Pink Floyd's The Piper at the Gates of Dawn (Thirty Three and a Third series) [Paperback]

John Cavanagh (Author)

Book Description

Series: 33 1/3 | Publication Date: October 2003

Through a series of interviews with a wide range of people connected to Pink Floyd in their earliest days (including Nick Mason, Peter Jenner, Jenny Fabian, Storm Thorgerson, Duggie Fields and Peter Whitehead), John Cavanagh paints a vivid picture of how this remarkable debut album was created. He brings to life the stories behind each track, as well as Pink Floyd’s groundbreaking live performances of the time. EXCERPT The Piper at the Gates of Dawn is a wondrous creation often seen through the distorted view of later events. These things have served to overshadow the achievement of The Pink Floyd on their debut album: an outstanding group performance; a milestone in record production; and something made in much happier circumstances than I had expected to find…This is not another book about “mad Syd”. This, instead, is a celebration of a moment when everything seemed possible, when creative worlds and forces converged, when an album spoke with an entirely new voice. “Such music I never dreamed of,” as Rat said to Mole.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"…short, but intense…Piper at the Gates of Dawn is packed with interviews…and with great stories."" -Anna Battista, www.erasingclouds.com"

"John Cavanagh combines interviews with early associates of Pink Floyd and recording-studio nitty-gritty to vividly capture the first and last flush of Syd Barrett's psychedelic genius on the Floyd's '67 debut." - Rolling Stone (4 star review)

-Mention. Ugly Things/ Issue 25

From the Publisher

"Thirty Three and a Third" is a new series of short books about critically acclaimed and much-loved albums of the last 40 years. The authors provide fresh, original perspectives – often through their access to and relationships with the key figures involved in the recording of these albums. By turns obsessive, passionate, creative, and informed, the books in this series demonstrate many different ways of writing about music. What binds the series together, and what brings it to life, is that all of the authors – musicians, broadcasters, scholars, and writers – are huge fans of the album they have chosen.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 132 pages
• Publisher: Continuum (October 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0826414974
• ISBN-13: 978-0826414977
• Product Dimensions: 6.3 x 4.7 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #368,932 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

52 of 55 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The photo on the back, October 24, 2003

By 

John Cavanagh (Glasgow Scotland) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Pink Floyd's The Piper at the Gates of Dawn (Thirty Three and a Third series) (Paperback)

I enjoyed reading Kim Dyson's review of my book and I appreciate the attention to detail in mentioning the photo on the rear cover. There's one point I'd like to clarify: it wasn't taken with a similar sort of lense to the cover of "Piper", it was taken with the exact same lense by Vic Singh, who shot the original Pink Floyd sleeve image. Thought you might like to know!
I tried to submit this without filling in the star rating box and the form would not go through, so inevitably I had to give it five!!

47 of 51 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Sensible about Syd, October 13, 2003

By 

Kim Dyson (Austin Texas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Pink Floyd's The Piper at the Gates of Dawn (Thirty Three and a Third series) (Paperback)

Nearly everything that gets written about early Floyd these days focuses on Syd too much. Sure, he was the driving force behind the band in many ways, but there's only so much you can say about drugs and insanity before it just becomes pure speculation and it gets boring. Thankfully John Cavanagh has avoided all of that in this new book about "The Piper at the gates of Dawn." What Cavanagh has done is to interview a lot of the people who surrounded Floyd in their earliest days. Friends of the band, studio engineers, managemenet, etc. Cavanagh has managed to get some very interesting material and comments from most of these people, and what I liked most about this book is the obvious affection that everyone still has for the band and for this album. That comes through strongly here. Cavanagh brings it all together with a good strong narrative and takes you through the album on pretty much a track by track basis. There was a good amount of new information and insight in this book. Cavanagh even tracks down the photographer who took the photograph on the album sleeve, and amusingly there is a photo of the author on the back of this book, using the same type of lens. I know that not all Floyd fans are fans of this album, but it's a good introduction to how the band came into being, and why this album is still so specia.

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Another good 33 1/3 book, March 29, 2005

By 

missed "mist." (new york, ny) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Pink Floyd's The Piper at the Gates of Dawn (Thirty Three and a Third series) (Paperback)

A wonderful little biography about Piper at the Gates of Dawn by (The) Pink Floyd; aka Syd Barrett's only full album with the Floyd. The book doesn't go into much detail about the formation of the band, nor goes into deep specifics about how each track was put together and developed; rather it takes a look at the moment in time when Piper was being made with first source interviews. The focus naturally lingers on Syd and his mental breakdown, but it is not the burden of the book.