Pink Floyd biography
It was about this time the rest of the band first noticed changes in Barrett's behaviour. By early 1967 he was regularly using LSD and, at an earlier show in the Netherlands, Mason observed him to be "completely distanced from everything going on, whether simply tripping or suffering from a more organic neural disturbance I still have no idea."
Pink Floyd's contract with EMI had been negotiated by their agent Bryan Morrison and EMI producer Norman Smith. They were obliged to record their first album at EMI's Abbey Road Studios in London. There they experimented with musique concríšte and were at one point invited to watch The Beatles record "Lovely Rita". In his 2005 autobiography Mason recalled that the sessions were relatively trouble-free. Smith disagreed, stating that Barrett was unresponsive to his suggestions and constructive criticism. The Piper at the Gates of Dawn was released in August 1967 and Pink Floyd continued to draw huge crowds at the UFO Club, but Barrett's deterioration was by then giving them serious concern. The rest of the band initially hoped that his erratic behaviour would be a passing phase but some, including Jenner and June Child, were more realistic:
I found him in the dressing room and he was so ... gone. Roger Waters and I got him on his feet, we got him out to the stage ... and of course the audience went spare because they loved him. The band started to play and Syd just stood there. He had his guitar around his neck and his arms just hanging down.
To their consternation the band were forced to cancel their appearance at the prestigious National Jazz and Blues Festival, informing the music press that Barrett was suffering from nervous exhaustion. Jenner and Waters arranged for Barrett to see a psychiatrist, which he did not attend, and a stay in Formentera, with Sam Hutt, a doctor well-established in the underground music scene, led to no visible improvement. A few dates in September were followed by the band's first tour of the United States. Blackhill's late application for work permits forced the band to cancel several dates and Barrett's condition grew steadily worse. He detuned his guitar during a performance at the Winterland Ballroom, causing the strings to come off and during a recording for The Pat Boone Show he confounded the director by miming the song perfectly during the rehearsal, then standing motionless during the take. King quickly curtailed the band's US visit, sending them home on the next flight.
Shortly after their return from the US the band supported Jimi Hendrix's tour of England, where on one date at Chatham in Kent, Nick Mason played his drums out of view behind the amps rather than use the tour kit. His absence on one occasion forced the band to book David O'List as his replacement. Pink Floyd released the single "Apples and Oranges" in November 1967 in the UK (although not in the US). Barrett's condition had reached a crisis point, and they responded by adding a new member to their line-up.
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