In the mid-1960’s, Syd Barrett joined a new band and quickly became its lead singer. Early on, as the group developed an identity, the group had several names. In 1966, Barrett discovered that another band—with the same name—was on a bill they were about to play. Under pressure to come up with a new name fast, he merged two names from his collection of American blues albums, Pink Anderson and Floyd Council. Pink Floyd was born.

Roger Keith Barrett (1/6/46 – 4/7/06) was familiar with name changes, as his own name was transformed when he was 14. Two stories conflict as to how roger Keith became Syd. In one, hometown chums named him after jazz double-bassist Sid “The Beat” Barrett, a fellow Cambridge resident and, apparently, somewhat of a legend.

The other story has Barrett, himself, affecting the change, a year earlier. A scout, he appeared at a scouting event wearing not the Seventh Cambridge Troop’s beret, but a flat cap. As part of this rebellion, he took the name “Syd”, as a nod to Cambridge’s working class. He became a patrol leader with the scouts.

Although he preferred to write and draw, he gradually embraced musical artistic expression, after receiving a ukulele at age 10, a banjo the next year, and an acoustic guitar at 14. At 15, he bought an electric guitar and built his own amplifier for it.

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