In a recent interview with ABC Radio Melbourne, Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason discussed the band’s early years. He was a part of the band’s first actual leader, who influenced the works that came after. Mason stated “Well, I believe there were several stages. The Syd Barrett era lasted for the first year or so. Syd’s songs were involved, and he was unquestionably the band leader, but things soon started to alter. Roger Waters and David Gilmour were present when Syd arrived, and Roger quickly began writing. Nick emphasized that despite Syd leaving the band, he had set the stage for their greatest hits to follow. Added him: “I mean, I believe that perhaps one of the fascinating things about the older music is how it connects to the latter because of all the inspiration for ‘Wish You Were Here’ and ‘The Dark Side of the Moon’ and other songs.
The early work contained so many of them. Have You Got It Yet?, a new documentary, was released recently. The first frontman of Pink Floyd’s history is detailed in the book The Story of Syd Barrett and Pink Floyd, which was published. Nick stated the following about Syd: “You know, you couldn’t overemphasize his importance, because he was, he was that, the creative genius.” In a separate interview for the documentary, David discussed how he would have handled Syd’s struggles with psychedelic drugs differently. The performer said: We probably made the best possible effort… But I do have a few regrets. I never visited him… I regret not going up to his house to knock on the door, though. I believe that Syd and I may have benefited by one or two people dropping by his place for a cup of tea.
