Most of us are probably familiar with the tale Pete Brown told many times about what may have been the last time Syd was seen onstage, jamming with Jack Bruce:
It's a weird story but not so weird as to be apocryphal. On other occasions Brown has expanded a bit - the earliest source seems to be Rick Sanders' 1975 book, where it's mentioned as taking place "about 18 months ago" (which would put it in 1973), and that the band was jamming on the old jazz standard Doodlin. When I interviewed him around 2004, he told basically the same story and I tried to press him on the venue - all he could recall was that it was some sort of public hall in Cambridge.
Any further details on the date, venue etc have proved elusive over the years - however I think I may have found something.
The Cambridge Evening News, July 18th 1972, includes the listings of that summer's Cambridge Folk Festival. Within that, there's details of an event called Stellar Motion, a day-long "programme of poetry, music and visual art". There's a listing of the poets performing, including Jeff Nuttall, Miles Burrows, Mike Horowitz... and Pete Brown.
Date was July 26, 1972, and the venue was St Andrew's Hall, St Andrew's Street, which is right in the centre of Cambridge.
So that's an earlier date than previously assumed, but everything else fits: an event at a public hall in Cambridge, featuring a line-up of various poets, including Pete Brown. Syd will certainly have been familiar with Pete Brown and Mike Horowitz from his London days, and I think it's completely plausible that in that period he would have seen the listing and decided to go along. As there were other folk musicians on the bill that day, there would certainly have been acoustic guitars in the room for someone to hand to Syd, and ditto a double bass for Bruce to play.
I've searched the Cambridge local newspaper archive and can't find any other reference to Pete Brown performing at a poetry event in Cambridge in the 1970s.
So... what do we think?
"Jack was living in Colchester and I arrived late to find him and this band jamming on stage. Jack was on string bass and up there with him was this odd-looking guitarist playing acoustic jazz stuff. It was his short hair and straight appearance that made him stand out. Later on, various poets got up to read their pieces and I dedicated mine ('Goodnight Eliza Doolittle: The Death Of Flower Power') to Syd Barrett, saying he was the guy who started it all up in England. To my surprise, this strange guitarist stood up in the audience and said: 'No I didn't.' It turned out to be him."
Any further details on the date, venue etc have proved elusive over the years - however I think I may have found something.
The Cambridge Evening News, July 18th 1972, includes the listings of that summer's Cambridge Folk Festival. Within that, there's details of an event called Stellar Motion, a day-long "programme of poetry, music and visual art". There's a listing of the poets performing, including Jeff Nuttall, Miles Burrows, Mike Horowitz... and Pete Brown.
Date was July 26, 1972, and the venue was St Andrew's Hall, St Andrew's Street, which is right in the centre of Cambridge.
So that's an earlier date than previously assumed, but everything else fits: an event at a public hall in Cambridge, featuring a line-up of various poets, including Pete Brown. Syd will certainly have been familiar with Pete Brown and Mike Horowitz from his London days, and I think it's completely plausible that in that period he would have seen the listing and decided to go along. As there were other folk musicians on the bill that day, there would certainly have been acoustic guitars in the room for someone to hand to Syd, and ditto a double bass for Bruce to play.
I've searched the Cambridge local newspaper archive and can't find any other reference to Pete Brown performing at a poetry event in Cambridge in the 1970s.
So... what do we think?
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