67 American Tour

[Mr Kite]

I've heard that incidents occurred during the '67 American Tour but other than the TV shows I never heard anything. Can anyone enlighten me as to what went on?
Thanks

[moom]

Can't remember where it happened in America, but definitely not in Las Vegas. The band was on the way somewhere, and Syd was so happy he put his head out a window and screamed "I love you, Las Vegas!", but they were not in Las Vegas.

Also, he met Alice Cooper, then still a struggling artist. Actually, Cooper met him. He says Syd was so high he could barely speak or even realize anything.

That's what I know

[Mr Kite]

Well, Vegas is kind of a state of mind anyway, eh?
They said that scene in the Wall in the pool was one of the episodes. Doesn't really matter. Just curious.

[my breakfast.]

I think it was cut short due to Syd's behaviour. I think the one-note guitar gig story comes from America. Or Syd getting up onstage with no strings on his guitar or whatever. I don't think Syd sold Pink Floyd to America anyway!

Then there is this debacle as well:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J1ddzp-PN0s

Syd clearly not doing so well there. Shame I cannot find the rest of the interview, but they get asked questions about American food I think.

[danielcaux]

Oh look! both blur and Nirvana lost their marbles too on live TV when they were totally unable to properly mime their songs!

There's also the gig when Syd detuned all his strings and played random notes with his guitar. So either he was nutty on there too, or maybe he was pioneering the whole american noise rock scene with 20 years of anticipation. According to Nick the audience seemed to love it

[Hudini]

Oh look! both blur and Nirvana lost their marbles too on live TV when they were totally unable to properly mime their songs!

Here's what Iron Maiden did once they were supposed to mime a song.

[moom]

They said that scene in the Wall in the pool was one of the episodes. Doesn't really matter. Just curious.

His staring eyes is confirmed to be an image of Syd.


On the side note... Oasis TOTP. Monobrow takes over the center-stage.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OKhOWbWkUkE

[Wolfpack]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J1ddzp-PN0s

Syd clearly not doing so well there.

The rest of Pink Floyd also looks tired and dull to me.
I guess Syd's mouth being shut during the scatting at the end, is on purpose. In a promo for 'Ticket to ride', a bored looking John Lennon intentionally mimes one "yeah" too late. (However, I don't know if Barrett ever saw that.)

BTW. About the other members being dull. Look at Nick Mason in the 'Jugband Blues'-promo. He looks as if he's gonna fall to sleep.

[tristah]

The part about him mistakenly saying Las Vegas instead of Los Angeles is true. But I've heard several versions, all of them involving Syd on Hollywood Boulevard "Gee, its great to be is Las Vegas." But it was a quiet announcement. Shows that he was tired and fucked up. Pink Floyd played with Janis Joplin and big brother etc. Apparently they borrowed the other bands lights too, as their own were the oil slide projection lights which, in a large venue like Winterland, are pretty insufficient.

"Glen Buxton: Syd Barrett I remember, (though) I don't remember him ever saying two words. It wasn't because he was a snob; he was a very strange person. He never talked, but we'd be sitting at dinner (at our house in Venice, LA) and all of a sudden I'd pick up the sugar and pass it to him, and he'd shake his head like 'Yeah, thanks,' It was like I heard him say 'Pass the sugar' - it's like telepathy; it really was. It was very weird. You would find yourself right in the middle of doing something, as you were passing the sugar or whatever, and you'd think, 'Well, damn! I didn't hear anybody say anything!' That was the first time in my life I'd ever met anybody that could actually do that freely. And this guy did it all the time."

I find this to be one of the best examples of Syd's status being totally exaggerated. I mean, come the fuck on. When would you be in a situation where passing sugar happens? Probably at a dinner table during coffee or tea. You use the sugar, and then you pass it! I have heard this story so many times and it is just one of the worst stories pertaining to Syd.

On that Pat Boone show after not answering questions for a while he was asked what he liked which he apparently responded to by saying, after a long pause, "America!" and everyone cheered.
And Dick Clark from American bandstand asked them if they enjoyed American food after he described how he felt about English food, calling it strange and weird. Roger Waters said they each had 'two cheeseburgers each, which sat quite nicely' Clark talked to Rick about their plans, which at that point included a New York City portion, and said hi and bye to Nick, nothing else, asked Syd about the album and such.
Syd did also apparently freeze up a lot and detune his guitar and play one string.

The whole thing is the most bizarre part of the Syd Barrett legend if you ask me. Clearly he was totally nervous at the prospect of a huge upgrade in status via British Invasion technique, I personally don't think he felt prepared... He wasn't. The thing with the lights mentioned above, forgetting the guitar, being totally tired and strung out, I also heard their passports got misplaced missing them the first few shows. Heard that one once. Either way, too soon, not enough skill yet, the band was too young. Its too bad, Syd's Floyd's reputation was destroyed but once the 'Syd, rockstar band' era ended the progressive Floyd could return. Too bad.

[Wolfpack]

[Glen Buxton and sugar passing] I find this to be one of the best examples of Syd's status being totally exaggerated. I mean, come the fuck on. When would you be in a situation where passing sugar happens? Probably at a dinner table during coffee or tea. You use the sugar, and then you pass it! I have heard this story so many times and it is just one of the worst stories pertaining to Syd.

I totally agree.

On that Pat Boone show after not answering questions for a while he was asked what he liked which he apparently responded to by saying, after a long pause, "America!" and everyone cheered.

I've once read that Pat Boone tried to get a statement against drugs. Something like: you don't use drugs, do you? To which Barrett replied with total silence.
I can't recall the source, though.
Does a recording still exist or has it been wiped?

At the American Bandstand, the entire Pink Floyd looks lame. Very tired, at least. Syd's lipsynching performance is as good/bad as that of the others. Syd only shuts his mouth during the scatting at the end, he looks straight into the camera, as if to emphasize it. Then Mason is briefly shown. And immediately after that, Syd is shown with a naughty look into the camera, which makes me think he is very conscious he made that lipsynch omission. I think the shut mouth during the scatting is intended as a joke by Syd. If it's a protest, it's a playful one.
This performance cannot be the one of which Syd is said to have shut his mouth whenever he knew the camera was rolling, while lipsynching during the rehearsals. (Described and imitated by Waters in a documentary.) That performance is lost or just hasn't surfaced yet.

And Dick Clark from American bandstand asked them if they enjoyed American food after he described how he felt about English food, calling it strange and weird. Roger Waters said they each had 'two cheeseburgers each, which sat quite nicely' Clark talked to Rick about their plans, which at that point included a New York City portion, and said hi and bye to Nick, nothing else, asked Syd about the album and such.

Has this interview surfaced in public?

[my breakfast.]

Its amazing that even with the American Bandstand clip there I posted some lies about Syd on that clip are told.

When I first heard about that clip it was describes as basically 'Syd's massive onscreen meltdown. Syd stops miming the words half way through and the rest of the band share awkward glances the entire time'.

If nothing else I can tell this:

1) Syd did not sign all the parts on that song, so he didn't need to mime all the parts such as the high falsetto parts.

2) Nick actually grins at one point.

3) Pink Floyd had to do bad mime jobs in 1969 to ASOS. Perhaps they did not know what their song sounded like? They recorded Apples and Oranges but I don't think they played it life, so they had to jog their memories.

4) Syd's half-assed attempt at guitar playing on that clip forshadows the other videos in this thread of bands taking the piss onstage for mimed performances, only when Syd does it its because all that demon dope-fiend LSD fried his neorological pathways right?

5) Roger Waters is playing bass finger style, which is most unusual for him.

[danielcaux]

4) Syd's half-assed attempt at guitar playing on that clip forshadows the other videos in this thread of bands taking the piss onstage for mimed performances, only when Syd does it its because all that demon dope-fiend LSD fried his neorological pathways right?

I'm not sure if it was in this show, but there's even an interview where Waters explains how Syd was really messing around with the producers by doing perfect miming in the rehearsals and then going totally "cathatonic" in the actual shootings, so the producers had to cut, and then Syd would go back to normal smiling and all when the cameras were off. Guess they didn't got it either.

[Wolfpack]

I'm not sure if it was in this show, but there's even an interview where Waters explains how Syd was really messing around with the producers by doing perfect miming in the rehearsals and then going totally "cathatonic" in the actual shootings, so the producers had to cut, and then Syd would go back to normal smiling and all when the cameras were off.

That's obviously not 'Apples And Oranges' of American Bandstand, because Syd does lipsynch there.
According to Waters, it was a performance were the lipsynching of Syd's voice was done by other Floyds. A similar situation can be seen in a Gilmour-era promo of the song, in which Waters does the miming. (In a supermarket setting.)
I guess that Waters meant the recording for the Pat Boone Show. (Assuming that they at most had two American television performances.)