1967 - The Piper at the Gates of Dawn

The Piper at the Gates of Dawn
Pink Floyd, 1967



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Release date: August 5th, 1967 (UK); October, 1967 (US)
Reissue date: September 3rd, 2007
Recorded in: EMI Abbey Road Studios, April 1967

The Floyd's growing underground popularity led to a single, "Arnold Layne," released in March of 1967. It entered the British charts at #20, resulting in national media exposure for the band. Their followup single, "See Emily Play," stayed on the charts for 7 weeks, reaching #6. Pink Floyd's first LP, The Piper at the Gates of Dawn, also remained on the charts for 7 weeks, and also reached #6.

Despite being over 24 years old, the Floyd's debut release still sounds as fresh as ever (in marked contrast to its famous contemporary "Sgt. Pepper"), and was Britain's enduring contribution to the Summer of Love. In early 1967 Pink Floyd went into EMI's Abbey Road studios with a stack of whimsical tunes about gnomes, scarecrows and bikes, psychedelic ditties that bore only a passing resemblance to the prostracted spacey jams they were then famous for. The result was an unique combination of English whimsy and avant-garde sounds, featuring studio versions of the Floyd's most supremely psychedelic songs, the underground anthems "Astronomy Domine" and "Interstellar Overdrive". Two things in particular stand out: Rick Wright's strange ethereal organ sound and the sheer power and magic of Syd Barrett's songwriting--he wrote or co-wrote 10 of the 11 songs present -- and guitar playing.

The song "Chapter 24" relates to I Ching (the book of changes), being called "Fu", meaning Change/success.

Nick Mason: "We were given Norman Smith by EMI, no arguments. So Joe Boyd, our original producer, got written out of the thing. Norman was more interested in making us sound like a classical rock band. It was a bit like the George Martin thing, a useful influence to have. But I think Joe would have given Syd his head, let him run in a freer way. We spent three months recording it, which was quite a long time in those days. Bands used to have to finish albums in a week, with session players brought in to play the difficult bits. But because The Beatles were taking their time recording Sgt Pepper in the studio next door, EMI thought this was the way people now made records. We were taken in to meet them once, while they were recording Lovely Rita. It was a bit like meeting the Royal family."

Former manager Peter Jenner: "Norman was being the perfect A&R man. He realized Syd could write great pop songs. If we'd put out what we were playing live, it wouldn't have sold **** at all. The one song here that was like the live shows was Interstellar Overdrive. They played it twice, one version recorded straight on top of the other. They doubletracked the whole track. Why? Well it sounds pretty ****ing weird doesn't it? That big sound and all those hammering drums."

The album's title comes from the the seventh chapter of Kenneth Graham's "The Wind in the Willows" book, where Ratty and Molly set of to search a lost animal, and have something akin to a religious experience when they encounter The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn (Pan). This book was a favorite of Syd's.

The inkblob-like painting on the back cover was drawn by Syd Barrett, based on photographs of the band members standing behind each other.

The Japanese pressing of the album added "See Emily Play" at the end of Side 2.

The United States release was somewhat different than the United Kingdom one, featuring the following tracks: See Emily Play, Pow R. Toch, Take Up My Stethoscope And Walk, Lucifer Sam, Matilda Mother, The Scarecrow, The Gnome, Chapter 24 and Interstellar Overdrive.

There were some variations of the cover art. "Pink Floyd" was written either with paisley stripes, while others with rainbow stripes. Some italian pressings have a picture of the group with David Gilmour on the cover. And a 1983 low budget reissues include "Fame" (a division of the Harvest record label) written across one corner.

The 40th anniversary special edition of The Piper at the Gates of Dawn was released September 3rd, 2007. The packaging, designed by longtime Floyd collaborator Storm Thorgerson, resembles a cloth-covered book with the original Vic Singh photo on the front, and holds 3 CD discs, along with an 8 page reproduction of one of Syd Barrett's never publicly seen before notebooks. Newly remastered by James Guthrie from the original recordings.

Tracks:

• Astronomy Domine (Barrett)
  
  [04:08] Vocals by Barret and Wright.
• Lucifer Sam (Barrett)
  
  [03:03] Vocals by Barrett.
• Matilda Mother (Barrett)
  
  [03:05] Vocals by Wright and Barrett (last verse).
• Flaming (Barrett)
  
  [02:42] Vocals by Barrett.
• Pow R. Toc H. (Barrett, Waters, Wright, Mason)
  
  [04:22] Vocals by Barrett and Waters.
• Take Up Thy Stethoscope and Walk (Waters)
  
  [03:03] Vocals by Waters.
• Interstellar Overdrive (Barrett, Waters, Wright, Mason)
  
  [09:41] Instrumental.
• The Gnome (Barrett)
  
  [02:11] Vocals by Barrett.
• Chapter 24 (Barrett)
  
  [03:38] Vocals by Barrett.
• The Scarecrow (Barrett)
  
  [02:07] Vocals by Barrett.
• Bike (Barrett)
  
  [03:22] Vocals by Barrett.

Total Playing Time: 41'58

Musicians Featured:

• Syd Barrett: Guitar, Vocals
• Nick Mason: Drums
• Roger Waters: Bass Guitar, Vocals
• Rick Wright: Keyboards, Vocals

The Piper at the Gates of Dawn Catalog numbers:

• LP mono: Columbia SX 6157
• LP stereo: Columbia SCX 6157
• New LP: EMI 8 31261 2
• CD: EMI CDP 7 46384 2
• Remaster CD: EMI M31006

Other Information:

• Produced by Norman Smith
• Recording-engineer: Peter Bown
• Frontcover photo: Vic Singh
• Backcover design: Syd Barrett

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