Lonnie Donegan to the Beatles' 'Help!" (1954-1965)

During 1957-59, rock and roll exploded onto the music scene. Bill Haley's 1956 'Rock Around the Clock' was the first rock and roll to hit big, though black R&B artists had been doing it since the early 50's with records such as 'Rocket 88'. 'Rock Around the Clock' arrived in the UK in 1957 with its inclusion in the film 'Blackboard Jungle', and Britain's teenagers lost their collective minds upon hearing this song, causing riots in cinemas. The Teds, the U.K.'s first notable youth subculture, were particularly galvanised by early rock and roll and led the riots. They literally tore the seats out from the floor and shredded them apart in the cinemas. Can you imagine how repressed teens lives must have been then? They were so fired up......kind of beautiful in its own way. That doesn't even happen today at GWAR shows!

Buddy Holly's 'That'll Be The Day' (1958) was another biggie.Barrett and friends use to 'jam' to Buddy Holly songs in the late 1950s. Chuck Berry and Little Richard were also Barrett's favourites, according to Watkinson & Anderson, including 'Richard's 'Tutti Frutti' and Berry's 'Maybellene'.

Bo Diddley's epic single 'Bo Diddley' (1958) and subsequent album, 'Have Guitar Will Travel' (1959) were key Barrett influences, and ones which provided much of his basic inspiration between 1960-66. Diddley's distinctive rhythms form the bedrock of Barrett's playing, and Diddley's songs remained in the Pink Floyd's repertoire until late 1966, when they were still playing Diddley's 'I Can Tell' onstage at the All Saint's Hall.

Surf rockers the Ventures masterful instrumental single, 'Walk, Don't Run' (1960) was an influence too. Not only 'Lucifer Sam's surf inspired intro but 'Matilda Mother' also adapts the central riff of that guitarist's favourite. The Ventures were influential for the heavy echo on their guitars as well.

Jimmy Smith's 'Back at the Chicken Shack' (1960): Storm Thorgerson (Pink Floyd album cover designer and childhood friend of the band) stated that jazz/R&B organist Jimmy Smith was a favourite among their group of friends, Barrett included, during the early 1960s. They used to skip school together to go to Storm's house, smoke ciggies and listen to records like this one.

Barrett and Gilmour endlessly practiced Shadows instrumentals, such as 'Apache' (single 1960). They both owe a debt to Hank Marvin's guitar style, particularly his use of echo and the fluidity of his tone. Traces of Marvin's style can be found in Barrett songs such as 'Swan Lee', as well on his final 1974 recording session, where he reverted to basic Marvin-style riffs.

Blues/R&B guitarist and singer Jimmy Reed's 'Bright Lights, Big City', released as a single in 1961 was an absolute favourite with every band in Cambridge in the early sixties. Barrett performed this song while with Geoff Mott and the Mottoes, his first proper band.

Booker T. and the MG's 'Green Onions' (single 1962). Barrett cited the MG's guitarist Steve Cropper as an early influence, and Cropper's distinctive, clean riffs and leads inform Barrett's playing throughout his career. Barrett also probably picked up his Telecaster in imitation of Steve Cropper. Incidentally, Cropper plays these days with the new Blues Brothers touring band, as well as a star turn in the old one, and he appeared in the film. Check this guy out, he's a guitar genius.

Barrett was the first to catch onto the Beatles 'Love Me Do' (single 1962) among his friends in Cambridge. John Lennon was Barrett's favourite Beatle, according to Watkinson & Anderson.

Bob Dylan 'Bob Dylan' (1962): Barrett and Gilmour both attended Dylan's first major show in Britain, held at the Albert Hall in London. Dylan provided a songwriting model, with his extended and alternately hyper-realistic and surrealistic narratives.

Classical works by Leos Janacek, Olivier Messiaen and Bela Bartok, 'Das Rheingold' by Wagner, and others were among the various LP's that Peter Whitehead played when Barrett and friends were practicing in the next room at Cambridge scientist Peter Mitchells' house during 1962. Syd used to come over and jam with the son of the family, and also cos he was infatuated with Julia, the Micthell's cute daughter. He did stop in also to check out Whitehead's painting and chat about music.

Certain passages in 'Interstellar Overdrive' and other extended instrumentals would suggest Barrett had more than cursory knowledge of classical music, particularly of Wagner and his epic flourishes and sturm und drang. Barrett's father performed in a local symphony and was a keen classical music enthusiast, implying there were many classical albums at hand at 183 Hills Road.

Davy Graham 'The Thamesiders and Davy Graham' EP (1963)contains 'She Moves Through the Fair', a traditional Irish song which Graham played with Indian overtones, vastly influential on acoustic guitarists of the era. Graham's 'Folk, Blues and Beyond' (1964) was a stunning blend of folk, jazz, blues, Moroccan traditional music and Indian ragas. (Jimmy Page cited Graham as an important influence as well; Led Zeppellin's 'White Summer' was a mutated cover of 'She Moves Through the Fair'. Its a shame that Graham is almost totally forgotten, an amazing musician. Luckily his old LP's are being (finally) re-released on CD this summer. FIND THEM!!!! ;)

The Kinks 'You Really Got Me' and 'All Day and All of the Night' (both 1964) notable for their advanced use of distortion and Dave Davies crunching fuzz box riffs. It's hard nowadays to gauge the impact these singles had when they came out. They were so brutal and anarchic; they still sound totally punk. It's no coincidence that the Sex Pistols used to play 'All Day and All of the Night' in their early days.

The Beatles 'I Feel Fine' (1964) was notable for its use of feedback in the intro, indicative of the growing experimentalism among British guitarists in the mid-1960s. Barrett always had a keen ear for feedback, distortion and noise, and helped pioneer its use in rock music. The early Floyd was about as extreme as underground music got in 1966......comparable to today's grindcore or the avant terrorism of the Boredoms.

During 1964-5, Barrett was exposed to several jazz albums at Mike Leonard's Highgate house, where there is a copy in Leonard's collection of jazz artist Yusef Lateef's 'Eastern Sounds' (1961). Lateef's jazz and world music blend perhaps influenced Barrett's in his later use of Eastern modal tonalities. There also were several John Coltrane albums, including 'Coltrane' (1962). Barrett named the cat in Leonard's Highgate house 'Tunji', after a track that appears on that Coltrane album. Coltrane's groundbreaking use of stacked chords and 'sheets of sound' soloing was a pronounced Barrett inspiration, especially as he began to experiment more during 1966.

The Who's 'Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere' (single 21 May 1965)was perhaps one of Syd Barrett's all-time most important influences, with its heavily distorted glissando effects and Morse-code blips in its central 'freak-out' section. I sat and tried to listen to it as Barrett must have heard it and you can really hear where it paved the way for 'Astronomy Domine' and 'Interstellar Overdrive.' Highly, highly recommended.

Barrett and Gilmour busked around the South of France playing songs from the 'Help!' (1965) album, which came out shortly before they went on their summer holidays. That they crammed to learn the songs indicates the force of the impact it had on them. 'Help!', the title track was an overtly personal song, unlike anything in pop music up to that time, save for Dylan's more abstract first person soliliquies. Barrett responded to it at once.