The Lost Pre-Syd Demos: 'Double O Bo' and 'Butterfly'

Before Syd Barrett turned the band into a psychedelic juggernaut, Pink Floyd was a straight-up R&B covers outfit called The Tea Set. In 1965, they recorded two demos at a tiny London studio: “Double O Bo” and “Butterfly.” “Double O Bo” wears its Bo Diddley influence on its sleeve — a chugging rhythm guitar, call-and-response vocals, and a James Bond pun in the title — while “Butterfly” is a slow, soulful ballad that sounds more like a lost Motown B-side than anything from The Piper at the Gates of Dawn. These tracks are the clearest snapshot of the band’s original DNA: rhythm-and-blues guitar work, group harmonies, and a straightforward groove that later gave way to spacey drones.

Why were they never officially released? Simple: the band outgrew them. By 1966, Barrett had taken over the songwriting and the R&B sound was abandoned. The demo tapes sat in a private collection for decades, only surfacing on bootlegs in the late ’80s. Today they’re a fascinating artifact — proof that Pink Floyd could have just as easily become a solid club soul band if fate had swerved differently.