Who doesn’t love Pink Floyd, right? The undisputed kings of psychedelic and later progressive rock, one of the most worshipped and best-selling bands of all time that managed to put thought and coolness on it sound. Yeah, Pink Floyd is almost an religion between the Music Lovers around the world, but… every story has a beginning and today, on Magnificent Albums, I will cover The Piper at the Gates of Dawn, Floyd’s first LP.
Pink Floyd is an english band formed in 1965, first as “The Pink Floyd Sound”, by Roger Waters on the bass, Nick Mason on the drums, Richard Wright on the piano and organ and Syd Barrett as lead singer and guitar player. The band started playing primarily blues, from where came the influence from the name (Pink Floyd has its name based on two blues singers: Pink Anderson and Floyd Council).
The band was really interested in an artsy sound and were pioneers on their psychedelic live perfomances, they played with live projection for example as far back as 1966 (a huge amount of time ago). In 1967, the band sealed a deal with EMI to record and release a single, Arnold Layne, about a kleptomaniac transvestite. The single gathered controversy and radios refused to play it. After almost a month, EMI introduced the new artists on its catalogue to the press and called them “musical spokesmen for a new movement which involves experimentation in all the arts”. See Emily Play, a second single, was released a month later and reached number 6 in the charts.
Then, EMI decided to give them an LP recording, a £5,000 advance and creative freedom to do whatever they wanted. They recorded the album at Abbey Road in 1967 with the Beatles’ recording engineer Norman Smith overseeing and producing the piece. Yeah, Abbey Road 1967, do you have any idea of what this date means? It means that in Abbey Road at the same time were being recorded two of the best psychedelic albums ever made, back-to-back. Of course I’m talking about The Piper and motherfuckin’ Sgt. Pepper’s being recorded on a room next to the other, this fact only elevates The Piper to a classic status, but let’s talk about the sound.
The Piper opens with Astronomy Domine, a groundbreaking piece of music that starts with the simulation of a satellite hovering above the Earth, the message here is clear: you’re going to outer space with this album! The sound is a mix of a psychedelic jam with surreal poetry by Syd Barrett. Then starts Lucifer Sam, a song that could easily been used on a 007-like LSD-based spy movie with its tremolo guitar and cool lyrics about a siamese cat named Lucifer Sam. Later we arrival at my favorite song of the album (and, to be honest, probably the first reason why PF is talked about until this very day) Interstellar. Overdrive. Oh my dear god, this song ROCKS. A nine minute non-stop instrumental so psychedelic that you don’t even need drugs to trip. Fasten your seatbelts.
Of course I can’t talk about all the songs of the album here, since I’m only doing a resume of the story of the album, but I guarantee the satisfaction if you go after and hear it by yourself, your life will never be the same again.
Unfortunately, Syd Barrett went too far with his LSD use and gathered sequels that made impossible for him to stay on Pink Floyd, being replaced by David Gilmour midway through the tour promoting the album. Syd became recluse, lost contact with his friends and is now a legend between Music Lovers all around the world. He passed away in 2006.
Syd, your contributions will always be remembered by the ones who love true art. Shine on.
My other articles from the Magnificent Albums series:
https://steemit.com/music/@themusiclover/magnificent-albums-03-head-hunters-herbie-hancock-1973
https://steemit.com/music/@themusiclover/magnificent-albums-04-what-s-going-on-marvin-gaye-1971
https://steemit.com/music/@themusiclover/magnificent-albums-05-ramones-the-ramones-1976