Oh yes, Skip Spence’s legendary solo album “Oar”. Another one of those early “underground” records (in fact, albums by musical prodigies who were caught too early in the claws of drugs and mental illness) that I’ve never got into. Maybe Barrett’s and Spence’s works were the first examples of the sub-genre of freak folk that got semi-popular in the nineties.
Well, “Oar” has 4.5 stars out of 5 on AllMusic, on both in house and user ratings. I’ll deffo have to give it a spin, or three.
Naah, Completely independent of Floyd, Barrett is one of those musicians who is influential in the indie scene beyond their mainstream popularity (see also: Alex Chilton or Jeff Buckley or the ur-example, the Velvet Underground). I first became aware of him through the Late Night cover by This Mortal Coil.
Oh, and I guess I should say that I don’t really like post-Barrett Pink Floyd much, so definitely not a die-hard fan there.
I also didn’t know about his solo career.
Back in the mid 70’s I bought a pirated 8 track of his early solo work at a flea market. I was hoping it would have sounded like the current Pink Floyd, not the pre David Gilmour Floyd. I was wrong. I still remember the label on that tape, pink letters on a black background, "Gitar Master Syd Barrett. The other 8 track I got for my $3 was Uriah Heep. I had never heard of them but became a big fan of their music because of that 8 track tape.