Syd Barrett's Decline Derails Pink Floyd's Live Shows and Studio Work in Late 1967

By late 1967, Syd Barrett’s heavy LSD use and worsening mental state turned Pink Floyd’s live sets into unpredictable, often painful experiences. He would stare blankly at his amp, detune his guitar mid-song, or strum a single chord for minutes while the band tried to keep up. At a show at the Royal Albert Hall, he allegedly threw his guitar into the crowd and walked off stage. The band started taping his parts in the studio just to have something usable—his playing had become so erratic that they’d record rhythm tracks without him and hope he could add something later.

Recording sessions for A Saucerful of Secrets were chaotic. Barrett would show up with a different guitar, refuse to play what was asked, or vanish for hours. The track “Jugband Blues” is the clearest artifact—he wrote it alone, played most parts himself, and the Salvation Army brass arrangement was his idea. But other songs like “Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun” were built with Roger Waters and Rick Wright stepping in on guitar and vocals because Barrett couldn’t deliver. By December, the band was already auditioning David Gilmour as a second guitarist to cover for Barrett’s live unreliability.

The tipping point came during a disastrous U.S. tour in November 1967. Barrett barely spoke, refused to lip-sync on TV, and reportedly stared at a light bulb for an entire studio session. The band knew it wasn’t just drugs anymore—something deeper was breaking. They finished the year playing shows where Barrett would stand silent or play one note for an hour. Within months, he was out of the band entirely.