“Well, that’s the last we’ll ever hear of Pink Floyd.”

With his presence looming so large over the band, it’s not hard to believe the apocryphal quote that Pink Floyd was genuinely considered without a future upon the 1968 exit of cofounder and primary songwriter Syd Barrett.

Barrett led the legendary band and helped steer the surrounding scene out of the limiting constraints of its blues-based R&B roots and full speed into the expanse of the lysergic late 1960’s. Yet his subsequent solo work, in the shadow of Floyd’s impending world-spanning omnipresence, exists as a quixotic, mythical output that’s equally confounding and delightful, earning a cult following of adventurous ears over the ensuing fifty years.

While Syd Barrett may not be the first nor the most successful to dive into the convergence of the psychedelic and folk realms, he is, without question, the quintessential archetype from which all others must be compared. His influence and reach cannot be overstated. Barrett’s over-exaggerated reputation for experimentation with hallucinogenic drugs tends to propagate the mystique behind his art, but do not mistake that for importance. The music speaks for itself. Syd Barrett’s body of work is of the highest caliber.

Individually out of print on LP for almost ten years and NEVER previously available together on vinyl, Third Man Records is humbled to present Syd Barrett’s solo albums - The Madcap Laughs, Barrett, and Opel - as the 57th installment of the Vault subscription series.

Originally released in January 1970, The Madcap Laughs serves as Barrett’s best-known and most fully-realized solo effort. Standout tracks like the debut single “Octopus” charm with whimsy and consciousness-expanding lyrical exploration. Recorded at Abbey Road Studios (then known as EMI Recording Studios) with production help from former Floyd bandmates David Gilmour and Roger Waters, the album surprisingly reached number 40 on the UK charts. The reissue is pressed lovingly on golden hair colored vinyl.

Released in November of 1970, Barrett again enlisted former bandmates’ production guidance (Gilmour again in addition to Richard Wright) at Abbey Road Studios. Featuring surreal gems like “Baby Lemonade” and the explorative “Gigolo Aunt” the album compels with a softly focused hazy introspection. Here it is presented on baby lemonade colored vinyl.

Consisting of outtakes and previously unreleased material from the 1968-1970 era, 1988’s Opel fills in the blanks of the two previous albums. Properly illuminating the full picture of Barrett’s studio work, where no two takes were ever the same, the significance of Opel is two-fold. First, as an early example of a record label reacting to an underground, cult following. At that time it was almost odd for an imprint to dig into the vault. But with Syd being held in such high regard and interest in his work unflagging, countless illicit bootlegs would be rendered obsolete by the depths dug on Opel. For these purposes it is offered on milky way opal colored vinyl.

All three LPs are pressed on 180-gram vinyl at Third Man Pressing in Detroit and will come housed in a newly-designed slipcase featuring a recursive portrait of Syd by New York Times bestselling author and illustrator Greg Ruth. Executed in one continuous line without lifting the pen, the image is hypnotizing, mesmerizing and easy to get lost in, just like Barrett’s music.

An added bonus to this collection is a 7-inch single by David Gilmour covering two Barrett compositions. “Dominoes” was recorded at Royal Festival Hall in January 2002 and plucks an undeniable playful jaunt, decidedly ebullient and fresh. The take on “Dark Globe” was recorded live, as a tribute, shortly after Syd’s death in 2006. Celebratory, heartfelt, joyous and sad all at once, the rendition here is sparse and unfiltered. If you can look past all the lore and history and mythos…it is simply an earnest tribute to a departed friend.

TRACKLISTING

13. Late Night

12. Effervescing Elephant

14. Golden Hair - Take 1