Guide to British Music of the 1960s
October 1997
CD Review
Pink Floyd- Piper at the Gates of Dawn
Piper at the Gates of Dawn has been chosen as the CD Review for October 1997 as it has recently been reissued on CD in its original mono form. It comes in a box with lyric booklet, and Pink Floyd pictures. This reissue marks the 30th anniversary of the album's original release.
The album was recorded at EMI's Abbey Road studios. The producer was Norman Smith who later found fame as Hurricane Smith. At the time he was EMI's in-house producer.
Piper at the Gates of Dawn is a very special album, probably incomparable with other Pink Floyd releases, as it is very much the Syd Barrett album. Syd (Roger) Barrett wrote eight of the eleven songs with only one, Take Up Thy Stethoscope and Walk, composed by Roger Waters. By the time of the second album, A Saucerful of Secrets, Syd was already on his way out and only had one song on the album.
This was the height of British psychedelic music and represented the leading edge of what was happening in Britain in this area. Even since their inception in 1965, Pink Floyd had incorporated experimentation and improvisation in their act. The first two Pink Floyd singles, Arnold Layne and See Emily Play, made numbers 20 and six in the UK chart respectively, the group's only hits until Another Brick in the Wall. Both of these early singles, recently re-released with b-sides and a third single Apples and Oranges, were far more commercial than much of what the Pink Floyd was doing live. Nonetheless, to the uninitiated, they still sound experimental and far out. None of these singles are included on Piper at the Gates of Dawn although Scarecrow, See Emily Play's b-side does appear. However, the band felt that the singles were a step backward.
The album opens with the wondrous Astronomy Domine, a song which sounds even better on the stereo version of the album. It represents a melange of guitar and bass, drums and Rick Wrights swirling chords on the organ. On top of all of this are Syd Barrett's abstract vocals. Lucifer Sam, a song about a cat, follows this with a sinister guitar riff from Barrett.
One of the album's highlights is Interstellar Overdrive. This was more representative of what the group was playing live at the time. Jim Derogatis' Kaleidoscope Eyes, states that the riff for this song came after Waters hummed the riff of a Ten Years After song to Syd Barrett who tried to follow it on guitar. A live record of this exists on CD and video on London 66-67 from See for Miles. Pow R. Toc H. is also an extended instrumental.
The childlike innocence of much of Barrett's writing is clearly evident in songs like the aforementioned Scarecrow, Gnome and Bike.
In its early days, Pink Floyd was based around Syd Barrett's charisma. He was the centre of attention in live shows and his Fender Telecaster was covered in mirrors to reflect the lights. However, he was taking the drugs so easily available and losing his grip on reality. Pot was by then mixed with regular acid trips. The net result was that Pink Floyd were unable to perform with Barrett and they recruited Barrett's Cambridge friend Dave Gilmour to fill in on guitar. Gilmour later took over completely from Barrett.
Gernblands:
This, to me, is one of the most essential albums in Western civilization, so
I must point out two things here. The riff that Syd is trying to reproduce in
Interstellar Overdrive is not from 10 Years After (who, I believe, didn't
exist at the time), but from the song "My little red book" by Love, sung to
him by manager Peter Jenner (who had heard it on a recent trip to the States). Listen to Love's song and I think you'll see the connection. The other important point here is that the mix on the mono version of this album is different than the stereo. It is most noticeable on Interstellar Overdrive, but it can be detected on a few other songs as well. Purists would have us believe that the mono version is the essential one, but I prefer the stereo myself and, let's face it, this album was made to be heard on headphones.
Bas Möllenkramer, Netherlands
While giving this great sounding new MONO CD version of Piper a very
detailed listen in the car, I noticed a grave error!!
There is a whole bar of four beats missing at the end of FLAMING. On my
original vinyl LP copy the tune drops two chords down, then back up to
the songs main key. On the CD the first downward step is missing. The
chord is held for a whole bar BUT ITS GONE!
How can I complain directly to EMI??
mp, September 1997
- Released: August 1967, Columbia
- CD Re-release: 1997
- Highest UK chart position: 6
Essential Tracks:
- Astronomy Domine
- Lucifer Sam
- Interstellar Overdrive
Track Listing:
- Astronomy Domine
- Lucifer Sam
- Matilda Mother
- Flaming
- Pow R Toc H
- Take Up Thy Stethoscope and Walk
- Interstellar Overdrive
- The Gnome
- Chapter 24
- Scarecrow
- Bike