rockstar #1

[Pagey]

keef did do that but BHM asked "which author" ?

I know, I was just adding another thought

 

[Ismene]

HEY GIES I FORGOT peter green of fleetwood mac. he had some sort of breakdown/quasistroke on lsd

But bear in mind he was at the precise age people usually start showing symptoms of schizophrenia and he is a diagnosed schizophrenic. So whether it was the LSD or the schizophrenia - my moneys on the schizophrenia.

 

[BlindHelperMonkey]

id agree, but everyone concerned including those with him at the time seemed to be convinced it coincided exactly with the trip, beginning when it peaked and never really going away. he was for sure getting weirder towards 'the end' - the guitar solo on green manalishi is harrowing

 

[Ismene]

Yeah but I think that's just human nature - his friends wouldn't want to say something as boring as "schizophrenia". It's much cooler to say "He took an acid trip and like never came back".

Same thing happened with Syd Barratt - he was schizophrenic too but there's all these myths that he took the dreaded lysergic and never came back.

 

[Myshkin]

^ I think Roky's too much of a cautionary tale. Doesn't get enough credit though, you're right.

I wasn't going to post in this thread, as all my favourites (bar Keef) are dead, and thus disqualified.

But then I thought 'fuck that, it's June 5th'. And it's been twelve years since Dee Dee Ramone passed from this world in untimely and tragic fashion. All the more tragic given that he fought bipolar disorder, a traumatic childhood and drug addictions before finally getting clean. Then one day he decided to score, and he was found dead. It was eleven years ago today.

Ozzy? He's a sorry shell who's been propped up by his management for the best part of two decades and wheeled around like a shameless freak show, lapping up your cash all the way. And yes, I love Sabbath. But was Ozzy ever this cool?

I think not. Case closed.

In terms of charisma, craziness and sheer originality, Dee Dee could whup anybody but Johnny Thunders, Jerry Nolan, Nico and a few other corpses not listed here . All of whom died after they'd seemingly conquered their demons.

He even had a go at rap. It was terrible.

Thanks for helping to save rock and roll, Dee Dee. Shame you couldn't save yourself.

 

[knock]

Yeah but I think that's just human nature - his friends wouldn't want to say something as boring as "schizophrenia". It's much cooler to say "He took an acid trip and like never came back".

Same thing happened with Syd Barratt - he was schizophrenic too but there's all these myths that he took the dreaded lysergic and never came back.

It's Syd Barrett. Being a fan, I've read (edit: ) almost everything that's been written about him, and it's no myth he took a lot of LSD but his Mandrax use was just as frequent, he was getting fucked on it before gigs leaving him unable to play. His flatmate also locked him in a cupboard while he was tripping, which wasn't very nice. Whether or not any of that contributed to his breakdown, fuck knows, but his bandmates seem to have thought he didn't handle the pressures of stardom very well. Anyway his sister seems to think he was functioning fairly well later in life so I'm tempted to think his story isn't as tragic as the press would have us believe, he wouldn't be the first person to be a bit reclusive after all, would he?

 

[Myshkin]

It's Syd Barrett. Being a fan, I've read everything that's been written about him, and it's no myth he took a lot of LSD but his Mandrax use was just as frequent, he was getting fucked on it before gigs leaving him unable to play. His flatmate also locked him in a cupboard while he was tripping, which wasn't very nice. Whether or not any of that contributed to his breakdown, fuck knows, but his bandmates seem to have thought he didn't handle the pressures of stardom very well. Anyway his sister seems to think he was functioning fairly well later in life so I'm tempted to think his story isn't as tragic as the press would have us believe, he wouldn't be the first person to be a bit reclusive after all, would he?

Very true. In fact, I recall a quote from a close friend who said he only saw Syd on LSD a handful of times in 1967, which was when he was supposedly guzzling it carelessly. That may not be true at all, but consider the fact that 'Syd's First Trip' (the film) was one of rock 'n' roll's first ghoulish pieces of spin-off merchandise way before the internet age.

Few people who really knew him actually blame the acid as such. The story of the Mandrax in his hair is even refuted by Dave Gilmour - "Syd wouldn't waste good mandies".

Mandrax and heroin were his drugs of choice around the time of his solo albums, for example. Which is when he really became erratic. And though he was 'difficult', he was certainly more lucid than some people would suggest. Especially the hack journos who used to transcribe his interviews syllable-for-syllable in order to make him seem more 'mad' (just as footage of Hitler and Mussolini used to be sped up on newsreels for the same effect). Do that to anybody and they come across far less coherent and 'sane'.

And there was certainly a public persona that was at odds with the 'real' Roger / Syd Barrett. To what extent, nobody outside his family and close friends knows for sure.

We do not know for a fact that Syd Barrett was schizophrenic. It's highly possible (likely even), but there wasn't the 'big breakdown' that people suggest. Rather, it was a gradual process, and not at all solely attributable to LSD.

Meanwhile, a few genuine sixties casualties get to cash in on wacky Syd stories every time this comes up in the press.

Madness...

 

[Ismene]

It's Syd Barrett. Being a fan, I've read (edit: ) almost everything that's been written about him, and it's no myth he took a lot of LSD but his Mandrax use was just as frequent, he was getting fucked on it before gigs leaving him unable to play. His flatmate also locked him in a cupboard while he was tripping, which wasn't very nice. Whether or not any of that contributed to his breakdown, fuck knows, but his bandmates seem to have thought he didn't handle the pressures of stardom very well. Anyway his sister seems to think he was functioning fairly well later in life so I'm tempted to think his story isn't as tragic as the press would have us believe, he wouldn't be the first person to be a bit reclusive after all, would he?

Have you read any of the more recent biogs tho knock? Apparantly that story about him being locked in the cupboard is absolute bollocks. Completely made up.

I don't think Syd took any more acid than anyone else did - Lennon took a thousand trips and was fine.

 

[F.U.B.A.R.]

How about Grace Slick for acid, and Jerry Garcia for smack?