The Piper at the Gates of Dawn
| The Piper at the Gates of Dawn | ||
|---|---|---|
| Missing image PinkFloyd-album-piperatthegatesofdawn.jpg Album cover | ||
| LP by Pink Floyd | ||
| Released | August 5 1967 | |
| Recorded | February-June 1967 | |
| Genre | Psychedelic Rock | |
| Length | 41 min 52 s | |
| Label | Columbia/EMI (UK) Capitol Records (US) | |
| Producer | Norman Smith | |
| Professional reviews | ||
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| Pink Floyd Chronology | ||
| none | The Piper at the Gates of Dawn (1967) | A Saucerful of Secrets (1968) |
The Piper at the Gates of Dawn is Pink Floyd's debut album, and the only one made under Syd Barrett's leadership. The album has whimsical lyrics about scarecrows, gnomes, bicycles and fairytales, along with psychedelic instrumental passages. The album was recorded at Abbey Road Studios.
The LP was released on August 5, 1967 and reached #6 on the UK charts and its US version (entitled simply Pink Floyd and featuring a re-arranged and abbreviated tracklisting) reached #131 on the US charts. "See Emily Play" substituted "Astronomy Domine", "Flaming" and "Bike" on the original US vinyl issue. The CD was first released in 1987, and re-released with a digitally re-mastered CD in 1994.
The album's title comes from the seventh chapter of Kenneth Grahame's The Wind in the Willows, where Water Rat and Mole, while searching for a lost animal, have a religious experience. ("This is the place of my song-dream, the place the music played to me," whispered the Rat, as if in a trance. "Here, in this holy place, here if anywhere, surely we shall find Him!") The Piper referred to is identified with the Greek god Pan.
In 2003, it was named #347 in Rolling Stone's list of Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.
Track listing
- "Astronomy Domine" (Barrett) - 4:12
- "Lucifer Sam" (Barrett) - 3:07
- "Matilda Mother" (Barrett) - 3:08
- "Flaming" (Barrett) - 2:46
- "Pow R. Toc H." (Barrett/Waters/Wright/Mason) - 4:26 (see Toc H)
- "Take Up Thy Stethoscope and Walk" (Waters) - 3:05
- "Interstellar Overdrive" (Barrett/Waters/Wright/Mason) - 9:41
- "The Gnome" (Barrett) - 2:13
- "Chapter 24" (Barrett) - 3:42
- "Scarecrow" (Barrett) - 2:11
- "Bike" (Barrett) - 3:21
Personnel
- Syd Barrett - Lead Guitar & Vocals
- Roger Waters - Bass Guitar & Vocals
- Richard Wright - Organ & Piano
- Nick Mason - Drums
also
- Peter Brown - engineer
- Vic Singh - cover photography
External links
- General Information
- VegetableFriends, the original Syd Barrett - Robyn Hitchcock Discussion Group
| Missing image PF_portrait_gilmour.jpg David Gilmour | Missing image PF_portrait_waters.jpg Roger Waters | Pink Floyd | Missing image PF_portrait_wright.jpg Richard Wright | Missing image PF_portrait_mason.jpg Nick Mason | ||
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| David Gilmour | Roger Waters | Richard Wright | Nick Mason | |||
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Missing image Missing image Missing image Pink Floyd Trivia | Syd Barrett | Bob Klose | Alan Parsons | Publius Enigma | ||||||