Syd Barrett Documentary, ‘Have You Got It Yet?’ On The Way
Syd Barrett is to be the subject of a new documentary, titled Have You Got It Yet? The Story Of Syd Barrett And Pink Floyd.
“Barrett dropped out of music, returning home to Cambridge for the last 30 years of his life and his first love of painting,” according to a press release about the documentary. “Poignantly, some of Pink Floyd’s biggest worldwide hit records – The Dark Side of the Moon, Wish You Were Here and The Wall examine themes of madness and stardom including Shine On You Crazy Diamond and Wish You Were Here, written as tributes to Barrett.”
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Have You Got It Yet? was directed by award-winning filmmaker Roddy Bogawa and the late graphic designer Storm Thorgerson, co-founder of the firm Hipgnosis that created some of the most famed rock album covers of all time, including Pink Floyd’s The Dark Side of the Moon and Wish You Were Here.
The documentary, produced by Believe Media and A Cat Called Rover, features fresh interviews with Pink Floyd band members David Gilmour (Barrett’s childhood friend who joined Pink Floyd in 1967 and essentially filled the void left by Barrett), Nick Mason and Roger Waters, as well as Barrett’s sister Rosemary Breen, Pink Floyd managers Peter Jenner and Andrew King, The Who’s Pete Townshend, Blur’s Graham Coxon, and Andrew VanWyngarden of MGMT, playwright Tom Stoppard, and others. Actor Jason Isaacs narrates the film. The film’s soundtrack includes over 50 Pink Floyd and Syd Barrett music tracks.
Producer Orian Williams commented, “The most difficult part in telling Syd Barrett’s story was interpreting his process of harmony and how unexpected sonic synergy and visual discord, both seemingly random, was planned and well thought out. [Director] Roddy Bogawa gives us a glimpse into how Barrett funneled the genius, madness and experimentation into Pink Floyd, the vessel in which all things came to life but also took Syd away.”
Bogawa adds, “It’s the tragic story of Brian Wilson and Kurt Cobain and many others in music and art whose explosive creative drives often rest on fragile exuberant energy that gets pressure cooked from their success. The film is not only a portrait of one of the most iconic cult figures in music through the lens and memories of his bandmates, lovers, friends, and musicians but also a look back at a group of friends growing up in the mid-sixties and their idealism, ambitions, hopes and dreams during such an amazing cultural moment.”