Rock Time Machine: Pink Floyd Makes US Debut Over a Week Late, Foreshadowing Trouble To Come

Plenty of bands get off on the wrong foot but then correct course in the months and years that follow, but back in 1967, a young Pink Floyd wasn’t so sure they would be able to claim the same fate. The British psychedelic band ran into trouble before they ever left their native United Kingdom for their first American tour. And things didn’t necessarily get better when they made it across the pond. Of course, history would show that the band was able to recover from the “disastrous” United States debut. But it came at a cost.

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Years before their biggest mainstream successes, like Dark Side of the Moon and Wish You Were Here, Pink Floyd was meeting most of the American public for the first time on their 1967 tour. The band’s booking agency landed the group spots in the country’s hottest musical hubs. Their tour schedule included stops in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, and New York City. However, when the time came to honor their first engagement at the Fillmore Auditorium in San Francisco, Pink Floyd realized they had overlooked one crucial detail. Work permits.

Indeed, not even rock ‘n’ roll is immune to the bureaucratic yellow tape of international travel. Without the necessary work permits, the British musicians weren’t permitted entry to the U.S. to perform. Despite the band already selling tickets and distributing flyers for the shows, Pink Floyd didn’t appear on any of the shows scheduled for the first week of tour. Some organizers re-booked the night to feature other performers. Pink Floyd’s name remained on most promotional materials. Some venues cancelled the events altogether.

And unfortunately, those missed shows weren’t the worst of the band’s hiccups.

Pink Floyd Ran Into Even More Trouble After Showing Up to Their 1967 Tour Late

A promotional tour for a debut album is a huge deal for bands looking to make a strong first impression. But not showing up to your own album release party at the historic Whisky A-Go Go in Los Angeles wasn’t exactly the introduction Pink Floyd wanted to make. Having to miss multiple nights of shows didn’t just translate to lost money. It inevitably left a bad taste in the mouths of venue owners, event promoters, and ticket buyers, too. Even once the band finally managed to fly into Los Angeles on November 2, they had to cancel their first scheduled appearance at the Fillmore Auditorium that night due to lighting issues. And if Pink Floyd thought that would be the last of their troubles, they were sorely mistaken.

Pink Floyd planned on making a number of television appearances in between concerts during their first U.S. tour in 1967. The British rock ‘n’ rollers planned on visiting the American Bandstand with Dick Clark, Boss City, and Groovy. However, they opted to cancel the latter two appearances after a particularly awkward interview on The Pat Boone Show. To say Syd Barrett spoke to Boone would be an overstatement, as the founding Pink Floyd member actually just sat there with a blank stare. The appearance was so tense and uncomfortable that the band’s tour manager, Andrew King, canceled the rest of the TV spots. (The band kept their performance engagements.)

By November 12, Pink Floyd’s first American run was over. Barrett’s worsening mental health meant that it would be the last time the musician ever appeared in the Pink Floyd lineup in the States. The band elected to kick Barrett out in April, with David Gilmour taking his place.

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