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', which was originally released on 5 August 1967, is being re-issued through EMI Records. Exclusive new tracks have recently been found, and in order to make sure that these could be added to this special edition package, production has been delayed and the release date has been put back to 3 September.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 from the original recordings, 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' as well as previously unissued versions of ‘Matilda Mother’, ‘Apples And Oranges’ (1967 stereo version) and two rare edits of ‘Interstellar Overdrive’, one previously only available on an EP in France (French Edit) and take six of the track from the original recording sessions discovered in the EMI achieve.When the re-mastering of this groundbreaking album started to come together, a collector loaned EMI a copy of the original French EP, much to the surprise of Guthrie it was a different version of ‘Interstellar Overdrive’ to what had been supplied from the EMI archiveJames Guthrie explains Whereas the French release used the same take as that later used on the album albeit in a shortened and pre-overdubbed form, this version was more structured and clearly not from the same take. The tape box information was emphatic this was the French edit.
The 40 year old job files were pulled and only confirmed the same information listed on the tape box.
Following investigation into the reason behind this, it was discovered that this version was an unreleased mix from take six of the original session, it also materialised that a different version of ‘Matilda Mother’ had been recorded - it had the same backing track as the album version, but the verse vocal and lyrics are different.
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 Number 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.
Disc 1 and 2: (all songs written by Syd Barrett, except where noted) 01. Astronomy Domine 02. Lucifer Sam 03. Matilda Mother 04. Flaming 05. Pow R. Toc H. (Syd Barrett, Roger Walters, Rick Wright, Nick Mason) 06. Take Up Thy Stethoscope And Walk (Roger Walters) 07. Interstellar Overdrive (Syd Barrett, Roger Walters, Rick Wright, Nick Mason) 08. The Gnome 09. Chapter 24 10. The Scarecrow 11. Bike
Disc 3: 01. Arnold Layne 02. Candy And A Currant Bun 03. See Emily Play 04. Apples And Oranges 05. Paintbox 06. Interstellar Overdrive (French Edit) 07. Apple And Oranges (stereo mix) Previously unissued 08. Matilda Mother (Alternative version) Previously unissued 09. Interstellar Overdrive (Take six) Previously unissued
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.