The Piper at The Gates of Dawn - Release

Release

The Piper at the Gates of Dawn was released on 5 August 1967. Pink Floyd continued to perform at the UFO Club, drawing huge crowds, but Barrett's deterioration caused them serious concern. The band initially hoped that his erratic behaviour was a phase that would pass, but others, including manager Peter Jenner and his secretary June Child, were more realistic:

I found him in the dressing room and he was so gone. Roger Waters and I got him on his feet, we got him out to the stage and of course the audience went spare because they loved him. The band started to play and Syd just stood there. He had his guitar around his neck and his arms just hanging down. —June Child

To the band's consternation, they were forced to cancel their appearance at the prestigious National Jazz and Blues Festival, informing the music press that Barrett was suffering from nervous exhaustion. Jenner and Waters arranged for Barrett to see a psychiatrist—a meeting he did not attend. He was sent to Formentera with Sam Hutt (a doctor well-established in the underground music scene), but this led to no visible improvement.

The original UK LP (with a monaural mix) was released on 5 August 1967, and one month later it was released in stereophonic mix. It reached number six on the UK charts. The Canadian LP had the same title and track listing as the UK version.

The original US album appeared on the Tower Records division of Capitol Records in October 1967. This version was officially titled simply Pink Floyd, though the original album title did appear on the back cover as on the UK issue. The US album featured an abbreviated track listing, and reached number 131 on the Billboard charts. A UK single, "See Emily Play", was substituted for "Astronomy Domine", "Flaming" and "Bike". The Tower Records vinyl issue also faded out "Interstellar Overdrive" and broke up the segue into "The Gnome" because the songs were re-sequenced. Later US issues on compact disc had the same title and track list as the UK version. The album was certified Gold in the US on 11 March 1994.