The LP was thus a commercial success, but it was also, most importantly, an enormous artistic success in the land of tea and Tolkien. In fact this first album by Pink Floyd marked a decisive turning point in the development of rock. With its experimentation of various kinds, its classical overtones, its spacey sonorities, and, in its lyrics, its journey into Barrettian “heroic fantasy,” this is an album that went far beyond the frontiers of pop. While it can sound like London’s response to the West Coast Sound, it is also hailed as one of the seminal works of psychedelia. After the release of The Piper at the Gates of Dawn, which hit the stores two months after Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, the musical landscape would never be the same again. Pink Floyd may not have killed off pop music, but they certainly opened up the way for further experiments that would, before long, be labeled progressive rock.
Upon its release, The Piper at the Gates of Dawn was awarded four stars (out of five) by NME and the Record Mirror. Today it occupies number 347 in the list of 500 greatest albums of all time drawn up by Rolling Stone magazine.
The Sleeve
On the sleeve of The Piper at the Gates of Dawn, Syd Barrett, Roger Waters, Rick Wright, and Nick Mason can be seen sporting garments that had come straight out of Granny Takes a Trip, the hippie-chic boutique much loved by denizens of the capital’s underground. The photograph, taken by Vic Singh, shows the band members in semi-close-up and multiplied three times. Vic Singh quit India for London with his parents at the end of the forties. After taking his first steps in photography alongside David Bailey and Norman Eales, he set up his own studio with valuable assistance from Vidal Sassoon, the emblematic hairstylist of Swinging London. Pattie Boyd, who was one of his first models, introduced Singh to her husband, George Harrison. “I used to go to lunch in Esher with Pattie and George—we were just mates,” explains Vic Singh, “and one Sunday, as I was leaving he [George Harrison] said, ‘Oh, this is for you. I’ve got this lens and I don’t know what to do with it, so you have it. You might be able to use it for something.’”18
The lens in question was a prism lens that multiplied the number of images of the subject threefold or fourfold. When Peter Jenner and Andrew King invited him to do the photography for Pink Floyd’s first album, Vic Singh spontaneously decided to try this lens, which he fitted to his Hasselblad and used with Ektachrome film. “I first started with some test Polaroid shots, positioning them on the white background, which was a bit tricky as the prism lens multiplied each figure—they all overlapped each other!—so I had to get the figures positioned right or the whole thing looked like a mess.”19 In the end, Vic Singh’s photograph resembles the kind of vision that might be experienced by someone undergoing an LSD trip.
On the back of the sleeve is an illustration by Syd Barrett, who, according to Andrew King, wanted to contribute in some way. “And it’s a sort of…,” King tries to explain, “actually I knew it was a cut-out, sort of reversed out photo.”10 What Barrett actually created was a montage with figures silhouetted against a gray background. This has been given a psychedelic makeover on the booklet accompanying the remastered CD that was released in 2011.
Technical Details
In moving into Studio Three of EMI Studios (renamed Abbey Road Studios around 1970), Pink Floyd was able to take advantage of first-rate recording equipment. The mixing desk was the legendary REDD.51, designed by EMI’s engineers, which was primitive in appearance but outstanding in quality. The tape recorder was a four-track Studer J37 (EMI would not acquire an eight-track 3M until 1968, by which time other London studios, such as Trident, were already benefiting from the technology), and the monitors were probably Altec 605As (although there is some disagreement over this, a number of commentators claiming they were Tannoys). Among the various effects used, those worth mentioning in particular are the EMT 140 reverb plate, the Fairchild 666 compressor, and the Fairchild 660 limiter, which Peter Bown coupled with the RS168 Zener compressor/limiter—a prototype he alone used in 1967 but which would soon find a place in the TG consoles (on which Pink Floyd would record their legendary Dark Side of the Moon)—but also the RS127, an equalizer nicknamed the “Presence Box,” which was fabricated in-house. Also worthy of note is Artificial Double Tracking (ADT), which was developed in 1966 by the incredible engineer Ken Townsend at the express request of John Lennon, who could not bear to double his own voice and wanted a machine to do it for him! As for mics, Peter Bown favored Neumann U48s for the voice and Neumann U67s for the guitars, in addition to which various other models, such as the Sony C38, the AKG D19C, and the Neumann KM56, were also used.
The Instruments
Syd Barrett’s main guitar was a white 1962 Fender Esquire bought in 1965, which he wrapped in silver-colored plastic film and decorated with metallic discs that had the advantage of reflecting the stage lighting effects. The acoustic instrument he favored was a Harmony Sovereign H1260, which was a guitar adopted by numerous guitarists including Jimmy Page and Pete Townshend. He also played a twelve-string acoustic that has not been securely identified. This may have been a Harmony 1270 or a Levin LTS5 imported by Rose Morris in England. (David Gilmour has mentioned that Levin guitars were used on the group’s second album.)
Before Paul McCartney and Chris Squire turned the Rickenbacker 4001 bass into a thing of legend, Roger Waters was already playing one (model RM 1999, also imported by Rose Morris) with a Fireglo finish and a mono output. With it he used a plectrum and Rotosound strings, a setup that helped his somewhat guitaristic style to find its true identity. Rick Wright played a Farfisa Compact Duo organ, from which he draws sonorities that are immediately characteristic of early Floyd. He also played an acoustic piano, almost certainly Studio Three’s Model B Steinway grand, a Mustel celeste, and what is probably a Hohner Pianet. Finally, since discovering the incomparable Ginger Baker of Cream at the end of 1966, Nick Mason had been playing a Premier drum kit with two bass drums. He can also be heard on the tubular bells.
For amplification, Syd Barrett evidently used a 50-watt Selmer Truvoice Treble-n-Bass 50 with a 2x12 cabinet, while Roger Waters was for the most part plugged into the console via a DI (direct injection) box—a method that Peter Bown was particularly fond of. When he chose to play through an amp, he turned to a Selmer Treble-n-Bass 100 with a Selmer Goliath 100 bass cabinet.
In terms of effects, the Binson Echorec occupied an important place in Syd Barrett’s playing, as it did in the sound of Pink Floyd’s subsequent recordings. Rick Wright also made systematic use of it in his keyboard parts. Syd loved distortion and wah-wah and seems to have used a Selmer Buzz Tone pedal and a Selmer Fuzz-Wah.
For Pink Floyd Addicts
Projection seems to have been the initial title chosen for the album.
US TRACK LISTING
The debut album by the English quartet was not released in the United States until October 26, 1967 (October 21, according to certain sources). It came out on the Tower Records label (a subsidiary of Polydor) under the simple title Pink Floyd, with only nine tracks instead of eleven. “Astronomy Dominé” was replaced by “See Emily Play,” while “Flaming” and “Bike” mysteriously disappeared.
ABBEY ROAD FOREVER
Following the recording of “Love Me Do” there in September 1962, the EMI Studios at 3 Abbey Road came to be seen as Beatles territory. Seven years later, on September 26, 1969, the band released its album Abbey Road. Its success, both artistic and commercial, was such that the EMI Studios were immediately and permanently renamed Abbey Road Studios.
GROOVY GEAR!
Granny Takes a Trip, the brainchild of Nigel Waymouth, Sheila Cohen, and John Pearse, opened its doors at 488 Kings Road in 1966. This small Chelsea boutique, whose psychedelic atmosphere evoked the bordellos of New Orleans (with a touch of Barbarella-style science fiction thrown in), sold hippie-chic clothing, vintage pieces collected by Sheila and reworked by John Pearse, who had learned his trade in a Savile Row tailor’s. Before long, the shop’s flamboyant but inexpensive g
arments attracted the attention of Swinging London’s trendsetters, notably its pop stars, starting with the Beatles and the Rolling Stones, who posed in Granny Takes a Trip creations for Revolver and Between the Buttons respectively. The Floyd, who have been described as exponents of a fin de siècle neodandyism, were great fans of the “Granny” look and would become loyal customers.
EMI’s REDD consoles were given a new lease on life by our friends the rockers: Lenny Kravitz bought the REDD.37 from Abbey Road’s Studio One and Mark Knopfler the REDD.51 that had equipped EMI’s Italian studio.
Astronomy Dominé
Syd Barrett / 4:12
Musicians
Syd Barrett: vocals, electric rhythm and lead guitar
Roger Waters: bass
Rick Wright: vocals, keyboards
Nick Mason: drums
Peter Jenner: megaphone
Recorded
Abbey Road Studios, London: April 11, 12, 17, 18, May 12, July 5, 18, 1967 (Studio Three)
Technical Team
Producer: Norman Smith
Sound Engineers: Peter Bown, Malcolm Addey
Assistant Sound Engineers: Jeff Jarratt, Peter Mew, Michael Stone, Graham Kirkby
Genesis
“Astronomy Dominé” is a Syd Barrett number that Pink Floyd was already performing live in 1966. Peter Wynne-Willson, the group’s lighting engineer, was present at its creation: “I can remember him writing ‘Astronomy Dominé,’ which wasn’t a one evening scene, he worked on it quite hard.”17 Syd’s choice of title gives rise to a number of possible interpretations. It may derive from a French translation of The Basic Writings of Bertrand Russell (1961) in which the words of the British philosopher and mathematician “The world of astronomy dominates my imagination” are rendered as “le monde de l’astronomie domine mon imagination….” or it may have been inspired by Prometheus Unbound (1820) by the Romantic poet Percy Bysshe Shelley.
“Astronomy Dominé” is a galactic journey that takes us successively to Jupiter and Saturn, Oberon, Miranda/Titania, Neptune, Titan. It is also a journey that offers little hint of optimism. In this song, Barrett evokes A fight between the blue you once knew, Stars [that] can frighten, and, above all, icy waters underground, which, it is tempting to believe, could engulf everything. From this journey in space to a bad trip on LSD (the hallucinogenic drug of which the Pink Floyd songwriter was making pretty heavy use at this time) is but a short and not illogical step… It is interesting to see Barrett blithely combining references to astronomy, Shakespeare (Oberon, Miranda, and Titania are moons of Uranus, while Oberon is also the king of the fairies and Titania the queen of the fairies in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and Miranda is Prospero’s daughter in The Tempest), and comic strips. The Stairway scared Dan Dare of the second verse is a science fiction character from Dan Dare, Pilot of the Future, created by Frank Hampson and published in Eagle comics between 1950 and 1969. Finally, it is worth considering whether, following the example of Dylan and the poets of the Beat Generation, Barrett was simply enjoying playing with words, with their music and double meanings, for, as Julian Palacios correctly observes, “in ‘Astronomy Dominé’ enchantment is sound.”17
Some people at the time regarded this track as spawning the genre of “space rock,” an idea that Roger Waters would strongly refute: “All that stuff about Syd starting the space-rock thing is just so much fucking nonsense. He was completely into Hilaire Belloc, and all his stuff was kind of whimsical—all fairly heavily rooted in English literature. I think Syd had one song that had anything to do with space—‘Astronomy Dominé’—that’s all. That’s the sum total of all Syd’s writing about space and yet there’s this whole fucking mystique about how he was the father of it all. It’s just a load of old bollocks.”20
Production
Right from the intro, the Floyd plunges us into an atmosphere redolent of Cape Canaveral: voices simulating radio contact between the scientists at mission control and the astronauts in space, disturbing guitars, Morse code… Syd Barrett seems to have written the soundtrack to a science fiction movie, a mini space opera lasting four minutes that gives free rein to a fertile imagination, and inevitably stimulated by the hallucinogens he had been immoderately consuming. The results are unique, especially for 1967. No other rock group was adopting this kind of approach, that is to say one determinedly focused on experimentation and nonconformism, seeking new, improvisatory sonorities.
During the first session on April 11, the Floyd recorded the backing track. This seems to have caused them some problems, as they were not happy until the fourteenth take. The reason may be the difficulty Norman Smith had in channeling Barrett’s playing, the guitarist proving himself incapable of delivering the same version twice. It has to be said that the unfortunate producer, who was more accustomed to recording melodic pop songs of the regulation three minutes’ duration, must, as Peter Bown describes, have felt somewhat disoriented: “Yes I do (remember Syd changing things)… because we had to do quite a few overdubs on the songs and Norman Smith would try and make notes as to what part of the song that was, and what take it was… [in the end, however] he didn’t overdub many things.”10 And this can be heard in the results: despite its apparent complexity, “Astronomy Dominé” is singularly transparent in its arrangements, which is the mark of a great number. This backing track was based around Barrett’s guitar, a superb part—simultaneously rhythm and lead—delivered on his Fender Esquire. The tones Syd draws from his instrument are unique and immediately identifiable. He obtains a relatively clear, though still subtly distorted tone from his amp and evidently uses his Binson Echorec, which, along with his Zippo for slide passages, was to become a trademark of his from around this time. Roger Waters supports him with some solid bass playing on his 4001, presumably plugged directly into the console. Rick Wright provides a reasonably discreet accompaniment, consisting mainly of layers of sound laid down on his Farfisa Compact Duo, using his pedal to vary the volume (2:18 and 2:23). Finally, Nick Mason delivers an excellent drum part, favoring tom breaks while giving plenty of emphasis to his footwork. (His two bass drum pedals squeaking slightly.)
The group dedicated the afternoon of April 12 to recording the vocals. This time, Syd and Rick share the singing, their different timbres complementing each other wonderfully. They harmonize with each other and even risk a sixth from 1:02 (in the fifth line of the song). During the course of the evening (from 7 p.m. to 2:15 a.m.), other voices are added and Syd records guitar overdubs. It is worth noting the quality of his opening riff, a mixture of rock music and sci-fi movie with a touch of surf music for good measure (0:31). He opens with a guitar part (doubled) that, it has to be admitted, is almost an exact copy of the intro to “Are You Lovin’ Me More (But Enjoying It Less),” a B-side by the Electric Prunes released in April 1967, just a few days before Pink Floyd entered the studio. (The A-side was “Get Me to the World On Time”.) This implies that “Astronomy Dominé” was not yet composed in its final form at the time of the very first recording session for the album on February 21, six weeks earlier. The same E5 chord that launches the Electric Prunes’ number can be heard, along with the same rhythmic pattern… Like all great songwriters, however, Syd transcends his borrowed material to create something personal and utterly original.
On Monday, April 17, it was Peter Jenner’s turn to spring into action, having been given the honor of launching “Astronomy Dominé” with that highly distinctive radio voice. “Yes that’s me on the megaphone […] I remember sitting there with Syd helping to write that bit. He had this book about planets and was reading through it—something like The Observer’s Book of Planets, that sort of thing. Nothing really serious! Putting down… all the references came from that.”10 Listening to the stereo mix, the voice is on the right, while a generic whistle can be heard in the left channel, evidently generated by Syd’s Binson Echorec. Jenner’s mission control voice is one of the track’s strengths. It is closely followed (at 0:22) by a sequence of Morse code b
eeps devoid of any real meaning, and probably played by Rick on his Farfisa. Peter Jenner’s megaphone makes a comeback at 2:40 to complete the Floyd’s voyage into deep space. Conspicuous in the instrumental bridge (which begins at 1:34) is Syd’s heavy use of his Echorec, as much to launch the notes he plays on his Fender as to generate a kind of electronic wind (1:40) that to some extent recalls “Echoes,” which the group would record for the album Meddle (but without Syd…) in 1971. The song ends cleanly, with a rapid fade-out on the final chord. It would take four more sessions to finalize the different mono and stereo mixes. As the opener to Pink Floyd’s debut album, “Astronomy Dominé” is a small masterpiece that testifies to Syd Barrett’s immense talent.
The Post-Barrett Version
“Astronomy Dominé” continued to be played by the Floyd after Syd Barrett had left the band and David Gilmour had joined. Up to June 1971, in fact, when “Echoes” became their new centerpiece. In the meantime, Barrett’s compositions underwent various transformations: the megaphone introduction was replaced by Rick Wright’s keyboards, the first section was sung twice, and the second, instrumental section was extended by several minutes.
For Pink Floyd Addicts
The precise phrases uttered by Peter Jenner in the song’s intro are, for the most part, too nebulous to make out. The words moon, Scorpio, Pluto, and all systems satisfied can nevertheless be identified.
Pink Floyd All the Songs Page 6
