Sunday, 18 October 2026
RIFFOLOGY
The Piper at the Gates of Dawn by Pink Floyd, album cover
Album

The Piper at the Gates of Dawn

by Pink Floyd
Released4 August 1967
LabelColumbia Records
Popularity84.7
Also cited5 August 1967
psychedelic rockrockspace rockexperimental rockclassic rock
Wikipedia ↗MusicBrainz ↗Deezer ↗Podcast cover

The Piper at the Gates of Dawn is Pink Floyd's debut album, released on 4 August 1967. It is the only one made under Syd Barrett's leadership, and he wrote nearly all of it, with Roger Waters, Nick Mason and Richard Wright contributing the rest. It arrived after the band's nights at London's UFO Club and the singles "Arnold Layne" and "See Emily Play". The title comes from a chapter of Kenneth Grahame's The Wind in the Willows, a book Barrett loved.

Recorded at Abbey Road between February and May 1967 with producer Norman Smith, it sets Barrett's short, whimsical pop songs beside the band's long improvised pieces, with plenty of echo and reverb. "Astronomy Dominé" and "Interstellar Overdrive" stayed in the live set for years. Barrett left the following year, which gives the record added weight. It reached number 6 in the UK and is now widely regarded as a pivotal psychedelic recording.

The Piper at the Gates of Dawn: tracklist, credits and charts

11 tracks · 41:58

Tracklist

  1. 1Astronomy DominéSyd Barrett4:12
  2. 2Lucifer SamSyd Barrett3:08
  3. 3Matilda MotherSyd Barrett3:09
  4. 4FlamingSyd Barrett2:46
  5. 5Pow R. Toc H.Barrett, Mason, Waters, Wright4:27
  6. 6Take Up Thy Stethoscope and WalkRoger Waters3:06
  7. 7Interstellar OverdriveBarrett, Mason, Waters, Wright9:41
  8. 8The GnomeSyd Barrett2:14
  9. 9Chapter 24Syd Barrett3:42
  10. 10The ScarecrowSyd Barrett2:11
  11. 11BikeSyd Barrett3:22
Produced by
Norman Smith
Recorded at
Abbey Road Studios, Sound Techniques, EMI, London
Recorded
21 February – 21 May 1967
Engineered by
Peter Bown, Norman Smith
Artwork
Syd Barrett
Photography
Vic Singh
Label
Columbia Records
Length
41:58

Line-up

  • Syd Barrett · guitar, slide guitar, lead vocals, electric guitar, 12 string guitar, other instruments, acoustic guitar, other vocals, background vocals, tape
  • Nick Mason · drums (drum set), maracas, finger cymbals, other instruments, percussion, timpani, cymbal, temple blocks, tubular bells, chimes, tape, other vocals
  • Roger Waters · bass guitar, double bass, background vocals, other instruments, slide whistle, other vocals, lead vocals, gong, tape
  • Richard Wright · farfisa, lead vocals, piano, Hammond organ, organ, other instruments, tack piano, background vocals, other vocals, celesta, vibraphone, cello, harmonium, Pianet, flute, tape, violin
  • Peter Jenner · other vocals · guest
  • Norman Smith · drums (drum set) · guest

Singles

  • “Flaming” · November 1967 (US)

Peak chart positions

ChartPeak
UK Albums Chart · 1967–686
US Billboard 200 · 1967–68131
Norwegian Albums · 200710
Hungarian Albums · 202215
Italian Albums · 200716
Belgian Albums (Flanders) · 200728
Czech Albums · 200734
Polish Albums · 200738
Belgian Albums (Wallonia) · 200739
Swedish Albums · 200743
All 15 charts
Dutch Albums · 200746
German Albums · 200748
Spanish Albums · 200770
Swiss Albums · 200787
French Albums · 2011150

Certifications

RegionCertification
Italy · 2017Gold
United Kingdom · 2016Gold

From MusicBrainz, Wikipedia and Wikidata. Only what the sources record is shown.

84.7
Popularity (0–100, vs the whole vault)
6.5k
ListenBrainz listeners
325k
Wikipedia views, last 12 months
28k
Deezer fans (all editions)
A Saucerful of Secrets (1968) →

Also released on 4 August

Every year →
1967: The First 3 Singles by Pink Floyd, album cover
1967: The First 3 Singles
Pink Floyd · 1997

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1972
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1973
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1975
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1977
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1979
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1981
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1983
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1983
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1987
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1988
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1994
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2000
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2014
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2015
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2016
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2019
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More on Columbia Records

The label →
A Saucerful of Secrets by Pink Floyd, album cover
A Saucerful of Secrets
Pink Floyd · 1968
The Best of The Pink Floyd by Pink Floyd, album cover
The Best of The Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd · 1970

Releases and pressings

How we know the release date wikipedia + wikidata; also seen: 1967-08-05 (musicbrainz)
SourceDateNote
MusicBrainz5 August 1967ignored lone early release dated 1967-07-07
Wikipedia infobox4 August 1967
Wikidata4 August 1967
US release21 October 1967earliest US date
UK / Europe release7 July 1967earliest UK or European date
65 editions
DateCountryLabelBarcodeKind
—GBColumbia Recordsother
—USCapitol Records077774638425other
—USEMI077774638425other
1967DEColumbia Recordsother
1967JPEver Clean Recordsother
1967USTowerother
1967USTowerother
1967GBColumbia Recordsother
1967FRColumbia Recordsother
7 July 1967GB[no label]original
5 August 1967GBColumbia Recordsother
5 August 1967GBColumbia Recordsother
2 October 1967CACapitol Recordsother
21 October 1967USTowerother
21 October 1967USTowerother
1968USTowerother
1968USTowerother
1969GBColumbia Recordsother
1969DEColumbia Recordsother
1969USTowerother
1969GBColumbia Recordsother
1969GBColumbia Recordsother
1970JPOdeonother
1971GBColumbia Recordsother
1975JPHarvestother
1978GBColumbia Recordsother
1983GBFameother
1983JPHarvestother
May 1983GBFameother
1987DEHarvest077774638418other
1987ITEMI077774638425other
1987GBEMI077774638425other
23 January 1987USEMI077774638425other
2 February 1987GBEMI077774638425other
25 February 1987JPEMI4988006609174other
25 February 1987JPEMI4988006609174other
1988GBFame5099941306512other
1994XEEMI United Kingdom724383126125other
1994CAEMI Music Canada724383126125other
1994USCapitol Records077774638425other
10 October 1994GBEMI United Kingdom724383126125other
17 October 1994XEEMI United Kingdom724383126125other
18 January 1995JPEMI4988006701922other
1997GBEMI077774638425other
4 August 1997GBEMI United Kingdom724385985720other
18 August 1997GBEMIdeluxe
30 May 2001JPEMI4988006791695other
6 September 2006JPEMI4988006846548other
2007USCapitol Records5099950392322other
2007GBEMI5099950392322deluxe
3 September 2007XEEMI5099950392322deluxe
4 September 2007USCapitol Records5099950392322deluxe
11 September 2007XEEMI5099950391929deluxe
11 September 2007USEMI5099950391929deluxe
23 September 2011ATEMI5099902893525other
27 September 2011USCapitol Records5099902893525other
2016XWPink Floyd Records886445613193other
2016XWColumbia886445635799other
15 January 2016USPink Floyd Records888751708426other
15 January 2016XEPink Floyd Records5099902893525other
3 June 2016CAColumbia888751841819other
3 June 2016XEColumbia825646493197other
6 July 2016JPPink Floyd Records4547366262735other
1 November 2017JPPink Floyd Records4547366312706other
21 April 2018XEColumbia0190295690199remaster
Cover art sources

deezer · upscaled: major: best source 1200x1200, upscaled to 1500 (x1.25)

SourceSizeVerdict
deezer ✓1200×1200upscaled: major: best source 1200x1200, upscaled to 1500 (x1.25)
coverartarchive1192×1200upscaled
fanarttv1000×1000upscaled