The life and times of Roger “Syd” Barrett one of the founders of Pink Floyd.
If you are like me the odds are the most you ever heard about Syd Barrett was that he was the driving force behind Pink Floyd until he seemed to have a break with reality and was asked to leave the group. It was a mythic tale that haunted the albums that followed the break up people pondered what would have happened if he stayed. Interestingly all the people I knew pondering this never listened to Barrett’s solo albums and based the discussion on the Floyd albums. (Though Tom Stoppard was a fan and he wrote Barrett into his play Rock And Roll about the revolution in Hungary)
This is a wonderful film. Seemingly talking to everyone still alive who knew Barrett, including Dave Gilmour and Roger Waters, this is as complete a portrait of a musician as I have seen. It corrects the record and potentially puts an end to the wild speculations that always surrounded Barrett. Barrett ended up not being what I thought.
This film does what good documentaries really should do, which is reveal things you thought you knew to be something else. Watching HAVE YOU GOT IT YET? My perspective changed, not just of Barrett but of Pink Floyd and rock history. Things were not quite what I had been told. I love that feeling.
If you are a fan of Pink Floyd or rock music then you need to see this film.
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