PINK FLOYD IN
CAMBRIDGESHIRE
Q Magazine September 1992 by Johnny Black
Some map reference comments
include: The Rex, where Joker's Wild played in '64. Pink Floyd came back to
this venue during their first major UK tour in '69. Union Cellars, where Syd
Barrett played a benefit gig with Clive Welham, a
Gilmour school-mate, and Geoff Mott, who said, "Syd wasn't a bad rhythm
guitarist. It was nice to hear someone who could play as opposed to thumping
around." The Dorothy Ballroom ("the Dot"),
where Joker's Wild played some two-week gigs in '65. Pink Floyd played
there on 17 February, 1967 just before they released Arnold Layne. College of Arts & Technology, where Syd began ('62) a two-year
arts program. One of his mates there was John Gordon, a member of
Joker's Wild along with Gilmour. In '63, David Gilmour joined Syd at this
school to take modern language A-levels, and they practiced Stones licks on
lunch breaks. The Pink Floyd Sound played there in '65. King's College Chapel,
which has a lawn in back that Roger Waters said inspired "the lunatic is
on the grass", where they played a May Ball gig. "... went down quite well. Everyone was pissed," he said.
King's College Cellar, where in '72, Syd played as a guest with musicians who
later were his band-mates in Stars. Market Square, where
Joker's Wild played Wednesdays at the Victoria Ballroom from '64 to '66.
[Subsequently the Victoria Cinema and now the Market Square part of Marks &
Spencers - IMK] Earl Street, the
home of Storm Thorgerson, schoolfriend
of Syd's, in the early '60s. Mill Street
[actually Mill Lane - Mill Street is off Mill Road - IMK], location of The
Mill, a pub that hosted some acoustic Syd and Dave sessions in 1963. Regent Street, where the Beatles played in November '63 [at what is
now the ABC Cinema - IMK]. Syd loved Lennon and had looked forward to
this show, but had to miss it to interview in London for an art school. Perne Road at Mill Road, the spot where Gilmour's early
band The Newcomers rehearsed in the scout hut. Mill Pond, home of the Anchor
Coffee Bar, a hangout for Syd, Roger, Storm, and later Gilmour. The Anchor was
also the location for the Riverside Jazz Club, and in '62 Roger Keith Barrett
was nicknamed after a regular bass player at the club, Sid "The Beat"
Barrett, by patrons who learned "... that the schoolboy who quietly
watched jazz jams from a corner was also called Barrett. They nicknamed him
Sid, then gradually the spelling altered to avoid
confusion." 60 Glisson Road, Syd's
birthplace in 1946. 109 Granchester
Meadows, "well-to-do street and meadows on the banks of the River Cam
where Dave Gilmour was born..." and a site for Joker's Wild practicing.
Gilmour's song Fat Old Sun on AHM remembers this place, and of course so does Waters's song on Ummagumma, the
album whose title "... is said by Floyd's Rick Wright to be a Cambridge
expression meaning 'fuck'". (That's the first time I've seen a quote
attributing this interpretation directly to a band member, although of course
it's in the TDB tour book trivia quiz.) [I suspect this may be a facetious
interpretation. It seems as likely to me that the slang may have come from
kid's tales of monstrous, primitive people in the Fens who would chant "ummagumma". Rick Wright is not from Cambridge, so
perhaps someone was having him on whenever he heard that. -- mb, Jan. '95] [Possibly a reference to "umma" from Frank Herbert's Dune - the brotherhood of
prophets: Syd Barrett article - IMK] Hills Road, where Syd moved at age four. The
article has him beginning to learn guitar here at age fourteen in 1962, so
either the date or his age is wrong. Anyway, Roger came around to listen and
introduced Syd to tag-along Dave, who jammed with Syd. Roger attended the High
School For Boys on this road, and "Much of his
dislike of authority and the education system ... comes from his experiences
[here] ... In the words of his final report, 'Waters never fulfilled his
considerable potential.'" Other studen ts here were Syd, Tim Renwick,
and Storm. The Perse, a private school attended by
Gilmour, is on Hills Road as well. Rock Road, which was the
residence of Waters and his mother, a school-teacher, in the early '60s.