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 #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.

Track listing

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

• General Information