The Piper at the Gates of Dawn

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The Piper at the Gates of Dawn
The Piper at the Gates of Dawn cover
Studio album by Pink Floyd
Released August 5, 1967
Recorded February-June 1967
Genre Psychedelic rock
Length 41:52
Label Columbia/EMI (UK) Capitol (US)
Producer(s) Norman Smith
Professional reviews
Pink Floyd chronology
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, although he made some contributions to the follow-up, A Saucerful of Secrets. It has been regarded as one of the most influential LPs ever made, being a tremendous influence on the psychedelic rock scene of the time, and much of what followed. The album has whimsical lyrics about scarecrows, gnomes, bicycles and fairytales, along with psychedelic instrumental passages. The album was recorded at Abbey Road Studios at the same time The Beatles were recording Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.

The LP (with a monaural mix) was released on August 5, 1967, and one month later it was released in stereophonic mix. It 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 stereo mix of the album was first released on CD in 1987, and re-released as a digitally re-mastered CD in in 1994 and then in June of 1995 in the US. Three years later, EMI released a re-mastered, limited-run mono mix version in a hefty digipak with 3-D box art for continental Europe and the world outside America.

The album's title comes from the title of 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 spiritual 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 the Greek god Pan. Vic Singh photographed and designed the album cover, unlike subsequent Pink Floyd albums.

In 2000 Q magazine placed The Piper at the Gates of Dawn at number 55 in its list of the 100 Greatest British Albums Ever. In 2003, the album was ranked number 347 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.

Contents

[edit] Track listing (UK release)

All songs written by Syd Barrett, except where noted.

  1. "Astronomy Domine" – 4:12
  2. "Lucifer Sam" – 3:07
  3. "Matilda Mother" – 3:08
  4. "Flaming" – 2:46
  5. "Pow R. Toc H." (Syd Barrett/Roger Waters/Rick Wright/Nick Mason) – 4:26 (see Toc H)
  6. "Take Up Thy Stethoscope and Walk" (Roger Waters) – 3:05
  7. "Interstellar Overdrive" (Syd Barrett/Roger Waters/Rick Wright/Nick Mason) – 9:41
    • Instrumental
  8. "The Gnome" – 2:13
  9. "Chapter 24" – 3:42
  10. "The Scarecrow" – 2:11
  11. "Bike" – 3:21

[edit] Track listing (US release)

All songs written by Syd Barrett, except where noted.

  1. "See Emily Play" – 2:53
  2. "Pow R. Toc H." (Syd Barrett/Roger Waters/Rick Wright/Nick Mason) – 4:26
    • Instrumental
  3. "Take Up Thy Stethoscope and Walk" (Roger Waters) – 3:05
  4. "Lucifer Sam" – 3:07
  5. "Matilda Mother" – 3:08
  6. "The Scarecrow" – 2:11
  7. "The Gnome" – 2:13
  8. "Chapter 24" – 3:42
  9. "Interstellar Overdrive" (Syd Barrett/Roger Waters/Rick Wright/Nick Mason) – 9:41
    • Instrumental

[edit] Track listing (Japanese release)

All songs written by Syd Barrett, except where noted.

  1. "Astronomy Domine" – 4:12
  2. "Lucifer Sam" – 3:07
  3. "Matilda Mother" – 3:08
  4. "Flaming" – 2:46
  5. "Pow R. Toc H." (Syd Barrett/Roger Waters/Rick Wright/Nick Mason) – 4:26 (see Toc H)
  6. "Take Up Thy Stethoscope and Walk" (Roger Waters) – 3:05
  7. "Interstellar Overdrive" (Syd Barrett/Roger Waters/Rick Wright/Nick Mason) – 9:41
    • Instrumental
  8. "The Gnome" – 2:13
  9. "Chapter 24" – 3:42
  10. "The Scarecrow" – 2:11
  11. "Bike" – 3:21
  12. "See Emily Play" – 2:53

[edit] Personnel

and

[edit] External links

Pink Floyd
Syd Barrett | David Gilmour | Nick Mason | Roger Waters | Richard Wright
Discography
Studio albums: The Piper at the Gates of Dawn (1967) | A Saucerful of Secrets (1968) | Ummagumma (1969) | Atom Heart Mother (1970) | Meddle (1971) | The Dark Side of the Moon (1973) | Wish You Were Here (1975) | Animals (1977) | The Wall (1979) | The Final Cut (1983) | A Momentary Lapse of Reason (1987) | The Division Bell (1994)
Soundtracks: Tonite Let's All Make Love in London (1968) | More (1969) | Zabriskie Point (1970) | Obscured by Clouds (1972)
Live: Ummagumma (1969) | Delicate Sound of Thunder (1988) | P*U*L*S*E (1995) | Is There Anybody Out There? The Wall Live 1980-81 (2000)
Compilations: Relics (1971) | A Nice Pair (1973) | Masters of Rock (1974) | A Collection of Great Dance Songs (1981) | Works (1983) | Shine On (The Early Singles) (1992) | Echoes (2001)
Films
Live at Pompeii | The Wall | Delicate Sound of Thunder | La Carrera Panamericana | London '66-'67 | The Making of The Dark Side of the Moon | P*U*L*S*E
Related articles
Bob Klose | Alan Parsons | Dick Parry | Storm Thorgerson/Hipgnosis | Steve O'Rourke | Live performances | Trivia | A Tree Full of Secrets | Pigs | Publius Enigma | Dark Side of the Rainbow | The Man and the Journey
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