PRAISE FOR A VERY IRREGULAR HEAD
“There are many reasons to recommend Rob Chapman’s gripping biography of Syd Barrett, signal among them his separation of actuality from legend. ... ‘The Syd Barrett story is as well known as his material,’ Robyn Hitchcock reflects towards the end of the book. . . . ‘It would be great if Syd was known for his songs rather than the way his life went.’ This is the tragedy that Rob Chapman in Irregular Head so compellingly remedies.”
—Uncut (5-stars)
“Even when taking us through the last 25 years of Roger’s life—Barrett’s old name . . . he accords similar respect to the man who spent his last years quietly back in Cambridge. . . . Chapman reminds us how unfair it is for fans to feel that they own their heroes. How fitting that his biography does such a good job of letting his hero out into the world, through the voices of those who knew him.”
—New Statesman
“Rob Chapman’s impeccable research herein is nothing short of that of a Culture Hero. Again and again, Chapman trawls up specific poems and children’s rhymes whence came Syd’s endless lyrical plunderings, until you begin to groan at your hero’s Muse being so spectacularly outed. Read the book—it’s compelling. Rob Chapman, Sir Rob Chapman, you’re a heartbreaker, sir, but what a heroic piece of Cultural Retrieval.”
—Julian Cope on the Head Heritage website
“Barrett’s tragic story has already been the subject of several books, but Rob Chapman’s comprehensive biography towers above them all. Exhaustively researched and strongly opinionated, it benefits hugely from the author’s access to Syd’s correspondence as well as full cooperation from his surviving relatives . . . like all good music biographies, this one sends you back to the songs themselves with renewed appreciation and respect.”
—Sunday Business Post
“Rob Chapman aims miles beyond another reprisal of the mind-mashed Syd mythography. His account is rich on pretty much all fronts—analysis, social context and revelation.”
—Word Magazine
“In this, the best account of Barrett’s life, Rob Chapman picks out truth from legend while providing insights into Syd’s last years and locating him in the great line of English surrealists.”
—Paperback Book of the Month, Choice Magazine
“[Barrett is] seen as the archetypal rock ’n’ roll burnout, a pioneering popster who unlocked the secret of flight, but flew too high and came crashing to earth. Rob Chapman’s biography attempts to crash through the dark lens and catch a glimpse of the ordinary fallen angel behind the zombie mask.”
—Irish Times
“The most comprehensive and genuine biography of Barrett that’s available. It’s not only sympathetic to the man himself, but cuts through the myths and half-truths, and details the story of a flawed and erratic genius. . . . It is, quite simply, brilliant. There’s really no need for any more biographies of Barrett now, we’ve seen the flaws, read the myths, and now we’ve got the human side of the story.”
—What Hi-Fi