PINK FLOYD - Special Edition Of The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn To Mark Band's 40th Anniversary

June 29, 2007, 17 years ago

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This year is PINK FLOYD's 40th anniversary and to mark this, a special edition of the band's debut album, The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn, originally released August 5th, 1967, will be available in North America on Tuesday, August 28th.

The packaging, designed by longtime Floyd collaborator Storm Thorgerson, resembles a cloth-covered book with the original Vic Singh photo on the front, and holds 3 CD discs, along with an 8 page reproduction of one of Syd Barrett's notebooks. Newly remastered by James Guthrie, Discs 1 and 2 will contain the full 'Piper' album, represented in both stereo and mono versions. Disc 3 includes bonus tracks, including the following: all the Pink Floyd singles from 1967, ('Arnold Layne,' 'See Emily Play' and 'Apples And Oranges'), plus the B-sides 'Candy And A Current Bun' and 'Paintbox.' Other tracks are an exclusive edit of 'Interstellar Overdrive,' previously only available on an EP in France and the 1967 stereo version of 'Apples And Oranges' which has never before been officially released.

The album's title, The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn, came from the seventh chapter of Kenneth Grahame's The Wind In The Willows. It was the fledgling Pink Floyd's first album, charting at #6 in the UK. The band members were Syd Barrett, guitarist, singer, and main songwriter, with bassist Roger Waters, keyboardist Rick Wright and drummer Nick Mason. The album was recorded in Abbey Road's Studio 3 and produced by EMI resident producer, Norman Smith, whilst the BEATLES were in the studio next door working on Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.

The tracks on The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn are (all songs written by Syd Barrett, except where noted): 'Astronomy Domine', 'Lucifer Sam', 'Matilda Mother', 'Flaming', 'Pow R Toc H' (Syd Barrett/Roger Waters/Rick Wright/Nick Mason), 'Take Up Thy Stethoscope And Walk' (Roger Waters), 'Interstellar Overdrive' (Syd Barrett/Roger Waters/Rick Wright/Nick Mason), 'The Gnome', 'Chapter 24', 'The Scarecrow', 'Bike'.

The current single disc version of The Piper At The Gates of Dawn will be replaced with a new two disc version that will feature the mono and stereo versions of the album and will not include the Syd Barrett booklet or the third disc of extras.



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