A biography on Syd Barrett that's amazingly comprehensive. From his poetry, to paintings, to early songs, it delves deep into his history and shines a light on the colorful mystery of Syd.
David Byrne goes into several topics regarding music but always with his idiosyncratic style and all the expertise of someone whos spent decades in the industry
I am finishing up his (relatively) new biography -- it's tragic as expected but his entire body of work (esp "Pink Moon" which is the one everyone knows, but who cares) is extraordinary. It'll lead you down the road of discovering Davy Graham, John Renbourne, Bert Jansch, Karen Dalton, Judee Sill, Anne Briggs, etc.
My friend Richard Turley turned me onto this book in April or so. I’ve been reading it in correlation to whatever the day is. I’m grounded enough in reality to know that next to This Legend, I’m a drop in the bucket. BUT— I am delusional enough to think that in diligently reading his diary, I am able to channel the spirit and the honor with which he lives and creates. My other main takeaways have been that he loves porn and big tits. (Nice.)
I'm blown away by how natural and relevant they feel. Especially in his early work, (who's afraid of Virginia Woolf, carnal knowledge, the graduate) he explores the human condition through subtle intimacies and conversations that reveal incredible depths of his characters.
I've been thinking about these guys, six foot long, blood-red tube worms that live deep in the ocean. Without sunlight they survive in hydrothermal vents (magma interacting with water to create livable conditions). These conditions are thought to exist on Mars, so who knows.
