Syd Barrett - The Madcap Laughs UK 1970 - Pink Floyd HARVEST Stunning example

	£		69
	$		91

SYD BARRETT - THE MADCAP LAUGHS

orig. UK PRESS 1970

HARVEST  SHVL 765

Machined Matrices: A-2G  B-2G

earliest mother stampers

 "The Madcap Laughs" was Syd's debut album released in January of 1970. The whimsical poet is helped by his former PINK FLOYD mates Roger Waters and David Gilmour, while SOFT MACHINE members (1969) also help out on two tracks. Actually Roger and David came to the rescue when EMI threatened to pull the plug on the sessions because of Barrett's incompetance. His former bandmates said they would help Syd finish it, which of course they did.

"Terrapin" is a catchy and relaxed tune with the focus on Syd's vocals.This is the longest track as well. "No Good Trying" is a top three for me mainly because of the instrumental work of the SOFT MACHINE members. Ratledge's fuzzed out organ and Wyatt's drumming talents really add a lot while Hopper's bass is also prominant. "Love You" opens with strummed guitar before vocals, drums and piano take over. Some silly lyrics here. "No Man's Land" is another top three with SOFT MACHINE backing up.This is darker and the guitar by Barrett sounds excellent. I can picture Wyatt pounding away. Spoken words after 2 minutes. "Dark Globe" features Syd crying out the lyrics as he strums his guitar.

"Here I Go" is a catchy little tune that reminds me of Kevin Ayers. "Octopus" has some energy as Syd strums his guitar and sings with passion. "Golden Hair" is slower paced and kind of dark with reserved vocals. I like it ! This is my other top three tune. "Long Gone" is another great track with those organ runs and psychedelic lyrics. The next three tracks all feature vocals and acoustic guitar leading the way.The final track is "Late Night" and it's better than the last three. Electric guitar, light drums and vocals all sound really good here. (From: Progarchives)

Vinyl: EX+ to NM.  I'm very happy to be able to present this SYD BARRETT gem in this wonderful condition. The audio is simply sublime played on my Technics deck with Linn Sondek cartridge and through my Rotel amp and B&W speakers.  This vinyl sounds out of this world, a majestic album that showed that really went largely under the radar. Why ...? 

 Unbelievably it has no hairlines or marks and the audio is simply stunning. Just a few paper retraction traces only visible under a very strong light! Even a new vinyl would have these. The audio has beautiful separation and there is hardly ever any background noise. This has barely been played as is evident from the vinyl debris still visible in the spindle hole. I played this through in full and thoroughly enjoyed it. I was even tempted to keep this as it will be very hard to find this again, it is indeed mega rare now in this kind of condition. Needless to say NO jumps, clicks or ticks. 

Gatefold Sleeve: EX++.  Fantastic looked after laminated  gatefold sleeve with beautiful rich colours and without any creasing.  It sits superbly flat and has a sharp crisp opening. This copy belongs in the top 10% of copies as the storage wear is absent.The spine is 100% legible. All edges are wonderfully unworn and dead straight.  A beautiful original sleeve and a fantastic upgrade in TOP condition. The winner will be very pleased indeed!! No marks, no seam splits or tears. The inside gatefold is totally unmarked without any writing.  This is an upgrade for most Floyd or prog collectors.

The most important thing to realize going into listening to this album the first couple of times is that Syd Barrett really *was* a talented songwriter, and that even without his total mental breakdown he still would have amassed a pretty decently sized following. There are quite a few melodies and chord sequences here that would have worked just fine in a normal setting, with a lyrical combination of playfulness and self-confession that would make quite an impact on their own. The opening "Terrapin" is a great example of this, as it's a rather gentle acoustic ballad that combines playful (and only somewhat nonsensical) lyrics about being a swimming fish and simple (but still kinda clever to my ears) boy-girl lyrics like, "Well oh baby my hair's on end about you." Simple and poppy, yes, but high quality simple-and-poppy, if you ask me. (Charlie Ehrlich at Allmusic.com)

Though there are rarely ever any problems with my items, I always try my very best to describe everything exactly!  PLEASE REMEMBER to contact me FIRST,  if you have any problems at all, before you leave feedback and star ratings, so I get a chance to turn any negative experience into a positive one!  I can always happily sort anything out for you, if you let me know you have a problem!  This way no one has to leave Negative/Neutral feedback - and we both walk away happy! Similarly with the amount of stars, anything less than a full 5 * rating is effectively detrimental to a seller's rating as lower ratings will incur higher Final Value Fees  and lower priority in the bidlists eventually making it unattractive to list items on Ebay at all. I know of at least one major previous Ebay seller who has decided not to list via Ebay again. Please do NOT bid if you cannot give me at least 1 chance to sort everything out to your FULL satisfaction in the unlikely event of a problem.  Thanks again!!

This an excellent investment opportunity!!! Any questions please ask me and I will try to answer soon.

This an excellent investment opportunity!!! Any questions please ask me and I will try to answer soon.

Though there are rarely ever any problems with my items, I always try my very best to describe everything exactly!  PLEASE REMEMBER to contact me FIRST,  if you have any problems at all, before you leave feedback and star ratings, so I get a chance to turn any negative experience into a positive one!  I can always happily sort anything out for you, if you let me know you have a problem!  This way no one has to leave Negative/Neutral feedback - and we both walk away happy! Similarly with the amount of stars, anything less than a full 5 * rating is effectively detrimental to a seller's rating as lower ratings will incur higher Final Value Fees  and lower priority in the bidlists eventually making it unattractive to list items on Ebay at all. I know of at least one major previous Ebay seller who has decided not to list via Ebay again. Please do NOT bid if you cannot give me at least 1 chance to sort everything out to your FULL satisfaction in the unlikely event of a problem.  Thanks again!!

This an excellent investment opportunity!!! Any questions please ask me and I will try to answer soon.