Various Artists – Love You – A Tribute to Syd Barrett: Album Review
Even
if Syd Barrett was still with us, although spiritually he is, he would
have approved of this musical celebration of his under-appreciated
music. Coinciding with his 75th birthday and commemorating 50 years
since they were first recorded.
Release date: 6th January, 2021.
Label: Gonzo Multimedia
Format: 2 CD
When
artists are approached by their labels to re-release,
re-master or re-record work completed 50 years ago sometimes accompanied
by a tour, many of them have moved on and have developed their music to
be quite unlike their original style of playing. With the Syd
Barrett album anniversary coinciding with what would have been his 75th
birthday, focussing on his solo albums, The Madcap Laughs and Barrett, a
mish-mash of broadly unknown European artists have offered their
versions in this two album tribute to work which in many ways has to be
said was distinctly ahead of its time.
In
1971, I was an avid Floyd fan but Syd’s sad demise seemed to me
magnified by the two albums and I couldn’t get my head around them. Yet
on hearing them now with more experienced ears, I can appreciate his
originality. Most of his post Floyd solo work is performed by loving
contemporary followers. It is highly listenable and doesn’t seem dated
in the least.
Having said that and I
know we’re positive thinking writers At The Barrier, I have to conclude
the results are variable. The insipid version of Astronomy Domine,
meant to signify the end of his period with Pink Floyd is, in my
opinion, pretty awful and doesn’t do the rest of the tributes or the
original or Syd justice. Sorry, Boris and friends ( haven’t said that
much recently!!) but honesty must prevail on this occasion as the
majority of the tracks have clearly been sensitively and affectionately
reproduced, especially when Nick Mason’s Saucerful Of Secrets versions
of early Floyd and Syd’s songs blasts this one out of the water.
Of
course, tributes to Syd are not uncommon. Red Hot Chilli Peppers also
performed a quick burst of Astronomy Domine in 2006 on their British
tour shortly after Syd died and Dave Gilmour, who replaced Syd in Pink
Floyd and worked in close association with Syd on his solo career, has
performed Terrapin in his live sets.
So
with Terrapin I will start. Gilmour kept faith with the acoustic
original version whereas Andrea Achill’s splendid version adds swirling
keyboards, electronic effects and some echoing backing vocals. Another
worthy cover is the tribute title track Love You which keeps the
original upbeat rhythm but replaces the honky-tonk piano with more
electronic swooshes and like many of the vocalists on the album,
Eugene’s singing actually sounds like Syd too.
There
are some examples where the tribute version excels the original. An
example of this is Henrietta And The Fives’ version of If It’s In You in
which the vocal skills of Henrietta vastly improve Syd’s strained
efforts and the addition of sitar instrumental is an inspirational
idea.
The 2nd CD opens with an
intriguing version of Baby Lemonade by ST37 who brilliantly replicate
the more manic Floyd sound we all came to love on their earlier material
– the screaming, screeching and experimental guitars which in their
early days left one mystified muso to ponder ’Why does it have to be so
loud?’
Another Gilmour covered live
version is Dominoes. His skiffle style rhythm and Syd’s original are in
complete contrast to Sula Basana’s psychedelic version with echoing,
shimmering vocals and an organ drone. Very brave of him to utterly
revamp this song but this ‘trippy’ version works. Phosphene’s cover of
Rats is another example of a completely reconstructed version, this is
definitely more Syd with Floyd style than Syd without Floyd.
On
occasion, the cover artists trim down the original. The drumbeat is
much lighter on Waving My Arms In The Air/ I Never Lied To You although
the guitar is much steelier apart from the rather strained vocals on the
second part. However, the result from Luca Riao is very listenable.
The
second disc concludes with Vegetable Man, another of Syd’s songs
resurrected by Nick Mason and is included on this album again to pay
tribute to his work with Floyd. Nick Bensen’s highly creditable version
brings the whole tribute to a happy conclusion.
As
well as covers from the original two albums there are plenty of bonus
tracks some of which you may find you moving onto the next track pretty
swiftly but there are some very worthy efforts. Standouts are Joss
Cope’s Bob Dylan Blues, Quarto Stat Della Materia’s Word Song and in
particular, Let’s Split by Michele Gentle.
You
will make up your own mind on who covers your favourite Syd songs the
best but if you want really weird then Swan Lee by Hibutshire and Birdie
Hop by Trespasser W are definitely for you.
Many
of the artists may be totally unfamiliar but there may be some familiar
names amongst them like Dave Harris, former lead singer of Fashion,
who has worked with Richard Wright. There is also a contribution from
John Cavanagh, author of the book The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn about
the making of the first Pink Floyd album, plus Men On The Border – a
Swedish band devoted to Syd’s repertoire. In 2016 they took part in Syd
Barrett – A Celebration Concert at the Corn Exchange in Cambridge.
Artistically there are Syd connections, in particular from Ian Barrett,
Syd’s nephew.
So basically, if you are
looking to hear Syd’s song as they were written you’ll be disappointed
as Gonzo’s aim with the project being: “to collect, for the first
time, all the songs Syd Barrett recorded after his experience with Pink
Floyd. To realise it we invited many artists from various parts of the
world and asked them to choose one song and rearrange it in their own
way.”
