Shine On, Syd

Syd Barrett died a couple of weeks ago. Piper at the Gates of Dawn is one of my favorite albums, and definitely my favorite Pink Floyd album.  While reading about this I came across the 33 1/3 series of books published by Continuum. 

From the publisher, via Amazon: “Thirty Three and a Third” is a new series of short books about critically acclaimed and much-loved albums of the last 40 years. The authors provide fresh, original perspectives – often through their access to and relationships with the key figures involved in the recording of these albums. By turns obsessive, passionate, creative, and informed, the books in this series demonstrate many different ways of writing about music. What binds the series together, and what brings it to life, is that all of the authors – musicians, broadcasters, scholars, and writers – are huge fans of the album they have chosen.

Here’s an excerpt from John Cavanagh’s book about Piper at the Gates of Dawn.  It looks like a cool book, but I wonder if reading such a thing would tarnish the dream that Piper creates.  David Bowie (who I adore) gave a statement about Barrett’s death. 

Shine on You crazy Diamond.