I'm such a sucker for the Madcap Laughs photographs. While sticking the Beatles or Bob Dylan on the front of Mojo puts me off buying it the allure of Syd is undiminished. Even though I've seen all the photos and read all the stories before. That's not quite true actually, I didn't know that nobody knows what became of Iggy, the girl posing in the background. I don't think we ever will. And I like that. The way he looks in these photos is how I think Jerry Cornelius should look.I got two shocks while going through images for the post, one was seeing a photo of Syd without eyebrows taken when he turned up at Abbey Road while Pink Floyd were recording "Shine On You Crazy Diamond". The other was one of those photos of him as a middle aged bloke walking back from the shops in Cambridge. You could make out the newspaper he was carrying. It was the Daily Mail.
I really should read a Syd biog' - but not sure if there's a decent/definitive one. Have you heard Marc Almond's cover of Terrapin (it's on the first Mamba's album)
ReplyDeleteI’ve only read Lost in the Woods by Julian Palacios. I couldn’t say if it’s definitive but it’s where I learned most of my Syd lore (that and the chapter on him in Nick Kent’s Dark Stuff ). My only caveat would be that it gushes a bit.
ReplyDeleteYes, I have heard Marc Almond’s version of “Terrapins”. I found the album in a charity shop not so long back as it happens and was most curious, the inclusion of the Syd track sealed the deal. I wasn’t that blown away to be honest. But I still found it a very interesting choice of song – they strike me as such utterly different characters.
This was interesting. Such a couple they where. Poor woman she looked fit. I guess men would like to be in his shoses. Apart from he got no shoes. ha Hmm sorry. Some poeple did hurt in the time. It's with her as with the whole are. Disipered. When? No one knows. Why. Oh.
ReplyDeleteThe story is that there was nothing sexual going on between them - both too zonked out probably.
ReplyDeleteMondo - I've just given Marc Almond's version of "Late Night" on the Mojo cd a whirl - lyrically it's perfect for him but he turns in a bit of a soulless wander through it I'm afraid.
Picked this up today too!! A cracking read so far, and the CD is fab. To be honest I HAD to buy it, as the Marc Almond track was recorded exclusivly for this CD, but some of the other tracks are great too.
ReplyDeleteSyd was mad as a lorry, but a genius too. Don't play him enough tho... this post and todays Mojo have made me add him to my mp3 player this evening.
quality.
P
On first listen I'm not mad on the cd, which is unusual as it's been the most reliable feature over the last few months. I like most of the playing but it's the vocals that let them all down. When anybody but Syd does these songs they just come over as terribly fey. Apart from Hawkwind, who just make it sound like Hawkwind. Which isn't a bad thing.
ReplyDelete