The Pink Floyd Recording Session That Unofficially Marked the End of Its Original Lineup: “That’s When He Changed”

Putting on a good musical performance regardless of one’s emotional or mental state at the time is part of being a good player, which is why you often can’t pick up on the turmoil that might be happening in the recording studio when listening to an album—and that includes the opening track for the American version of Pink Floyd’s debut, The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn, titled eponymously in the States.

“See Emily Play” sets the psychedelic tone for the rest of the album, followed by the instrumental “Pow R. Toc H.” and other cuts like “Take Up Thy Stethoscope And Walk” and “Lucifer Sam”. In the band’s native United Kingdom, “See Emily Play” was a standalone single that peaked at an impressive No. 6 on the charts. Stateside, the song only made it to No. 134. (Though it remains a fan favorite today.)

The Pink Floyd opener is also interesting in that it marked the first notable shift in Syd Barrett’s temperament with the band and those close to them. These changes were subtle, certainly, but it’s as if he flipped a switch during this particular recording session, marking the beginning of the end for Pink Floyd’s original lineup.

“See Emily Play” Marked the End of the Original Pink Floyd

Although David Gilmour had not yet joined Pink Floyd, he was present at the recording sessions for “See Emily Play” as a friend to the band. In Toby Manning’s The Rough Guide To Pink Floyd, Gilmour said this was the first time he saw Syd Barrett, one of the band’s founding members, treat him differently. “Syd didn’t seem to recognize me and just stared back,” Gilmour said. “I’ll go on record as saying that that was when he changed. It was a shock. He was a different person.”

Even Barrett’s sister, Rosemary Barrett, felt like her brother had turned into a stranger. “He’d changed so much that I just couldn’t reach him. The brother I knew had disappeared,” per Manning’s book.

Meanwhile, Pink Floyd’s star was inarguably rising. “See Emily Play” hitting the Top 10 in the U.K. meant that the band was extended an invitation to perform on Top Of The Pops, a musical program which would require the band to lip-sync to their song. Barrett refused, saying that John Lennon didn’t have to do it, so he shouldn’t, either. This would be one of many defiant refusals and protests Barrett would enact before the band finally opted to replace him with Gilmour.

Photo by Andrew Whittuck/Redferns