Chart Info:

The album would reach #6 in the U.K.

Album Info:

The mono featured slightly different mixes of the songs wich are barely noticeable, mainly just stereo separation of the channels. The only differences are on Pow R Toc H, and Interstellar Overdrive (different keyboard intro).

The sounds wich appear at the wery beginning og the track Pow R Toc H (and wich form the basis of the whole song) were inspired by the noises a drunk had mumbled into the microphone after wandering on stage after a show.

For those interested, this song title is pronounced "Pow Are Tock H".

The Floyd's growing underground popularity led to a single, "Arnold Layne," released in March of 1967. It entered the British charts at #20, resulting in national media exposure for the band. Their followup single, "See Emily Play," stayed on the charts for 7 weeks, reaching #6. The Pink Floyd's
first LP, The Piper at the Gates of Dawn, also remained on the charts for 7 weeks, and also reached #6.

Despite being over 24 years old, the Floyd's debut release still sounds as fresh as ever (in marked contrast to its famous contemporary "Sgt. Pepper"), and was Britain's enduring contribution to the Summer of Love. In early 1967 Pink Floyd went into EMI's Abbey Road studios with a stack of
whimsical tunes about gnomes, scarecrows and bikes, psychedelic ditties that bore only a passing resemblance to the prostracted spacey jams they were then famous for.

The result was an unique combination of English whimsy and avant-garde sounds, featuring studio versions of the Floyd's
most supremely psychedelic songs, the underground anthems "Astronomy Domine" and "Interstellar Overdrive". Two things in particular stand out: Rick Wright's strange ethereal organ sound and the sheer power and magic of Syd Barrett's songwriting--he wrote or co-wrote 10 of the 11 songs present
-- and guitar playing.

Nick Mason: "We were given Norman Smith by EMI, no arguments. So Joe Boyd,
our original producer, got written out of the thing. Norman was moreinterested in making us sound like a classical rock band. It was a bit like the George Martin thing, a useful influence to have. But I think Joe would have given Syd his head, let him run in a freer way. We spent three months
recording it, which was quite a long time in those days. Bands used to have to finish albums in a week, with session players brought in to play the difficult bits. But because The Beatles were taking their time recording Sgt Pepper in the studio next door, EMI thought this was the way people now
made records. We were taken in to meet them once, while they were recording Lovely Rita. It was a bit like meeting the Royal family."

Former manager Peter Jenner: "Norman was being the perfect A&R man. He realized Syd could write great pop songs. If we'd put out what we were playing live, it wouldn't have sold fuck at all. The one song here that was like the live shows was Interstellar Overdrive. They played it twice, one
version recorded straight on top of the other. They doubletracked the whole track. Why? Well it sounds pretty fucking weird doesn't it? That big sound and all those hammering drums."

The album's title comes from the the seventh chapter of Kenneth Grahame's
"The Wind in the Willows" (the book was a favorite of Syd's).

Musicians Featured:

Syd Barrett: Guitar, Vocals
Nick Mason: Drums
Roger Waters: Bass Guitar, Vocals
Rick Wright: Keyboards, Vocals