highly recommend you check it out.

Syd Barrett: “An amazingly attractive, energetic, sparkly boy goes the wrong way in life and is lost”

Rosemary Breen knew her brother Syd Barrett better than anyone. They were inseparable as children, and in later years, Rosemary cared for Syd between the early 1980s and his untimely death in 2006. A “bright cookie” and kind, Syd had an unusual brain, and Rosemary became the single individual he could cope with.

Rosemary spoke to Ian Priston on 16 September 2023 to get things on record and encourage youngsters who look up to Syd to carefully think about why and how things happened to him.

Rosemary eloquently sums up how Syd wanted to play with the other members of Pink Floyd and with sound. He neither sought celebrity nor understood it. When being in the band ceased to be fun, Syd left. Syd Barrett expressed his true self through his art. After he returned to Cambridge, Syd produced some memorable artworks when he was in a good frame of mind. He had many ideas and would paint enormous canvases, and there was often one in progress when Rosemary visited.

The two used to go on days out. On one occasion, Rosemary and Syd were in central Cambridge, and Syd stopped and feared crossing a road because he felt compelled to get a painting out of his head and onto a canvas. For Syd, art was about much more than simply being creative; according to Rosemary, the process fulfilled a need and was vital.

The interview covers some serious topics, but there is also humour. For example, Rosemary explains how Syd was “Mr. DIY”. Talking about Syd Barrett’s lyrics, Rosemary says, “They make me giggle. He was a clown and was joking. Life was a joke. If anybody took him seriously, he just would giggle away.”