Artist: Syd Barrett
Title: "The Madcap Laughs" and "Barrett"
Format: Double LP
Label: Harvest
Catalogue Number: SHDW404
Year of Release: 1974
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Part Two - Barrett
Tracklisting
C1 Baby Lemonade (4:06)
C2 Love Song (3:00)
C3 Dominoes (4:04)
C4 It Is Obvious (2:54)
C5 Rats (2:56)
C6 Maisie (2:46)
D1 Gigolo Aunt (5:38)
D2 Waving My Arms In The Air / I Never Lied To You (3:54)
D3 Wined And Dined (2:53)
D4 Wolfpack (3:41)
D5 Effervescing Elephant (1:50)
Generally considered to be a second-class offering in comparison to The Madcap Laughs, nevertheless this album contains some real treasures, albeit quiet well hidden under the overdubs and over-production of Dave Gilmour and Rick Wright.
The vast majority of tracks that appear on this album feel very same-y. With the exception of the closing tracks on each side, they've all had drums, bass, organ and/or piano added afterwards. It might be argued that this gives the album a feeling of consistency, but what made the previous album more remarkable was it's deliberate lack of this, and the feeling that it all might fall apart at any moment, Syd might not even make it all the way through his own record.
I'd excuse the producers from some of the blame, because the session for this album were no less difficult than the former, and followed swiftly after its completion. But I think they had a production line mentality now, that meant they took whatever Syd had to offer in the recording sessions (which, sometimes wasn't much in the way of fully formed songs) and then turn it into a releasable product.
Anyway, back to the songs, and the lyrics in particular. Once again it's the music of words and quality of songwriting that make the album. There's a beautiful solo piece of guitar that opens the album, then the song proper starts with:
In the sad town
cold iron hands clap
the party of clowns outside
rain falls in gray far away
please, please, Baby Lemonade
Each track on this side, with the exception of Maisie, has the overdubs mentioned before, and a long instrumental outro. Baby Lemonade and Love Song are both fine songs, although the drunken-piano on Love Song threatens to ruin it, but it's with Dominoes that the album really kicks in. This slow, quiet song recalls time spent with a loved one, not doing much, but very much enjoying it:
It's an idea, someday
in my tears, my dreams
don't you want to see her proof?
Life that comes of no harm
you and I, you and I and dominoes, the day goes by...
The backwards guitar part on the outro adds nicely to the wistful nature of the song, although starts to feel overlong (but it's nothing compared to the full two-minute instrumental ending of Gigolo Aunt).
It Is Obvious and Rats both showcase some of the stream-of-consciousness writing style that Syd has, a style possibly not unrelated to the manner in which the song were 'created' in the studio. These two in particular though have the feel more of poems than songs:
It is obvious
may I say, oh baby, that it is found on another plane?
Yes I can creep into cupboards, sleep in the hall
your stars - my stars, a simple cock bar
only an impulse - pie in the sky
mumble listen dolly
drift over your mind - holly
creep into bed when your head's on the ground
she held the torch on the porch,
she winked an eye
And with Rats:
Duck, the way to least is less
Deep craving of the metal west
'ell tomorrow's rain and test
'ell tomorrow's rain and test
Love an empty son and guess
Love an empty son and guess
dimples dangerous and blessed
There is the first bit of knowing scheduling here, with the Syd reaching for the high-notes in Rats contrasting nicely with Maisie. Also, in the section before the Rats chorus, a verse very reminiscent of Wordsong from the also-recommended outtakes collection Opel. In fact, if you get any of these albums on CD, you'll get a bunch of outtakes at the end which, if nothing else, serve to highlight the inventiveness of the man - he hardly plays a song the same way twice!
Maisie I find an odd number. A kind of slow blues, sung in an uncharacteristically deep voice, with simple backing from drums and bass only. At least it's a change in style from all before it.
The second side of the album follows much the same pattern. Gigolo Aunt is a pure pop song, although Syd's vocals don't quite sit right over the backing. The instrumental ending, as mentioned, is pretty long, but you do get some great guitar work, presumably from Syd, and it reminds you that this is the same man that gave the world Interstellar Overdrive.
Other highlights from this side are the advice given in Waving My Arms in the Air ("You shouldn't try to be what you can't be", which is fair enough), and the way that song segues into I Never Lied to You. Wolfpack, like Rats, only with a greater depth of feeling, has some of the most poetic, but unusually juxtaposed, images:
all the animals laying trail
beyond the bough winds
mild the reflecting electricity eyes...
tears, the life that was ours
grows sharper and stronger away and beyond
short wheeling - fresh spring
gripped with blanched bones - moaned
magnesium, proverbs and sobs...
howling the pack in formation appears
diamonds and clubs, light misted fog, the dead
waving us back in formation,
the pack in formation...
A great song, followed, fittingly to close the album, by one of the first songs Syd ever wrote, when he was 16 or so. Effervescing Elephant also differs from the mass-produced feel of the other tracks on the album, being only acoustic guitar, tuba and jungle noises. I won't spoil the ending, but it's a neat little story, and the perfect closer to a great collection of songs.
