the piper at the gates of dawn

Pink Floyd danced onto the scene with the moody and whimsical space rock of this seminal psychedelic awakening. Roger Waters, Nick Mason and Richard Wright were architecture students at London Polytechnic. They went through various band permutations (Sigma 6, the Meggadeaths, the Screaming Abdabs, Leonard's Lodgers, and the Spectrum Five, and the Tea Set) before they joined up with Camberwell College of Art student Syd Barrett, who was a childhood friend of Waters.  They came up with the name the Pink Floyd Sound on the spur of the moment when another band called the Tea Set were scheduled to perform with them. Mason recalls:  "The hippies at Joe Boyd's UFO Club loved us. But outside London people hated it. They used to throw things. I think we were pretty terrible, but we didn't quite know it."   Wright says:  "We started out like everyone else playing R'n'B classics, but with Syd the direction changed. It became more improvised."

They developed a following in the London underground psychedelic scene with their playful, improvisational style and mindbending light shows, which led to a record contract with EMI.   Waters said:  "With us, lights were not, and are not a gimmick. We believe that a good light show enhances the music. Groups who adopted lights as a gimmick are now being forced to drop them, but there's no reason why we should.  In this country, groups were forced to provide their own light shows, whereas in the States, it was the clubs who provided the lights."   Barrett added:  "We have only just started to scrape the surface of effects and ideas of lights and music combined; we think that the music and the lights are part of the same scene, one enhances and adds to the other...But we feel that in the future, groups are going to have to offer much more than just a pop show. They'll have to offer a well-presented theatre show."





Recording for 'The Piper at the Gates of Dawn' took place at Abbey Road Studios in London, where the Beatles were recording 'Sgt Pepper'.  Members of Pink Floyd were able to observe the recording of 'Lovely Rita' while they were there.  With Syd Barrett on lead vocals and guitar; Roger Waters on bass guitar and vocals; Richard Wright on farfisa, Hammond organ, piano, celeste, and vocals; and Nick Mason on drums and percussion; the sessions were produced by Norman Smith and engineered by Peter Bown.

Barrett considered: "The way the act has developed over the last six months has been influenced rather a lot by the fact that we played in ballrooms, which was obviously the first market. But concerts give us a chance to see that maybe the music we play isn’t directed at dancing like normal pop groups in the past...Some people think we deliberately try to shock the audience, or use the volume to keep them quiet. This is not so.”

'The Piper at the Gates of Dawn' took its title from the chapter in 'The Wind in the Willows' that features the god Pan.  The album went to one hundred and thirty-one in the US, eighty seven in Switzerland, forty six in the Netherlands, forty three in Sweden, fifteen in France, ten in Norway, and number six in the UK.  Though it was a critical and commercial success, many of their fans from the old days were disappointed in the way they had changed their live sound.  Barrett would say:   "All we can do is make records which we like. If the kids don't, then they won't buy it."

Their second single 'See Emily Play' was included on the US version of the album.  It went to one hundred and thirty four in the US, twenty five in Germany, ten in Ireland, and number six in the UK.  







The band performs and Roger Waters and Syd Barrett are interviewed by Dr. Hans Keller on the BBC arts program 'The Look Of The Week'










side A


Astronomy Domine -- 0:00
Lucifer Sam -- 4:29
Matilda Mother -- 7:41
Flaming -- 10:51
Pow R. Toc H. -- 13:42

Take up thy Stethoscope and Walk -- 18:08


side B


Interstellar Overdrive -- 0:00
The Gnome -- 10:04
Chapter 24 -- 12:21
Scarecrow -- 16:04

Bike -- 18:16





'The Piper at the Gates of Dawn'
full album:



All songs written and composed by Syd Barrett, except where noted. Lead vocals listed

UK release
Side one
1. "Astronomy Domine"   Barrett, Richard Wright 4:12
2. "Lucifer Sam"   Barrett 3:07
3. "Matilda Mother"   Wright, Barrett 3:08
4. "Flaming"   Barrett 2:46
5. "Pow R. Toc H." (Barrett, Roger Waters, Wright, Nick Mason) Instrumental, wordless vocals by Barrett, Waters 4:26
6. "Take Up Thy Stethoscope and Walk" (Waters) Waters 3:05

Side two
1. "Interstellar Overdrive" (Barrett, Waters, Wright, Mason) Instrumental 9:41
2. "The Gnome"   Barrett 2:13
3. "Chapter 24"   Barrett 3:42
4. "The Scarecrow"   Barrett 2:11
5. "Bike"   Barrett 3:21