Pink Floyd - The Piper at the Gates of Dawn - Released Year 1967
Tracklist front / back album covers
Tracklist front / back album covers
Pink Floyd - The Piper at the Gates of Dawn
Side one
1. "Astronomy Domine" 4:12
2. "Lucifer Sam" 3:07
3. "Matilda Mother" 3:08
4. "Flaming" 2:46
5. "Pow R. Toc H." 4:26
6. "Take Up Thy Stethoscope and Walk" 3:05
Total length: 20:44
Side two
1. "Interstellar Overdrive" 9:41
2. "The Gnome" 2:13
3. "Chapter 24" 3:42
4. "The Scarecrow" 2:11
5. "Bike" 3:21
Total length: 21:08
The Piper at the Gates of Dawn is the debut studio album by English rock band Pink Floyd, released 4 August 1967 by EMI Columbia. The only album made under founding member Syd Barrett's leadership, it takes its title from chapter seven of Kenneth Grahame's The Wind in the Willows, and was recorded at EMI Studios in London from February to May 1967 with producer Norman Smith. The band at the time consisted of Syd Barrett (lead vocals, lead guitar), Nick Mason (drums), Roger Waters (bass, vocals), and Richard Wright (keyboards, vocals). Barrett also served as the band's primary songwriter, though two tracks on the album are credited to the band collectively and one track was written by Waters. The album was produced by Norman Smith, who would go on to produce two more albums for Pink Floyd.
In the United States, the album was released in October on Tower Records, with an altered track listing that omitted three songs and included the UK non-album single "See Emily Play". In the UK, no singles were released from the album, but in the US, "Flaming" was offered as a single. Two of its songs, "Astronomy Domine" and "Interstellar Overdrive", became long-term mainstays of the band's live setlist, while other songs were performed live only a handful of times. Since its release, the album has been hailed as a pivotal psychedelic rock album.
In 1973, the album was packaged with the band's second album A Saucerful of Secrets (1968) and released as A Nice Pair to introduce new fans to the band's early work after the success of The Dark Side of the Moon (1973). Special limited editions of The Piper at the Gates of Dawn were issued to mark its thirtieth, fortieth, and fiftieth anniversaries, with the former two releases containing bonus tracks. In 2012, The Piper at the Gates of Dawn was placed at number 347 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the "500 Greatest Albums of All Time".
Pink Floyd were an English rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic groups, they were distinguished for their extended compositions, sonic experimentation, philosophical lyrics and elaborate live shows. They became a leading band of the progressive rock genre, cited by some as the greatest progressive rock band of all time.
Pink Floyd were founded in 1965 by Syd Barrett (guitar, lead vocals), Nick Mason (drums), Roger Waters (bass guitar, vocals), Richard Wright (keyboards, vocals). The band had previously undergone previous incarnations and names before officially operating under the name Pink Floyd. Under Barrett's leadership, they released two charting singles and the successful debut album The Piper at the Gates of Dawn (1967). Guitarist and vocalist David Gilmour joined in December 1967; Barrett left in April 1968 due to deteriorating mental health. Waters became the primary lyricist and thematic leader, devising the concepts behind the band's peak success with the albums The Dark Side of the Moon (1973), Wish You Were Here (1975), Animals (1977) and The Wall (1979). The musical film based on The Wall, Pink Floyd – The Wall (1982), won two BAFTA Awards.
Following personal tensions, Wright left Pink Floyd in 1979, followed by Waters in 1985. Gilmour and Mason continued as Pink Floyd, rejoined later by Wright. They produced two more albums—A Momentary Lapse of Reason (1987) and The Division Bell (1994)—and toured in support of both albums before entering a long period of inactivity. In 2005, all but Barrett reunited for a one-off performance at the global awareness event Live 8. Barrett died in 2006, and Wright in 2008. The last Pink Floyd studio album, The Endless River (2014), was based on unreleased material from the Division Bell recording sessions. In 2022, Gilmour and Mason reformed Pink Floyd to release the song "Hey, Hey, Rise Up!" in protest of the Russo-Ukrainian War.
By 2013, Pink Floyd had sold more than 250 million records worldwide, making them one of the best-selling music artists of all time. Wish You Were Here, The Dark Side of the Moon, and The Wall are among the best-selling albums of all time, and the latter two have been inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. Four of the band's albums topped the US Billboard 200, and five of their albums topped the UK Album Chart. Hit singles include "See Emily Play" (1967), "Money" (1973), "Another Brick in the Wall, Part 2" (1979), "Not Now John" (1983), "On the Turning Away" (1987) and "High Hopes" (1994). The band also composed several film scores. They were inducted into the US Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996 and the UK Music Hall of Fame in 2005. In 2008, King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden presented Pink Floyd with the Polar Music Prize for their contribution to modern music.
The discography of the English rock group Pink Floyd consists of 15 studio albums, four live albums, nine compilation albums, five box sets, six extended plays, and 27 singles. Formed in 1965, Pink Floyd initially earned recognition for their psychedelic or space rock music, and, as they evolved, for their progressive rock music. The group have sold over 250 million records worldwide, including 75 million units sold in the United States.
Pink Floyd first achieved success in London's underground music scene, when they were led by singer and guitarist Syd Barrett. The group signed a management deal with Peter Jenner and Andrew King (Blackhill Enterprises) in October 1966, and recorded a demo shortly afterwards to attract record label interest. They subsequently signed with EMI Columbia and released their first single, "Arnold Layne" on 11 March 1967, followed by the album The Piper at the Gates of Dawn in August.
Barrett's erratic behaviour led to singer and guitarist David Gilmour joining the group; both appear on the second album, A Saucerful of Secrets. Barrett officially left on 6 April 1968, before its release. The album was also the first of several to feature cover artwork by Hipgnosis. The following year, the band released a soundtrack album (More) and the live / studio hybrid Ummagumma. The following year's Atom Heart Mother was a collaboration with Ron Geesin featuring an orchestra and choir, with Meddle and the Obscured by Clouds soundtrack following in 1971 and 1972, respectively.
The band achieved worldwide commercial success with The Dark Side of the Moon (1973), which has sold more than 30 million copies and is one of the best-selling albums in the world. It has been reissued as a Quadrophonic LP and 5.1 surround sound Super Audio CD. The Dark Side of the Moon was followed by Wish You Were Here (1975), Animals (1977), and The Wall (1979); all except Animals reached number one in the US, and The Wall is the highest-certified multiple-disc album by the Recording Industry Association of America. Pink Floyd released few singles after Barrett's departure, though "Money" was a US top 20 hit, and "Another Brick in the Wall, Part 2" was a number one hit in the UK and US.
Bassist and singer Roger Waters gradually became the dominant and driving force in the band from the mid-1970s until his departure from the group in 1985, declaring Pink Floyd "a spent force". He unsuccessfully sued to dissolve the group's partnership and retire the name. The remaining members, led by Gilmour, continued recording and touring as Pink Floyd, releasing A Momentary Lapse of Reason (1987) and The Division Bell (1994). A further album, The Endless River followed in 2014.
In 2010, Pink Floyd sued their label, EMI, for lack of royalty payments and publishing their back catalogue on music streaming services without the group's consent. A settlement was reached the following year, with the publication of the individual tracks on iTunes, and re-releases of The Dark Side of the Moon, Wish You Were Here and The Wall. In 2016, the band established their own record label, Pink Floyd Records, and launched an extensive reissue programme of their work on vinyl, and a box set The Early Years 1965–1972 containing a significant amount of previously unreleased material. In 2022, the band released a one-off single Hey, Hey, Rise Up! featuring Ukrainian artist Andriy Khlyvnyuk in response to the Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Artwork
All Pink Floyd albums feature distinctive artwork. Most covers do not feature the band members, and many do not feature the band name or any text either.
Waters recommended Hipgnosis for A Saucerful of Secrets' cover, for which they were paid £110, and they went on to create many of the group's album packages. Ummagumma was the last to feature the group on the front cover, with a Droste effect created by multiple photographs, and a breakdown of their musical equipment on the back. Atom Heart Mother features a Friesian cow (named Lulubelle III) on the front cover, deliberately chosen as a reaction against the group's psychedelic image.
The cover of The Dark Side of the Moon was designed by Hipgnosis in collaboration with graphic designer George Hardie, and features a line drawing of light being refracted in a prism. The inner sleeve shows the graphic of a heartbeat, which can be heard at the start of the album. The original packaging also included additional posters and stickers. It has become one of the most recognisable rock album covers. The cover of Animals features an inflatable pig moored to Battersea Power Station that broke free and drifted into airspace. The Wall features a minimalist design on the front cover, while the inside sleeve shows cartoons of the principal characters in the story, both created by Gerald Scarfe. Hipgnosis' Storm Thorgerson returned to produce the cover for A Momentary Lapse of Reason, which featured a row of beds on Saunton Sands. For The Division Bell, he photographed two 3-metre (9.8 ft) high heads in style of Aku-Aku in a field near Ely, Cambridgeshire.
The CD packaging of the live album Pulse included a light emitting diode on the spine, powered by batteries. This gave a visual "pulse" when the CD was stored on a shelf, with the battery expected to last up to a year.[38] The compilation Echoes: The Best of Pink Floyd features a composite piece of artwork created by Hipgnosis combining several past album covers.
Pink Floyd Band Members / Musicians
Syd Barrett – lead and rhythm guitars, vocals (1965–1968) (died 2006[387])
David Gilmour – lead and rhythm guitars, vocals, bass, keyboards, synthesisers (1967–1994, 2005, 2007, 2013–
2014, 2022)
Roger Waters – bass, vocals, rhythm guitar, synthesisers (1965–1985, 2005)
Richard Wright – keyboards, piano, organ, synthesisers, vocals (1965–1979, 1990–1994, 2005, 2007) (touring/session member 1979–1981 and 1986–1990) (died 2008[388])
Nick Mason – drums, percussion, vocals (1965–1994, 2005, 2007, 2013–2014, 2022)
Pink Floyd Discography Full
Studio albums
1967 The Piper at the Gates of Dawn
1968 A Saucerful of Secrets
1969 More
1969 Ummagumma
1970 Atom Heart Mother
1971 Meddle
1972 Obscured by Clouds
1973 The Dark Side of the Moon
1975 Wish You Were Here
1977 Animals
1978 The Wall
1983 The Final Cut
1987 A Momentary Lapse of Reason
1994 The Division Bell
2014 The Endless River
Live albums
1988 Delicate Sound of Thunder
1995 Pulse
2000 Is There Anybody Out There? The Wall Live 1980–81
1990 Live at Knebworth 1990
Box sets
1992 Shine On
2007 Oh, by the Way
2011 Discovery
2016 The Early Years 1965–1972
2019 The Later Years
Concert tours
Pink Floyd World Tour (1968)
The Man and The Journey Tour (1969)
Atom Heart Mother World Tour (1970–71)
Meddle Tour (1971)
Dark Side of the Moon Tour (1972–73)
French Summer Tour (1974)
British Winter Tour (1974)
Wish You Were Here Tour (1975)
In the Flesh Tour (1977)
The Wall Tour (1980–81)
A Momentary Lapse of Reason Tour (1987–89)
The Division Bell Tour (1994)
