Released
on August 5th, 1967, Pink Floyd’s debut LP, Piper at the Gates of Dawn,
is celebrating its 55th anniversary today. It’s the only album by the
group which was fronted by co-founder, Syd Barrett, who disintegrated
into an LSD fueled state of mental illness within a year of the album’s
release, necessitating his departure from the band before they could
complete their second album. However, Syd dominates the songwriting
credits for this debut with his otherworldly & whimsical take on
psychedelic pop taking up all but three of the albums songs.
Prior
to their debut LP, the group had been playing together under various
configurations and alternate names since about 1962, beginning like most
British bands of the times from an American blues influenced
foundation. By the time the mid 1960s were beginning to shift into the
rear view mirror, the group had begun on a trajectory which included
extended live improvisations and solos. Part of the reason for this
evolution came from their lack of songs to perform and a desire not to
repeat pieces during their sets. They realized that they could avoid
repetition simply by extending the duration of the songs through solos
and improvisation. As the psychedelic influence of LSD began to take
hold, the groups sound began to be associated with the movement, even
though by most accounts, it was only Barrett who was a true aficionado
of the drug.
By 1967, the group had reached the status where
they went professional by signing a record deal with EMI. They released
a few singles earlier in the year before heading to EMI Studios in
London’s Abbey Road between February and May to record the album. They
made extensive use of the facilities more advanced production tools
including EMT plate reverberation, automatic double tracking (ADT), and
the studio’s vintage echo chamber. Next to The Beatles Sgt. Pepper,
recorded at the same facility around the same time, the production of
the album set the bar for cutting edge experimental engineering
techniques for the times.
After signing to EMI and even before
the album came out, the press were getting hyped up about the group.
The sensationalism surrounding the psychedelic LSD movement resulted in
numerous salacious tabloid stories from the likes of the News of the
World paper and others. The label did their best to try to disassociate
the group from this scene, but their reputation had been well
established by then from their ongoing live residencies at London’s UFO
Club. As the recording sessions for the album progressed, Barrett’s own
indulgences began to escalate and impact his ability to function in the
studio and within the group.
Upon its release, the album
quickly garnered critical raves and, with the help of relatively
successful singles paving the way, was a hit for the band, establishing
them as prime movers of the London psychedelic scene, often lauded as
its most sophisticated and articulate exponents. While some felt the LP
hemmed in the more extreme experimentation of their live shows, the
restraint in the studio ultimately helped to make the album more
accessible to a larger audience and more marketable for the label.
Subsequent to its release, it has become an essential document of the
creative genius of Syd Barrett before his ability to function was
derailed by his mental illness. Within their overall catalogue, it may
be something of an outlier and atypical of the music they’d produce
without Barrett’s influence, but it remains a fundamental cornerstone of
the band’s mythos.
